Liturgy of the Hours
The astrological significance of the Hours
The Liturgy of the Hours, Divine Office is praying a set liturgy of prayers at fixed times of the day. All monastics and priests pray the Hours. However, the laity are encouraged to do so as well.1
Vigil (eighth hour of night: Midnight to 2 a.m.)
Matins (a later portion of Vigil, from 3 a.m. to dawn)
Lauds (dawn; approximately 5 a.m., but varies seasonally)
Prime (early morning, the first hour of daylight, approximately 6 a.m.)
Terce (third hour, 9 a.m.)
Sext (sixth hour, noon)
Nones (ninth hour, 3 p.m.)
Vespers (sunset, approximately 6 p.m.)
Compline (end of the day before retiring, approximately 7 p.m.)
Both the Canonical Hours and the Astrological Houses are linked with the movement of the Sun. Thus, both Lauds and the Ascendant begin with the Sun moving above the horizon. Thus, no matter what time the clock says it is, the canonical hours will always be linked to the Sun in these Houses:
LAUDS Sun is in 1st House.
TERCE: Sun is in 12th House.
SEXT: Sun is in 10th House conjunct Medium Caeli.
NONES: Sun is in 9th House.
VESPERS: Sun is in 7th House with Descendant.
COMPLINE: Sun is in 6th House.
VIGIL (Office of Readings): Sun is in 4th House, Imum Caeli.
MATINS: Sun is in 3rd House.
(Note: Vatican 2 was right (as always): Prime is redundant. Both Lauds and Prime are said at dawn. So, Vatican 2 suppressed Prime.)
The Astrological Houses are the parts of the sky linked to the Sun’s movement. They start with the Eastern Horizon where the Sun rises as the First House, Tenth House is where the Sun is at it’s height, Seventh House is where the Sun descends, and Houses 6 through 2 are the Sun’s movement below the horizon at night. Each House is linked with different associations to describe how a planet’s energy is used.
The Church has always held Lauds and Vespers to be the primary hours. If you’re going to pray the Hours, you must pray at least Lauds and Vespers. At Lauds and Vespers, the Sun is on two of the primary angles: The Ascendant and Descendant, 1st and 7th House. If a Catholic were to pray the other angles, he would pray Sext and the Vigil, now called “Office of Readings.”
LAUDS commemorates Jesus’ resurrection, which occurred at dawn. These are psalms and prayers of praise (Laudate). It includes the Canticle of Zachariah. Obviously, the dawn and Ascendant have always been associated with rebirth and resurrection. It’s a new day.
TERCE, the first of the “small hours,” is associated with the Holy Spirit and Pentecost. Thus, much of the prayers are invoking the Holy Spirit. It is prayed at the third hour of the day, when the Sun is in the 12th House. There is no association between the Catholic associations of Terce with the 12th House. 12th House is associated with evil, toil, and imprisonment. The only thing that could be said is that in the face of such evils, we are to invoke the Holy Ghost against the Evil.
SEXT, the second small hour, is prayer when the Sun is at it’s height with the Medium Caeli at the sixth hour of the day. The Church tradition recognizes the height of the Sun as symbolic with God’s divine splendor. In Acts 10:9, it is the hour St. Peter went to pray on the roof. The hour is also linked to the time Jesus was nailed to the cross. In astrology, Sun in House 10 is the “sign of glory.” With Sun in 10, this is one of the most astrologically significant hours to pray to God, along with Lauds.
NONES: Ninth Hour. The third small hour. Acts 3:1 records the apostles visiting the Temple to pray at the Ninth Hour. This was not the Apostles simply praying. The Temple practice was to carry out animal sacrifice at this hour at The Temple. The Apostles and nascent Church still practiced animal sacrifice. However, the hour quickly became heavily associated with the hour Christ died. The Psalms and prayers are about Jesus suffering and death on the cross. At this hour, the Sun is in the 9th House, moving across the sky after its height at the sixth hour. In tradstrology, it is the Temple of the Sun. Ninth House is thus associated with God, religion, God’s decrees, and spiritual revelation. This is another astrologically significant time to pray.
VESPERS: 12th Hour, Sunset. Sun is on the Descendant. This is the second major hour. It is mandatory to pray Lauds and Vespers if you’re praying the hours. Vespers has always included the Magnificat, the Canticle of Mary she sings in the Gospel of Luke. The hymns sung all commemorate a day of Creation Week. Vespers is commenrating the end of the day to God. Here, the Sun is in the 7th House. Any tying of the 7th House symbolism to Vespers would be a stretch. Rather, both are simply about the setting Sun.
COMPLINE: Sun is in the 6th House. Compline are essentially liturgical bedtime prayers. They emphasize peace while meditating on death and asking for God’s protection. It includes the Canticle of Simon, the Nunc Dimittis, where Simon, who was promised he would not die until he sees the Messiah, sings to God that God may “dismiss him” now that he has seen Jesus. Compline is also preceded by the confiteor (penitential confession of sins to God to remove venial sin). Deborah Houlding links the 6th House to both:
“In the symbolism of the ancients, entrance to the underworld has taken place in the 6th House and the process of penance has begun.”2 She also links the 6th to illness. Illness and evil are why we pray for protection at night.
OFFICE OF READINGS (VIGIL): If we continue the prayers every three hours, the Vigil will be at Midnight. This is traditionally about when the major feastday vigils are held. Christmas and Easter Eve vigil mass services are held after 23:00. At this hour, the Sun is on the Imum Caeli in the 4th House.
MATINS: This is the 3 AM office readings. Monks will wake up at 3AM to say these prayers, and are the only ones crazy enough to do so.3 Here, the Sun is in the 3rd House. Any parallel between the House and readings would be forced here. Matins has no traditional meaning other than making sure prayers are said continuously, and often enough having an eschatological flavor to them.
Viewing the hours from an astrological lens, the most opportune times to pray would be Lauds, Sext, Nones, Vespers, and Compline.
In my estimation, if you are not singing the hours you are doing it wrong. Prayer should be sung. https://www.youtube.com/@SingtheHours
Deborah Houlding, The Houses: Temples of the Sky, p. 56.
Special mention to Paul Rose of Sing The Hours singing Matins to lull his newborn back to sleep when waking Paul at 3AM.