Vespers – Evening Prayer according to the Traditional Breviary in English

by | Jan 13, 2016 | Events, Liturgy, The Latest

 

Let my prayer rise before you as incense, the raising up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.
Ps 141.2

Sundays

17 January – 7 February

5pm – 5:30pm

From the earliest centuries of the Church, Christians gathered in the evening on the Lord’s Day to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles. The official public evening prayer of the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours is Vespers, named after the Vesper Star that rises to herald the fall of night.
At Vespers, we sing five psalms with their proper antiphons; we listen to the Word of God, sing a hymn for the Evening. The highlight of the service is the Magnificat, the Canticle of Mary, in which the Altar and the Faithful are incensed a sign of honor and our prayers rising to God. After a prayer, we visit the Lady Altar to ask Mary’s protection during the night.