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<\/a><\/div>\nGuest Post by Allison Salerno<\/i> Vespers are part of the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office. This is the official set of daily prayers that clergy and religious have been praying for centuries. Since the sixth century, the prayers have been virtually unchanged. Thanks to Vatican II, members of the laity are encouraged to pray them as well. <\/p>\n Two of our newer parishioners\u00a0 have urged our pastor to restore this ancient tradition of Vespers (at our parish). We are fortunate that our pastor has been not only receptive, but most enthusiastic. To quote the Second Vatican Council:<\/p>\n Pastors of souls should see to it that the chief hours, especially Vespers, are celebrated in common in church on Sundays and the more solemn feasts. And the laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually.\u2014<\/i>Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy<\/a>, \u00a7 100\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n
We Roman Catholics have nearly forgotten the tradition of Vespers. A parishioner approached my priest last week after Sunday Vespers, wondering why we have started to incorporate \u201cAnglican traditions\u201d into our own. Thanks to some dedicated parishioners,\u00a0 our sons get to grow up knowing Vespers is very much a \u201cCatholic thing.\u201d
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To be fair, I never heard of Vespers growing up Catholic in the 1970s, except for the Evensong services offered by the Episcopal church across town. I didn\u2019t realize until recently that Vespers are evening prayer services whose roots go all the way back to the Apostles, who followed the Jewish practice of praying certain prayers at certain times of the day. <\/p>\n