The practice of praying at fixed hours throughout the day has deep roots in both Jewish and Christian traditions. Variously called “fixed-hour prayer”, the “daily office”, or “the divine hours”, these prayers are deeply Biblical. They express great spiritual truth and deep human longing in stirring language that has the potential to shape the soul.
If you have ever been to a monastery or an abbey, or if you have ever watched a television show that featured monks or nuns, you may have noticed that they faithfully gather together for prayer many times a day. They follow the Divine Hours, praying at multiple set times throughout the day and often throughout the night too. In addition, there are evening prayers and morning prayers outside of these times.
What you might not know about the spiritual practice of Divine Hours-whether you’ve learned about the practice personally or vicariously through media-is that the practice of fixed-hour prayer was not originally something that was specific to the monastic or clerical classes.
Let's delve into the history, significance, and practical application of spiritual hours of prayer.
Biblical and Historical Roots
God commanded the priests to offer a morning and an evening sacrifice each day (Exodus 29:38-41). Elsewhere, Scripture says, “Seven times a day I praise you” (Psalm 119:164). By the first century, in addition to the morning and evening prayer that accompanied the sacrifices, Jews gathered for prayer at the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day.
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The book of Acts indicates that the early Christians followed the same established patterns. Peter and John healed the lame beggar near the Beautiful Gate of the Temple as they went to prayer at three in the afternoon, the ninth hour (Acts 3:1). Cornelius the Centurion had his vision of an angel as he prayed at “about the ninth hour” (Acts 10:3). The practice continued as monks and hermits set aside times for prayer throughout the day, prayed through the Psalms in a weekly cycle.
Probably the first symbolic feature of the Divine Office is the number seven. “Seven times a day I have given you praise,” Scripture says (Psalm 118:64). Probably the original idea of the psalmist was to use a perfect number-seven-to focus direct attention on earnest, persevering, unceasing prayer, as opposed to seven specific prayer periods as such in the Jewish tradition. Yet the early Christian monks took the number more literally and John Cassian points out the monks of Bethlehem as meeting together for prayer seven times in the course of the day.
But even then the deeper purpose of adhering to the scriptural number of seven was to help the Christian monks focus on the famous injunction already mentioned, to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Having established an objective number of seven offices, early monks were concerned about which prayers should be held at which hours. They came to some general conclusions from the life of our Lord and the Apostles about the prayer periods to be held in the monasteries.
Saint Basil the Great (+379 A. D.), for example, says (in the Longer Rules 37, 3-4) that the morning office of Lauds is a reminder to us to dedicate the day’s first ideas of the mind and the first emotions of the heart to God. Nor should we begin our manual labor, says Saint Basil, until we have done as the psalmist says: “It is you whom I invoke, O Lord. In the morning you hear me; in the morning I offer you my prayer, watching and waiting” (Psalm 5:3b). Also, at midmorning the brethren should gather to pray, recounting the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:15). Saint Basil would also have his monks pray Psalm 90 at this hour, with its reference to the “scourge that lays waste at noon” (v.6), the “noonday devil,” or most commonly in ancient literature called accedia.
In the middle of the afternoon, says Saint Basil, the monks should pray as the Apostles did (Acts 3:1) “at the ninth hour,” that is, around three in the afternoon. As day draws to a close, the brethren should give God thanks for all the good they may have done, admitting what they have failed to do, and confess any failings of thought, word or deed. Saint Basil goes on to say that those who wish to live for the honor and glory of God must not neglect these periods of prayer during the day and night.
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Another important monastic legislator, John Cassian (+ca. 433 A. D.), has different symbolism for Sext, None, and Vespers. He draws attentions to our Lord’s crucifixion at Noon, which he says we should recall when praying at that hour. Also at the Sixth Hour Saint Peter received the vision that all nations were being called to salvation (Acts 10:9ff). At the Ninth Hour Christ descended into the netherworld to free those in Hades or Sheol, and broke open its gates and called forth the waiting ancestors, from Adam and Eve to John the Baptist, awaiting redemption by Christ. Cornelius the Centurion too received his call at the Ninth Hour, according to Acts 10:1-3.
As these hours were consecrated by sacred events, says Cassian, the hours should also be kept by monks. As for the evening hour, the example of the Old Testament Mosaic law should be our model: “Let my prayer arise before you like incense, the raising of my hands like an evening oblation” (Psalm 140:2). Cassian also cites psalm and other scripture texts to bolster the ideas of prayer at morning, midday, noon, mid-afternoon, nightfall and night. Cassian was especially in favor of the eremitical (hermit) life, since it could more easily be a ceaseless prayer.
Another important monastic legislator from around the time of Saint Benedict (+547 A. D.) is Saint Caesarius of Arles, first a monk at the important monastery of Lerins, then a Bishop of Arles and writer of a rule for nuns at Arles, where his sister, Caesaria, was abbess. Saint Caesarius died about 543. In his rule for nuns he refers to the hymns of the various hours as giving expression to the symbolic meaning of the various hours. The little hour of Sext, says Saint Caesarius, recalls the visitors to Abraham (Genesis 18) at midday. The monks looked upon the three visitors as symbolic of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, which the Arians denied. The heresy of the Arians was also known to Saint Benedict, whose insistence on the regular use of the doxology, Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto (Glory Be to the Father , and the Son, and the Holy Spirit), clearly placed his monks in the non-Arian camp.
Many Protestant traditions departed from fixed-hour prayer in “protest” of the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church and the spiritual numbness that the reformers were trying to distance themselves from. But it turns out that in distancing ourselves, we actually lost a rich avenue of prayer that is rooted in Scripture and in our very own tradition.
Why Are Fixed-hour Prayers Important In Christian History? - Followers Of Christianity
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The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office or the Work of God (Opus Dei), is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer. The Hours are a meditative dialogue on the mystery of Christ, using scripture and prayer. At times the dialogue is between the Church or individual soul and God; at times it is a dialogue among the members of the Church; and at times it is even between the Church and the world. The Divine Office "is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses to the Father." (SC 84) The dialogue is always held, however, in the presence of God and using the words and wisdom of God.
Each of the five canonical Hours includes selections from the Psalms that culminate in a scriptural proclamation. The two most important or hinge Hours are Morning and Evening Prayer. These each include a Gospel canticle: the Canticle of Zechariah from Luke 1:68-79 for Morning Prayer (known as the Benedictus), and the Canticle of Mary from Luke 1:46-55 for Evening Prayer (known as the Magnificat). "The hymns and litanies of the Liturgy of the Hours integrate the prayer of the psalms into the age of the Church, expressing the symbolism of the time of day, the liturgical season, or the feast being celebrated.
"The office of readings seeks to provide God's people, and in particular those consecrated to God in a special way, with a wider selection of passages from sacred Scripture for meditation, together with the finest excerpts from spiritual writers. Even though the cycle of scriptural readings at daily Mass is now richer, the treasures of revelation and tradition to be found in the office of readings will also contribute greatly to the spiritual life" (General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours [GILH], no.
As the Prophet saith: “Seven times a day I have given praise to Thee” (Ps 119:164), this sacred sevenfold number will be fulfilled by us in this wise if we perform the duties of our service at the time of Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline….[note]Benedict of Nursia, Holy Rule of St. Since the Holy Rule of St. Each “hour” includes a hymn, psalms, a Scripture reading, canticles (Bible prayers not from the Psalms) and prayers along with features specific to the time of day. Most of the spiritual readings come from writers prior to the Reformation. They’re people we Evangelicals for the most part have never heard of, but are suspicious about anyway. While we should be discerning as we read any author, between the apostles and Martin Luther the church saw many great minds and warm hearts in love with God.
The Liturgy of the Hours is Catholic and reflects that fact. Protestants need to be charitable, flexible and make adjustments. When the book says we pray for “our pope,” I do pray for the pope, but I add pastors, elders and other Christian leaders as well. Every evening there is a prayer for Christians who have departed this life. I intercede for those who are dying rather than those who are dead. Finally, some of the Scripture readings come from the Apocryphal books. Catholics accept these as part of the Bible, and Protestants do not. I treat those readings as wise words from a believing source - not unlike the way I would treat Benedict of Nursia, Benedict XVI, Augustine, Calvin, C.S. Lewis or J.I Packer.
That being said as background, this summer, my daily devotions got stale, and stale devotions led invariably to no devotions. That led to a sub-optimal (at least) emotional and spiritual life. The 2,000-plus-pages in each volume are not only daunting, they’re extremely confusing. One concern I had was that the project would be burdensome. After all, I was having enough trouble trying to have one “quiet time” each day, and now I wanted to have five. Strangely, I’ve found five easier than one. The Readings, Morning, and Evening Prayer take between 15 and 20 minutes each. Daytime and Night Prayer take no more than 10. I do the Readings and Morning Prayer before I leave for work. Daytime Prayer is around lunchtime, and it serves as a welcome reminder of what I’m doing at work.
Before I leave my office for the day I say Evening Prayer. The workday is done, and I put my efforts into God’s hands. It also puts me in a better frame of mind for my commute and arrival at home.
Praying the Hours gives me the sense of interceding with and for the church around the world. My Methodist board member and I join thousands each day praying the same psalms and prayers. Praying the Psalms has been part of my devotions for years, and I’m reminded again how they direct me to intercede for my brothers and sisters who are victims of tyranny and persecution.
But the greatest benefit I’ve discovered is that since I’m already praying multiple times a day, I catch myself praying all day long. I’ve always admired people who say they pray naturally without thinking about it throughout the day, but I’ve never done that until now. The Hours have done for me what St.
Benefits of Fixed-Hour Prayer
For one thing, it relieves us of the need to figure out what to say, which can be completely exhausting at times. It seems that the farther along one gets in the spiritual life the harder it is to articulate the longings that roil beneath the surface of our lives, the intimacies of our life with God, the questions and disillusionment that leave us speechless. When our own words fail us, the well-chosen words of Scripture or the prayers from the old prayer books help us to express the inexpressible in ways that are deeply satisfying and open us to an encounter with God.
Fixed-hour prayer also gives us a way to anchor our daily lives in rhythms of prayer, Scripture reading, and silence, ensuring that we do not get too far into any day without orienting or reorienting ourselves to the presence of God in our lives.
James 5:16, tells us that the “prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” As we pray, we stand watch over our families, cities, and nation. Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray (Matthew 26:41). To watch and pray means to be spiritually alert at all times so that we can see when Satan is at the door, desiring to entrap us. The watchman on the wall, in biblical times, was always on guard against any attempt of an enemy to attack or infiltrate the city. Similarly, we are to watch not only for the enemy’s activity but also for the manifestation of God’s plans. If we watch for the enemy and announce his activity, we can avert the devil’s plans to steal, kill and destroy what God has for us. Oftentimes, we are confronted with having to make major decisions that will impact our lives and the lives of loved ones. It is important that we pray and seek the mind of God. When Jesus prayed to the Father, He said, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” (Matthew 6:10).
The Bible speaks of “watches,” which are specific times of the day or night. There are basically eight watches covering a 24 hour period. In Isaiah 62:6 (NIV), God said that He posted watchmen on the walls: “I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night.” This is a divine assignment. All Christians have a prayer watch, even though we may not be aware of it. If you are repeatedly awakened at a particular time at night or led to pray at a certain time in the day, then this would be your prayer watch. Every prayer watch has a purpose.
Walking into a board of directors meeting, I noticed that one of our board members, a Methodist, was holding a book bound in brown leather with ribbons trailing from pages. When he saw me looking with a quizzical expression on my face, he held up his book and explained, “It’s the Book of Hours.
Incorporating Fixed-Hour Prayer into Your Life
The practice of fixed-hour prayer is not simply stopping to pray extemporaneously throughout the day; rather, these times of prayer follow a liturgy, or a structured way of praying. This generally includes set prayers, Scripture reading, and possibly a song or hymn.
One of the best ways to begin practicing fixed-hour prayer is to find one time each day when you will commit to stopping what you are doing in order to pray. This could be first thing in the morning, on your lunch break, or before bed. Starting with one time then adding additional prayer times in the future is a wonderful way to begin.
Fixed-hour prayer practices can also be a wonderful way to pray with others. If you are able to gather with your family, friends, or faith community, whether in person or online, you can pray the liturgy together.
Praying the Divine Hours isn’t an all or nothing experience. Can you find one set time each day to center yourself and pray the liturgy?
Spend time this week paying attention to your experience of prayer these days. In what part of the day do you feel most distant or dis-oriented from the presence of God? When is it hardest to know how to approach God or how to experience all of life as a prayer? Morning, Mid-day, Evening, Night? Then, consider adding some form of fixed-hour prayer to that part of your day, in a way that works for you. It could be a few minutes of silent prayer, to simply reorient yourself to God.
Symbolic Meaning of Prayer Times
"As is clear from many of the elements that make it up, morning prayer is intended and arranged to sanctify the morning. St. "Celebrated as it is as the light of a new day is dawning, this hour also recalls the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the true light enlightening all people (see Jn 1:9) and "the sun of justice" (Mal 4:2), "rising from on high" (Lk 1:78). Hence, we can well understand the advice of St. Cyprian: "There should be prayer in the morning so that the resurrection of the Lord may thus be celebrated" (GILH, no.
"Following a very ancient tradition Christians have made a practice of praying out of private devotion at various times of the day, even in the course of their work, in imitation of the Church in apostolic times.
"Liturgical custom in both East and West has retained midmorning, midday, and midafternoon prayer, mainly because these hours were linked to a commemoration of the events of the Lord's passion and of the first preaching of the Gospel" (GILH, no.
"When evening approaches and the day is already far spent, evening prayer is celebrated in order that 'we may give thanks for what has been given us, or what we have done well, during the day.' We also recall the redemption through the prayer we send up 'like incense in the Lord's sight,' and in which 'the raising up of our hands' becomes 'an evening sacrifice' (see Ps 141:2). This sacrifice 'may also be interpreted more spiritually as the true evening sacrifice that our Savior the Lord entrusted to the apostles at supper on the evening when he instituted the sacred mysteries of the Church or of the evening sacrifice of the next day, the sacrifice, that is, which, raising his hands, he offered to the Father at the end of the ages for the salvation of the whole world.' Again, in order to fix our hope on the light that knows no setting, 'we pray and make petition for the light to come down on us anew; we implore the coming of Christ who will bring the grace of eternal light.' Finally, at this hour we join with the Churches of the East in calling upon the 'joy-giving light of that holy glory, born of the immortal, heavenly Father, the holy and blessed Jesus Christ; now that we have come to the setting of the sun and have seen the evening star, we sing in praise of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…'" (GILH, no.
"Night prayer is the last prayer of the day, said before retiring, even if that is after midnight" (GILH, no.