Diurnal offices


The diurnal offices or daytime offices are the canonical hours for recitation during the day. Interpretation of their number and identity varies.

Seven offices

The monastic rule drawn up by Benedict of Nursia distinguishes between the seven daytime canonical hours of lauds, prime, terce, sext, none, vespers, compline and the one nighttime canonical hour of night watch. It links the seven daytime offices with Psalm 118/119:164, "Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules"; and the one nighttime office with Psalm 118/119:62, "At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules",
In this reckoning, the one nocturnal office, together with lauds and vespers, are the three major hours, the other five are the minor or little hours.
The Second Vatican Council suppressed the hour of prime.

Three offices

According to Dwight E. Vogel, Daniel James Lula and Elizabeth Moore the diurnal offices are terce, sext, and none, which are distinguished from the major hours of matins, lauds and vespers and from the nighttime hours of compline and vigil.