"On the Roman Breviary.")

"Matutina ligat Christum qui crimina purgat,
Prima replet sputis. Causam dat Tertia mortis.
Sexta cruci nectit. Latus ejus Nona bipertit.
Vespera deponit. Tumulo completa reponit.
Haec sunt septenis propter quae psallimus horas."

"At Matins bound; at Prime reviled;
Condemned to death at Tierce;
Nailed to the Cross at Sext; at None
His blessed Side they pierce.
They take him down at Vesper-tide;
In grave at Compline lay,
Who thenceforth bids His Church observe
The sevenfold hours alway."

(_Gloss. Cap. I. De Missa_)

Thus, this old author connects the seven hours with the scenes of the
Passion. Another author finds in the hours a reminder and a warning that
we should devote every stage of our lives to God. For the seven
canonical hours, he writes, bear a striking resemblance to the seven
ages of man.

_Matins_, the night office, typifies the pre-natal stage of life.
_Lauds_, the office of dawn, seems to resemble the beginnings of
childhood. _Prime_ recalls to him youth. _Terce_, recited when
the sun is high in the heavens shedding brilliant light, symbolises
early manhood with its strength and glory. _Sext_ typifies mature