Daily they assembled for ‘morning and evening hymns.'” This type of prayer was maintained as the Church grew and, as Father Timothy Gallagher notes in his book Praying the Liturgy of the Hours, “Throughout the Church, in Palestine, Antioch, Constantinople and Africa, Christians gathered in their churches twice each day to pray the psalms. Since most of the early Christians were converts from Judaism they continued the Jewish tradition of praying the psalms. Jesus is recorded praying the psalms on multiple occasions, most famously the words of Psalm 22 uttered from the cross: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” This developed into a program of praying the psalms in particular as they expressed the many desires of the human heart. The Jewish people began a tradition of praying three times a day: morning, afternoon and evening. When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem and he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.” (Daniel 6:10). (Psalm 55:17)Įven the prophet Daniel is shown to have prayed at specific intervals. King David, who is believed to have written the psalms, proclaims, Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he will hear my voice. Historically Jews prayed at fixed intervals throughout the day. It is a prayer routine not only reserved for those consecrated to God, but also a common prayer practice for the laity. It consists of praying a set of prayers each day at different times, from morning to night. Priests, religious and deacons are obligated to pray daily what is called the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office. Sometimes even lay people will have that same black book and sit in the back pew of church to pray. It is common to see priests or religious stop during the day to offer prayers out of a small black book.
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