The Nature of the Office and Worship
The Divine Office is, in fact, a liturgy. If liturgy is
defined as a public work of the Church then it follows that
it should be a communal work of the Church, held in public
for all the world to see and for all the Church to attend.
But the reality is that liturgy, while the public work of
the Church can, and in the case of the Divine Office, is,
indeed not a scheduled, "come-one, come-all" event.
The Liturgical life of the Church is essentially
sacramental. For its entire history, the Church has
understood that the matter of the Sacraments, along with
the form of the Sacraments, are their essence and its
reality. The "smells, bells, and yells" surrounding their
celebration, while extremely important to truly tactile
humans, are not their essence. Regardless of the style of
celebration we do not symbolically receive the grace of God
through the waters of Baptism, we actually do so. Whether
or not the music that Sunday was good at Mass, it does not
take away from the reality that receive the Body and Blood
of Christ in the Eucharist. And so when the Church prays
through the hours of the day, we do through prayer itself
and not by the symbols of prayer.
In the publically celebrated Office, the symbols of prayer
are first, and most obviously, the prayer of the Church
assembled physically in one place. The second symbol is the
actual recitation - in whatever form or style - of the
Psalms. Lastly, the there are the tangible symbols of the
signs of the Cross, bowing, procession, choir pieces,
meditations, and the like. But the heart of the Office is
not found in these ceremonies, the manner of recitation, or
the assembled congregation. It is found in the prayer
itself. It is found in the knowledge that throughout the
world people of all walks of life and in all manners of
celebration and affectations are praying the same prayer.
The liturgy, therefore, is "done" in the act of the prayer,
not in its public celebration.
I cannot repeat enough that this is in no way to diminish
the beauty, effectiveness, and importance of the public and
ceremonial recitation of the Office. I maintain, as do the
General Instructions on the Divine Office, that this is the
preferred way of celebration. Nor is this an advocacy for
minimalistic celebration free of the "clutter" of the very
things that help sentient beings encounter God. But it must
be understood that the public participation in this form of
Liturgy is in a certain sense, subjective. It is an
understanding of the "Office prayer" that is` at the same
time, the foundation for the fuller appreciation of the
symbols added to its celebration.
With the Seven Sacraments, there are definite forms,
ceremonies, and persons involved which, for their validity,
must be present. While the Office is not a sacrament in
this sense, it is a Liturgy whose participants are all who
freely join in it and who by their own prayer (as well as
that of the Church) "do" it. It is a liturgy that is free
from the structures of space and physicality. It is a
spiritual union with the universal Church as well as a very
personal expression of prayer.
One of the criticisms of the post-Vatican II liturgy, and
in particular the Eucharistic Liturgy, is that the role of
the celebrant or other participants has taken away from the
objective value of the action. While in some cases of
extreme personalism, I agree with this, I find it
impossible to apply this thinking to the Divine Office. The
more personalistic the Office becomes, along with the
underlying understanding of the universality of the prayer,
the more it is perfectly prayed. To slavishly or
compulsively say the Office is not its intended role. The
more I truly pray the Office and the more I mean it , the
more powerfully the spiritual blessings of this action
enrich myself as well as the entire Church and world. We
will consider the lack of enthusiasm for the Office later,
but suffice it for now to assert that the more personally I
am involved in this public act of the Church, the more the
goal of the Liturgy of the Hours is realized.
When I say "pray the Office" what I am I talking about?
Since I am asserting that the "extras" of the celebration
do not effect its essential action, what then is this
"essential action?"
The point of the Office is to worship God. Worship is
something offered to God because it is "right and just" to
do so. For example, I send the thank-you note to the person
who gave me the gift not because it would make me feel
better about myself (which it will) but because thanks is
due to that person. It is justice to do this. This is not
simply the idea of justice between a worker and an
employer, but an action of a higher justice if freely
expressed. To be forced to be grateful or awed by God is
not a freely given expression. One needs to be free to pray
and so our thanks and praise arises out of a deeply
personal experience of the Reason for thanks and praise. It
arises from a personal experience of the grace of God.
I don't believe that this is a common criteria for
interviews with prospective candidates for liturgical
positions. Worship, in many places and cases, has been
reduced to a litmus test of a person's politically correct
worship language and their driving creativity to make any
and every ceremony a "meaningful experience' to even the
most shallow and self-ignorant visitor. If our personal
recitation of the Office has been reduced to this level, I
assume that not many would say it unless our fancy inspired
us to do so. After all, if we do not feel like joining in
the praise of God - goes this trend of thinking - then it
is not "meaningful" and thus, inauthentic and useless.
Worship is best described, in my opinion, by the Preface
which states that "You [God] have no need of our praise but
our desire to thank You is itself Your gift." The praise of
God does not make Him feel better, but it does build us up
while it renders justice to the Creator. It takes our
"feeble lays" and joins them to the choir of heaven. It
takes our most temporal and transitory of words and
feelings and lifts them beyond this mortal boundary to
eternity. It is the free offering of that which is freely
given and so creates the dynamic, or rather, recognizes the
dynamic, of communion.
Worship is also the offering of the best. To offer the
worst or the minimum is not truly worship. This was Cain's
mistake. In giving, we are given more to give. When the
best is offered, even better is given to be offered again.
The beautiful basilica of the 6th century is replaced by
the magnificence of the 14th century structure which is
torn down to make way for the glory of the 17th century
cathedral. God is not worthy of the least but of the best.
Taken from this perspective all the ceremonies and
magnificence of the public celebration of the Office not
only makes sense and is reasonable, it calls the Church to
do it and do it well. But when this is not available, it is
still left to individual to have the proper understanding
of offering the Prayer of the Church.
So whether a choir sings Bach's Magnificat or a worker
prays Vespers during a break, it is the same. It is the
worship of the God who has given so much and it is the
rendering of the debt of love. It is then, and only then,
liturgy.
