The Daily Office

But their delight is in the law of the LORD,  and on his law they meditate day and night. Psalm 1:2

Dear Friends in Christ,

On Sunday, Fr. Daron encouraged us to pray the Daily Office. What is the Daily Office? In short, the Daily Office is a pattern of daily prayers and Bible readings that you can use from the Book of Common Prayer. In particular: Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, done at church or done at home each day.

We use the word “office” to mean the place where we work. Centuries ago, the “office” was the work of monks and others in religious life. They took time to pray and read scriptures eight times each day. In the English Reformation, Thomas Cranmer prepared the first English Book of Common Prayer. His vision was a set of prayers that the common person could use, at home and in the worship of the church. He took those eight services of the monastic daily office and conflated them into two: Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. Churches offer public services of the Daily Office (we have Morning Prayer Mondays at 7:00 AM in the Garden Room, and Evening Prayer starts September 17 at 7:00 PM in the church). Individuals can also pray the Daily Office at home—in as little as 20 minutes.

Morning and Evening Prayer include poetry from the Bible that help us praise God. There is a rotation of the Psalms that are said, helping express our prayers and praise (and even lament). And a rotation of daily Bible readings that covers most of the Bible in two years. There are also written prayers that help provide a discipline of praying for others and for ourselves. You can use the BCP (Book of Common Prayer) to guide you (pages 75 and 115), or check out this basic version for Morning and Evening Prayer, or use various websites for the daily office such as this one.

In the Daily Office, we set aside time from other pursuits (even important ones, such as cat videos and doom scrolling), saying no to idle time, and saying yes to God in prayer. Why not try the Daily Office this week—pick either morning or evening each day, and follow the psalm and scripture readings. Make time for God each day and join with others around the world sharing the same practice. God bless you as you pray and study with him.

Yours in Christ,

-Tom