keeping watch

 

A visit to a parishioner in a senior living facility has stayed in my mind for years, and sustained my heart. She told me about the prayers she says at midnight: Lauds. She has her own way of doing them, using the prayer book and the psalms.

She begins, practically enough, with Psalm 63, which contains the verse, "When I remember you upon my bed : when I meditate upon you in the night watches..." (Psalm 63:6)

She turns to the Book of Common Prayer, Daily Evening Prayer, which begins with one or more sentences of Scripture, such as these:

“I will bless the Lord, who giveth me counsel; my heart teacheth me, night after night. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not fall.” (Psalm 16:7,8)

"Seek him that made the Pleiades and Orion, that turneth deep darkness into the morning, and darkeneth the day into night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his Name.” (Amos 5:8)

“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will cover me, and the light around me turn to night,’ darkness is not dark to thee, O Lord; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to thee are both alike.” (Psalm 139:10,11)

She says Psalm 134, Ecce nunc, which is found in the order for Compline:

“Behold now, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, *

you that stand by night in the house of the LORD.

“Lift up your hands in the holy place and bless the LORD; *

the LORD who made heaven and earth bless you out of Zion.”

Pause, now, for meditation and contemplation.

Then, on to the psalms of praise: 145, 146, 147, 148, 149 (v.1-5), and 150.

Then that lovely prayer, drawn from the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo, that we find in both Evening Prayer and Compline:

“Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen.”

And then it is about time to return to sleep, until morning.

What are you doing up at this time of night? Saying my prayers, saying my prayers. Not a bad answer to give.

And the basis of all these prayers is Sacred Scripture, for as the Psalmist says,

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

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Adapted from https://sermonoats.blogspot.com/search/label/night%20prayers Sunday, August 1, 2010