Lauds are acanonical hour of the Divine office. In theRoman RiteLiturgy of the Hours it is one of the major hours, usually held afterMatins, in the early morning hours.
The name, from Latinlaus, praise, is derived from the three last psalms of the psalter (148, 149, 150), theLaudate psalms, which were in former versions of the Lauds of the Roman Rite prayed every day, and in all of which the wordlaudate is repeated frequently. At first, the wordLauds designated only the end, that is to say, these three psalms. Over time,Lauds came to be applied to the whole office.[1]
Lauds as the morning prayer of the church are one of the most ancient offices and can be traced back toApostolic times. The earliest evidence of Lauds appears in the second and third centuries in theCanons of Hippolytus and in writings by St.Cyprian, and theApostolic Fathers. Descriptions during the fourth and fifth centuries appear in writings by Ss.John Cassian,Melania the Younger,Hilary of Poitiers,Eusebius,John Chrysostom, and in thePeregrinatio Ætheriae. During the 6th century St.Benedict of Nursia gave a detailed description of them in hisrule.Gregory of Tours also made several allusions to this office, which he callsMatutini hymni.[1]
According to John T. Hedrick, inIntroduction to the Roman Breviary, Lauds were not originally a distinct canonical hour but Matins and Lauds formed a single office, the night office terminating only at dawn.[1] The monks prayed Matins during the night and said Lauds in the early dawn.[2] In the 5th and 6th century the Lauds were calledMatutinum. By the Middle Ages, the midnight office was referred to asNocturns, and the morning office asMatins. The lengthy night office later became the liturgical hour of Matins and was divided into two or three nocturns; the morning office becameLauds.[3]
AfterPope Pius X’s reform, Lauds was reduced to four psalms or portions of psalms and an Old Testament canticle, putting an end to the custom of adding the last three psalms of the psalter (148–150) at the end of Lauds every day.
This is the office of daybreak and hence its symbolism is also of Christ's resurrection, "the true light enlightening all people and 'the sun of justice', 'rising from on high'".[4] According to Fernand Cabrol, "Lauds remains the true morning prayer, which hails in the rising sun, the image of Christ triumphant — consecrates to Him the opening day".[5] The office of Lauds reminds the Christian that the first act of the day should be praise, and that one's thoughts should be of God before facing the cares of the day. According to the General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours, Lauds as morning prayer and Vespers as evening prayer "are the two hinges on which the daily Office turns"[6]
In the 1970 edition of theRoman Breviary which was revised according to the mandate of theSecond Vatican Council, Lauds (LatinLaudes matutinae, pl.) has the following structure:
All psalms and canticles are concluded with thedoxology. The psalms and readings are distributed in a four-week cycle, which forms the heart of the prayer.[7]
On allsolemnities and feasts as well as on all feast days of thesaints with their own Lauds antiphons in theproper, the psalms and cantica from the Sunday of the Week I are sung.[8] These are: Ps. 63, the canticle fromDan 3, 37-88 and Ps. 149.
On feasts of saints the various parts of the hour may be taken from the office of the saint being celebrated or from the common. If the feast has the rank of a memorial, any parts specifically provided for the saint (the parts from the proper) are used, while the other parts come from the weekday, with exception of the hymn (which may be optionally taken from the common texts), the antiphon for theBenedictus (which must be taken from theproper or thecommon), the intercession (which may be optionally taken from the common texts), and the collect.
In some seasons of the liturgical year, such asLent orEastertide, many of the prayers are proper for each day of the season. InHoly Week, the octaves ofChristmas and Easter, and the last eight days ofAdvent, these liturgical days displace the celebration of other feasts.
In theAmbrosian Office, and also in theMozarabic, Lauds retained a few of the principal elements of the Roman Lauds: theBenedictus, canticles from the Old Testament, and the laudate psalms, arranged, however, in a different order (cf.Germain Morin,op. cit. in bibliography). In theBenedictine liturgy, the office of Lauds resembles the Roman Lauds very closely, not only in its use of the canticles but also in its general construction.[1]
The Armenian Morning (or Early) Hour (Armenian: Առաւաւտեան Ժամaṛawotean zham) corresponds to the office of Lauds in the Roman Liturgy, both in its position in the daily cycle and in its importance. This is the most complex of all Armenian liturgies in terms of the variations in the order and text of the liturgy depending on the day of the week, liturgical tone, commemoration of the day, and liturgical season.
Many manuscripts and printed editions of the Armenian Book of Hours (Armenian: ԺամագիրքZhamagirk`) state that the morning hour commemorates the Son of God, with some manuscripts adding, "at the time he was seized by the Jews". This is in reference to the story of the arrest and interrogation of Jesus found in the New Testament Gospels.
In the morning hour for Sundays and feasts there are seven slots into which hymnody may be inserted which reflects the theme of the day. Each of these seven slots is associated with a psalm or canticle from the Old or New Testaments.
Among theEastern Orthodox andEastern Catholic Churches which follow theByzantine Rite, the office comparable to the Lauds of the Roman Rite is theOrthros. It also contains the three Laudate psalms (148–150), with which it traditionally closes.
Like the othercanonical hours, Lauds is observed by Christians in other denominations, notably those of theLutheran Churches.[9] In theAnglican Communion, elements of the office have been folded into the service ofMorning Prayer as celebrated according to theBook of Common Prayer, and the hour itself is observed by manyAnglican religious orders.[citation needed]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Cabrol, Fernand (1910). "Lauds". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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