Praying the Hours involves using a very specific set of prayers for each part of the day.
Matins is pre-dawn
Lauds is morning
Terce is mid-morning
Sext is midday
None is mid-afternoon
Vespers is evening
Compline is night
Many monasteries (ancient and modern, Protestant and Catholic) have refined and developed a unique set of prayers for each of the Hours, reflecting the priorities of their Order. But they all use a combination of Psalms, petitions and praise. These are available in various books of prayer and worship, also in guides to prayer. I sometimes pray Compline with The Virtual Abbey as they post the prayers on Twitter (about 9:00 pm Central Time). At other times I scroll back to their earlier tweets to pray and meditate at my own pace. Praying the Hours takes a lot of self-discipline and because it does can be a powerfully transforming force in one’s life.
No comments:
Post a Comment