Lauds
The Office of Lauds, for 3 a.m., is the second of the eight “Hours of the Virgin” (or Offices). Lauds is for The Visitation. When Mary was pregnant with Jesus she went into the hill country to tell her cousin Elizabeth, whose baby (to be John the Baptist), leaped in the womb at Mary’s greeting. Mary’s response took the form of the anthem known as the Magnificat. Magnificat anima mea, Dominum (My soul doth magnify the Lord). (Thorpe, 1976)