Note h — THE LEPER IN ENGLAND.
Reading edition
The seven Canonical hours of the Church were:—
(1){ Mattins or Nocturns, usually sung between midnight and daybreak. Lauds, a service at daybreak following closely on and sometimes joined to mattins.
(2) Prime, a later morning service, about six o’clock.
(3) Tierce, a service at nine o’clock.
(4) Sexts, a service at noon.
(5) Nones, a service at three in the afternoon.
(6) Vespers, a service at six in the evening.
(7) Compline, a service at eight or nine in the evening, being the last of the seven hours.
These seven offices were condensed in 1519 into two, our present Mattins and Evensong.