It is equally certain that the Apostles and early disciples of Christ did not, from the very outset, cut themselves adrift from the Synagogue. The Jews, we know, had their three sacrifices each day, viz., at dawn, in the middle of the day and in the late afternoon or evening. The observance of some public, or liturgical, forms of Prayer by the Church, is of Apostolic origin. We can only give some slight outline of the history of the formation of the Breviary. Already Alcuin, at the end of the eighth century, uses the word when speaking of a Book of Hours composed by him for the use of the Emperor Charlemagne. We know it as the entire collection, generally divided into four volumes, according to the four seasons of the year, of the complete pensum of our service to God, as distinct from the Missal, the Pontificale and Ritual, which contain the text of the Masses, the various rites of the Sacraments and so forth. Generally speaking, Breviarium is the same thing as our Ordo and even less, for it was simply a sheet upon which were written down some directions for the celebration of the Masses and the Psalmody.

In the Middle Ages it often signifies the same thing as Comes, that is, a list of the extracts of the Gospels to be read in church in the course of the year. Benedict in his Rule, when he says that Abbas brevem teneat of all the tools belonging to the monastery. Originally the word 'Breviarium' signifies a register or inventory. It is therefore a matter of supreme interest to all priests to have at least some general notions as to how the Breviary originated, grew and developed, until it acquired its present familiar form.

How frequently it happens that, as we open the book, we are suddenly reminded of what befell us, perhaps years ago, because on that particular day maybe it was a day of joy, or else of sorrow we happened to say the very psalms, or prayers which are appointed for today. Our Breviary is never laid aside for long it accompanies us on all our journeys its well-thumbed pages are the confidants of our daily thoughts. We commonly speak of the divine office as the Breviary.

Divine office volume 2