More than three decades ago I discovered a form of prayer that transformed what up to then had been a rather feeble prayer life. It is variously called the Daily Office, Divine Office, or Liturgy of the Hours, and has its origins in the monastic communities of the early christian centuries, particularly those influenced by the Rule of St. Benedict. My initial introduction to this came in the form of a little volume purchased at the bookstore of Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota: Herbert Lindemann, ed., The Daily Office, subtitled, “Matins and Vespers, Based on Traditional Liturgical Patterns, with Scripture Readings, Hymns, Canticles, Litanies, Collects, and the Psalter, Designed for Private Devotion or Group Worship” (St. Louis: Concordia, 1965). Although its language is by now somewhat dated, I found it a marvellous book, filled with the riches of the Christian ages, some of which were familiar to me but much of which at that point was not. Having grown up Presbyterian, with a youthful sojourn amongst the Baptists, my discovery of this ancient pattern of prayer was eye-opening. I felt as if something of great worth had been hidden from me until then.
For the benefit of North American evangelicals for whom this is unfamiliar, the Daily Office is a form of prayer growing out of the canonical hours observed in the monasteries. These are spaced about three hours apart and, in the western tradition, include Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline. Hence the name Liturgy of the Hours. Each of these offices consists of the following items more or less in order: opening prayer versicle (e.g., Psalm 51:15 or 70:1); followed by Psalm 95 (for Matins) or another canticle; one or more additional psalms; readings from Old Testament, Epistles and Gospels; another canticle (e.g., Te Deum, Benedictus or Magnificat); the Kyrie (“Lord have mercy!”); petitions; the Our Father; collects; and a closing doxology or benediction. The prayers and readings are structured according to the traditional church calendar.
Outside the monasteries the canonical hours have been abbreviated to two or three daily prayer offices, usually Matins and Vespers, and sometimes Compline as well. The Book of Common Prayer prescribes two daily prayer offices: Morning Prayer, which combines Matins and Lauds, and Evening Prayer, a combination of Vespers and Compline.
What if all Christians lived in communities where morning, evening and night prayer were prayed on a daily basis? Ordinary Muslims pray five times a day. The ancient Israelites appear to have prayed anywhere from three to seven times daily (Daniel 6:10; Psalm 119:164; cf., Acts 10:9). How would this change our communal relationship with God? How would it alter the way we live our lives together? One suspects that, by God’s grace, the general adoption of the Benedictine principle of ora et labora could change history. Pray God it be so.
February 27th, 2010 | 1:07 pm | #1
Thank you for this wonderful and enlightening post. Over the years, I have tried to move my prayers toward a form of the Daily Office though they are modified somewhat from strictly following the Daily Office. I follow a lectionary with daily readings from the Old Testament, the gospels, and epistles (different readings may be substituted for the epistles at different times of the year), and psalms. Some days I complete all my Scripture reading at one time, and other days I end up breaking it up. Even if I end up doing my Scripture reading all at one time, I still read/pray different psalms in the morning and evening (my lectionary follows the Book of Common Prayer and has different psalms appointed for morning and evening). I also try to make time to read/pray some psalms throughout the day from my pocket psalter, but I do not always have success with that.
What I have learned by following some form of the Daily Office is that it keeps me consistent in my reading and ever mindful of God. And it also keeps me consistent even on those days when I don’t “feel” like praying or reading because I think we all have those days, but I believe it is important to continue in prayer despite those feelings.
February 27th, 2010 | 2:16 pm | #2
David, I’m pleased to tell there is now a comprehensive single volume resource for evangelicals, Reformed and Lutheran or whomever else, who desire to use the daily office, with Roman Catholic prayers to Mary and the saints removed. This resource far exceeds The Daily Office, in terms of depth of resources, comprehensiveness, and better overall theological content.
It is called The Treasury of Daily Prayer, click on the title to learn more.
Additionally, there is a complete audio recording of the daily prayer offices Evening and Morning.
February 27th, 2010 | 2:38 pm | #3
Evangel readers might like to know that many non-Lutherans have warmly embraced the Treasury of Daily Prayer. Here is what Michael Spencer had to say about it:
“I want to use every superlative possible to tell my readers that Concordia has produced the most comprehensive, well edited, plainly explained and thoroughly impressive resource for liturgical daily prayer I’ve ever encountered.
“If you want a resource for personal or small group liturgical prayer, with abundant options, complete explanation of the Christian year, scripture passages printed out, readings from Church fathers included and much more, your search is permanently over. The Treasury of Daily Prayer surpasses any resource I’ve seen.
“What impresses me the most here is not what other resources do, but what no other resource does. I am constantly looking for resources synced with the Christian year AND for the Christian year to be completely explained. Done.
“I’m looking for Lenten devotions with a catechetical focus. Done. I want liturgical prayer that includes readings from the church fathers and reference to doctrinal confessions. Done. I want the process of liturgical prayer explained step by step and in its component parts, so that those with no background in such prayer can begin with confidence. Done.
“This is a Lutheran resource, published by the LCMS publishing house. It is catholic in the sense that conservative Lutheran resources are expected to be. This isn’t a resource that does anything with contemporary generic evangelicalism in mind. The confessions referenced are Lutheran confessions, and Luther is generously represented in the readings. The lectionary is the LCMS lectionary.
“This in no way limits the value of this resource for any Protestant. Even with the sacramental disagreements that may be underlined in some portions of the material, the vast majority of what you’ll find in The Treasury of Daily Prayer is completely usable by any Christian.
“It’s a feast folks. Seriously. I’ve seen nothing this good or even close.
“This is the kind of large resource that can make a lifetime contribution to personal worship. It is a complete education in the Protestant liturgical prayer tradition, Lutheran version.”
—Michael Spencer
InternetMonk.com
February 27th, 2010 | 9:36 pm | #4
I’m delighted to see the Daily Office being made accessible to more people! I began doing Evening Prayer two years ago, and added Morning Prayer to it this past summer; I use the Book of Common Prayer for the liturgical structure.
It’s wonderful to be praying with the awareness that I am sharing in a worldwide community of fellow Christians praying – if you take into account time zones, we are all participating in “prayer without ceasing”, in a way! It is also wonderful to use a liturgy that has been used, at least in part, for centuries (often many, many centuries), speaking words that were spoken by fellow Christians who are now with Christ. It is a way to share in the community of saints, united through time and space by love of Christ.
February 27th, 2010 | 10:12 pm | #5
I linked to this post for the benefit of a friend, and he suggested this electronic resource: Prayer Aid for use in your Book of Common Prayer devotions. I am somewhat put off by the idea of praying before a computer screen, but I suppose it is no different in principle than using a book for this purpose.
February 27th, 2010 | 10:16 pm | #6
Thank you so much, Paul, for the link to The Treasury of Daily Prayer. It does indeed look very good, and I plan to acquire a copy. Now if I could only get my Reformed brethren to produce something similar, using the Heidelberg Catechism rather than Augsburg Confession.
February 28th, 2010 | 1:49 pm | #7
Very helpful and easy to use for beginners in these Offices: “The Divine Hours,” compiled by Phyllis Tickle, in three easy-to-find volumes.
As David Koyzis says, it will change your prayer time. I’m in my fourth or fifth year now, and it is still wonderful.
March 1st, 2010 | 12:05 pm | #8
David – I am with you on that. I’m a PCA guy so we are in the Westminster tradition and I have longed for something like the Treasury of Daily Prayer using the resources of the Westminster Tradition. But I’d also gladly use something based on the Heidelberg catechism.
Still though, I do plan on getting the Treasury of Daily Prayer and many thanks to Paul and the folks at Concordia for publishing this. I find that Luther and the Lutherans often address matters that are near and dear to us presies and reformed better than some of our own writers, so I’m looking forward to using it.
March 1st, 2010 | 12:31 pm | #9
Thanks David, I’m glad to hear that you are finding the Treasury of Daily Prayer useful.
March 2nd, 2010 | 9:49 pm | #10
David,
Thanks for this post. I had been considering the daily office for a few months, but this well-thought-out post finally convinced me. Also, thank you, Rev. McCain, for suggesting the Treasury of Daily Prayer. It’s on its way from amazon.com as we speak!
March 2nd, 2010 | 11:23 pm | #11
That’s wonderful to hear, Blake. You will not regret it.
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