THE DIVINE HOURS

A form of prayer at specified times to be used by individuals or groups. The Divine Hours includes morning, midday, vespers (evening) and compline (before retiring) offices, having roots in the biblical tradition. By default the Divine Hours below is displayed based on Eastern Standard Time, U.S.

You may find it helpful to read the introduction by the author, Phyllis Tickle.

The Vespers Office

To Be Observed on the Hour or Half Hour Between 5 and 8 p.m

The Call to Prayer

Hallelujah! Praise the Name of the LORD;* give praise, you servants of the LORD, You who stand in the house of the LORD,* in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;* sing praises to his Name, for it is lovely.

Psalm 135:1-3

The Request for Presence

Incline your ear to me;* make haste to deliver me.

Psalm 31:2

The Greeting

The Lord is in his holy temple; Let all the earth keep silence before him. Amen.

The Hymn

God the Father, Heavenly Light

O Trinity of blessed light, O Unity of princely might, The fiery sun now goes his way; Please shed within our hearts your ray To you our morning song of praise, To you our evening prayer we raise; O grant us with your saints on high To praise you through eternity. To God the Father, heavenly Light, To Christ revealed in earthly night, To God the Holy Ghost we raise Our equal and unceasing praise.

Latin, 6th C.

The Refrain for the Vespers Lessons

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,* and his mercy endures for ever.

Psalm 107:1

The Vespers Psalm

My Soul Is Athirst for the Living God

As the deer longs for the water-brooks,* so longs my soul for you, O God. My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God;* when shall I come to appear before the presence of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long they say to me,* "Where now is your God?" I pour out my soul when I think on these things:* how I went with the multitude and led them into the house of God, With the voice of praise and thanksgiving,* among those who keep holy-day. Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?* and why are you so disquieted within me? Put your trust in God;* for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Psalm 42:1-7

The Refrain

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,* and his mercy endures for ever.

The Gloria

Glory be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, so it is now and so it shall ever be, world without end. Alleluia. Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name. May your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for yours are the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Prayer Appointed for the Week

O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into my heart your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Concluding Prayer of the Church

Lord God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ, triumphed over the powers of death and prepares for us our place in the new Jerusalem: Grant that I, who have this day given thanks for the resurrection, may praise you in the City of which he is the light, and where he lives and reigns for ever and ever.

The Divine Hours are reprinted here with permission of Doubleday and Phyllis Tickle. Not for distribution without permission from the author.
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