Origin According to an
Ancient Greek and Roman custom, the day was, like the night, divided into four parts, each consisting of three hours. Among the ancients the hour of None was regarded as the close of the day's business and the time for the baths and supper. This division of the day was in vogue also among the Jews, from whom the Church borrowed it. In addition to Morning and Evening Prayer to accompany the sacrifices, there was prayer at the Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours of the day.
Early Church The
Apostles continued to frequent the
Temple at the customary hours of prayer (
Acts 3:1): "Now
Peter and
John went up into the temple at the ninth hour of prayer." At an early date, mystical reasons for the division of the day were sought.
St. Cyprian sees in the hours of Terce, Sext and None, which come after a lapse of three hours, an allusion to the
Trinity. He adds that these hours already consecrated to prayer under the
Old Dispensation have been sanctified in the
New Testament by great mysteries: Terce by the descent of the
Holy Spirit on the Apostles; Sext by the prayers of St. Peter, the reception of the
Gentiles into the Church, or yet again by the
crucifixion of
Christ; None by the death of Christ.
St. Basil merely recalls that it was at the ninth hour that the Apostles Peter and John were wont to go to the Temple to pray. St.
John Cassian, who adopts the
Cyprian interpretation for Terce and Sext, sees in the Hour of None the descent of Christ into
hell. But, as a rule, it is the death of Christ that is commemorated at the Hour of None. The most ancient testimony refers to this custom of
Terce,
Sext, and None, for instance
Tertullian,
Clement of Alexandria, the
Canons of Hippolytus, and even the
Didache ("Teaching of the Apostles"). The
Didache prescribed prayer thrice each day, without, however, fixing the hours. Clement of Alexandria and likewise Tertullian, as early as the end of the 2nd century, expressly mention the
Canonical Hours of Terce, Sext, and None, as specially set apart for prayer. Tertullian argues for constant prayer with no prescribed time, but adds: "As regards the time, there should be no lax observation of certain hours—I mean of those common hours which have long marked the divisions of the day, the third, the sixth, and the ninth, and which we may observe in Scripture to be more solemn than the rest." Clement and Tertullian in these passages refer only to private prayer at these hours. The
Canons of Hippolytus also speak of Terce, Sext, and None as suitable hours for private prayer; however, on the two
station days, Wednesday and Friday, when the faithful assembled in the church, and perhaps on Sundays, these hours were recited successively in public. In the 4th century there is evidence to show that the practice had become obligatory, at least for the
monks. The eighteenth canon of the
Council of Laodicea (between 343 and 381) orders that the same prayers be always said at None and
Vespers. It is likely that reference is made to some
litanies, in which prayer was offered for the
catechumens, sinners, the faithful, and generally for all the wants of the Church.
John Cassian states that the most common practice was to recite three psalms at each of the Hours of
Terce,
Sext, and None.
Since the 7th century Practices varied from monastery to monastery. At first some tried to do the entire Psalter (150 Psalms) each day, but eventually that was abandoned for a weekly cycle built around certain hours of the day. In the
Rule of St. Benedict the four Little Hours of the day (
Prime, Terce, Sext and None) were conceived on the same plan, the formulae alone varying. The
Divine Office began with the
Invitatory, like all the
Canonical Hours; then follows a
hymn, special to None; three psalms, which do not change (Psalm 125, 126, 127), except on Sundays and Mondays when they are replaced by three groups of eight verses from Psalm 118; then the capitulum, a
versicle, the
Kyrie, the
Lord's Prayer, the , and the concluding prayers. Medieval writers attribute various
mystical characteristics to the Hour of None.
Amalarius of Metz opines that the human spirit sinks at None alongside the setting sun, opening the soul to diabolical temptation. Other medievals claim ancient associations between the number nine and imperfection and mourning. One folk belief holds that Adam and Eve were driven from the
Garden of Eden at the ninth hour. None was also the hour of
fasting. At first, the hour of fasting was prolonged to
Vespers, that is to say, food was taken only in the evening or at the end of the day. Mitigation of this rigorous practice was soon introduced. Tertullian's work ("On fasting, against the materialistic") rails at length against the
Psychicos (i.e. the Orthodox Christians) who end their fast on station days at the Hour of None, while he, Tertullian, claims that he is faithful to the ancient custom. The practice of breaking the fast at None caused that hour to be selected for
Mass and
Communion, which were the signs of the close of the day. The distinction between the rigorous fast, which was prolonged to Vespers, and the mitigated fast, ending at None, is met with in a large number of ancient documents. In the
Roman Rite the office of None is likewise constructed after the model of the Little Hours of the day; it is composed of the same elements as in the Rule of St. Benedict, with this difference: that instead of the three psalms (125-127), the three groups of eight verses from Psalm 118 are always recited. There is nothing else characteristic of this office in this liturgy. The hymn, which was added later, is the one already in use in the
Benedictine Office—
Rerum Deus tenax vigor. In the monastic rules prior to the 10th century certain variations are found. Thus in the
Rule of Lerins, as in that of
St. Caesarius, six psalms are recited at None, as at Terce and Sext, with
antiphon, hymn and capitulum. St. Aurelian follows the same tradition in his Rule , but he imposes twelve psalms at each hour on the monks.
St. Columbanus,
St. Fructuosus, and
St. Isidore adopt the system of three psalms. Like St. Benedict, most of these authors include hymns, the capitulum or short lesson, a versicle, and an . In the 9th and 10th centuries we find some additions made to the Office of None, in particular litanies,
collects, etc. ==Current practice==