Daily Office

Introduction

As people respond to the coronavirus, move into self-isolation or are unable to attend public worship, we experience an increase in time and desire to commune with Jesus Christ. Though we may not be able to worship in person as is most desired, the church has a wealth of spiritual resources for daily prayer in our Book of Common Prayer (also referred to as BCP, or the Prayer Book) including the Daily Office. The Daily Office includes services for Morning and Evening Prayer, Noonday prayer, and Compline. Holy Scripture is one of the central places Christians encounter God, and the Prayer Book provides a structure to encounter the Old and New Testament, Gospel, and Psalms (or Psalter) on a daily basis. I encourage you to consider adding the Daily Office to your practice of prayer during this time. The Office has sustained those in religious life, our seminaries, and many parishes for hundreds of years, and when anyone prays the Office, they join in community with people across the world who will be lifting up the same prayers each day. These prayers are meant to be said with others but can be said individually and are just as valid and powerful because of the global community that says them together.

If you have prayed the Office before, feel free to use this guide as a reference. If you have not prayed the Office before, I suggest reading the guide all the way through at least once. If you are new to the Office, I recommend starting with either Morning or Evening Prayer, and adding in the other services over time. If you are completely stuck at home, you might find it a comfort to use all four; just be realistic about what is right for you in your particular circumstance.

I wrote this guide because I believe in common prayer through the Daily Office. At the School of Theology at the University of the South (Sewanee), we pray the Daily Office on weekdays and our entire schedule revolves around our worship life. Under the direction of the Dean of the Chapel and the Organist and Choirmaster, a classmate and I put together a weekly bulletin to guide our community in prayer. I am leaning on that expertise to provide the document below for you to do the same thing!

Introduction

Contents

How to Access the Daily Office

Choices
Which Office(s) should I do?
Rite I or Rite II?
The Liturgical Calendar
Reading Scripture
A note on the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL)
Psalms (the Psalter)
Standing, sitting, kneeling…

The Office together or alone?
Praying Together
Praying Alone

Morning Prayer
Opening Sentence and Confession of Sin (76)
The Invitatory and Psalter (80)
The Lessons (84)
The Prayers (97)

Evening Prayer
Opening Sentence and Confession (115)
The Invitatory and Psalter (117)
The Lessons (118)
The Prayers (121)

Noonday Prayer and Compline
Noonday Prayer (103)
Compline (127)

Conclusion

How to Access the Daily Office

The most direct, distraction-free way to access the Daily Office is by using a physical Book of Common Prayer and a Bible. However, thanks to technology, there are a wealth of options to get prepared versions of Daily Prayer in one book or webpage to reduce page flipping and searching for different parts. Or, you can listen to a podcast of someone reading the Office and pray alongside them: this can be especially helpful when starting out. For this approach, Forward Movement’s Daily Prayer pag e is the first stop. It provides the Daily Office appropriate for the time of day, with all selections made and passages of scripture inserted for your prayer. You can visit Daily Prayer Anytim e on their website to select a specific office to pray at any point. Once you have some familiarity with the Office, you can visit their preferences pag e and adjust what is presented to you based on the Choices section below.

If you feel comfortable praying online with Forward Movement, you can skip past the choices section to How to pray the Office.

If you are looking for the text of the Prayer Book and Bible online, the Prayer Book may be downloaded as a PDF from the Episcopal Church website. Scripture can be accessed online through Bible Gateway (make sure to change the Bible edition to New Revised Standard Version), or the daily readings page on Forward Movement.

If you are using a Prayer Book and Bible (paper or digital) the next section will guide you through making the appropriate choices before you begin to pray.

Choices

There are a number of choices to be made in praying the Daily Office, particularly when using a Prayer Book and Bible. There is not a right or wrong way to do it, and it may take some experimenting to find the options that work best for you and your household. There are some places where firm instructions are given in the Prayer Book about the office; these are laid out in the Rubrics. There are other places where more options are given. In this guide I try and make these options clear. You will want to look through these choices before you start, particularly if you are unfamiliar with the Daily Office. If this is intimidating at first, I recommend grabbing some bookmarks, making your selections, and checking with one of the online resources above. It is important to select the correct Psalms and readings, as part of the hope of the Daily Office is that everyone who is praying it in the church is reading the same passages. All of the choices after Rite I or Rite II apply to Morning and Evening Prayer.

Which Office(s) should I do?

If you are new to the Office, I recommend starting with Morning or Evening Prayer (15-20 minutes each). If you are at home, this would be around 8-9 AM or 4-6 PM, respectively. If you are working, I would recommend starting with Noonday Prayer or Compline (5-10 minutes each). Noonday Prayer can be done at a break, and Compline can be done in the evening shortly before going to bed. Both of these have fixed readings and Psalms, are shorter, and were originally designed to be done mostly from memory by those in the monastic community. If you want to pray more frequently, but have little time to pray, try looking at the Daily Devotions on Page 136-140 of the Book of Common Prayer. If nothing else, consider reading a portion from the Psalter each day.

If you are experienced with the Office, you may find yourself drawn to Morning or Evening Prayer, compline, or all three. You may try out different arrangements based on time and schedule, but I would recommend trying to engage with as much of the Scripture and Psalter as possible.

Rite I or Rite II?

Morning and Evening Prayer offer two choices for the form of the prayer: Rite I and Rite II. Rite I is the traditional language and Rite II is the contemporary language. An example from the opening sentences:

Rite I: O Lord, open thou our lips.
And our mouth shall show forth thy praise
Rite II : Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

If you are new to the office, I suggest choosing the rite based on the language of the church service you normally attend. If you go to a Rite I Eucharist weekly, you may be more familiar with Rite I language, and if you go to a Rite II service or worship outside of the Episcopal Church, you may be more familiar with the contemporary language of Rite II.

The Liturgical Calendar

Most people reading this may have a good sense of the liturgical calendar from participation in Sunday worship at an Episcopal Church, but you might not know how to find out what the season and weekday readings are for yourself. The liturgical calendar draws the Church through the story of the gospels and the Bible over the course of a year. The year begins with Advent, moves through Christmas and Epiphany, into the season of Lent, to Holy Week and Easter. Following Easter season, we move into Pentecost and “ordinary time,” until we restart the cycle again the following Advent. The Daily Office calendar is a two-year calendar based on these seasons. On odd years, we follow year one, and on even years we are in year 2. This changes over in Advent, where we start the next year’s cycle of readings a few weeks before the calendar year changes. Hopefully you can see the current liturgical week by paying attention to your Parish Newsletter. Otherwise the Liturgical Calendar of the Episcopal Churc h can give you the name of the correct week. You can always check your date by going to the Forward Movement pages commended above and comparing the readings to the ones listed for the date you have selected.

Sunday, March 15^th, 2020 will be the start of the Third Week in Lent (BCP 954) in Year Two of the Daily Office Lectionary.

Reading Scripture

Scripture reading is provided for in the Daily Office Lectionary beginning on page 934 of the Book of Common Prayer. The format is as follows:

There are two lines for each day. The numbers in the first line are the assigned Psalms for the day, the ones on the left for Morning Prayer and the right for Evening Prayer. Anything in [brackets] can be added to the reading or Psalm but are optional. The second line includes three readings assigned for each day, one from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament (outside of the Gospels), and one from the Gospels.

There are several ways to arrange the readings. In a worshipping community that offers Morning and Evening Prayer, the Prayer Book gives options for how to read the scriptures. In any case, if two readings are done, the first one must be from the Old Testament, and the second is either the Gospel or other New Testament reading. I would strongly recommend choosing one method of distributing the readings and sticking with it over time. This will give you exposure to a broader portion of scripture and allow you to deepen your understanding. This deep reading of scripture is one of the primary benefits of the Office.

If you are reading both Morning and Evening Prayer, you can read two passages in the morning and one in the evening, or two passages at each. If you choose to read two passages at each, you can draw the second Old Testament passage from the opposite year. In the above example, I would read Genesis and John in the Morning, and Jeremiah and Romans in the evening. The Prayer Book’s suggestion is to read the Gospel in the Morning and the New Testament in the Evening during even years. The Old Testament from the opposite year is always in the evening, if it is read.

If you are reading with others, you should decide in advance who will read scripture. My recommendation would be for another person besides the Officiant to read the scripture passages if possible.

If you are only praying Compline or Noonday Prayer, it is appropriate to pick out a Psalm or a passage of Scripture from the Daily Office Lectionary to replace the pre-set psalms and readings for variety. It will add some time to the length of the Daily Office.

A note on the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL)

Your parish may choose to stick to the standard Sunday readings in the Episcopal Church during this time. If you would like to remain caught up with those, they may send those out digitally, or you can find them at The Lectionary Pag e. If you are listening to a Sunday sermon, and they are referring to different texts than what you read in the Daily Office Lectionary, this may be why!

Psalms (the Psalter)

There are two ways to read the Psalms provided for in the Book of Common Prayer:

Follow the Daily Office Lectionary as described above, reading psalms in the morning and evening. With this option, you read the Psalter once every seven weeks, with some variation and not in order.
In the Book of Common Prayer psalter (starting on page 585), there are headers above the Psalm for a 30 day lectionary based on the monthly date. Find the day and time of day and go! With this option you read the psalter in order once a month.

If you are reading with others, you should decide in advance how to read the Psalms. There are options listed on page 582 of the Prayer Book.

When reading the Psalms in the Prayer Book, there is an asterisk (*) marking each half verse. One should read or say the Psalms with a distinct pause at the asterisk (BCP 583).

Standing, sitting, kneeling…

There are numerous instructions in the Office to stand, sit, or kneel, and some unstated places where standing and sitting occur in a typical Office. In public worship and other formal settings, there will typically be more movement between postures. It is my view that changing postures frequently is less practical when praying in a domestic setting. If you pray the Office alone seated in a comfy armchair the whole time, who am I to judge? My only advice would be to pray in such a position (or positions) that you are alert and engaged with the prayer itself and the text.

At the seminary chapel in Sewanee, it is customary to stand until the Psalm. We sit through the Psalm and Readings, standing for each of the Canticles. We then stand (or remain standing) for the Creed and through the rest of the Office.

The Office together or alone?

If you are seeing pop-up prayers on Facebook live, podcasts, or otherwise, you may want to pray digitally with others. If you are in a family unit or isolated with others who live in your household, you may want to pray the Office together.

Praying Together

Praying together means that one person is the leader, called the Officiant. They are responsible for the other choices outlined below. All others are The People. A second person ideally would read the Scripture passages, and an arrangement for saying the Psalms would be worked out before (see above). The Rubrics are in italics, and contain instructions in the Prayer Book about all things Office. Carefully read the italics; they indicate what is said by all (Officiant and People), the People, or the Officiant. Some things in italics are for the people to say, but others are rubrical instructions. When saying a Canticle, the Creed, or the Lord’s Prayer, the Officiant should read the first line and the People join in at the second.

Praying Alone

Praying alone is also a valid way to do the Office. When I pray the Office alone, I choose to say all of the lines. You can read the Office silently; if you do so, I suggest you read at a reverent pace; read it as if you were speaking it aloud.

If you read it out loud, certain parts can be read more fluidly by yourself, such as the Suffrages. Reading alone might influence certain content choices as well. The Psalm and readings should be read aloud as well, though I occasionally listen to the readings from an audio Bible when I have prayed the Daily Office alone.

Morning Prayer

The following section will have detailed instructions for Morning Prayer, based on Rite II and the readings from March 16, 2020 (Week 3 of Lent, Monday). Pagination corresponds to the Rite II version beginning on page 75 of the Book of Common Prayer.

Begin with silence, to slow your thoughts and prepare for prayer.

Opening Sentence and Confession of Sin (76)

Choose one of the opening sentences based on the season. The Lent sentence is on page 76.

The confession is optional. It is customary at the seminary chapel in Sewanee and elsewhere to say it Friday at Morning Prayer, and if you are doing the Daily Office on Sunday, I would recommend saying it on Sunday as well. Some say it daily with Morning or Evening Prayer during Lent. If you say it, I recommend taking more silence before moving into the confession, (where indicated in italics) to allow reflection on your personal sins.

The Invitatory and Psalter (80)

The opening words of Morning Prayer are “Lord open our lips” and response, followed by the Gloria Patri (Glory to the Father, and to the Son….). In Lent, we omit the ending “Alleluia.” Following is one of the three Invitatory (opening) Psalms which are said every day.

An antiphon from this page and the following page is traditionally used before and after the invitatory. However that frequently causes confusion. If you are using an online service, it may include the antiphon. If you use it, it is important to be clear with those who pray with you whether or not you are doing it. Fortunately, the second half of all these antiphons is “Come let us adore him,” and is traditionally a response of the People after the colon.

The Invitatory in Lent is typically the Venite (p. 82). The Venite is a portion of Psalm 95, and the full Psalm can be read in Lent and is advised by the Daily Office Lectionary to be read on Friday mornings in Lent. Starting Easter Sunday through the day of Pentecost, the Invitatory will switch to the Pascha nostrum (p. 83).

Then the Psalm appointed for the morning follows. The Psalm may be from the Daily Office Lectionary or the monthly lectionary as explained above. After the Psalter is compete, repeat the Gloria Patri.

The Lessons (84)

One to three readings may be used, depending on if you are praying the other Offices and if you desire to read all the assigned readings for the day. It is suggested that two are read, the Old Testament and the Gospel in the morning of Year Two. A second person may read these if reading in a group. Each reading is followed by the response:

The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

Here ends the Lesson

Following each is a Canticle. This Office contains Canticles 8-21; 1-7 are found beginning on page 47 and are in traditional Rite I language.

You do not need to read all of these, instead, pick one to go with each of the two readings. A chart of suggested Canticles is printed on Page 144 of the Prayer Book; for convenience I have duplicated the choices here for Morning Prayer in Rite II language for the season of Lent. Two are selected, one to follow the first (Old Testament) reading and one following the second.

Sunday 14; 16
Monday 9; 19
Tuesday 13; 18
Wednesday 14; 16
Thursday 8; 19
Friday 14; 18
Saturday 12; 19

If you are comfortable singing or chanting and have access to a Hymnal 1982 (the primary hymnal of the Episcopal Church), the Canticles are set to a variety of tunes in the Service music section (S-numbers). Some of these can be found online as well.

If a third reading is read, it should be the Gospel and it should occur after the second Canticle. All three Daily Office Lectionary texts should only be read if you are only doing one Office per day. Then, on page 96 the service continues with the Apostle’s Creed. The creed may be omitted only if it is read at Evening Prayer the same day.

The Prayers (97)

The Prayers begin with the Invitation (I only say “Let us Pray” when praying alone). Then follows the Lord’s Prayer, in traditional or Contemporary Language based on the choice of the Officiant. Two sets of Suffrages (similar to Prayers of the People) are provided, A and B. B has a set response and A has a variable response. A is best for praying alone. The “V.” stands for Versicle and R. for Response; the People would say the Response.

Following are the Collects. In addition to the ones provided, there are collects beginning on Page 211 for the Church year and Major Feasts of the Church. Beginning on page 810 there are more collects for various needs and occasions.

Typically the “Collect of the Day” comes from the collect for the prior Sunday: for March 16th it would be the Collect for the Third Sunday in Lent found on page 218. The next seven may be read one each day; the first three have days assigned and I typically read the next four on Monday (Collect for the Renewal of Life), Tuesday (Collect for Peace), and so on. If you wish to substitute a collect from page 810 and following this is the appropriate place to do so. Third, one of the three prayers for mission (100-101) are added, at the officiant’s choice.

At this point, if a hymn is to be sung, this is the appropriate place. Then follows a time for spoken and silent prayer. One can pray for any of the things not already named; for specific concerns of those present (intercessions) or the community at large, or for things that those present are thankful for (thanksgivings). A practice I find helpful is to simply lift up the names of people for whom I pray, without elaborating aloud on the what or the why.

After a sufficient time for intercessions and thanksgivings, the Officiant may continue with The General Thanksgiving, A Prayer of St. Chrysostom, and the dismissal “Let us Bless the Lord” (102) and concluding sentence (one of the three verses of scripture below). The General Thanksgiving and Prayer of St. Chrysostom may be skipped at the discretion of the Officiant, though I would encourage the General Thanksgiving, as it is a familiar backbone and conclusion of the Office to many Christians. I would also encourage the Prayer of St. Chrysostom whenever you are praying in a group, though I would omit it when praying alone, as it makes reference to Christians who are gathered together. However, you may find it helpful to pray even alone, as one who prays the Daily Office lifts up their prayers with the whole Body of Christ across the world who pray with them. After the concluding sentence, I would recommend again closing with a moment of silence before turning your focus from prayer to the next part of your day, and allowing a moment of gratitude for the ability to say these prayers at all.

Evening Prayer

The following section will have detailed instructions for Evening Prayer, based on Rite II and the example readings from March 16, 2020 (Week 3 of Lent, Monday). Pagination corresponds to the Rite II version beginning on page 115 of the Book of Common Prayer.

Begin with silence, to slow your thoughts and prepare for prayer.

Opening Sentence and Confession (115)

Choose one of the opening sentences to begin the prayers.

The Invitatory and Psalter (117)

The opening words of Evening prayer are “O God, make speed to save us” and response, followed by the Gloria Patri(Glory to the Father, and to the Son….). In Lent, we omit the concluding Alleluia. Following is the Phos Hilaron (118), which is said every evening.

Then the Psalm appointed for the evening follows. The Psalm may be from the Daily Office Lectionary or the monthly lectionary as explained above. After the Psalter is complete, repeat the Gloria Patri.

The Lessons (118)

One to three readings may be used, depending on if you are praying the other Offices and if you desire to read all the assigned readings for the day. It is suggested that two are read, the Old Testament from the opposite year and the New Testament in the evening of Year Two. A second person may read these if reading in a group. Each reading is followed by the response:

The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

Here ends the Lesson

Following each is a Canticle. This Office contains two canticles: the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittus. In addition, Canticles 1-7 are available on page 47 and following, and Canticles 8-21 are available on page 85 and following.

I typically use the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittus every day. There are more options provided in the table on 145 if you are looking for some variation, though this will require more page-flipping and does not typically appear in the online options listed above.

If a third Reading is read, it should be the Gospel and it should occur after the second Canticle. All three Daily Office Lectionary text need only be read if you are only doing one Office per day.

Then, on page 120 the service continues with the Apostle’s Creed. The creed may be omitted only if it is read at Morning Prayer the same day.

The Prayers (121)

Typically the “Collect of the Day” comes from the collect for the prior Sunday: for March 16th it would be the Collect for the Third Sunday in Lent found on page 218. The next seven may be read one each day; the first three have days assigned and I typically read the next four on Monday (Collect for Peace), Tuesday (Collect Aid against Perils), and so on. If you wish to substitute a collect from page 810 and following this is the appropriate place to do so. Third, one of the three prayers for mission (124-125) are said, at the officiant’s choice.

After a sufficient time for intercessions and thanksgivings, the Officiant may continue with The General Thanksgiving, A Prayer of St. Chrysostom, and the concluding “Let us Bless the Lord” (102) and concluding sentence (one of the three verses of scripture below). The General Thanksgiving and Prayer of St. Chrysostom may be skipped at the discretion of the Officiant, though I would encourage the General Thanksgiving, as it is a familiar backbone and conclusion of the Office to many Christians. I would also encourage the Prayer of St. Chrysostom whenever you are praying in a group, though I would omit it when praying alone, as it makes reference to Christians who are gathered together. However, you may find it helpful to pray even alone, as one who prays the Daily Office lifts up their prayers with the whole Body of Christ across the world who pray with them. After the concluding sentence, I would recommend again closing with a moment of silence before turning your focus from prayer to the next thing and allowing a moment of gratitude for the ability to say these prayers at all.

Noonday Prayer and Compline

As mentioned above, Noonday Prayer and Compline are shorter than Morning and Evening Prayer and can be done with minimal choices. They are a good starting point for those who have less time initially to pray, but who want more structure and want to pray with the Church. Both of these services are fairly intuitive, so I will simply list some notes for each one.

Noonday Prayer (103)

Begin with the Opening Sentence and the Gloria Patri (Glory to the Father…)
A hymn may be sung next, if desired.
One of the three Psalms may be said, or another from the list given on 103. The Psalms conclude with another Gloria Patri
One of the three passages from Scripture may be read, or another suitable one. Here it would be appropriate to substitute in one of the Daily Office Lectionary readings if you are not doing Morning or Evening Prayer, though these readings will be significantly longer than the ones listed.
Next there is a time for a meditation. Silence or a reading from a devotional are both appropriate here.
The prayers follow, with the Kyrie Eleison (“Lord have Mercy”), followed by the Lord’s Prayer. In this service the Lord’s prayer is abbreviated after “but deliver us from evil.” Watch out for that, it always gets people!
Another invitation to prayer is given and one of four collects can be used, or another collect.
There is a space for intercessions, which are your own requests or thanksgivings. These may be spoken or silent; if you are not sure what to say or feel like you have a lot to say, it is suitable just to lift up a person by name to God.
After some time following the intercessions, the service ends with “Let us Bless the Lord!”

Compline (127)

The officiant begins with an Opening Sentence and a bidding to prayer.
Confession follows; this is optional according to the rubric but I highly recommend it.
The confession follows with “O God make speed to save us” and the Gloria Patri
One of the four Psalms may be said. It is the custom of some to say one of the first three and always say Psalm 134. It is followed again by the Gloria Patri
One of four passages of scripture is read, or another appropriate passage. I do not recommend subbing something in from the Daily Office Lectionary at this point, as it is likely late at night when you are reading these prayers. If you have a familiar verse of scripture you turn to for comfort, this may be a good place to incorporate it!
At this point a hymn is appropriate.
The service continues on 132 with the “Into your hands… ” followed by the Lord’s Prayer.In this service the Lord’s prayer is abbreviated after “but deliver us from evil.” Watch out for that, it always gets people!
Another invitation to prayer is given and one of four collects can be used. An additional option is available on the following page for Saturdays. Finally, two more options are given as a second collect. Some may recognize the prayer that begins “Keep Watch, dear Lord…”
There is a space for intercessions, which are your own requests or thanksgivings. These may be spoken or silent; if you are not sure what to say or feel like you have a lot to say, it is suitable just to lift up a person by name to God.
The service concludes on 134 with the Song of Simeon and an antiphon.The Song of Simeon is the Nunc Dimittus from Evening Prayer. The antiphon, Song, and Gloria Patri are said in unison.
The service concludes with the dismissal “Let us Bless the Lord” and a concluding sentence.

Conclusion

Before I conclude, I want to say a word about expectations. You should not expect to master the Office instantly or begin and keep a practice of all four Offices every day. Those in monastic orders take days off, seminarians like me (frequently) miss our prayers, and everyone finds themselves in situations where it is difficult to pray. Two important things remain to be said:

The Office is the prayer of the Church. When you are unable to say it, it is being said by others on your behalf. That is one of the real graces of the Office and of the Body of Christ.
When you fall out of practice, the only thing to be done is get back on the bike and try again. Saying the Office is much more like learning the piano than it is tuning into the evening news. It takes practice, and it is a choice.

Whichever Office or Offices you choose, you are entering into an invaluable practice of daily prayer that draws you into a cycle of prayer with the whole Church. I am indebted to St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, who taught me to pray the Office, and to the School of Theology (Sewanee), where I pray the Office in community now. As Christians, we are called to bear one another’s burdens, and in a time when we are isolated or feeling separated from the Body of Christ it is most important to continue in prayer where we are, giving thanks to God for the innumerable blessings we have even in a moment of crisis. I hope this guide is helpful, and I hope that you will be able to join me in Prayer.

Published 3.15.2020
By Ben Cowgill
Edited by Mother Allison Caudill

Introduction

Contents

How to Access the Daily Office

Choices

Which Office(s) should I do?

Rite I or Rite II?

The Liturgical Calendar

Reading Scripture

A note on the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL)

Psalms (the Psalter)

Standing, sitting, kneeling…

The Office together or alone?

Praying Together

Praying Alone

Morning Prayer

Opening Sentence and Confession of Sin (76)

The Invitatory and Psalter (80)

The Lessons (84)

The Prayers (97)

Evening Prayer

Opening Sentence and Confession (115)

The Invitatory and Psalter (117)

The Lessons (118)

The Prayers (121)

Noonday Prayer and Compline

Noonday Prayer (103)

Compline (127)

Conclusion

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