The general framework of every office is composed of the following major components, applied or distributed according to the days of the week/season/year/feast:

Psalms (150) and Canticles
Readings (Scripture, and the patristic reading at Matins)
Orations (The Our Father and the Prayer of the Day at each office)

The office is composed principally of the 150 Psalms, the inspired word of God that is the human response to life – in relationship to God.  The Psalms reflect all of human experience: joy, suffering, fear, anger, praise, thanks, contrition, petition.  The monks sing the Psalms on behalf of themselves and the rest of the world, aware that they reflect the real condition of men throughout the world.  The Psalms are the cry of the People of Israel.  They were on the lips of Our Lord and his disciples and continue to be the “hymnbook of the Church” in an unbroken tradition.  St. Bernard Abbey observes a now common 4-week cycle of Psalmody, with the schedule of Vespers psalms remaining the same each week.  Note that in the tradition of St. Benedict the daily invitatory psalm of Matins is 94, and the Compline Psalms are 4, 90 and 133 each day.  Also repeated frequently are Psalms 148, 149 and 150 – one of the three always being used as the final Psalm of Lauds.

Most readings of Holy Scripture during the office are very short segments (lectio brevis).  Traditionally they are the same for most days, with variations appearing on feast days.  In their brevity and their repetition, the readings lend themselves to a positive familiarity and even memorization.  The short readings of the Liturgy of the Hours change daily; some monasteries prefer that variety.  Extended readings, one from Scripture and one patristic reading, are found only at Matins, and each is followed by an extended period of silence to allow for meditation.

In addition to the orations, smaller parts surround and embellish the framework described above.  Those parts are verses/versicles, antiphons, responsories and hymns.  They are explained as follows.

VERSICLES (SHORT VERSES)

These are the shortest parts of the Divine Office; a call by an individual and an answer by the choir, like the dialogue of life: God calling to us through the neighbor and, hopefully, our positive response. 

At the beginning of every office except Compline we come to attention, face the altar of God and hear the words, “O God, come to my assistance,” or at Matins, “O Lord, open my lips.”  It is the springboard into the offering of praise.  And, with the exception of Matins, there is added the Lesser Doxology (the Glory Be), mirroring the eternal praise of God in heaven.  The Glory Be typically closes each Psalm, except during the office of the dead and during the Sacred Triduum (until the celebration of Our Lord’s Resurrection).  To the Glory Be is added, except during Lent, the Alleluia (“praise to the Lord”), the exclamation of joy, the “resurrection song of the Lord” that calls to mind the good news: Christ is risen!

At the end of the office proper comes “Let us bless the Lord,” and the response, “Thanks be to God.”  Benedicamus Domino and Deo Gratias.  It is a farewell of the soul calling on God as it gradually, not abruptly, pulls away to re-enter the necessities of the day or night, asking that in those duties of life, as in all things, God may be glorified.  Note that this abruptness does take place in the Sacred Triduum Office, a fitting expression of our grief for the One Who lays in the tomb.  And it is significant that likewise the jubilant call to prayer at the beginning of the office is absent from the sober Triduum as well.

In the middle of the office, the versicle, dramatic and stirring, serves as a cockcrow.  As we turn to the altar of God, it arouses us to the principal idea of the hour, day, feast, or season; or it helps us respond to the Psalmody that precedes it (at Matins & Sext); or it serves as a transition from hymn to Gospel canticle, stirring us as we prepare to sing the Gospel song of praise at Lauds & Vespers, e.g., before the Magnificat at II Vespers of Sunday:

        V.   May our evening prayer ascend to you, O Lord.
        R.   And may your mercy descend upon us.

    Or on a weekday at Matins during Advent:

        V.   A voice is heard crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord.
        R.   Make straight the path of our God.

Another versicle traditionally used at several points in the office is “The Lord be with you.”  This greeting is used by the ordained monk (bishop, priest or deacon), who is answered with “And with your spirit,” referring to the Spirit received from God, the power conferred by Holy Orders.  The greeting used by all others is “O Lord, hear my prayer,” answered with, “And let my cry come unto you.”  One of these dialogues is traditionally heard before the oration and at the end of the office.

At the end of the office there is the ancient cry, Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison, and the final versicles and responses, “May the souls of the faithful departed…Amen,” and “May the divine assistance…our absent brethren. Amen,” remembering, as St. Benedict directed, those who have died and the brothers away from the community.

ANTIPHONS

As a setting is for a gem or a frame for a picture, so is an antiphon for a Psalm.  Sung before and after a Psalm (or group of Psalms or canticle), the antiphon suggests and arouses a particular thought or disposition related to the Psalm or the feast or season.  In this way the antiphon colors the Psalm and shows us how to pray it.  Note that the invitatory antiphon at the beginning of Matins is sung by all before, between and after sections of Psalm 94, those sections being sung by the chanters.

During the Easter Season, groups of Psalms at Matins, Sext and Vespers are frequently sung under the one-word antiphon, Alleluia.  This jubilant cry informs every Psalm; it is the joyful resurrection theme, the good news, and it brightens every thought and word.

RESPONSORIES

The responsory follows a Scripture reading and reflects on it – responds to it.  The responsory is sung by chanters, with the choir echoing the thought or responding with its own words.  The responsory calls us to react to the word of God in many ways; it narrates, instructs, rejoices, laments.  Often the responsory directly echoes the theme of the Scripture reading preceding it; at other times it is more general, and can be according to the liturgical theme of a given day of the week, as the responsory at Vespers on Thursdays which commemorates the gift of Holy Thursday, the Body and Blood of Our Lord.

HYMNS

A hymn is a prayer-chant, a paraphrase of the Word of God; it is text and melody united in meter and rhythm, and sometimes rhyme.  It is a lyrical and emotional song that stokes devotion; a boost, which is why a hymn occurs at the beginning of the offices of Matins, to stir from sleep, and at Sext, when we are dulled by noon-day sluggishness.  When it occurs in the middle of hours, it follows and serves as a response to Psalmody.

St. Benedict prescribed a hymn for every hour of prayer, breaking from the Roman tradition which avoided hymns until the Middle Ages.  Though hymns reflect seasons and particular celebrations, some reflect the time of day a given office is prayed; and some, the ferial Vespers hymns in particular, tell the story of creation as it unfolds on each appropriate day.