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We would like to invite you to consider as part of your Lenten discipline joining us for Daily Morning Prayer at 8:00 a.m. each weekday morning. The Daily Office will be said "in choir," i.e. in the church with leadership provided by a small but dedicated group of laity. Before you find a hundred reasons that your calendar will not permit you to attend, let me share a bit of history with you. Lauds (the public morning service) is one of the six "choir offices" following Matins (midnight or cockcrow devotions) and preceding Terce, Sext, None, and Vespers. Prime and Compline were added later and said in the chapter house of the monastery. So we are reaching deep into Christian history and our Anglican tradition when we participate in the Morning Office. Listen to some words from the 1552 Prayer Book (found in its contemporary form on pp. 41 & 79 of our BCP). Dearly beloved…the Scripture moveth us in sundry places, to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins…And although we ought at all times humbly to acknowledge our sins before God; yet ought we most chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together to render thanks for the great benefits we have received at his hands, to set forth his most worthy praise, to hear his most holy Word, and to ask those things which be requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul (emphasis added). "(To)
ask those things which be requisite and necessary as well for the body
as the soul." That is wisdom that speaks across the centuries right
into the midst of our frenetic and frazzled lives. Modern medicine, wellness
experts and your Pastoral Associate invite you to consider what is "requisite
and necessary" for our body and soul's health—quiet reflection,
centering, grounding in scripture and prayers. I will make this prediction:
If at the conclusion of Lent you have faithfully established this daily
rule of life for yourself and have faithfully listened, prayed and spent
some quiet, contemplative time in God's presence, your soul and body will
find refreshment and renewal. I predict even further that you will discover
a reserve of energy that will be noticed by your family and friends, your
colleagues and your parishioners. I know because I've experienced just
that. For a small but important 15-minute slice of time at the beginning
of each day you will discover a gift of unbounded proportions. Come and
see, go and tell. For an added bonus, arrive five minutes early and sit
or kneel quietly. Do just that, sit or kneel. Quietly. Don't plan your
day or review the list of things you haven't completed. Just sit. Quietly.
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