Pray With Us

For centuries, Christians have committed themselves to daily rhythms of prayer, historically called the Divine Office of the Church. That phrase comes from the Latin Officium Divinium, which means “divine” or “sacred duty.” Since the earliest days, Christians took St. Paul’s exhortation to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) to heart, and sought to daily fulfill this “sacred duty” together as one Body.

Built upon Jewish Old Testament tradition and the example of the first believers in Acts, the early Church began to meet in the morning and evening to pray. They committed themselves to intercession, the Psalms, and lessons from God’s Word, and in so doing it allowed the Church to sanctify time and regular life. The monastic movement expanded upon this tradition, dividing each day into 8 “hours” of prayer. Sadly, by the late Middle Ages few lay people could participate in this “sacred duty” because it was so complex, so frequent, and in Latin (a language which few could understand).

During the English Reformation, the people were eager to make the Divine Office accessible to the people once again. They reduced the hours to Morning and Evening Prayer, and translated the Bible and the ancient prayers of the Church into English in the Book of Common Prayer.

Theologically, there is a distinction between the Daily Office and individual devotions. In Morning Prayer, we are not each gathered for our own personal faith journey, but unite ourselves to the work and “sacred duty” of the Church globally, historically, and locally. We share in our common priesthood as we intercede with Christ for the sake of the world, and through corporate confession and submission to his Word, we realign our life together to the life of Christ. In so doing, our devotional lives are enriched, our minds and hearts are filled with Scripture, and time itself is sanctified.

— adapted from Scott Cunningham of Christ Church Madison

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