Canonical hours sundial      

Museo della Civiltà Contadina del Friuli Imperiale (Sundials courtyard)

Photo n° 4

The time indicated corresponds to the twelfth part of the diurnal arch, which starts at dawn. Canonical hours have different duration in summer and in winter, and the solar quadrant only shows a few. The daily communitarian oration was supposed to commemorate the main moments of the passion and death of Christ, described in the Gospels.

Essentially, they took place at: third hour (mid morning), sixth hour (noon) and ninth hour (mid afternoon). There were also the Laudi at dawn and the Vespers at sunset.