What it means to pray the Divine Office in common

The phrase “What It Means to Pray the Divine Office in Common” describes more than monks taking turns at a lectern. At Mother of the Redeemer Monastery in Plaisance, Louisiana, an Olivetan Benedictine community in the Diocese of Lafayette, the Hours express communal religious life. Members assemble, listen, sing and remain silent with the wider Church in a rhythm shaped by Scripture and the liturgical calendar.

For Australian Catholics, the practice may be familiar as the Divine Office, the Liturgy of the Hours, or the Breviary. Many have encountered psalm prayer in a parish, while others know it from monastic websites or livestreams. The setting changes, but praying in common remains participation in official Church prayer, not simply sharing a room with other people.

Common does not merely mean several people are present. In its fullest sense, it identifies official prayer belonging to the Church and offered publicly in communion with people throughout the world. Mother of the Redeemer makes that ideal concrete through daily observance, while visitors from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and smaller towns may join in person or remotely.

The monastery shares its history, community life, oblates and monastic vocations through its website. It welcomes those seeking prayer, retreats, quiet reflection or liturgical participation. Understanding the Hours helps visitors approach such an encounter as participation in a living tradition rather than attendance at a religious performance.

A rhythm that shapes the day

The traditional sequence—Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline—marks dawn, morning, midday, afternoon, evening and night. Communities may combine some daytime Hours, but the rhythm remains. Each Hour gathers readings, psalms, a canticle, intercessions and a concluding prayer, making the day a continuing conversation with God.

For the monks of Mother of the Redeemer, movement from work to prayer and back again gives ordinary tasks liturgical shape. Bells, incense, candles, processions and choral books may express that movement. They help the body enter a shared action, orient the heart and place personal effort within the Church’s worship.

“Praying in common” also carries an ecclesial meaning. The Hours are not the private devotion of a small group but the official prayer entrusted to the Church. A monk prays them as a member of the local community and of the universal Church, including those unable to gather physically. The word “office” comes from the Latin officium, meaning service or duty, recalling that this prayer is work for the Church, not an escape from it.

One voice made common

Communal prayer does not require identical emotional responses. One monk may be tired, distracted or grieving; another may read aloud; another may sing psalm verses. Yet the antiphons, readings and silences give everyone a common course. The cantor’s voice helps the congregation pray rather than replacing its prayer.

Communion with the saints is part of that shared story. The Benedictine tradition treats relics as reminders of faithful people who have lived in Christ, not magical instruments. The monastery’s guide to Benedictine veneration of relics explains that veneration is directed toward Christ and encourages prayer for the saints and those who draw strength from their example.

That belonging extends beyond those physically present. A person following the monks’ online prayer can join the same psalms and liturgical season. This is more than simultaneous activity: it is a real sharing in the Church’s prayer, even when the connection crosses oceans or arrives through a small screen.

Silence as a shared practice

Common prayer requires silence, but monastic silence is not simply the absence of conversation. It is a disciplined willingness to become still before God and one another. The community’s reflection on monastic silence shows how quiet can protect concentration, deepen attention and keep psalms from becoming background noise.

In an Australian city, silence can be harder to find than in a Louisiana monastery. Traffic, household routines and notifications often fill gaps that might support contemplation. A short period of silence before praying the Hours need not be dramatic; it can be an intentional withdrawal from distraction.

Different forms of participation make the contrast clear:

Setting	How the Hours are approached	Meaning of “common”	Watch for
Solitary prayer	A reader follows the prepared Hours alone.	Personal intention is joined to the Church’s public prayer.	Attention can weaken when the rhythm becomes mechanical.
Resident community	Monks gather physically, sharing psalmody, readings, gestures and silence.	It is expressed through co-presence and one agreed action.	Familiar chant can become habit unless attention is renewed.
Remote participation in Australia	A person follows a broadcast or prayer book while the monastery prays.	The same psalms and liturgical season link household and monastery.	Sound, screen timing and time zones can distract.

None of these settings is automatically superior. The resident choir prays with physical and historical proximity; the solitary reader may offer a discipline the busy traveller lacks; remote participation can carry a different intention. What matters is whether the prayer joins a larger Christian action and is offered attentively.

From Plaisance to Australian homes

Distance and time zones can distort the meaning of joining from Australia. Plaisance uses Central Time. Perth is usually about fourteen hours ahead, Brisbane about sixteen, and Sydney or Melbourne about sixteen or seventeen, depending on daylight-saving dates. A broadcast beginning early in an Australian morning may come from the previous Louisiana evening.

Digital access makes this possible but does not erase difference. A Melbourne listener may struggle with a monastic cantor’s sound, while a viewer in Perth may join while the community sings Compline. Knowing the local time, the Hour being streamed and whether silence is included helps. Even then, the connection remains mediated.

Parish customs can help Australians enter the same prayer. Communities in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane may already gather for Advent vespers, Lenten Stations of the Cross, Easter Vigil or Marian prayer. The Divine Office offers a daily pattern that can accompany those familiar events and link an Australian household with the Church’s year.

Shared food and wider fellowship

Benedictine hospitality follows the Hours. A blessing, shared meal and sign of peace can carry worship toward fellowship. This does not blur the boundary between sacred office and ordinary life; it shows that prayer forms people whose hospitality extends beyond the monastery gate.

A reflection on prasada and ritual hospitality describes how a gracious offering of food can extend worship into shared receiving. Although it comes from a Hindu context and cannot be equated with a Benedictine meal, it offers a careful parallel: sacred action can become visible through food offered, received and shared for community.

Many Australians recognise that pattern in parish suppers, school lunches, community kitchens and market gatherings. Produce from Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market or Adelaide Central Market might appear after prayer, while local growers’ markets bring the connection closer to home. The details differ, but sacred action can lead to common care.

Joining the monastery’s prayer

Anyone considering a visit can begin by learning how the community receives guests and which observances are open to the public. The monastery’s latest community news is the place to check for retreat dates, feast-day announcements and changes to the prayer schedule. Details matter for a journey to Plaisance, where a visitor may have crossed an ocean for a liturgical moment.

Prepare by arriving early enough to settle, dressing respectfully for the place, following local guidance and being ready for silence. A visitor need not know the melodies beforehand. Listening, following the antiphons and joining the responses are genuine forms of taking part.

Participation can continue when travel is impossible. Read about the monks’ history and prayer, explore the oblates and monastic vocation pathways, and learn how benefactors support the community and its planned chapel expansion. Make the next step concrete: consult the retreat and visit information, plan a pilgrimage around an announced prayer opportunity, or offer support so more people can share in its prayer.