The Daily Office
Introduction Prayer is an important aspect of the apostolic deposit once delivered to the saints (Jude 3). The apostles adapted for a Christian context the tradition they received from Second Temple Judaism and transmitted it in the deposit to their successors. This deposit included both the concepts of prayer at fixed hours and continuous prayer. The fixed hour aspect of prayer has evolved into the Christian daily office or "canonical hours of prayer". This paper will explore three things: the historical foundations for fixed-hour and continuous prayer as well as how they have been applied in Church history. Fixed Hour Prayers Although the patriarchs are never recorded as observing fixed-hour prayers, three different patriarchs are recorded to have interacted with Yahweh at three different times of the day, which taken together has provided fuel for the Jewish myth that each of them instituted one of the three fixed-hour prayers: Abraham, morning (Genesis 2...