Divine Office

Dear community,

As we begin a new liturgical year this Advent, we are filled with hope and anticipation — both for the coming of Christ at Christmas and for the mission and growth of DivineOffice.org.

Over the years, your prayers and support have helped us reach hundreds of thousands of faithful around the world, making the Liturgy of the Hours accessible and a true place of prayer for the community. Next year we are taking on new challenges for the greater glory of God.

Plans for the future

We are preparing two major initiatives:

1. Spanish Translation and Audio Recording of the Liturgy of the Hours
   In 2026 we plan to extend the reach of our Divine Office ministry and produce faithful translations and high-quality audio recordings of the full Liturgy of the Hours in Spanish. We don’t strive to be publishers of text, but rather facilitators of Liturgical prayer. Divine Office has already gathered together diverse communities and a growing number of our users speak Spanish as their primary language. We hope that praying in Spanish will be felt both as connecting with one’s cultural and spiritual heritage and a meaningful way to worship and feel part of the public prayer of the Church, Christ’s Mystical Body.
2. Recording the New U.S. Translation
   The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is finalizing a new official English translation of the Liturgy of the Hours. We will make every effort to secure permissions and royalty arrangements in order to prepare for the upcoming translation.

Both of these initiatives will require considerable time, talent, and financial resources. And both will expand our mission to make the official prayer of the Church available in more languages and formats, for a global and growing prayer community.

How you can be part of the effort

We are running an year-end fundraiser now through the Baptism of the Lord. Help us to strengthen our bonds, grow our numbers and prepare for the future.

Your contributions will go directly toward:

• Review of Spanish texts to prepare for recording
• Recording editing and producing Spanish audio
• Platform updates to support multilingual content
• Licensing costs for the new translation

Visit divineoffice.org/contribute to make your one-time or recurring donation.

Every gift helps. Even a small monthly contribution makes a big difference when given faithfully.

Thank You for Being Part of This Community

You are not supporting just a website or an app. You are helping thousands pray daily, many for the first time. It’s with your help that prayer reaches the most vulnerable of us, the homebound, the visually impaired, the lonely, and the many seeking a deeper relationship with God.

Thank you for praying with us.
Thank you for being the hands and heart of Divine Office.
Divine Office Team

December 10

Our Lady of Loreto

Optional Memorial

Since the Middle Ages veneration for the Holy House of Loreto has been the origin of that particular shrine which still today is visited by many faithful pilgrims in order to nourish their faith in the Word of God made flesh for us.

This shrine recalls the mystery of the Incarnation, leading all those who visit it to consider “the fullness of time”, when God sent his Son, born of a woman, as well as to meditate both on the words of the Angel announcing the Good News and on the words of the Virgin in response to the divine call. Overshadowed by the Spirit, the humble handmaid of the Lord so became the dwelling-place of divinity, the purist image of the holy Church.

In light of this, Pope Francis has decreed, by his own authority, that the optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto should be inscribed in the Roman Calendar on 10 December, the day on which the feast falls in Loreto, and celebrated every year. This celebration will help all people, especially families, youth and religious to imitate the virtues of that perfect disciple of the Gospel, the Virgin Mother, who, in conceiving the Head of the Church also accepted us as her own. [1]

Collect

O God, who, fulfilling the promise made to our Fathers,
chose the Blessed Virgin Mary
to become the Mother of the Savior,
grant that we may follow her example,
for her humility was pleasing to you
and her obedience profitable to us.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.[2]

[1] Excerpt from the Decree on the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto to be inscribed in the General Roman Calendar
[2] Our Lady of Loreto texts in English for the liturgical celebration USCCB website
Note: Optional Memorials and Commemorations are optional celebrations and, at present, we do not include content specific to these special days. This “About Today” is provided so that you can celebrate this Saint as you worship Christ.