Instructions for Praying Evening Prayer

Outline of Evening Prayer

Finding Your Place

These instructions assume that you are using the Shorter Christian Prayer book published by the Catholic Book Publishing Co.

The main part of morning and evening prayer is called the Psalter since it is designed to take us through the psalms over a four week period. To find out which week of the Psalter to use, you must know what week of the liturgical year you are in. Each season (Easter, Christmas, Lent, Advent, and Ordinary time) starts at week one, and cycles through the four week Psalter. There are several places that you can consult to find the correct liturgical week: the Pilot, the St. Isidore calendar. Just divide four into the week of the season and the correct week of the Psalter is found from the remainder:

So for example, the fifth week of Easter season is week I in the Psalter. (5 divided by 4 leaves a remainder of 1. Evening prayer for Thursday of week I starts on page 90. The twenty-third week in Ordinary time is week III in the Psalter (23 divided by 4 leaves a remainder of 3); evening prayer for Monday of week III starts on page 208. And the twenty-fourth week of ordinary time is week IV (24 divided by 4 leaves a remainder of 0). For Sunday, there are two evening prayers: Evening prayer I is said on Saturday night (just like the Saturday evening Mass is really a celebration of Sunday's liturgy) and Evening prayer II is said on Sunday evening;

The Details

Let us first step through a normal weekday in Ordinary time and then look at the variations that occur during the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter, and also on each Sunday. In order to save space, the book does not print out every word. It assumes that you know the responses and other short ejaculations that are used over and over again. They just print the starting words of the ejaculation and expect you to know the rest. Another confusing thing for people starting to pray the Liturgy of the Hours is that the doxology is different from the one we usually say. The Liturgy of the Hours doxology is: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

In the following instructions, the words you are to say exactly as written are in Bold-Italic

Start

You do not start with the sign of the cross prayer, although you may make the sign of the cross as you recite the following two short ejaculations:

• (L) God come to my assistance.
  (All) Lord, make haste to help me.

• (L) Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
  (All) As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia (the Alleluia is not said during Lent and Advent).

Psalms and Canticle

Evening Prayer contains two Psalms and then a selection from the New Testament called a canticle (because the selection was probably originally a hymn that was sung in early Christian liturgies). Morning Prayer contains a Psalm, an Old Testament Canticle, and then a second Psalm. The following steps are for Evening Prayer.

• (L) Recite Antiphon l (In Easter season, read only the one labeled Easter.)

• (All) Recite the first psalm.

• (All) At the end of the psalm: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

• (L) Recite the psalm prayer if there is one

• (All) repeat Antiphon 1.

• (L) After a short pause, recite Antiphon 2

• (All) recite the second psalm.

• (All) At the end of the psalm: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

• (L) Recite the psalm prayer if there is one

• (All) repeat Antiphon 2.

• (L) After a short pause, recite Antiphon 3

• (All) Recite the New Testament canticle.

• (All) At the end of the canticle: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

• (All) Repeat Antiphon 3.

Reading and Responsory

• Read the scripture passage and pause briefly to reflect on the reading and its meaning for you today.
• Recite the responsory which has the form:
  Verse; repeat verse.
  Another verse; repeat second half of first verse
  Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; repeat entire first verse.

Canticle of Mary

• (L) Recite the antiphon for the Canticle of Mary.

• (All) Recite the Canticle of Mary (The Magnificat) which is found on the inside back cover.

• (All) At the end of the Magnificat: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

• (All) Repeat the antiphon to the Canticle of Mary.

Intercessions and Closing

• (L) Recite the opening of the intercessions, followed by the(All) response.

• (L) Recite the first half of each intercession; (All) recite the second half.

• After all the intercessions, you may add your own and then (All) pray the Our Father.

• (L) Pray the concluding prayer and then finish with: May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

Sunday Variations

The first variation on this normal course of the Liturgy of the Hours occurs on every Sunday. The antiphon for the Canticle of Mary and the concluding prayer are proper to the particular Sunday, and are to be found in the second half of the book. For example, the antiphon for the twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary time, evening prayer I is found on page 527; the concluding prayer is on the same page and is the same for evening prayer I, morning prayer, and evening prayer II. The antiphon for the Canticle of Mary for evening prayer II is on the next page (528), and the concluding prayer can be the one on 527 under morning prayer, or the alternative prayer on top of page 528.

In addition to proper of the seasons for Sundays, special feasts have proper parts. For All Saints Day, for example, the antiphons for the Canticle of Mary and the concluding prayer start on page 553.

Seasonal Variations

The weekdays of seasons of Advent and Lent have special readings and responsories as well as antiphons for the Canticle of Mary and the concluding prayer. You simply use the normal parts of the four week Psalter for those parts that are not proper to the day and the proper parts from the appropriate day of the season in the back for the rest.

Summary

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me (cac@stisidorestow.com). Hopefully, after a few sessions as the opening prayer at Parish Pastoral Council meetings, you will become more comfortable with the routine. Remember that you are joining the whole church around the world in this prayer of praise and thanksgiving!

Deacon Charlie Cornell, 6/14/2002