St. John Baptist de la Salle, Confessor

The liturgical year, beginning with the Easter Triduum as its source of light, is filled with the brilliance of Christ’s Resurrection. It is truly a “year of the Lord’s favor,” in which the saving work of God is active in time and the kingdom of God enters into our lives as a foretaste of its fulfillment. Easter stands at the heart of this cycle as the “Feast of feasts,” for the mystery of Christ’s Resurrection, in which he crushed death, permeates the whole year. The feasts of the Incarnation, including the Annunciation, Christmas, and Epiphany, unfold aspects of the one Paschal mystery and communicate its first fruits. As we celebrate these mysteries together, we also honor the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, who is inseparably linked to her Son’s saving work and is a radiant image of what the Church hopes to become. When the Church remembers martyrs and other saints, she proclaims the Paschal mystery in those who suffered and were glorified with Christ, offering them as examples who draw us to the Father through Christ and begging God’s favors through their merits.

The Liturgy of the Hours is a rich form of the Church’s public prayer, inviting clergy, religious, and lay faithful to share in Christ’s continuing priestly work through his Church. Its daily rhythm of praise sanctifies the whole course of day and night and helps us pray with both our voices and our hearts. Through the Psalms, hymns, litanies, and readings from Scripture, it deepens our understanding of the liturgy and the Bible, prepares us for silent prayer, and encourages the Word of God to become prayer. The faithful are encouraged to pray the divine office as much as possible, whether with priests, among themselves, or individually; on Sundays and more solemn feasts, especially Vespers may be celebrated in common. As an extension of the Eucharistic celebration, the Liturgy of the Hours complements and calls forth the devotions of God’s people, especially adoration and worship of the Blessed Sacrament.