Praying the Hours

Praying the Hours (also called the Daily Office) refers to periods of time throughout the day set aside to be with God in personal or corporate scripture reading, meditation, or prayer. Some parts of the Church may call a designated “hour” with God a “Quiet Time.” Praying the Hours is similar, though it occurs at multiple times in the day. It’s a spiritual practice that allows us to stop at intervals and recall that every moment and each day belongs to him.

The Jews of the Old Testament brought this practice to life, and it’s clearly visible in the Psalms. There you will find exhortations to pray regularly through the day—in the morning (Psalm 92:2), at night (Psalm 63:6), and at regular intervals (Psalm 119:164).

Since many of the early Christians were Jews, they continued the practice. And for those not of a Jewish background, they were influenced by the Roman ringing of the bells, which marked the stages of the work day. In either case, early Christian’s continued existing practices of dividing up the hours. It seemed to them there could be no better use of these intervals than that of prayer (see Acts 16:25 as an example). The early Fathers of the church, not to mention the Dessert Fathers and monastic practitioners, carried forward the discipline of praying and meditating at regular times. For them, it was a way of putting into practice Paul’s admonition to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:16-18). The practice, both then and now, is a fitting way to sanctify the day.

In modern times, the practice draws upon various breviaries of Scripture readings, prayers, and psalms. The best know of these collections is The Book of Common Prayer, put out by the Anglican Church. But there are several other compilations or books of prayer too. Since St. Brendan’s Fellowship draws upon the rich tradition of Celtic spirituality, we use the Celtic Daily Prayer book as one of our tools. On this site, you will also find shorter versions of the daily office for morning, midday, evening, and bedtime, intended to give you a taste of these practices. Test them out. See if they appeal to you. As William Penn has said, think of it as a “holy experiment.”

At the heart of Praying the Hours and all forms of meditation and prayer, is the intention of coming before God, face to face. As we enter these occasions for meditation, we gather in communion with other believers across all places and all time, and share with them the practice of regularly returning to the presence of God. Together, we rest in his embrace.

St Brendan’s Fellowship has created prayers for morning, midday, evening, and bedtime. These prayers tend to be shorter than what may be found in Celtic Daily Prayer or in The Book of Common Prayer, and thus serve as a good introduction to the practice of Praying the Hours. Also on this site, there is a midday prayer based on the prayer offered by the Northumbria Community. We hope you will try these versions of daily prayer, and we hope you will find them helpful in coming before God, as have so many other followers of Christ.