The Daily Office
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One of the most distinctive ways for Episcopalians to pray is the Daily Office.
Use of daily prayers to mark the times of the day and to express the traditions of the praying community is traditional in Judaism and in Christianity. The third, sixth, and ninth hours (9 a.m., 12 noon, and 3 p.m.) were times of private prayer in Judaism. The congregational or cathedral form of office developed in Christianity under Constantine (274 or 288-337) with the principal morning and evening services of lauds and vespers. The people participated in the cathedral form of office. The monastic form of office also developed at this time. In addition to lauds and vespers, the monastic form included matins (at midnight or cockcrow), prime (the first hour), terce (the third hour), sext (the sixth hour), none (the ninth hour), and compline (at bedtime). By the late middle ages, the Daily Office was seen as the responsibility of the monks and clergy rather than an occasion for participation by all in the prayers of the community throughout the day. |
After the Anglican Reformation, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) reduced the eight monastic offices to the two services of Morning and Evening Prayer. These services were printed in vernacular English and intended for use by all members of the church. Participation in the Daily Office is at the heart of Anglican spirituality. It is the proper form of daily public worship in the church. In addition to forms for Daily Morning Prayer and Daily Evening Prayer in contemporary and traditional language, the BCP section for the Daily Office includes forms for Noonday Prayer, Order of Worship for the Evening, Compline, and Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families. These offices include prayers, a selection from the Psalter, readings from the Holy Scriptures, one or more canticles, and the Lord's Prayer. Forms for Morning and Evening Prayer include an optional confession of sin. The BCP provides a Daily Office Lectionary that identifies readings and psalm choices for Morning and Evening Prayer (pp. 936-1001), and a Table of Canticles with suggested canticles for use at Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer (pp. 144-145). The officiant in the Daily Office may be a member of the clergy or a lay person.
In the early American Church, the Daily Office became the normative Sunday service due to a more protestant theology and a lack of clergy to celebrate the Eucharist. Even as clergy became more available, Morning Prayer remained the norm for three out of four Sundays in many parts of the Episcopal Church as late as the 1980s.
-Adapted by the Rev. David Simmons from An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church by Armentrout and Slocum.
Praying the Daily Office on the Web:
Forward Movement offers Daily Prayer on the web, as well as an IPhone App.
The Episcopal Church in Garrett County, MD offers a podcast of Morning Prayer. The iTunes link is here.
In the early American Church, the Daily Office became the normative Sunday service due to a more protestant theology and a lack of clergy to celebrate the Eucharist. Even as clergy became more available, Morning Prayer remained the norm for three out of four Sundays in many parts of the Episcopal Church as late as the 1980s.
-Adapted by the Rev. David Simmons from An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church by Armentrout and Slocum.
Praying the Daily Office on the Web:
Forward Movement offers Daily Prayer on the web, as well as an IPhone App.
The Episcopal Church in Garrett County, MD offers a podcast of Morning Prayer. The iTunes link is here.
The Rev. David P. Kendrick offers another Podcast via SoundCloud that includes singing.
DailyOffice.org also offers a daily office that can be subscibed to by email.
St. Bede's Breviary is programmed by Derek Olsen, who does the Forward Movement website, but offers more options.
Praying the office offiline:
A Tutorial on Praying the Daily Office
St. Bede's Breviary is programmed by Derek Olsen, who does the Forward Movement website, but offers more options.
Praying the office offiline:
A Tutorial on Praying the Daily Office