Lauds, or Morning Prayer, is the Church’s prayer at the beginning of the day, when the sun rises and we remember Christ, the true Light, rising from the dead. Its name comes from the Latin laudes, “praises,” because for centuries it ended every day with the psalms of praise, Psalms 148 to 150. With Vespers (Evening Prayer), Lauds is one of the two “hinge” hours of the Liturgy of the Hours. Below is what Lauds is, its order step by step, the Invitatory that opens the day, the classic morning psalms and canticles, the Benedictus, and a simple Lauds you can pray at home tomorrow morning.
What is Lauds?
From the earliest centuries, Christians gathered at dawn to praise God. Morning Prayer consecrates the first hours of the day to God, before work and worry begin, and celebrates the Resurrection, which took place “very early in the morning, the first day of the week” (Mark 16:2).
The Second Vatican Council called Lauds and Vespers “the two hinges on which the daily office turns” and asked that they be considered the chief hours and celebrated as such. The spirit of Lauds is in the psalm the Church has long sung on Sunday mornings:
O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day. For thee my soul hath thirsted; for thee my flesh, O how many ways!
In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water: so in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory.
The Invitatory: opening the day
If Morning Prayer is the first prayer of your day, it begins with the Invitatory, the Church’s call to praise. Make the Sign of the Cross on your lips and say:
O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Then follows Psalm 94 (95), with an antiphon for the day or season:
Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
The order of Lauds
In the Liturgy of the Hours used today, Morning Prayer has this order:
- Opening verse: “O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me,” with the Glory Be (or the Invitatory above, if this is the first hour of the day).
- Hymn suited to the morning, the season or the feast.
- Psalmody: a morning psalm, a canticle from the Old Testament, and a psalm of praise, each with its antiphon and ending with the Glory Be.
- Short reading from Scripture, followed by silence.
- Responsory.
- The Benedictus, the Canticle of Zechariah, with its antiphon. All stand and make the Sign of the Cross.
- Intercessions, which dedicate the day and its work to God.
- The Our Father.
- Concluding prayer.
- Blessing (by a priest or deacon) or a short closing verse.
The psalms follow a four-week cycle. On the Sunday of the first week, for example, Morning Prayer uses Psalm 63 (62), the Canticle of the Three Young Men from Daniel 3, and Psalm 149.
The Canticle of the Three Young Men
The Benedicite, sung by the three young men in the fiery furnace, calls all creation to bless God. It is a favorite canticle of Sunday and feast-day Lauds:
All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O ye heavens, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever.
O all ye powers of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
The Laudate psalms
For more than a thousand years, in both the Roman and the monastic Office, Lauds ended every day with Psalms 148, 149 and 150, which all begin “Praise.” They gave the hour its name.
Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise ye him in the high places.
Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him, O sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars and light.
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens: and let all the waters that are above the heavens
Praise the name of the Lord. For he spoke, and they were made: he commanded, and they were created.
Praise him with sound of trumpet: praise him with psaltery and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and choir: praise him with strings and organs.
Praise him on high sounding cymbals: praise him on cymbals of joy: let every spirit praise the Lord. Alleluia.
The Benedictus (Canticle of Zechariah)
The high point of Lauds every morning is the song of Zechariah at the birth of his son, John the Baptist, which greets Christ as “the Orient from on high,” the rising sun:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us, in the house of David his servant:
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who are from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us:
To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember his holy testament,
The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant to us,
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him without fear,
In holiness and justice before him, all our days.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways:
To give knowledge of salvation to his people, unto the remission of their sins:
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet into the way of peace.
A simple Lauds to pray at home
This short form keeps the traditional shape of Morning Prayer and takes about ten minutes, before breakfast or on the way to work.
- Opening: “O Lord, open my lips. And my mouth shall declare thy praise.” Glory Be.
- Psalm: Psalm 62 (above) or Psalm 94.
- Psalm of praise: Psalm 148 or 150 (above).
- Reading: a few verses of today’s Gospel, then a moment of silence. See today’s Mass readings.
- Benedictus: standing, pray Zechariah’s canticle (above), ending with the Glory Be.
- Intercessions: offer the day: your work, your family, the people you will meet, those who are suffering.
- Our Father.
- Closing prayer (written for this page):
Lord God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day.
Let your light shine in our hearts,
keep us from sin, guide our work and our words,
and let everything we do today begin with you and end with you.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
- Ending: “Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God.”
Frequently asked questions
What does Lauds mean?
“Praises,” from the Latin laudes. It is the morning hour of the Church’s daily prayer, also called Morning Prayer.
What time is Lauds prayed?
At or soon after sunrise, at the start of the day. Many people pray it between 6 and 9 a.m.
What is the difference between Lauds and Matins?
Matins was the long night or pre-dawn Office of psalms and readings in the traditional breviary; Lauds followed it at daybreak. Since 1970, Matins has become the Office of Readings, which may be prayed at any hour, while Lauds remains Morning Prayer.
Is Lauds the same as morning prayers?
Lauds is the Church’s official Morning Prayer. “Morning prayers” can also mean personal prayers such as the Morning Offering, which can be prayed alongside it. See our Catholic morning prayers.
Can lay people pray Lauds?
Yes. The Church encourages everyone to pray Morning and Evening Prayer, alone, as a family or with a parish community.
More about the Liturgy of the Hours
- Canticle of Daniel (Benedicite)
- Benedictus (Canticle of Zechariah)
- Psalm 149 (Sing a new song with the saints)
- Psalm 36 (In your light we see light)
- Psalm 57 (In the shadow of your wings)
- Psalm 148 (All creation praises God)
- Psalm 5 (In the morning you hear my voice)
- Psalm 150 (Praise the Lord in his holy places)
- Psalm 95 (Come, let us sing to the Lord)
- Psalm 63 (My soul thirsts for you)
- Psalm 51 (Miserere)
- Preces de Laudes (en español)
- The Te Deum
- Liturgy of the Hours: a beginner’s guide
- Vespers (Evening Prayer)
- Compline (Night Prayer)
- Catholic morning prayers
- The Morning Offering
- How many psalms are there?
Texts and sources
- Scripture: Psalm 62:2–3 (63:1–2); Psalm 50:17 (51:15); Psalm 94:1–7 (95:1–7); Daniel 3:57–61; Psalm 148:1–5; Psalm 150:3–5; Luke 1:68–79; Mark 16:2, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium 89.
- Rule of St. Benedict, chapters 12 and 13.
- The closing prayer was written for this page.