Vatican website translation:
83. Christ Jesus, high priest of the new and eternal covenant, taking human nature, introduced into this earthly exile that hymn which is sung throughout all ages in the halls of heaven. He joins the entire community of mankind to Himself, associating it with His own singing of this canticle of divine praise.
For he continues His priestly work through the agency of His Church, which is ceaselessly engaged in praising the Lord and interceding for the salvation of the whole world. She does this, not only by celebrating the eucharist, but also in other ways, especially by praying the divine office.
Latin text:
83. Summus Novi atque aeterni Testamenti Sacerdos, Christus Iesus, humanam naturam assumens, terrestri huic exsilio hymnum illum invexit, qui in supernis sedibus per omne aevum canitur. Universam hominum communitatem ipse sibi coagmentat, eandemque in divino hoc concinendo laudis carmine secum consociat.
Illud enim sacerdotale munus per ipsam suam Ecclesiam pergit, quae non tantum Eucharistia celebranda, sed etiam aliis modis, praesertim Officio divino persolvendo, Dominum sine intermissione laudat et pro totius mundi salute interpellat.
Slavishly literal translation:
83. The High Priest of the New and eternal Covenant, Christ Jesus, assuming human nature, brought into this terrestrial exile that hymn which is sung in the celestial habitations through all eternity. He joins the whole community of human beings to himself, and he yokes it with himself in singing this divine canticle of praise.
For he accomplishes that sacerdotal office through his own Church, who, not only through celebrating the Eucharist, but also by other means, above all by rendering the divine Office, praises the Lord without interruption and intercedes for the salvation of the entire world.
Article 83 opens the fourth chapter of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, devoted to the renewal and reform of the Liturgy of the Hours also known as the Divine Office. As we have come to expect, the chapter begins by enunciating some foundational principles before it turns to particular practical decrees. This theological foundation extends from art. 83 through art. 86.
The first sentence of art. 83 applies to the formal daily prayer of the Church the principles earlier enunciated in SC 7 and 8. Thus the Liturgy of the Hours, like all liturgy, is to be understood as “an exercise of the priestly office of Christ” (SC 7) and, like all liturgy, is a means by which “we take part in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims” (SC 8). The second sentence of art. 83 reminds us also that “Christ always truly associates the Church with himself in the great work wherein God is perfectly glorified and the recipients made holy. The Church…through him offers worship to the eternal Father” (SC 7).
The second paragraph of art. 83 relates the Liturgy of the Hours (as well as other unnamed prayer forms) to the Eucharist by which Christ expresses his sacerdotal office through the Church’s worship. The paragraph concludes by articulating two characteristics that particularly mark the Divine Office: 1) that it is a practical means by which to accomplish the Pauline injunction to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17); and 2) that the major components of the Office are praise of the divine and supplication for one’s own needs, the needs of the community, and those of the entire world.
Pray Tell readers may wish to discuss how well the content and structure of the reformed Liturgy of the Hours reflect the praise and supplication thematics articulated in art. 83, especially in the light of the content and structure of the unreformed Roman Rite Divine Office. They may also wish to explore the significance of musical rendition of the various hours in the light of the assertions in the first two sentences of the article.
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