Breviary | Definition, Meaning, Book, & Facts | Britannica (original) (raw)

Also called:

liturgy of the hours

breviary, liturgical book in the Roman Catholic Church that contains the daily service for the divine office, the official prayer of the church consisting of psalms, readings, and hymns that are recited at stated hours of the day. The breviary (Latin breviarium, “abridgment”) as a condensed tome appeared only after the divine office itself was fixed and widely used and after the recitation of the office had come to be regarded as obligatory for religious individuals not residing in a community.

The form and content of the divine office were fixed in the Roman rite by the 7th century and in Carolingian Europe by the 10th; the office was celebrated by communities in solemn form requiring many ministers using several books. The congregation recited its parts from memory. The first breviaries, which appeared in the 11th century, were choir books containing the whole office in one book. After the appearance in the 13th century of the mendicant orders—religious orders whose work, primarily itinerant preaching and teaching, often did not allow them to reside in common—the need for portable breviaries arose. After Innocent III (pope, 1198–1216) approved a shortened form of the office for his Curia, the book was adopted, with modifications, by the rapidly expanding Franciscan order and became known and ultimately accepted throughout Europe.

vespersBenedictine monks singing vespers on Holy Saturday at St. Mary's Abbey in Morristown, New Jersey.

In 1568 Pius V issued the breviary in a revised form and imposed its use on the Latin church. Since that time there have been piecemeal revisions, particularly in the 20th century. The Second Vatican Council (1962–65) permitted the use of vernacular translations and called for a thorough revision, which was subsequently accomplished.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.