And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshiped the LORD their God.
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Bede
AD 735
“And they rose up to stand, and they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God four times a day, and four times a night they confessed and prayed to the Lord their God.” For who would not be amazed that such a great people had such extraordinary concern for devotion that four times a day—that is, at the first hour of the morning, the third, the sixth and the ninth, when time was to be made for prayer and psalmody—they gave themselves over to listening to the divine law in order to renew their mind in God and come back purer and more devout for imploring his mercy; but also four times a night they would shake off their sleepiness and get up in order to confess their sins and to beg pardon. From this example, I think, a most beautiful custom has developed in the church, namely, that through each hour of daily psalmody a passage from Old or New Testament is recited by heart for all to hear, and thus strengthened by the words of the apostles or the prophets, they bend their knees...
Stand, to hear the law, out of reverence; (Menochius) or the Levites ascended the pulpit to read, four times in the day. (Tirinus)
After each lecture psalms were sung, (Calmet) to praise God, and to declare the sins of the people, and their sincere repentance. (Haydock)
On days of mourning, the Jews assembled four times to pray, and thrice on other days, by the institution of Esdras. (Maimonides) See Acts iii. 1.
On their fasts, they refrained from all meat, as well as from work, spending their time in prayer. They began at the first hour, and continued their exercises of devotion till the third, when they recommenced for other three hours. They did the like at the sixth and ninth hours; hearing the law, then prostrating themselves to confess their sins. Afterwards they rose to join with the Levites in praising the Lord. (Calmet)
