Praying the midday service in the hospital?

"Each one participates according to his own vocation and the circumstances of his life."

The Liturgy of the Hours – also called the Prayer of the Church or the Divine Office – is the daily prayer of the Church that is spread over the whole day, marked by 8 different offices, including Lauds, the middle of the day and Vespers. It has been simplified since the Second Vatican Council, which encouraged its practice among the laity.

The Divine Office extends the prayer of Jesus himself, who, like every Jewish man, nourished his prayer and his relationship with the Father with the recitation of the psalms. Today, when the baptized celebrate a service, it is the Church, and Christ who is in her, who prays the Liturgy of the Hours, destined to become the prayer of the whole People of God. Each one participates according to his own vocation and the circumstances of his life.

It aims to sanctify time, to sanctify the daily rhythm of human life. Its function is to praise God and to cry out to Him from morning to night. At every moment of the day or night, there are always believers, who somewhere on earth, alone or in groups, pray one of the divine services. The Liturgy of the Hours never stops but it allows the baptized to associate themselves through the psalms with all their brothers and sisters throughout the world, whatever their situations: distress or joy, war or peace, health or illness... Cry to the Father or Thanksgiving!

To pray the Divine Office in the hospital is to remember that Christ is truly present in this place with us, doctors, caregivers, administrative staff or the sick.

" For  when two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them." MT 18:20.

Sr. Pascale Bouliou, hospital chaplain