a modern book of hours

The prayer of the Church, delivered to your phone

Seven times a day, at the hours Christians have always prayed.

For a thousand years, the faithful carried small books of hours — psalms, prayers, and the saints' days, arranged around the rhythm of the day. This is that book, sent by message.Each morning brings Lauds and the saint of the day. Noon brings the Midday Prayer. Three o'clock, the Hour of Mercy. Night closes with Compline. Nothing to install, nothing to open — a message arrives, you pray, you return to your day.

Begin the Hours Read the Daily Order

Prayers arrive by text message.
United States phone numbers only.

Reading the hour, by your device's clock…

the daily order

Seven hours, kept for centuries

The full schedule, on the Full Hours plan. Times follow your own time zone. Touch an hour on the dial, or read the order below.

✠ —:— reading the hour…

A sundial of the day — hover or tap an hour.

6:00 am
Morning PrayerLauds

The day is offered before the world claims it. Psalms of praise and the morning offering.

6:30 am
Saint of the Day

The day's saint — their life, their witness, their patronage — with a prayer for their intercession.

9:00 am
Mid-Morning PrayerTerce

The hour the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost. A prayer before the work of the day.

12:00 pm
Midday Prayer

A pause at the height of the day. The shepherd psalms, prayed when labor is most pressing.

3:00 pm
The Hour of MercyNone

The hour Christ died. The Divine Mercy Chaplet, offered for the whole world.

6:00 pm
Evening PrayerVespers

The Magnificat at the close of day, with thanksgiving for graces received.

9:00 pm
Night PrayerCompline

The Church's last words before sleep. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

The Morning Bell plan keeps the first three entries. The Family Altar adds a children's morning offering at 7:30.

the story of the hours

A rhythm older than the clock

Long before phones, before even mechanical clocks, Christians marked the day by prayer. Here is how that rhythm reached yours.

I
c. 270 · the egyptian desert

The Desert Fathers

Hermits fleeing to the wilderness began praying the psalms at fixed points in the day and night — not by clock, for there was none, but by the sun and the stars.

II
530 · monte cassino

St. Benedict's Rule

"Seven times a day I have given praise to you," wrote the psalmist. Benedict made it law for his monks — the Hours fixed, in order, for the first time.

III
c. 1250 · europe

The Book of Hours

The Hours left the monastery. Laypeople commissioned their own illuminated psalters — the most widely owned book of the Middle Ages after the Bible itself.

IV
1970 · the second vatican council

Liturgia Horarum

The Council restored the Hours to ordinary parish and family life, simplified in structure and translated from Latin into the language of the people praying it.

V
today · in your pocket

Sent to a Phone

The same seven hours. The same psalms the desert fathers prayed. Delivered now by an ordinary message, wherever the day finds you.

what arrives

Drawn from the Church's own treasury

Every message carries the full prayer with a line of context — aligned to the liturgical season and the calendar of saints.

The Liturgy of the Hours

The ancient daily prayer of the Church, prayed in monasteries and rectories without interruption for fifteen centuries.

O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.

The Saint of the Day

A brief life of the day's saint and a prayer asking their intercession — the communion of saints, one morning at a time.

Holy Mary Magdalene, first witness of the Resurrection, pray for us.

The Our Father

The prayer Jesus taught, with brief reflection on its petitions — three for God's glory, four for our need.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The Hail Mary

Scripture woven into prayer, with reflections on Our Lady's mysteries and her maternal intercession.

Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet

Prayed daily at three o'clock — the hour of Christ's death, the hour of great mercy.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Marian Devotions

The Angelus, the Memorare, the Salve Regina, and the seasonal antiphons of Our Lady through the Church's year.

Never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection was left unaided.
how the prayers arrive

By text message, to any phone in the United States

Prayers arrive as ordinary text messages. No application, no account, no feed. You need only a phone that receives texts — no smartphone required. The service is offered to United States phone numbers today.

✠
Catholic Daily Prayer
Text Message · Today
Morning Prayer — Lauds

O God, come to my assistance.
O Lord, make haste to help me.

Today: St. Barnabas, Apostle. When everyone was afraid of Paul, Barnabas alone stood up for him. His name means Son of Encouragement.
6:00 AM
The Hour of Mercy

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

The hour Christ died. Pause one moment.
3:00 PM

plate i — morning and afternoon As received by text message. Works on any phone, with or without a data plan.

✠
Catholic Daily Prayer
Text Message · Today
Evening Prayer — Vespers

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

The day is spent. Give it back to Him as it was.
6:00 PM
Night Prayer — Compline

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Lord, O faithful God.

Good night. Rest in His peace.
9:00 PM

plate ii — evening The same day, closing. Seven hours arrive on the Full Hours plan.

a word of honesty

This service is newly begun. We have no testimonials to show you, and we will not invent any. What we have is a carefully kept library of the Church's own prayers, a complete calendar of her saints, and a system built to deliver them faithfully, at the right hours, every day.

The first thirty days are free, and no card is asked of you. If the Hours take root in your life, we would be honored to keep sending them. If not, a single reply of STOP ends them — no calls, no fees, no questions.

We believe the prayers will speak for themselves.

three plans

Choose your rhythm

Every plan begins with thirty days free. No card is asked of you to begin.

Morning Bell
$4.99

each month

  • Three messages daily
  • Morning Prayer — Lauds
  • Saint of the Day
  • The Our Father, with reflection
  • Cancel any time by replying STOP
Begin the trial
Full Hours
$9.99

each month — most chosen

  • Seven messages daily
  • The complete Liturgy of the Hours
  • Saint of the Day, with biography
  • Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
  • Divine Mercy Chaplet at three o'clock
  • Evening Marian devotions
  • Prayers follow the liturgical season
Begin the trial
Family Altar
$19.99

each month — up to six members

  • Everything in Full Hours
  • Up to six family members
  • A children's morning offering
  • Each member keeps their own schedule
  • Feast-day prayers for the household
Begin the trial

Every plan delivers by text message to a United States phone number. Prices are in US dollars.

questions, honestly answered

Before you begin

No. The Hours are the Church's own prayer, but they are offered to anyone drawn to a rhythm of daily prayer — Catholic, curious, or returning after a long absence.

Nothing is lost. Each message stands on its own — there is no streak to break and no backlog to clear. The next hour simply arrives at its time.

Scripture and the Psalms follow the New American Bible; the Hours and traditional prayers follow the texts in common English liturgical use. Saints' lives are drawn from the Roman Martyrology and standard hagiographies.

Yes. Your number is used only to deliver your prayers and is never sold or shared. Reply STOP at any time and it is removed from active sending.

Yes, at any time. Reply STOP to cancel outright, or write in to change plans. There is no contract and no cancellation fee.

No — nothing replaces the Mass and the sacraments. This is meant to companion that life, not substitute for it: a small, steady practice for the hours in between.

begin the hours

Thirty days, freely given

No card required. Your first prayer arrives tomorrow morning.

The service is not open yet, so a sign-up made today may not reach your phone.

Continue Your Prayers

Trial ended, or reminder text arrive? Enter the phone number you signed up with to add payment and keep your daily prayers coming.