“Seven times a day do I praise you” (Psalm 119:164)
Each year in the late fall, Class IX students, their parents, and their teachers attend an evening prayer service to celebrate the Class’s arrival in the Upper School.
The term Vespers refers to a prayer service originally part of the Liturgy of the Hours, the prayer of the whole people of God. After Christianity gained legal status in the Roman Empire in the early 4th century, group prayer services offered in local churches on weekdays included a morning prayer, eventually called Lauds (Latin, “praise”), and an evening prayer, eventually called Vespers (Latin, “evening star”). These prayer services consisted of Scripture readings, singing of psalms and hymns, and prayers.
When monastic life grew in popularity in the 5th century, these twice-daily prayer services increased to seven: Matins, originally a sort of night vigil, and Lauds; Prime (first hour, or 6 a.m.); Terce (third hour or 9 am); Sext (sixth hour, or noon); None (ninth hour, or 3pm); Vespers (when the evening star appeared); and Compline (just before retiring). Faithful to the apostolic exhortations to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17), the purpose of these seven times of prayer is to praise, thank, and petition God as a community and to foster prayer throughout the day.
Thus in the Class IX Vespers service, we join as a community in asking God to hear our prayers for the Class as they commence their high school journey.
Background information adapted from: Greg Dues, Catholic Customs and Traditions (Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2000).