The Liturgical Hours
In monastic life, the day was divided by the cycles of prayer:
- Lauds (at dawn)
- Prime (first hour after daylight—about 6 A.M.)
- Terce (third hour after daylight—about 8 A.M.)
- Sext (sixth hour after daylight—about 11 A.M.)
- Nones (ninth hour after daylight—about 2 P.M.)
- Vespers (twilight)
- Compline (last cycle of prayers before bed)
- Matins (night prayers—between 2 and 4 A.M.)
The Liturgical Calendar
The year was divided into liturgical seasons:
- Advent (four Sundays before Christmas through Christmas Eve)
- Christmastide (Christmas Eve to January 13)
- Time After Epiphany (January 13 to nine Sundays before Easter)
- Septuagesima (nine Sundays before Easter to the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- Lent (forty-day period from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday)
- Holy Week (Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday)
- Easter Season (Easter Sunday through the octave of Pentecost)
- Time After Pentecost (second Monday after Easter through the Saturday before Advent)