the daily office

The canonical hours or daily offices provide a structure for prayer throughout the day. I observe four offices throughout the day, on most days.

At least three days a week, I say morning prayer in a church near work, following the form in A Prayer Book for Australia (the Australian Anglican prayer book). Sometimes the priest is the only other person present. On other days, I say morning prayer alone, following the form in the ‘pocket’ edition of Celebrating Common Prayer, produced by the Society of St Francis.

Some office books provide a form for midday prayer, but—especially when I’m at work—at this time of day I can usually only cope with a few words and less structure. I say the Angelus followed by the Anglican rosary with the Trisagion and Jesus prayer. When I am at work (in a hospital), I go to the chapel for this, at the start of my lunch break.

Evening prayer is a fitting way to end the work day. In earlier days, when I had less regular work, I would attend choral evensong at the cathedral (using the form in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer) but this service starts too early for me now that I would have to rush into the city from work. Instead, I say evening prayer myself in the hospital chapel, using the form in Celebrating Common Prayer.

The day ends with compline or night prayer, again following the form in Celebrating Common Prayer.

It has taken me a few years to develop this routine. I used to complain that ‘I didn’t know how to pray.’ Somehow I had got the impression that authentic prayer had to be a spontaneous, ad lib ‘conversation with God’ that expressed my own personality and creativity. That may work for some people but it isn’t right for me. If prayer is about self-expression, then, at times when I am exhausted or miserable, I don’t try to pray—and that is when I need it most. Following a traditional form (or an adaptation of it) allows me to make room for God even if I can’t find the words for what I feel.

In my experience in Australia, only larger and more catholic parishes in Australia allow time for the daily office in the church. I started attending evensong in previous local parishes and, over time, it became a routine, as regular as mass on Sunday. And, as with mass, I learned that even if I sometimes wasn’t ‘in the mood’ for prayer, it answered a need that I couldn’t always express in words.

For a long time I couldn’t understand how the daily office could be said alone. The office books provide words that are said by the leader, and words that are said by all people. After talking to some people and lurking on message boards I learned that, yes, people do say the office alone by reading aloud to themselves. I try to say the office with others whenever possible, but I have now got used to saying it alone.