What is Vespers? (Come to the Basilica on December 7 at 7 p.m. to Pray/Experience It In Person)

The Basilica will host Solemn Sung Vespers, Evening Prayer of the Catholic Church, on Tuesday, December 7, at 7 p.m. as part of our annual 40 Hours Devotion and part of the beginning of the three-year preparation for celebration of the Golden Jubilee of our Arlington Diocese in 2024.

What is Vespers? 

Vespers is part of the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office. In the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church fulfills Jesus’ command to “pray always.” Through this prayer, the people of God sanctify the day by continual praise of God and prayers of intercession for the needs of the world.

The Liturgy of the Hours includes several specified times of prayer. The most important times, called the “hinge hours,” are Morning Prayer (prayed upon rising) and Evening Prayer (prayed as dusk begins to fall). The other hours are the Office of Readings (may be prayed any time during the day and includes a biblical reading and a reading from the Fathers, Church writers or a reading related to a saint), a Daytime Prayer (prayed at midmorning, midday or midafternoon) and Night Prayer (prayed before going to sleep).

Bishops, priests, deacons, and many men and women in consecrated life pray the Liturgy of the Hours each day. Their work is organized around this prayer, keeping God always at the center of their life. Lay people are encouraged to pray the Liturgy of the Hours as well, especially Morning and Evening Prayer (Vespers).

Evening Prayer offers thanks for the day just past and makes an evening sacrifice of praise to God. Solemn Vespers indicates Evening Prayer that is chanted or sung. When prayed with others, or “in choir,” one side sings or chants while the other listens in an alternating fashion. With this pattern, we proclaim God’s word and then receive God’s word as it is sung back to us.