Terce, Sext and None (or “The Little Hours”)

The names Terce, Sext and None mean, respectively, “the third hour”, “the sixth hour” and “the ninth hour”.  In antiquity, time was measured by dividing day and night into twelve “hours”, the length of which varied from summer to winter.  It has been Christian tradition from the earliest centuries to pause for prayer at the third hour of the day (mid-morning), at the sixth hour (midday), and at the ninth hour (mid-afternoon).

Themes of these Hours
The Office of Terce is particularly associated with the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost which, according to Acts 2:15, took place “at the third hour”.  We ask for a renewed outpouring of the Spirit upon us, that our hearts be inflamed with the fire of divine love, and that we may witness to the gospel as did the disciples after Pentecost.   On weekdays we also ask God’s blessing on the work of the day that is about to begin, and pray that through it we may serve God and one another.

Sext is sung when the sun is at its highest point in the sky.  Its great heat and light inspire a number of the prayers for this Hour.  At this time too the course of the day is half done: we begin the Office by taking a few minutes in silence to bring to awareness the graces we have received, for which we are grateful, and the areas in which we may have sinned and need to ask forgiveness.  Furthermore, at this hour we take a break from work and share the midday meal, and for these we give thanks.

At None, we ask for the grace of patient endurance and perseverance in our daily Christian journey, and for God’s blessing on the work we are about to resume.  Already too the day is moving towards evening, and some themes of closure and fulfilment can be heard at this hour.

On Fridays the Church is particularly mindful of the Lord’s passion.  At Terce, Sext and None, episodes from the Gospel accounts, which assign particular times to these events, are commemorated.
“They crucified him, and divided his clothes among them… It was the third hour when they crucified him” (Mk 15:24-25).
“From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land, until the ninth hour.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice… and yielded up his spirit” (Mt 27:45-46, 50).

Structure of the Hours
Terce, Sext and None follow the same structure.  After the opening verse and its response, we sing a hymn appropriate to the Hour or to the liturgical season.  Some psalms follow, then a short reading from Scripture, and a silent pause in which we allow this Word to resonate in our hearts.  An antiphon in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary is included in all the Hours.  A short litany asks God’s mercy on all who suffer, on any of our sisters who are absent from this Hour, and on all who have died.  A collect concludes the Office, and the invitation and response “Let us bless the Lord / Thanks be to God.”

The psalms at the Little Hours
On weekdays at Terce and on Sundays at Sext we sing some sections of the longest psalm in the Bible, psalm 118, which praises God’s law.  In its biblical sense, “law” means not just a set of rules or prescriptions, but the very way of salvation, the path of life revealed by God.  As we sing this psalm in a Christian context, we praise the law of life, the Gospel, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, and re-commit ourselves to walking in this path.

Psalms 119-131 are sung at other Little Hours in the course of the week.  Known as the “pilgrim psalms”, these were sung by the Jews going up to Jerusalem on pilgrimage.  We sing them conscious that we too are on pilgrimage, through life and through each day, and we entrust ourselves to God’s protection on this journey.

Every second Friday, psalm 21 is sung at Sext.  Its opening words were cried by Jesus on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  United with him, we offer this prayer for all who suffer, and move from lament to praise as the psalm ends on a note of trust and joy: the Lord “has never despised the poor, but heard them when they cried… My soul shall live for him.”