The usage in France of the expression “saint-office” as synonymous with “office divin” is not correct. Hittorp, in the sixteenth century, entitled his collection of medieval liturgical works “De Catholicae Ecclesiae divinis officiis ac ministeriis” ( Cologne, 1568). Thus Walafrid Strabo, Pseudo- Alcuin, Rupert de Tuy entitle their works on liturgical ceremonies “De officiis divinis”. The expression “officium divinum” is used in the same sense by the Council of Aix-la-Chapelle (800), the IV Lateran (1215), and Vienne (1311) but it is also used to signify any office of the Church. The Greeks employ “synaxis” and “canon” in this sense. “Agenda”, “agenda mortuorum”, “agenda missarum”, “solemnitas”, “missa” were also used. “Cursus” is the form used by Gregory writing: “exsurgente abbate cum monachis ad celebrandum cursum” (De glor. “ Canonical Hours“, “ Breviary“, “Diurnal and Nocturnal Office”, “Ecclesiastical Office”, “Cursus ecclesiasticus”, or simply “cursus” are synonyms of “Divine Office”. The Divine Office comprises only the recitation of certain prayers in the Breviary, and does not include the Mass and other liturgical ceremonies. THE EXPRESSION “DIVINE OFFICE”, signifying etymologically a duty accomplished for God, or in virtue of a Divine precept, means, in ecclesiastical language, certain prayers to be recited at fixed hours of the day or night by priests, religious, or clerics, and, in general, by all those obliged by their vocation to fulfill this duty.
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