The Prayer of The Church
As we begin a new liturgical year on the First Sunday of Advent, those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours also change from Vol. IV of the Breviary to Vol. I, the volume that contains the prayers for Advent and Christmastide.
Many Catholics may have heard of the Liturgy of the Hours, a yearly cycle of psalms, readings and prayers that are prayed each day. The tradition of praying certain prayers at set times during the day goes back to the first centuries of the Church. In recent centuries, it was associated with priests and religious, but originally it was a common practice for all believers and since Vatican II there has been an effort to return to this understanding of it. The prayers and the readings contained in the Liturgy of the Hours are the heritage of all believers, and they are a limitless source of spiritual richness for those who enter into them.
Throughout the centuries, the Liturgy of the Hours has been closely connected to the Order of St. Benedict, and for the Benedictines it remains a central point of their life. In groups and communities that follow in this tradition, the Liturgy of the Hours is beautifully and prayerfully sung in Gregorian Chant. Carmelites, however, were originally hermits who prayed in solitude, and from this original charism we kept a simple and austere style in our practice and prayer of the liturgy, both in the Mass and in our community prayer.
At Carmel, the richly meaningful expressions of the Liturgy of the Hours resound against the austere background of our monastic architecture. In Carmelite monasteries, the chapel is the most richly decorated part of the building. Only in the chapel will you see carpets and cushions. Yet even with carpets and cushions our chapel is very plain and austere, reflecting the desert spirituality which is the framework of our eremitical life.
The Liturgy of the Hours is made up primarily of the Psalms, which are prayers often expressed in Hebrew poetry. It includes readings from the Bible and from different spiritual writers. It is rich in its phrasing and expressions, while the life and liturgical style of Carmel are simple and austere. Is there a contradiction here? Can the spiritual richness of the Liturgy of the Hours really be fully expressed in such plain surroundings? Can the simple style of the liturgy at Carmel really give glory to God?
Some people will say, “No”. Their hearts are uplifted by the beauty of Gregorian chant, and they are right to follow that inclination. But the vocation to Carmel is the call into the desert, and the desert is austere with the simplicity of love. “I will lure her into the desert and there I will speak to her heart.” (Hos. 2, 14) The liturgy exists to give glory to God, and there is no contradiction between glory and simplicity. In fact, each brings out the best in the other. A glorious jewel shines forth more resplendently in a simple setting because the setting does not distract one’s attention from the beauty of the gem. Rather, the setting points to the jewel. This is true in the spiritual life also. All through the Bible, the desert was the chosen place for an encounter with God. Among the barren rocks and sandy waste there was nothing to distract one’s heart from the mystery of the Most High.
In Carmel, the liturgy seeks to express the transcendence of God, to make us more aware of the infinite mystery of the Lord. This mysterious presence of God shines forth in the desert. The word “holy” means “different,” and Charles de Foucauld, the hermit of the Sahara, exclaimed, “God is so different from all that is not He!” This awareness of the otherness of God is symbolized in the Bible by the shining cloud mentioned in the account of Our Lord’s Transfiguration. To enter into the Cloud is to enter into the wonderful otherness of God. The more this mystery touches us, the more we experience the love of God, for it is His love which makes us at home in this mystery. God as God is totally other – God become Man is totally one with us.
In the Liturgy of the Hours, we enter into more deeply into His union with us. It is this union of God with each one of us that we all celebrate together. In Carmel, this celebration is expressed quietly, simply. Our chant is plain, yet our hearts resound in the fullness of our voices. “God is one with us and we are one with Him!”