Praying with the Liturgy of the Hours at the beginning of the day definitely gets me off to a good start.  Listening to the Liturgy of the Hours on divineoffice.org is my preferred way of praying with them. Though I do not always pray it every day, on the days when I know I am going to be particularly challenged, I find that starting the day with the Hours helps me to focus on living a life that is true to my faith walk.  In listening to the Psalms there is always something that inspires, challenges, or comforts me.  And, being a cantor, the psalms draw me to the songs I sing at Mass which are filled with verses from Psalms.  Sometimes, I will just stop there in my “hour” of prayer and spend that time singing the Psalm and letting it penetrate my heart. 

The writings from the fathers, doctors, and saints of the church in the Office of Readings are of particular interest to me and something that I look forward to hearing.  Besides being very interesting, these readings are very relatable to my own experiences in life and offer guidance and lessons that I can ponder and emulate.  

In doing the Hours, I am cognizant of the fact that religious communities and people all over the world are praying them with me.  I feel connected to the "body of Christ" in a very special way. But, the most important thing about the Hours is that it connects me to God ALL during the day.  It is a reminder that God is with me, accompanying me in every circumstance and moment of my day.  And, even on those days when I cannot stop to listen to them, I think about them and just thinking about praying them connects me to God and leads me to short prayers of my own; as St. Ignatius would say, anything that leads us to prayer is “all good.”   I often tell my directees to just “taste” the Liturgy of the Hours, “do what you can when you can.”  I have found that once they get the taste, most people are drawn in. 

picture credit: olme.org