In the Rule of Saint Benedict, written in the early 6th century, we hear of eight prayer periods: Matins or Vigils, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. Our ancestors in the faith began counting hours at sunrise, about 6am. He numbers in all six common prayer periods: morning, evening, nighttime, as well as prayer at the third, sixth, and ninth hours (Terce, Sext, None). The two ideas emphasized are that one should strive to pray at all times as well as adhere to a regular structure of prayer at appointed times. Saint Jerome is speaking here for the early church and for monasticism in general. Before every action, at the beginning of every undertaking, let the hand make the sign of the cross” (Letter XXII, 37). After that only is the life entitled to its nourishment and the body to its rest. Also, he should say a prayer upon his return before he seats himself again. On leaving his abode he should arm himself with prayer. In the night, too, one should rise from his couch two or three times and therewith recall what he has learned by heart from the Scriptures. Likewise, you should not leave the table without discharging your duty of thanks to the Creator. Nor should you ever take nourishment without beginning to do so with a prayer. As such prayer times everyone knows of the third, sixth and ninth hours, the morning and the evening hours. Then, should any occupation keep us away from it, the hour itself will remind us of that duty. Nevertheless, we must set aside stated hours for the duty of praying. “The Apostle indeed admonishes us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and with the Saints their very sleep should be a prayer. In a letter from the year 384, Saint Jerome wrote the following: Sayings and Stories from the Desert Fathers.How We Pray and Chant – Monastic life has prayer at its very heart.Abbot’s Archives – Personal reflections from our abbots across the years.Subscriptions – We can add you to our postal or electronic mailing lists for monastery news and homilies.Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.September 29th: “Ring Out Our Joy to the Lord” Psalm 94(95).

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Traditional divine office