Prayer was a fundamentally important part of Jesus’ life and ministry, and he encouraged his followers to pray. Early Christians took the words of Jesus, Paul for example, and his followers to heart and continued the Jewish practice of regular prayer at certain hours of the day and night. This led to the tradition of the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours; a set of seven liturgies spaced throughout the day so that prayers were offered day and night. By the 5th century, monks and nuns were dedicating their lives to praying the Divine Office. This tradition of prayer continues today at religious communities offering nearly constant prayer. Thomas Cranmer, the author of the first Book of Common Prayer, did not believe that continual or even daily prayer was the purview of the “professionally religious.” So, he simplified the monks’ prayer cycle into two Daily Offices, morning prayer and evening prayer. The Episcopal Church later added Noonday Prayer and Compline. The Divine Office of the 5th century, prayers every three hours throughout the day, now has four services of prayer: Morning Prayer, Noonday Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline. The liturgy of the Daily Offices can be offered daily for private and public prayer. We can gather for Daily Office at Grace Memorial or in our homes as part of our personal prayer discipline. The Daily Office is set apart from rites like Holy Baptism and the Holy eucharist because they are used on a daily basis. I don’t know if you remember, but we suspended Evening Prayer at Grace during the Covid Pandemic. The Church published by email each week the readings for Tuesday and Thursday Evening Prayer. At the appointed hour of 4:30 pm, I would conduct Evening Prayer at home with the hope that members of Grace were doing the same during this time of crisis. I have no idea how many parishioners conducting Evening Prayer in this manner. However, I did recall one parishioner and her husband telling me they were conducting Evening Prayer in this fashion. You will find in the Book of Common Prayer two versions: Rite I and Rite II. The versions are the same except that Rite I is more traditional with the use of “thee” and “thy.” Rite II is more contemporary and is the most common usage in Episcopal churches. You may chose either rite according to your preference. All of the offices have a similar structure. Each has prayers and features suited for the time of day. Each office includes; opening sentences, psalms, readings from the Bible, and canticles, and prayers which include the Lord’s Prayer and series of additional prayers. The office closes with a dismissal, and there is usually a concluding sentence of scripture. The Book of Common Prayer uses two different lectionaries to determine which scripture passages are read. One is the lectionary for Sundays which is arranged in a three-year cycle. The Daily Office lectionary is arranged in a two-year cycle which allows us to go deeper in our study of the Bible. The lessons are divided up among the day, so that we have readings for every office. We usually read the Old Testament and epistle readings during Morning Prayer and save the gospel for Evening Prayer. Evensong is not found in the Book of Common Prayer, but it is another name for Evening Prayer. It differs in that all or most of the prayers are sung either by a choir or by the congregation. This is a long standing Anglican tradition. I have experienced Evensong only once at Christ Church Cathedral and at an Episcopal Church during one of my many travels. The services were extraordinary, and I would urge you to experience Evensong. You may pray the Daily Office at Forward Movement’s website (prayer.forwardmovement.org) or the Forward Day by Day app which includes the Daily Office with the prayers automatically filled in for the day and time you are praying. You may also use the Daily Office Book: Two Volume Set published by Church Publishing, which includes the liturgies of the Daily Office and the full readings for each day in a portable set. The Daily Office is not the only way to pray using the Book of Common Prayer. The Book offers numerous prayers for daily devotion for individuals and families, grace at meals, prayers and thanksgivings, and prayers for the sick. Every two weeks when I bring communion to the Phoenix Nursing Home, I pray with a resident for his departed daughter using a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. Prayer is not a once-a-week action that we do only in church on Sundays. It is meant to be a daily discipline to be done frequently and regularly. Daily prayer is more meaningful when done with others. Don’t forget Evening Prayer is available at Grace at 4:30 pm on Tuesday and Thursday, and Morning Prayer at 7:30 am on Wednesday. It can be offered more often and at different hours and days. You need only ask.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
July 2026
Categories |
RSS Feed
