How I got through a rough day. A Benedictine oblate blog

I use the book Benedictine Daily Prayer to pray the Divine Office. I do not do all of the hours each day, and there is seldom one day in a month that I have done all seven offices in a day. I know praying the Divine Office is not a race and it is not just a matter of keeping score. I do the best I can and don’t feel badly about the hours I miss.

Although I do feel MUCH better on the days when I do three or four of the Hours in a day, most often, if I have a jam-packed day, I get up and go straight to work and fall into bed late at night exhausted and without having prayed a single part of the Divine Office from the book Benedictine Daily Prayer.

Recently I had three days in a row in which I prayed three hours in a day and the following day was a day with a mighty full schedule. When I got up on that especially full day, I did not look forward to all the work and thought — this day I am not going to just fly into work until late in the evening, I am going to pray all seven of the offices because I know that I will accomplish more and feel much closer to God all day.

Of course you know that day was exactly as I thought. I was not nearly as tired as I am typically on those extra long days and I sure felt monastic!

Like stepping stones along a rushing river, the seven Divine Offices kept me moving toward God.