Editing Canonical hours (section)

===Judaism and the early church===
The canonical hours stemmed from [[Jewish prayer]]. In the [[Old Testament]], God commanded the Israelite priests to offer sacrifices of animals in the morning and afternoon ({{bibleverse||Exodus|29:38–39}}). Eventually, these sacrifices moved from the [[Tabernacle]] to [[Solomon's Temple]] in [[Jerusalem]].

During the [[Babylonian captivity]], when the Temple was no longer in use, [[synagogue]]s carried on the practice, and the services (at fixed hours of the day) of [[Torah readings]], [[psalms]], and [[hymn]]s began to evolve. This "sacrifice of praise" began to be substituted for the sacrifices of animals.  After the people returned to [[Judea]], the prayer services were incorporated into Temple worship as well.

The miraculous healing of the crippled beggar described in Acts of the Apostles 3:1, took place as Peter and John went to the Temple for the three o'clock hour of prayer. The practice of daily prayers grew from the [[Judaism|Jewish]] practice of reciting prayers at set times of the day known as {{lang|he-Latn|[[zmanim]]}}: for example, in the ''[[Acts of the Apostles]]'', [[Saint Peter]] and [[John the Evangelist]] visit the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] for the afternoon prayers.<ref>{{bibleverse||Acts|3:1}}</ref>

[[Psalm 119]]:164 states: "Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws" (of this, [[Symeon of Thessalonica]] writes that "the times of prayer and the services are seven in number, like the number of gifts of the Spirit, since the holy prayers are from the Spirit").<ref>St. Symeon, p 18</ref> In Act 10:9, the decision to include [[Gentile]]s among the community of believers, arose from a vision Peter had while praying about noontime.

Early Christians prayed the Psalms ({{bibleverse||Acts|4:23–30}}), which have remained the principal part of the canonical hours. By AD 60, we find the [[Didache]] recommending that disciples pray the [[Lord's Prayer]] three times a day; this practice found its way into the canonical hours as well. By the second and third centuries, such [[Church Fathers]] as [[Clement of Alexandria]], [[Origen]], and [[Tertullian]] wrote of the practice of Morning and Evening Prayer, and of the prayers at the third, sixth and ninth hours.

From the time of the early Church, the practice of [[fixed prayer times|seven fixed prayer times]], being attached to {{Bibleverse|Psalm|119:164|KJV}}, have been taught; in ''[[Apostolic Tradition]]'', [[Hippolytus of Rome|Hippolytus]] instructed Christians to pray seven times a day "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion."<ref name="DanielouOrigen2016">{{cite book |last1=Daniélou |first1=Jean |title=Origen |date=2016 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-4982-9023-4 |page=29 |quote=Peterson quotes a passage from the ''Acts of Hipparchus and Philotheus'': "In Hipparchus's house there was a specially decorated room and a cross was painted on the east wall of it. There before the image of the cross, they used to pray seven times a day ... with their faces turned to the east." It is easy to see the importance of this passage when you compare it with what Origen says. The custom of turning towards the rising sun when praying had been replaced by the habit of turning towards the east wall. This we find in Origen. From the other passage we see that a cross had been painted on the wall to show which was the east. Hence the origin of the practice of hanging crucifixes on the walls of the private rooms in Christian houses. We know too that signs were put up in the Jewish synagogues to show the direction of Jerusalem, because the Jews turned that way when they said their prayers. The question of the proper way to face for prayer has always been of great importance in the East. It is worth remembering that Mohammedans pray with their faces turned towards Mecca and that one reason for the condemnation of Al Hallaj, the Mohammedan martyr, was that he refused to conform to this practice.}}</ref><ref name="Chadwick1993">{{cite book |author1=[[Henry Chadwick (theologian)|Henry Chadwick]] |title=The Early Church |date=1993 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-16042-8 |quote=Hippolytus in the ''Apostolic Tradition'' directed that Christians should pray seven times a day - on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight, and also, if at home, at the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion. Prayers at the third, sixth, and ninth hours are similarly mentioned by Tertullian, Cyprian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen, and must have been very widely practised. These prayers were commonly associated with private Bible reading in the family.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Weitzman |first1=M. P. |title=The Syriac Version of the Old Testament |date=7 July 2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-01746-6 |quote=Clement of Alexandria noted that "some fix hours for prayer, such as the third, sixth and ninth" (Stromata 7:7). Tertullian commends these hours, because of their importance (see below) in the New Testament and because their number recalls the Trinity (De Oratione 25). These hours indeed appear as designated for prayer from the earliest days of the church. Peter prayed at the sixth hour, i.e. at noon (Acts 10:9). The ninth hour is called the "hour of prayer" (Acts 3:1). This was the hour when Cornelius prayed even as a "God-fearer" attached to the Jewish community, i.e. before his conversion to Christianity. it was also the hour of Jesus' final prayer (Matt. 27:46, Mark 15:34, Luke 22:44-46).}}</ref><ref name="Lössl2010">{{cite book |last1=Lössl |first1=Josef |title=The Early Church: History and Memory |date=17 February 2010 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-567-16561-9 |page=135 |quote=Not only the content of early Christian prayer was rooted in Jewish tradition; its daily structure too initially followed a Jewish pattern, with prayer times in the early morning, at noon and in the evening. Later (in the course of the second century), this pattern combined with another one; namely prayer times in the evening, at midnight and in the morning. As a result seven 'hours of prayer' emerged, which later became the monastic 'hours' and are still treated as 'standard' prayer times in many churches today. They are roughly equivalent to midnight, 6 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Prayer positions included prostration, kneeling and standing. ... Crosses made of wood or stone, or painted on walls or laid out as mosaics, were also in use, at first not directly as objections of veneration but in order to 'orientate' the direction of prayer (i.e. towards the east, Latin ''oriens'').}}</ref>

In the early church, during the night before every feast, a [[vigil]] was kept. The word "Vigils", at first applied to the Night Office, comes from a Latin source, namely the {{lang|la|Vigiliae}} or nocturnal watches or guards of the soldiers. The night from six o'clock in the evening to six o'clock in the morning was divided into four watches or vigils of three hours each, the first, the second, the third, and the fourth vigil.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10050a.htm Cabrol, Fernand. "Matins". The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 6 October 2019{{PD-notice}}</ref> The Night Office is linked to {{Bibleverse|Psalm|119:62|KJV}}: "At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments."<ref name="Billett2014">{{cite book |last1=Billett |first1=Jesse D. |title=The Divine Office in Anglo-Saxon England, 597-c.1000 |date=2014 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=978-1-907497-28-5 |language=en}}</ref>

Christians attended two [[Christian liturgy|liturgies]] on the [[Lord's Day]], worshipping communally in both a morning service and evening service, with the purpose of reading the Scriptures and celebrating the [[Eucharist]].<ref name="Bradshaw2008">{{cite book |last1=Bradshaw |first1=Paul F. |title=Daily Prayer in the Early Church: A Study of the Origin and Early Development of the Divine Office |date=1 October 2008 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-60608-105-1 |page=42 |language=English}}</ref> Throughout the rest of the week, Christians assembled at the church every day for morning prayer (which became known as ''[[lauds]]'') and evening prayer (which became known as ''[[vespers]]''), while praying at the other fixed prayer times privately.<ref name="González2020">{{cite book |last1=González |first1=Justo L. |title=Teach Us to Pray: The Lord's Prayer in the Early Church and Today |date=30 June 2020 |publisher=[[Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4674-5958-7 |language=English |quote=These words make it clear that Hippolytus is dealing both with prayers that are to take place at home or during the day's business and with the prayers and times of study that take place in the community of the church. The prayers upon rising, on the third hour either at home or away from it, and before going to bed at night are sometimes held in private and sometimes in the company of other believers in the same household. But Hippolytus refers to other gatherings which offer, besides prayer, an opportunity for instruction and inspiration. Thus, we see here the beginning of the practice of setting aside certain times for private prayer as well as others for communal prayer.}}</ref><ref name="Bercot2021">{{cite book |last1=Bercot |first1=David W. |title=Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More Than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers |date=28 December 2021 |publisher=Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. |isbn=978-1-61970-168-7 |language=English |quote=Morning and Evening Prayer were liturgical services held each day at the local church, during which psalms were sung and prayers were offered to God.}}</ref><ref name="Beckwith2005">{{cite book |last1=Beckwith |first1=Roger T.|author-link1=Roger T. Beckwith |title=Calendar, Chronology And Worship: Studies in Ancient Judaism And Early Christianity |date=2005 |publisher=[[Brill Academic Publishers]] |isbn=978-90-04-14603-7 |page=193 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="CURC2010">{{cite web |title=Why an Evening Worship Service? |url=http://www.christurc.org/blog/2010/12/08/why-an-evening-worship-service |publisher=Christ United Reformed Church |access-date=6 October 2020 |language=en |date=8 December 2010}}</ref> In the evening the faithful assembled in the place or church where the feast was to be celebrated and prepared themselves by prayers, readings, and sometimes also by hearing a [[sermon]]. [[Pliny the Younger]] (63 – {{circa|113}}) mentions not only fixed times of prayer by believers, but also specific services—other than the Eucharist—assigned to those times: "they met on a stated day before it was light, and addressed a form of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity ... after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble, to eat in common a harmless meal." (cf. [[Lovefeast]])<ref>Pliny the Younger, ''Epistulae'', Book X, [http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?pageno=117&fk_files=2025 Letter xcvii].</ref> This vigil was a regular institution of Christian life and was defended and highly recommended by St. Augustine and St. Jerome.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05647a.htm Holweck, Frederick. "Eve of a Feast". The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 October 2019{{PD-notice}}</ref>

The Office of the Vigils was a single Office, recited without interruption at midnight. Probably in the fourth century, in order to break the monotony of this long night prayer the custom of dividing it into three parts or [[Nocturns]] was introduced. [[John Cassian]] in speaking of the solemn Vigils mentions three divisions of this Office.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11087b.htm Carrol, F. "Nocturns". The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 6 October 2019{{PD-notice}}</ref>

Around the year 484, the Greek-Cappadocian monk [[Sabbas the Sanctified]] began the process of recording the [[liturgy|liturgical]] practices around [[Jerusalem]], while the cathedral and parish rites in the Patriarchate of Constantinople evolved in an entirely different manner.<ref>Taft, Mount Athos:, pp 180, 181, 182, 187, and 189</ref> The two major practices were synthesized, commencing in the [[8th century]], to yield an office of great complexity.<ref name="Byzantine_Synthesis">Taft, Mount Athos:, pp 180, 182, 184, 185, 187, and 191</ref>

In 525, [[Benedict of Nursia]] set out one of the earliest schemes for the recitation of the Psalter at the Office. The [[Cluniac Reforms]] of the [[11th century]] renewed an emphasis on liturgy and the canonical hours in the reformed priories of the [[Order of Saint Benedict]], with [[Cluny Abbey]] at their head.