True Catholic News

The Roman *Breviary reads: "During the cruel persecution of the Emperor Diocletian. Marcellinus of Rome, overcome with terror, offered incense to the idols of the gods. For this sin he did penance and wearing a hair-shirt went to the Council of Sinuesso, where many Bishops had assembled and there openly confessed his crime."

*Etymology. The word, Breviary, comes from the Latin word, Breviarium, an abridgment, a compendium. The name was given to the Divine Office, because it is an abridgment or abstract made from holy scripture, the writings of the Fathers, the lives of the Saints. It is called the ecclesiastical office (officium ecclesiasticum), because it was instituted by the Church.

Hence, nothing in her official prayer is left to chance, nothing is left to the selection or caprice of the individual who recites this prayer; all is foreseen, everything is in order, every tittle has a reason for its existence and its place in the liturgy, and represents the end and the intentions of the Church. For, every part of the Roman Breviary is stamped with the wisdom, the zeal and the piety of the Church, which presents it as an offering all suitable for and worthy of God's honour and glory.

Overview