Morning Prayer II:

Using the Daily Office in The Book of Common Prayer

Before beginning any prayer:

-- take time to relax in God’s presence

-- ask the Lord to be present and keep you focused

•  You can begin with any one of the Anthems – pages 75 to 78.

• (75 to the top of 78 are all seasonal Anthems.)
• Middle of 78 to bottom – Anthems that can be used any time

These anthems are short scripture passages that help us to focus on what we are about to do.  They are not only helpful during Morning Prayer but are wonderful verses to commit to memory, to bring to mind during the course of the day, so we can focus every moment on God.

• Confession of Sin – page 79

The confession of sin is very important as our days are always marked by some sin.  We are called to bring those sins to the cross and leave them there that we might go to prayer with a clear conscious  Don’t be afraid to name your sins. It may be of some help as you do so to bring them to the cross and leave them there, using your imagination. 

            Page 80 - there is an absolution that you might know that all things confessed are forgiven and taken away.

All the above is optional.

•  Morning Prayer begins with the Invitatory in the middle of page 80.

•  After the “Glory be. . . “ proceed to page 82 – recite either the Venite or Jubilate or during the Easter Season, the Christ our Passover on page 83.

These sections of Scripture call us to prayer. Again, these prayers help us to focus on the Lord and why we are at prayer. 

•  After these Psalms comes the Psalm of the Day

They are found in the Daily Office Lectionary, which begins on page 936 of the Prayer Book.Church Year begins with Advent & ends with Last Pentecost.

• Church Year that will be mostly an odd number year – like 2011 – is Year One beginning on page 936 (with First Advent Sunday in 2010 & on into 2011)
• Church Year that will be mostly an even year – like 2012 – is Year Two beginning on page 937 (with First Advent Sunday in 2011 & on into 2012)

The Psalms for the day are on the same line as the day of the week (right above the readings listed – they appear only as a number.  Psalms on left of bullet are for Morning Prayer. On the other side of the bullet are the Psalms for Evening Prayer.

The Psalms appear in a 6 week cycle – all 150 are used during this cycle that then repeats.

•  After the Psalms, the Readings are then done.There is always an Old Testament, New Testament, and a Gospel reading.You can do as few as 1 reading or as many as all 3 in one sitting.

• After each reading – There is a Canticle

The Canticles for Morning Prayer begin on page 85 – They are numbered 8 to 21 (1 to 7 are intended for Rite 1- pages 47 to 53) Please note that 15 – Song of Mary and 17 – Song of Simeon are really intended for Evening Prayer but can be done.

The Prayer Book gives a suggested cycle by day -- pages 144 and 145.

•  After the last Canticle – read the Apostles’ Creed (page 96) and go right into the prayers.
  

• There are 2 options for Suffrages -- you can do either                   Suffrage A on p. 97 OR Suffrage B on p. 98                              

•  After the Suffrages are the Collects

Begin with the Collect of the Day – usually for the Sunday preceding. (i.e.: Week of 1 Advent means read for that Sunday and through the week after, so First Sunday of Advent Collect would be read for that Sunday and then for the week following.)

Then a Daily Collect follows – Sunday, Friday and Saturday are given (page 98 and 99)

One optional way of rotating through the Collects is to read The Collect for the Renewal of Life on Monday; A Collect for Peace on Tuesday; A Collect for Grace on Wednesday; and A Collect for Guidance on Thursday.  You can also choose a Collect or do the same a few days in a row.

•  One always ends with a Collect for Mission (bottom of page100 and top of page 101

•  After there is a time allotted for personal Intercessions and Thanksgivings, if you choose.
  

• Then you may say the General Thanksgiving and Prayer of St. Chrysostom  – although both are optional.
  

• Morning Prayer ends with “Let us bless the Lord” – middle of page 102 and one of the blessings at the bottom of the page.

IMPORTANT to remember: Prayer is not about “getting it right” or being worried about the structure.

The structure is there to free you to pray.  It is okay to tailor the above to meet your needs.  if you find yourself really taken by one reading or one part of the prayer and God seems to be saying to stay there; don’t worry about getting it all in.  Stay where He wants you to stay for as long as He wants you to stay there.

Also, be aware that it takes time to feel comfortable with the rhythm of this prayer. You will only feel comfortable with practice. With time a rhythm of prayer arises and it becomes second nature. The structure can free you up just to be with God. 

Finally, it is normal that on some days prayer will be like going through the motions and our spirits will feel as dry as toast.  All of our relationships go through phases like this, so don’t be too concerned when these times arise.

Evening Prayer II

Using the Daily Office in The Book of Common Prayer

The structure is much the same as Morning Prayer.

• Anthems – pages 115 and 116 which deal specifically with night, the evening, although one is encouraged to use the Anthems from Morning Prayer, if one would like.
  

• Confession of Sin – page 116.  Again, this is optional, although probably more appropriate to Evening Prayer than it is to Morning Prayer.
  

• The actual service begins in the middle of page 117 with the Invitatory
  

• and continues with the very ancient hymn of the Church – O Gracious Light – on page 118.
  

• The Psalms follow  - refer to Daily Office Lectionary. (See Morning Prayer sheet.)
  

• The Lessons follow the Psalms – usually the lesson/lessons not done at Morning Prayer are done at Evening Prayer.
  

• After each lesson there is a Canticle. The 2 traditional Canticles for Evening Prayer are Song of Mary on page 119 and Song of Simeon on page 120.  Although any of the Canticles from 85 to 95 can be used – with the exclusion of Canticle 16 The Song of Zechariah, which is usually done in the morning. 
  

• The Apostles’ Creed follows the last Canticle.
  

• The prayers follow: Again there is Suffrage A on page 121 and Suffrage B on page 122 – choose one.
  

• The Collect of the Day (usually the collect of the Sunday preceding)
  

• This is followed by another collect. Sunday, Friday, Saturday are preset. The others can be done at your discretion –  page 123.
  

• These are followed by a Collect for Mission – page 124/125.
  

• From here on Evening Prayer is identical to Morning Prayer – refer to Morning Prayer section.