Unofficial Daily Office Customary: Church of the Ascension, Chicago

The following reflects a typical Daily Office of Morning or Evening Prayer. Some officiants vary slightly from these instructions. Rite II is used. Bows of the head are normally done at the Name of Jesus and during mentions of the three persons of the Trinity. A profound bow from the waist is done during the first half of the Gloria Patri (Glory to the Father) whenever it occurs. Traditionally this bow is low enough that you can put your hands on your knees, but of course this varies. 1. Prepare for the Office by marking places in the books, placing them on the officiants prayer desk, and preparing and posting the board showing the psalms and canticles to be used. 2. We use the seven-week psalm cycle given in the Daily Office Lectionary in the prayer book. An Episcopal Church liturgical calendar is provided in the sacristy for easy determination of the psalms and lessons. 3. Canticles at Morning Prayer MondaySaturday are (after the first lesson) the canticle given for the day in the first column of the table on p. 144 in the BCP, and (after the second lesson) Canticle 16. On Sundays and Major Holy Days, the morning canticles are 16 and 21 in that order. At Evening Prayer, the canticles are always Magnificat and Nunc dimittis. 4. At Morning Prayer, the two lessons given in the Episcopal Church calendar are used (which conforms to the suggestions in the BCP rubrics); at Evening Prayer, the one lesson in that calendar that is not bracketed is used for the first lesson, and the current lesson in Readings for the Daily Office From the Early Church is used for the second lesson. On Major Holy Days, two biblical lessons are used at each office as given in the Daily Office Lectionary. 5. Our general practice is not to omit any bracketed psalms or verses. This is at the officiants discretion. 6. Vest in cassock and surplice. 7. Just before it is time to begin the Office, pray the Prayer Before the Daily Office, posted on the sacristy wall. Make the sign of the cross as you finish it. 8. When the atomic clock near the Michael door indicates it is time to begin, enter the church, blessing yourself with holy water, and proceed to the center aisle in front of the chancel steps. Facing the tabernacle, genuflect to reverence the Blessed Sacrament. Then go to the Officiants prayer desk and take up the prayer book. Face north (toward the center aisle) except to read the lessons and during The Lord be with you, when you face the people. 9. Read the scripture sentence to begin the Office. The standard one used in the morning is Send out your light and your truth and the standard evening sentence is Let my prayer be set forth but another appropriate sentence may be used at the Officiants discretion, especially at Morning Prayer in various seasons. 10. Skip the confession and absolution. Continue with the opening versicle and response. At Morning Prayer, make a small cross on your lips during (or just before) the versicle; at Evening Prayer, make a regular Sign of the Cross during the versicle. Make a profound bow during the first half of the Glory to the Father; straighten for the second half. Include Alleluia except in Lent.

11. At Morning Prayer, say the first half of the appropriate Invitatory Antiphon, and let the people finish it with Come let us adore him. [Alleluia]. Then say the first line of the Venite, and the people join you and continue in unison, adding the Glory to the Father (theres a medium bow at Come, let us bow down and of course the deep bow at Glory to the Father). Then say the Invitatory Antiphon in two parts as before. The Pascha Nostrum without antiphon is said instead during Easter Week and possibly throughout Eastertide (Im not sureI would guess just Easter Week, and then the Venite with Easter Invitatory before and after through the rest of Eastertide). At Evening Prayer, say the first line of the Phos hilaron, and the people join you and recite the text in unison as given, bowing at the Name of Jesus and mention of the Three Persons. 12. Turn to the first psalm. Dont announce it unless you think there are attendees who might need the guidance; if so, say simply, for example, Psalm XX on page XXX in the red prayer book, and pause. Normally, participants look up the psalms and canticles as indicated on the board. 13. Say the first psalm verse up to the asterisk; sit down during the pause at the asterisk (and remain seated throughout the rest of the psalms). Let the people respond with the second verse, and continue alternating through all of the appointed psalms, treating the Glory to the Father as two verses (if a psalm has an odd number of verses and theres a psalm following, then the people, not the officiant, will start the next psalm). 14. Make a distinct pause at the asterisk: some measure this by mentally saying Ave Maria (just those words, not a whole prayer); or simply make the pause long enough to be more than just a comma or quick breath. Dont make it so long that its a challenge to avoid coming in too early, and dont be annoyed by anyone who does. A short but distinct pause will more readily settle into a comfortable pattern. 15. End each psalm (or entire portion of a long psalm like 119dont treat each small section as a separate psalm) with the Glory to the Father, with a profound bow for the first half. Again, in some instances it will be the peoples turn in the alternation, and they will start the Glory to the Father. 16. Once the psalms have ended, take up the book containing the first reading, stand, and face the people. Start by saying, The Word of God, written in _____. (In the space, say the First Book of Chronicles, or The Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, or whatever is appropriate.) Read the lesson and end with This is the Word of the Lord, and after the people respond, sit down. 17. Observe a pause lasting long enough to say the Lords Prayer mentally at a standard pace. 18. Stand and begin the first canticle. (If this is Canticle 16 or Magnificat, make the sign of the cross as you begin.) The people join in after the first asterisk and say the rest of the canticle with you, standing. Dont make a distinct pause at the asterisks; just follow the punctuation. Profoundly bow during the first half of the Glory to the Father, if there is one at the end. 19. Take up the book containing the second lesson and turn to face the people; the people should be seated. 20. Read the second lesson, introducing and concluding it as shown in step 16 if it is a biblical lesson; if it is a patristic one (from RDOEC), use the introduction given in that book, and conclude by saying, Here ends the reading, and there should be no response. Saying Here ends the reading somewhat softly helps prevent the congregation from making a response out of habit. 21. Stand and begin the second canticle. (If this is Canticle 16 or Nunc dimittis, make the sign of the cross as you begin.) Say the rest of the canticle with the people as in step 18. 2

22. Begin the Apostles Creed and recite it with the people. But if a Mass is to follow the Office and the Mass will include the Nicene Creed (as on Major Holy Days and Principal Feasts), skip the creed and go to the Prayers. 23. To begin the Prayers, turn toward the people (and bow slightly, if you wish) to say The Lord be with you. As they respond, turn back to your northward-facing position. Say Let us pray, then lead the Lords Prayer (traditional version on the left). 24. Lead either Suffrages A or Suffrages B. The general pattern: At Morning Prayer, use A, except on days when Canticle 21 has been said, in which case use B. At Evening Prayer, use B as more appropriate to the evening (and to avoid A being used at both Offices in a day). This is up to the Officiants discretion and preference. 25. Say two or three Collects. The first should be the one for the day of the week: those for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are indicated; the following four should be used on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday respectively. If Mass does not follow the Office, add one of the three prayers for mission. As the final collect, say the Prayer for Parochial Evangelism on the laminated card in the prayer book. On the eve of a principal feast (such as Ascension Day), say the Collect of that feast in place of the one for the day of the week. 26. Once the collects are finished, end the Office as follows (this is printed inside the back cover of the prayer book): Turn toward the people (bow slightly, if you wish) and say, The Lord be with you. They respond, And also with you. Turn northward and say, Let us bless the Lord [alleluia, alleluia]. The people respond, Thanks be to God [alleluia, alleluia]. Make the sign of the cross as you say, May the souls of all the faithful departed, + through the mercy of God, rest in peace. The people say Amen. 27. Turn toward the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary and lead the Angelus (Regina caeli in Eastertide), on the inside back cover of the BCP. In the Angelus, as you say, And the Word was made flesh, genuflect in place, and arise. Just before saying the collect, turn northward. Make the sign of the cross as you finish the collect. The people respond, Amen. 28. Collect your books and proceed to the same spot where you genuflected after entering (center, in front of the chancel steps). Genuflect and leave through the Michael door, blessing yourself with holy water. If necessary, pause before going through the door in order to count the attendees. 29. Proceed to the sacristy, put the books down, and pray the Prayer After the Daily Office on the sacristy wall. Make the sign of the cross as you finish it. 30. Go to the clergy sacristy and record the attendance (dont forget to count yourself) and sign in the appropriate place in the service register.