Dear Community,

In an interview from June 2021, The Pillar talked with Fr. Andrew Menke, executive director of the USCCB’s Office for Divine Worship, about the project to retranslate the Liturgy of the Hours. The text that follows belongs entirely to the The Pillar.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Father, I want to talk about the process of retranslating the Liturgy of the Hours. But can you explain how people began to pray the Divine Office in the life of the Church?

The Liturgy of the Hours apparently had a sort of a...

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Dane Falkner, Divine Office founder and producer, prepared a video message for you, our community members, supporters, our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The purpose is:

• to thank you for your response to our fundraising appeal

• announce our plans to improve the functionality of the website

• and remove the requirement for registration in US

• to bring you the Office for the Dead, not just on the website but also on the Divine Office app

• to talk about our plans for the Second Edition of the Liturgy of the Hours

• and share with you what opportunities have arisen now that...

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O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. - Psalm 105:1-2

Dear community,

By the grace of God, Divine Office Ministry has reached an agreement with The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) by which we receive a License to use their 1970 edition of the New American Bible for the next 3 years. The Divine Office has passed an audit and has satisfied all licensor claims for content currently in use, which means USCCB has approved the...

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Dear Community,

In text below, which belongs to Adoremus.org website you will find useful information on the progress that has been made concerning the next round of translations for the next English-language edition of the Liturgy of the Hours: “Liturgy of the Hours: Proper of Time.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops met in Fort Lauderdale, FL, June 13-14. Among their agenda items were two liturgical entries: first on texts relative to liturgical celebrations for St. Mary Magdalene, St. John XXIII, and St. John Paul II, and, second, on the next round of translations for the...

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Every good and perfect gift is from above – James 1:17

Just recently, DivineOffice.org has made another step to ensure the survival of this ministry: we have been granted the 501(c)(3) Nonprofit status and your contributions are tax deductible. This status is granted retroactive to the formation of the non-profit entity, which we did June 2, 2016.

We are working on providing each of you a statement of your yearly contributions via email. But those of you who own an account with the website can obtain a statement of your yearly contributions at any time by going to your Profile page...

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Merry First Day of Christmas!

Dear community,

Here begins a series of small articles inspired by the theme of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" the English Christmas carol that enumerates in the manner of a cumulative song a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas.
We intent them to be small gifts from us to all of you.

The First Day of Christmas ~ A Partridge in a Pear Tree

The carol goes:
"On the first day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
A Partridge in a Pear Tree"

We imagine that the "True Love" one hears in the...

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Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis
Holy Mass and Rite of Canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Saint Peter’s Square, 4 September 2016

“Who can learn the counsel of God?” (Wis 9:13). This question from the Book of Wisdom that we have just heard in the first reading suggests that our life is a mystery and that we do not possess the key to understanding it. There are always two protagonists in history: God and man. Our task is to perceive the call of God and then to do his...

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Dear Community,

A week ago we began the time, money, and resource intensive process to transfer the Divine Office Ministry into a Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. We (me and legal experts) have completed our filing paperwork and it will be signed this weekend and submitted early next week. Once submitted, the process is expected to take a few months leading to our expected approval of 501(c)(3) status. I expect all contributions made this year will be tax deductible, but that is only my uneducated opinion.

In the past week I had a good discussion with the permissions office of GIA where we...

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Dear Community Members with Musical Talent,

We have an opportunity to dramatically improve the quality of Divine Office by improving our music. In our efforts to procure permissions for all of our music we are finding that there is a wealth of beautiful music in the public domain, but few recordings exist. Its really no surprise that a Church over 2000 years old would have masterpieces in the public domain. These beautiful hymns presents an opportunity to bring back lost treasures.

Most of these public domain hymns are relatively simple as they were intended for worship by religious communities, not choirs. If you...

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Dear community,

Coming soon, January 22 is the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours, you can always just pause the recording during the intercessions on Morning or Evening Prayer and add a personal intention. But we are also proposing something a bit different, hoping to inspire your prayer life:

Pro-Life Rosary Prayer Intentions

The Joyful Mysteries
The Annunciation:
For parents facing an unexpected pregnancy, that they lovingly accept the precious life God has entrusted to their care.

The Visitation:
That the family and friends of...

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Merry Twelfth Day of Christmas!

The gift today is Twelve Drummers Drumming!
The twelve drummers drumming symbolize the twelve points of belief in The Apostles' Creed.

The twelve points of the Apostles Creed are as follows:
1. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.
5. On the third day he rose again.
6. He ascended into heaven...

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Merry Tenth Day of Christmas!
My True Love gave to me Ten Lords a-Leaping!
The Ten Lords a-Leaping are the Ten Commandments.

These ten beneficial laws were given by God to show us how to live a better life now and please God forever. Jesus Christ explained that the Ten Commandments and all of God’s laws are based on God’s most prominent characteristic: LOVE.

God gave humanity the Bible to reveal His way of life—His way of love. The do’s and dont’s of God’s Ten Commandments show us how to apply love in every aspect of life. Jesus Christ summarized all of...

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Merry Ninth Day of Christmas!

The gift on the Ninth Day of Christmas is Nine Ladies Dancing!
Those nine ladies represent the Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit!

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.

We pray today that you will be able to share these gifts.

Also on the Ninth Day of Christmas we celebrate the lives of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzus (Nazianzen) both Bishops in the Catholic Church.

St. Basil was a man of vast learning and constant activity, genuine eloquence and immense charity. This earned for him the title of "Great"...

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Merry Eighth Day of Christmas (and Happy New Year to all!)

On the Eighth Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…..Eight maids a-milking.
From a literal sense milk was a luxury in the 15th and 16th century because with no refrigeration it would spoil quickly.
So milk, in and of itself, was a generous gift.
The eight maids a-milking represent the Eight Beatitudes, a wonderful and generous gift to Christians everywhere.
Jesus promises us happiness. In fact the word "blessed" means "happy." The Beatitudes are at the core of Christ's teaching.
They fulfill the promise made to the Jewish people by pointing...

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Merry Seventh Day of Christmas!
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Seven swans a-swimming…

Who knew swans a-swimming would create so many images and so much discussion?!

The seven swans a-swimming refer to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit - Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Respect for the Lord. Basically, these are attributes given as a gift by the Holy Spirit to all receptive people. People are receptive when they live as close to God as possible - avoiding sin through prayer, studying the Scriptures, and engaging in the Sacraments - yes,...

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Merry Sixth Day of Christmas!

The Sixth Day of Christmas falls on December 30th.
The gift on the Sixth Day of Christmas is Six Geese a Laying.
The eggs of the geese hold the promise of fertility and life to come; which reflects the maintenance and expansion of God’s creation. Six geese a laying represent the six days of creation.

1st Day: Creation of light and its separation from darkness

2nd Day: Creation of the firmament and division of the waters

3rd Day: Collection of waters (sea) and formation of dry land (earth); creation of plants according to their own likeness

4th Day: Creation...

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Merry Fifth Day of Christmas!

The “five golden rings” represent the first five books of the Old Testament called the Torah or the Pentateuch (and generally considered the most sacred and important of all the Old Testament): 1) Genesis, 2) Exodus, 3) Leviticus, 4) Numbers, and 5) Deuteronomy, which gives the history of humanity’s sinful failure and God’s response of grace in the creation of a people to be a light to the world.

The Fifth Day of the Christmas season, December 29th, marks the feast of another martyr, St. Thomas à Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, who was killed because...

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This gift on the Fourth Day of Christmas represents the four Evangelists - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - because they spread everywhere the good news of the Gospel.
The four collie birds (blackbirds; often mispronounced as "calling birds”; optional spelling colly, colley, curley).

Today we also celebrate the Feast Day of the Holy Innocents

Matthew 2:1-18 tells this story: Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be...

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The Third Day of Christmas ~ Three French hens!
The three French hens are meant to represent the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity.

As our work of Christmas continues, we have the reminder that we should keep this spirit alive in our thoughts, in our words and in our deeds. Think something compassionate, say something kind, do something charitable.

On December 27 we also celebrate the Feast Day of St. John the Evangelist. John was the “beloved disciple” of Jesus and the one to whom our Lord entrusted the care of his mother.

John was the only one of the Twelve...

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We loved celebrating the First Day of Christmas! Now the work of Christmas really begins!

The Second Day of Christmas ~ two turtle doves!
Turtle doves are a symbol of great love, particularly the sacramental love between a husband and a wife.
Turtle doves are believed to stay with their partner for life - a strong symbolic connection to marriage vows.
When Jesus Christ was born, the turtle doves were offered as a symbol of love, respect and adoration for God.

Boxing Day or St. Stephen’s Day is celebrated in many places on December 26th.
Many British families distribute money to the poor that...

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