Liturgy of the HoursDaily Ribbon Placement Guide

REDis today’s liturgical color

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Volume IV (Ordinary Time, Weeks 18 to 34)

Calculated from the USCCB calendar for the United States. How this guide works.

Set your ribbons

New to the Hours? Set up once

Choose your breviary, then place these bookmarks before you begin today’s prayer.

  1. Keep one bookmark at the Ordinary, just before the Psalter. It stays there.
  2. Choose the layout that matches your book. The first edition uses five ribbons. The Second Edition uses seven or eight depending on the publisher.
  3. Move the remaining ribbons to the sections shown below. Each card tells you what to look for.

Read the full ribbon placement guide

Which breviary do you have?

First edition, the current four-volume set. One fixed bookmark at the Ordinary plus five ribbons you move.

Five, seven or eight? Which layout is mine

First, mark the Ordinary. It sits just before the Psalter in your volume and holds the parts you repeat at every hour. Keep it marked and leave it. The five ribbons below are the ones you move.
Ribbon 1
Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Proper of Seasons. Find the section for this week in the Proper of Seasons. It holds Office of Readings each day and the Sunday antiphons and prayers for Morning and Evening Prayer.
Ribbon 2
Psalter, Week IV, Monday
The four-week Psalter. Antiphons and psalms for Office of Readings, Morning, Daytime, and Evening Prayer.
Ribbon 3
Night Prayer, Monday
A one-week cycle, the simplest place to start. This ribbon also marks the Complementary Psalmody for Daytime Prayer, just after Night Prayer.
Ribbon 4
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Proper of Saints. Today’s celebration takes precedence. Its proper prayers are here.
Ribbon 5
Commons
Just after the Proper of Saints. Shared psalms, readings, and prayers for memorials and feasts. The Proper of Saints tells you which Common and page to use.
What this covers. Season, week, the four-week Psalter, the principal solemnities and feasts, and the liturgical color. It points you to the right section of the four-volume set, not page numbers, since those differ by printing.

Memorials included. The full USCCB calendar of solemnities, feasts, and obligatory and optional memorials is built in, with the rules for when a memorial yields to the season. Local or diocesan celebrations proper to your area may still add to what is shown.

More from the guide

What Psalter week is it today?The four-week cycle, when it resets, and how to work it out for any date. Which volume am I in?Volume I to IV, with the exact dates each one begins and ends. Second Edition ribbons: 5, 7 or 8What changes in 2027, and how to run a mixed set of old and new volumes. Where each ribbon goesThe full placement guide, section by section, for every layout. Month by month calendarEvery day’s celebration, color, Psalter week and volume in one table. Ribbons during the Easter OctaveThe week that breaks the usual pattern, and what to do about it.

Use it offline

Add this guide to your home screen. After your first visit, it opens like an app even without a signal.

  1. Open this site in Safari.
  2. Tap the Share button at the bottom, the square with an arrow pointing up.
  3. Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
  4. Tap Add in the top corner.
Using Android or Chrome?

Open the guide in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu, then choose Install app or Add to Home screen. The exact wording varies by device.

About this guide

Liturgy Ribbons is a free, independent daily reference for the four-volume Liturgy of the Hours, also called the Divine Office or breviary. It is designed for one practical task: showing where to place your ribbons before you begin the day’s prayer.

The four-volume set is organized into sections that each ribbon marks. You keep one fixed bookmark at the Ordinary, the part that repeats at every hour, and you leave it in place. Then you move five ribbons: the Proper of Seasons for the day, the Psalter for the current week and weekday, Night Prayer for the day, the Proper of Saints by calendar date, and the Commons for memorials and feasts. Set those correctly and the whole office falls into place.

The calculation uses the USCCB calendar for the United States and the principles in the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours. It names sections rather than page numbers, because page numbering differs by printing. This is not an official Church or USCCB publication; check your diocesan calendar for local celebrations not shown here.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Liturgy of the Hours?

It is the official daily public prayer of the Catholic Church, also called the Divine Office or the breviary, prayed at set times through the day.

How many ribbons are in the four-volume set?

In the current first edition: one fixed bookmark at the Ordinary, plus five ribbons you move each day, being Proper of Seasons, Psalter, Night Prayer, Proper of Saints, and Commons. The Second Edition differs by publisher. See what changes in 2027.

How do I know which Psalter week it is?

The four-week Psalter restarts at Week I on the First Sunday of Advent, the First Sunday in Ordinary Time, the First Sunday of Lent, and Easter Sunday. This guide works out the current week for any date automatically. Full explanation and today’s answer.

Does this work for the single-volume Christian Prayer?

It is built for the complete four-volume set. The season, Psalter week, and feasts still apply, but the section names and page locations differ in the single-volume book.

Is this an official guide?

No. Liturgy Ribbons is an independent reference tool, not an official publication of the Church or the USCCB. It is built from the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours and the USCCB calendar for the United States. Your diocese or religious community may observe additional celebrations.

Does it work offline?

Yes. After your first visit, the guide loads even with no signal, in a chapel or on a plane. Adding it to your home screen makes this seamless.

My breviary has seven or eight ribbons. Does this work for me?

Yes. The classic layout uses one fixed bookmark at the Ordinary plus five ribbons you move each day. The seven-ribbon layout matches the Word on Fire Second Edition and the eight-ribbon layout matches the Ascension Second Edition. Your choice is remembered on this device.

How do I add it to my iPhone home screen?

Open the site in Safari, tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen. It opens full screen like an app, and there are step-by-step instructions higher up this page.

Can I use this outside the United States?

The guide is built for the United States calendar. The season and Psalter cycle will generally help anywhere, but national, diocesan, and religious-community calendars may include different celebrations.