The Hours of Prayer
At Vespers (The Hour of Sundown – the Beginning of the New Day)
Let my prayer arise before You like incense,
and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice.
– Psalm 140: 2
Turn your merciful ear, O Lord,
to the prayers of your family,
rendering their evening offerings to your Name,
and deign to protect through the stillness of the night
those whom You have preserved
throughout each moment of the day;
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
Who lives and reigns with + You and the Holy Spirit,
God, to the ages of ages. Amen.
At Compline (Before retiring to bed)
‘When the day is over, the vendor sits down and counts his profits; but the worker of virtue does so when the psalmody is over.’ – St John Climacus
To You before the close of day,
Creator of the world we pray:
in love unfailing hear our pray’r
and guard us by your watchful care.
Keep all disturbing dreams away
and hold the evil foe at bay;
so that, preserved from sin, may we
from terrors of the night be free.
Almighty Father, hear our cry,
through Jesus Christ, your Son Most High,
Who, with the Spirit—One in Three—
shall live and reign eternally. Amen.
– Te Lucis Ante Terminum
Visit this place, we entreat You, O Lord,
and drive far from it all snares of the enemy;
let your holy angels dwell here to preserve us in peace;
and may your blessing be always upon us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Who lives and reigns with + You and the Holy Spirit,
God, to the ages of ages. Amen.
At Lauds (The Offering of Morning Praises)
The night is far gone; the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness
and put on the armour of light, conducting ourselves with honour in the light of day.
– Romans 3: 12-13a
Praise God in his saints, praise Him in the expanse of his power.
Praise Him for His mighty acts, praise Him for His infinite greatness.
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet, praise Him with psaltery and harp.
Praise Him with drum and dancing, praise Him with strings and bells.
Praise Him with well-tuned cymbals, praise Him with cymbals of victory!
Let every breath praise the Lord!
– Psalm 150
O Lord,
hear us as we pray to You
in the beginning hours of this day.
We render You thanks, O Lord our God,
for You have redeemed us with your holy blood,
and You grant your benevolent aid
in answer to the early petitions and prayers we bring to You,
Who reign with the + Father and Holy Spirit,
God, now and throughout all the ages. Amen.
At Prime (The First Hour)
Now that the daylight fills the sky,
we lift our hearts to God on high,
that He, in all we do or say,
would keep us free from harm today,
would guard our hearts and tongues from strife;
from anger’s din would hide our life;
from all ill sights would turn our eyes;
would close our ears from vanities:
would keep our inmost conscience pure;
our souls from folly would secure;
would bid us check the pride of sense
with due and holy abstinence.
So we, when this new day is gone,
and night in turn is drawing on,
with conscience by the world unstained
shall praise his name for vict’ry gained.
To God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit, Three-in-One,
praise, honour, might, and glory be,
from age to age, eternally. Amen.
– Iam Lucis Orto Sidere – St Ambrose of Milan
O Lord, Almighty God,
Who have brought us safely to the beginning of this day:
defend us in the same by your mighty power;
and grant that today we may fall into no sin,
but that all our words, our thoughts, and our deeds
may be governed by your righteousness;
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
Who lives and reigns with + You and the Holy Spirit,
God, to the ages of ages. Amen.
At Terce (The Third Hour – The Descent of the Holy Spirit)
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
– Psalm 50: 10-11
O come, Creator Spirit, blest,
come, and within our souls take rest;
come with your grace and heav’nly aid
and fill the hearts which You have made.
O Comforter, to You we cry,
to You, the Gift of God Most High,
the Fount of life, the Fire of love,
the soulʹs Anointing from above.
In sevʹnfold gifts are You made known,
Finger of God’s right hand we own;
our tongues enriching, granting each
the Fatherʹs promised gift of speech.
To every mind your light impart
and shed your love in every heart;
our ailing bodies now restore
with strength enduring evermore.
Drive far away the cunning foe
and at all times your peace bestow;
with You as our protecting Guide,
no evil shall our steps betide.
Lord, make to us the Father known,
teach us th’eternal Son to own,
and You, whose name we ever bless,
of both the Spirit, to confess.
We praise the Father, and the Son,
and Holy Spirit, with them One;
and may the Son on us bestow
the gifts that from the Spirit flow! Amen.
– Veni, Creator Spiritus – St Rabanus Maurus
O Holy Spirit, promised long ago by the prophets, O Eternal Power,
Who descend at the third hour upon the Apostles in prayer;
before the wonder of the tongues you poured into their hearts,
the astonished and unbelieving crowd marvels and mocks, saying:
‘They are full of the new wine!’
but Peter stands up in their midst and cries aloud:
‘We are not drunk, for it is only the third hour,
but the prophecy is fulfilled:
the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon us’;
we therefore entreat You, O Lord,
pour out your grace also upon us sinners,
so that we may prophesy without fear
the one Divinity of the + Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
to the ages of ages. Amen.
At Sext (The Sixth Hour – The Crucifixion of the Lord)
O Saviour and our God,
Who at the sixth hour presented Yourself to your Father as a spotless Oblation,
and, ascending the Cross for the salvation of the whole world, erased the sin of humankind;
You despoil principalities and powers, making of them a spectacle,
while to us who are burdened by an unpayable act, prisoners of our debt,
You grant deliverance, by nailing the deed of our bondage as a trophy to the Cross,
O Lover of Humankind, glory be to You, to the ages of ages. Amen.
At None (The Ninth Hour – The Death of the Lord)
O Lord, Who at the ninth hour entered Hades
and dispelled its impenetrable darkness with the brilliance of your light,
breaking down the gates of bronze and shattering the iron bolts,
Who took captive the captivity of the saints
whom hades had cruelly held in its dungeons of darkness;
in triumph You lead us to heaven with You, O Christ,
drawing back the flaming sword of the seraphim
and thus restoring to Paradise its ancient inhabitant by your mercy and goodness.
O Lover of Humankind, glory be to You, to the ages of ages. Amen.