8 pm Evening Prayer  

        PRAYER OF THE WEEK      July 13-19, 2020

Psalm 119:164 – “Seven times a day do I praise Thee”  

From the earliest days of the Church, the two main forms of worship have been the

Holy Eucharist and the Daily Office, also known as the Liturgy of the Hours. Praying the

Hours provides opportunity throughout the day to regularly pause and sanctify the day

with spiritual practice. Morning and Evening Prayer are the main daily prayer times.

There are, however, seven prayer times in total in the Liturgy of Hours: Matins or

Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. Formalized by St. Benedict in

the 6rh century, the Hours became the basis for monastic prayer, a task that for most

of us would prove daunting. (Traditionally, Matins is at 2-3 am.)  

The following is a much abbreviated suggestion for how someone moved to observe a

rhythm of daily prayer might pray throughout the day:  

Pray when you awake: Glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

When you rise: Thank you, heavenly Father, for the gift of a new day.

Mid-morning:  O God, in whom we live and move and have our being, guide us by the     

        Holy Spirit.

At Noon: God, send your Holy Spirit into our hearts. Direct us according to your will.

Mid-Afternoon: O God our Father, make us your children in spirit and in truth.

Evening:  Lord, support us all the days of this life, until shadows lengthen, evening        

   comes, the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over, and our work is done.

Bed time: Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping: that awake we may watch      

     with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.  

SUGGESTION: An easy way to begin the practice of Praying the Hours is to set aside

just Morning and Evening for prayer. Other times or reading scripture could be added later.

A video of our Sunday Service will be available at 10am on Sunday.