“What Jesus himself did, he also commands us to do. He often said, ‘Pray’, ‘Ask’, ‘Seek’,‘in my name’. He gave us the Lord’s Prayer to teach us how to pray. He instructed us on the necessity of prayer,and told us to be humble, watchful, persevering and confident in the goodness of the Father, pure in intention and worthy of God.” (General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours, article 5)
The Church has always had a tradition of gathering together in prayer. Outside Sunday, the Christian community would gather regularly to give praise and offer intercession. It would sing the psalms that Christ himself prayed and listen to the scriptures.
Over the years this tradition, The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office, was lost to the people as it became less familiar with the psalms and other prayers. It gradually became the prayer of the clergy and religious who had the means both to learn the prayers and dedicate the time to praying them. Since Vatican II, the Church has called us all to reclaim the Liturgy of the Hours as our communal prayer.
During Lent we invite everyone to gather in prayer. Evening Prayer will be celebrated each Friday at 7:30 p.m. As prayer is one of the traditional penitential practices of Lent, Friday Evening Prayer will give us the opportunity to gather and focus on our journey towards Easter through song, scripture and intercession.
Liturgy 