Vespers
Evening Prayer, sometimes called
vespers, is
an official rite of the church
that is as ancient as the
Eucharist. It
is part of what we call the
Liturgy of the Hours and is truly
part of
the church’s liturgy. We believe
that Christ is truly present
whenever
the church gathers to pray and
sing in celebration of the Liturgy
of
the Hours. The two primary hours
that are celebrated are in the
morning
and evening. These hours use the
daily rhythm of the sun to
symbolize
the death and resurrection of
Jesus.
The structure of the prayer is
very simple:
we gather for praise,
petition, listening to God’s word,
and listening in the silence of
our
hearts. The praise is in the form
of psalms and canticles from the
Scriptures; the petitions are
similar to the General
Intercessions at
Mass. We listen to a reading from
God’s word and we reflect on that
reading in silence or with the
help of a homilist. Like the Mass,
the
Liturgy of the Hours is a sung
prayer. Sunday vespers, or
evensong, was
once a common experience for
Catholics. Encouraging its
popularity puts us in touch with
very early traditions of the
church.
If your parish is looking for a
popular
devotion that is an official
liturgy of the church, this is one
that will join them in communion
with the
rest of the church throughout the
world. Depending on people’s
desired
prayer time and availability,
either Morning Prayer or Evening
Prayer
can be scheduled. If you are
looking for a simple book to just
“try it
out” without paging through the
more complicated volumes of the
“Liturgy of the Hours” book set,
or even the abbreviated “Book of
Christian Prayer,” try Praise
God with All Creation.
If your parish has a “rosary
group,” Rosary
Reflections will
give them an updated, scriptural
approach to this devotion.
Please send me
suggestions
from your
parish ideas and solutions,
and I’ll include them in next
month’s
Ministry Resource Update.
Please feel free to
forward this
update to anyone you think
would find
it helpful.
You can send any comments or
recommendations you would like
to make on this topic to caroline@rpinet.com.
|
