Daily Office
Contents
Daily Office
According to the Catechism, “The Daily Office consists of Morning and Evening Prayer. These services are based on Israel’s Morning and Evening Prayer as adopted and adapted by the early Church.” At the time of the English Reformation, Thomas Cranmer condensed and simplified the eight-fold Benedictine pattern into two offices, Morning and Evening Prayer, which were appropriate for lay as well as monastic use (see Monasticism & its role in the development of our liturgy). Historically, all clergy were required to say Morning and Evening Prayer every day. In the twentieth century, Midday Prayer and Compline were added back into some Anglican Prayer Books for optional use.
In the Daily Office (again quoting the Catechism), “we confess our sins and receive absolution, hear God’s Word and praise him with Psalms, and offer the Church’s thanksgivings and prayers.” These liturgies are strongly Scriptural; they offer an “objective” rather than merely “subjective” language for prayer, rooted in the objective reality and character of God. They include the full range of aspects of prayer, rather than focusing on just one or two, as private prayer so easily does. They also help develop a fuller understanding of the self, sin, and redemption. In other words, these prayers invite the full participation of the person; but they are not merely personal. Those who pray the Office join others around the world and throughout time in the common prayers of the Church. As Evelyn Underhill once wrote, “The real significance of the divine office is that in its recitation the individual or group enters the ancient cycle of prayer, by which day by day and hour by hour the Church in the name of all creation adores and implores the eternal God.”
Recommended Reading
Resources
English Spirituality, Martin Thornton
Areas of Liturgics
- History of Christian Worship
- Content and use of The Book of Common Prayer
- Daily Office
- Corporate and Personal Prayer
- Sacramental Theology
- The Holy Eucharist
- Christian Initiation: Baptism and Confirmation
- Marriage and Children
- Rites of Healing
- Death and Burial
- Sanctification of Time
- Sanctification of Space
- Liturgy and Music
- Liturgy and Mission
Ascetical Theology
a. Prayer life and spirituality of minister b. Understanding of Spiritual Disciplines c. Spiritual Direction d. Rule of Life e. Daily Office f. Monasticism & its role in the development of our liturgy g. Missional applications of ascetical theology h. Monasticism and mission i. Mystical & Contemplative Spirituality j. Tools for Prayer and Scripture Reading k. Vocation l. Discernment m. Gifts & Fruit of the Spirit n. Stewardship
