...in which I share some of my favorite medieval research resources and methods for the benefit of others interested in also writing about the Middle Ages

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Medieval Word of the Day

Canonical hour: One of seven prayer times observed by the Catholic church during the Middle Ages. During the Equinox, the hours fell as follows:

Matins: 5:00 AM
Prime: 6:00 AM
Terce: 8:30 AM
Sext: 12:30 PM
None: 2:30 PM
Vespers: 5:00 PM
Compline: 7:00-8:00 PM

These times naturally varied throughout the year as the days accordingly grew longer or shorter. To read more about the canonical hours during various times of the year, visit Court Will Begin at Half-way Terce: Keeping Time in High Middle Ages.

2 comments:

Brandy B aka Brandlwyne said...

Wow that is alot of praying. Were there specific prayers for each time of day or did you just have to pray for whatever at that time of day.

~Brandy

Joyce DiPastena said...

They were specific prayers. This website tells about the modern day prayers, but it would have been similar in the Middle Ages.

http://divineoffice.org/liturgy-of-the-hours/how-to-pray-the-liturgy-of-the-hours/