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vespers header

From the earliest days of the church, Christians saw the rising of the sun and the lighting of the evening lamps as symbolic of Christ’s victory over death. Additional hours of the day were also designated as significant ­moments of celebrating Christ’s presence in the world.

The time of prayer devoted to the end of the day – the sixth of the seven canonical hours – came to be known as vespers, which is translated from the Latin word for ‘evening’.

Some say vespers dates back to the days before Christ was born; it is also believed that Jesus and his disciples practiced this form of prayer. Vespers was carried over into the devotions of the early Christian church, and continues today.

Vespers shares characteristics with other forms of daily prayer, such as Morning Praise and Prayer, or matins. In particular...
• The vespers service is Christ-centered. The lighting of an evening lamp or candle not only marks a moment in daily life, but points toward the enduring presence of Christ in the ­community.

• Vespers is intended for daily use. The pace of life in today’s world often clogs our schedules with seemingly endless tasks and ­commitments. But if we can find the time to gather simply on a routine basis to share in worship, we can move forward to the goal of ceaseless prayer, as described in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

• The fundamental pattern of the vespers service is that of praise followed by prayer. The very title of the service – Evening Praise and Prayer – indicates a twofold action: praise for God’s mighty acts, and the human response, in the form of intercession and petition.

Vespers comprises what Jesuit Father Robert Taft has described as the basic goal of Christian daily worship through the ages:
“...to celebrate and manifest in ritual moments what is and what must be the constant stance of our every minute of the day: our unceasing offering, in Christ, of self, to the praise and glory of the Father in thanks for God’s saving gift in Christ.”

Here at Muir's Chapel, we offer a midweek vespers service on Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m., in our prayer chapel (room 109). For more information, contact Lisa Tanico.