morning and evening prayer

 

Pausing to pray at fixed hours of the day is an ancient spiritual practice, and Episcopalians have long been especially devoted to what are called the “Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer,” thus establishing a pattern of beginning and ending each day by turning to God in prayer. 

 

In the sixteenth century, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, set the pattern of prayer we now observe, when he reduced the eight daily monastic services of prayer to two and put them in a book to be used by clergy and laity alike (The Book of Common Prayer). 

 

Morning Prayer is also known as “Matins,” and Evening Prayer is also known as “Vespers.” The Offices are recited daily throughout the world, and our praying them has the effect of immersing ourselves in the Holy Scriptures and joining our voices in the world-wide community of Christians who set aside and consecrate set times of the day for prayer. We read the scripture and say the prayers appointed for the day, and when we conclude, the people in the next time zone pick up the same prayers, passing them along to those in the next time zone, and so on. The effect is to ring the earth daily in prayer.

 

The psalms that are appointed to be read at Morning and Evening Prayer are arranged in a seven-week cycle, and the other readings from the Bible are arranged in a two-year cycle. Thus, if one prays the Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer daily, one will read all of the psalms in the Bible every seven weeks, and one will read most of the Old and New Testaments every two years.

 

Daily Morning Prayer, followed by Communion is offered in The Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Monday through Friday, at 8:10. The entire service is usually concluded in 30-35 minutes. Coffee and informal fellowship follow in the small parish hall outside the kitchen.