To this day the Breviarium Monasticum remains “official” and the time of experimentation is still in effect. In that year the monks were given a period of time for liturgical experimentation, allowing each congregation of monasteries to adapt the tradition for its particular use, under certain guidelines. Historically it is distinct from the Roman Office – also recently called the Liturgy of the Hours – which, after the Second Vatican Council, was reshaped to simplify and make more practical the prayer of the hours for the secular clergy, as well as the religious who use it, and the laity who make it a part of their life of prayer.In 1966 the Breviarium Monasticum was the universal order of Divine Office for Benedictines. Praying the hours puts the monk into the real world, sanctifying his whole life and assisting him toward his goal of unceasing prayer – Ut In Omnibus Glorificetur Deus.The Benedictine Office is a rich collection of prayer that is based on the Rule of St.
The office punctuates the day of the monk like a leaven awakening his soul to make the entire day, indeed the whole of life, a gift of the self to God.