Lord, Teach Us how to Pray: A Companion to the Liturgy of the Hours

For many centuries, the Church had, at least on the practical level, almost completely lost sight of the Liturgy of the Hours as a public act of worship of the whole Christian community. It became commonly known as the breviary, or priest's daily prayer book, in effect the exclusive and principally private prerogative of the clergy and religious. The liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council directed that the Divine Office be once again restored to its original purpose, namely, as a prayer…