Fixed prayer times, praying at dedicated times during the day, are common practice in major world religions such asJudaism,Christianity, andIslam.
Jewish law requires Jews to pray thrice a day; the morning prayer is known asShacharit, the afternoon prayer is known asMincha, and the evening prayer is known asMaariv.[1]
According to Jewish tradition, the prophetAbraham introduced Shacharit, the prophetIsaac introduced Mincha, and the prophetJacob introduced Maariv.[1] Jews historicallyprayed in the direction of theTemple in Jerusalem, where the "presence of the transcendent God (shekhinah) [resided] in theHoly of Holies of the Temple".[2][3] In theHebrew Bible, it is written that when the prophetDaniel was in Babylon, he "went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open to Jerusalem; and he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously" (cf.Daniel 6:10).[3] After its destruction, Jews continue to pray facing Jerusalem in hope for the coming of the Messiah whom they await.[3]
From the time of theearly Church, the practice of seven fixed prayer times has been taught, which traces itself to theProphet David inPsalm 119:164.[6] InApostolic Tradition,Hippolytus instructed Christians to pray seven times a day, "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion (i.e. 9 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m.)."[7][8][9][10][11]
Christians attended twoliturgies on theLord's Day, worshipping communally in both a morning service and evening service, with the purpose of reading the Scriptures and celebrating theEucharist.[12][13] Throughout the rest of the week, Christians assembled at the church every day for "the main hours of prayer"—morning prayer (which became known asLauds) and evening prayer (which became known asVespers), while praying at the other fixed prayer times privately (which included praying the Lord's Prayer at 9 a.m., 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.);monastics came to gather together to corporately pray all of the canonical hours communally.[14][15][13][16] This practice of seven fixed prayer times was done in the bodily positions ofprostration and standing, which continues today in some denominations, especially those of Oriental Christianity.[11]
Oriental Orthodox Christians (such asCopts,Armenians,Syriacs andIndians), as well certainOriental Protestant denominations (such as theMar Thoma Syrian Church), use abreviary such as theAgpeya andShehimo to pray thecanonical hours seven times a day while facingad orientem, in anticipation of theSecond Coming of Jesus; this Christian practice has its roots inPsalm 119:164, in which the KingDavid prays to God seven times a day.[4][17][6][18] In the Indian Christian and Syriac Christian tradition, these canonical hours are known asVespers (Ramsho [6 pm]),Compline (Soutoro [9 pm]),Nocturns (Lilio [12 am]),Matins (Sapro [6 am]), third hour prayer (Tloth sho`in [9 am]), sixth hour prayer (Sheth sho`in [12 pm]), and ninth hour prayer (Tsha' sho`in [3 pm]).[19] In the Coptic Christian andEthiopian Christian tradition, these seven canonical hours are known as the First Hour (Prime [6 am]), the Third Hour (Terce [9 am]), the Sixth Hour (Sext [12 pm]), the Ninth Hour (None [3 pm]), the Eleventh Hour (Vespers [6 pm]), the Twelfth Hour (Compline [9 pm]), and theMidnight office [12 am];monastics pray an additional hour known as theVigil.[20][21][22]Church bells are tolled at these hours to enjoin the faithful to prayer.[23] At the very minimum, Orthodox Christians are to pray before meals and thrice daily — in the morning, at noon, and in the evening (cf.Daniel 6:10).[24][25] Those who are unable to pray the canonical hour of a certain fixed prayer time may recite theQauma, in the Indian Orthodox tradition.[note 1][6]
InWestern Christianity andEastern Orthodox Christianity, the practice of praying the canonical hours at fixed prayer times became mainly observed by monastics and clergy,[26] though today, theCatholic Church encourages the laity topray theLiturgy of the Hours and in theLutheran Churches andAnglican Communion, breviaries such asThe Brotherhood Prayer Book and theAnglican Breviary, respectively, are used to pray the Daily Office;[27][28][29] theMethodist tradition has emphasized the praying of the canonical hours as an "essential practice" in being adisciple of Jesus, with theOrder of Saint Luke, a Methodist religious order, printingThe Book of Offices and Services to serve this end.[30] InAnabaptist Christianity, Mennonites (especiallyOld Order Mennonites andConservative Mennonites) and Amish have family prayer every morning and evening, which is done kneeling; theChristenpflicht prayer book is used for this purpose. Bible readings may be read after this, often after the evening prayer; to this end, theTägliches Manna devotional is used by many Anabaptists.[31]
Some traditions have historically placed across the eastern wall of their houses, which they face during these seven fixed prayer times.[11][32][8][33] Before praying, Oriental Orthodox Christians and Oriental Protestant Christianswash their hands, face and feet in order to be clean before and present their best to God;shoes are removed in order to acknowledge that one is offering prayer before a holy God.[34][17][4][35] In these Christian denominations, and in many others as well, it is customary for women to wear aheadcovering when praying.[36][37][38] There exist watches that indicate the seven fixed prayer times.[39]
InMandaeism, the daily prayer orbrakha consists of a set of prayers recited three times per day.[40] Mandaeans stand facing north while reciting daily prayers.[41] Unlike in Islam and Coptic Orthodox Christianity,prostration is not practiced.
Mandaean priests reciterahma prayers[42][43] three times every day, while laypeople also recite theRushuma (signing prayer) andAsut Malkia ("Healing of Kings") daily.[40]
The three prayer times in Mandaeism are:[44][42]
Muslims pray five times a day, with their prayers being known asFajr (dawn),Dhuhr (after midday),Asr (afternoon),Maghrib (sunset),Isha (nighttime), facing towardsMecca.[45] The direction of prayer is called theqibla; the early Muslims initially prayed in the direction of Jerusalem before this was changed to Mecca in 624 CE, about a year afterMuhammad's migration to Medina.[46][47]
The timing of the five prayers are fixed intervals defined by daily astronomical phenomena. For example, the Maghrib prayer can be performed at any time after sunset and before the disappearance of the redtwilight from the west.[48] In a mosque, themuezzin broadcasts thecall to prayer at the beginning of each interval. Because the start and end times for prayers are related to the solardiurnal motion, they vary throughout the year and depend on the local latitude and longitude when expressed inlocal time.[49][note 2] In modern times, various religious or scientific agencies in Muslim countries produce annual prayer timetables for each locality, and electronic clocks capable of calculating local prayer times have been created.[50] In the past, some mosques employed astronomers called themuwaqqits who were responsible for regulating the prayer time using mathematical astronomy.[49]
Followers of theBaháʼí Faith must choose either a short, medium, or long prayer each day to fulfill the requirement of the daily obligatory prayer. Reciting theseprayers is considered one of the Baháʼí's most important obligations. The short prayer can only be said between noon and sunset, while the medium prayer must be said three times during the day: once between sunrise and noon, once between noon and sunset, and once in the two hours following sunset.[51] The long prayer is not bound by a fixed prayer time. The text of these prayers is taken from the writings of the religion's founder,Baháʼu'lláh.
Initiated Sikhs are obligated to perform five daily prayers at varying times during the day, from the collection of Nitnem prayers. In the morning, typically right after waking and bathing, theJapji Sahib,Jaap Sahib, andTav Prasad Savaiye prayers are recited. In the evening, theSodar Rahras Sahib is recited, and before bed theKirtan Sohila is recited.[52]
At first, the prayers were said facing Jerusalem, as the Jews did--Christians faced toward the East--but later the direction of prayer, the qibla, was changed toward the Kaaba at Mecca.
Jews in the Diaspora prayed towards Jerusalem, or, more precisely, towards the presence of the transcendent God (shekinah) in the Holy of Holies of the Temple. For instance, Daniel in Babylon 'went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open to Jerusalem; and he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously' (Dan 6:10). Even after the destruction of the Temple, the prevailing custom of turning towards Jerusalem for prayer was kept in the liturgy of the synagogue. Thus Jews have expressed their eschatological hope for the coming of the Messiah, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the gathering of God's people from the Diaspora.
Prayers 7 times a day are enjoined, and the most strict among the Copts recite one of more of the Psalms of David each time they pray. They always wash their hands and faces before devotions, and turn to the East.
We pray standing upright while facing East as we collect our thoughts on God.
Peterson quotes a passage from theActs of Hipparchus and Philotheus: "In Hipparchus's house there was a specially decorated room and a cross was painted on the east wall of it. There before the image of the cross, they used to pray seven times a day ... with their faces turned to the east." It is easy to see the importance of this passage when you compare it with what Origen says. The custom of turning towards the rising sun when praying had been replaced by the habit of turning towards the east wall. This we find in Origen. From the other passage we see that a cross had been painted on the wall to show which was the east. Hence the origin of the practice of hanging crucifixes on the walls of the private rooms in Christian houses. We know too that signs were put up in the Jewish synagogues to show the direction of Jerusalem, because the Jews turned that way when they said their prayers. The question of the proper way to face for prayer has always been of great importance in the East. It is worth remembering that Mohammedans pray with their faces turned towards Mecca and that one reason for the condemnation of Al Hallaj, the Mohammedan martyr, was that he refused to conform to this practice.
Hippolytus in theApostolic Tradition directed that Christians should pray seven times a day - on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight, and also, if at home, at the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion. Prayers at the third, sixth, and ninth hours are similarly mentioned by Tertullian, Cyprian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen, and must have been very widely practised. These prayers were commonly associated with private Bible reading in the family.
Clement of Alexandria noted that "some fix hours for prayer, such as the third, sixth and ninth" (Stromata 7:7). Tertullian commends these hours, because of their importance (see below) in the New Testament and because their number recalls the Trinity (De Oratione 25). These hours indeed appear as designated for prayer from the earliest days of the church. Peter prayed at the sixth hour, i.e. at noon (Acts 10:9). The ninth hour is called the "hour of prayer" (Acts 3:1). This was the hour when Cornelius prayed even as a "God-fearer" attached to the Jewish community, i.e. before his conversion to Christianity. it was also the hour of Jesus' final prayer (Matt. 27:46, Mark 15:34, Luke 22:44-46).
Not only the content of early Christian prayer was rooted in Jewish tradition; its daily structure too initially followed a Jewish pattern, with prayer times in the early morning, at noon and in the evening. Later (in the course of the second century), this pattern combined with another one; namely prayer times in the evening, at midnight and in the morning. As a result seven 'hours of prayer' emerged, which later became the monastic 'hours' and are still treated as 'standard' prayer times in many churches today. They are roughly equivalent to midnight, 6 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Prayer positions included prostration, kneeling and standing ... Crosses made of wood or stone, or painted on walls or laid out as mosaics, were also in use, at first not directly as objections of veneration but in order to 'orientate' the direction of prayer (i.e. towards the east, Latinoriens).
These words make it clear that Hippolytus is dealing both with prayers that are to take place at home or during the day's business and with the prayers and times of study that take place in the community of the church. The prayers upon rising, on the third hour either at home or away from it, and before going to bed at night are sometimes held in private and sometimes in the company of other believers in the same household. But Hippolytus refers to other gatherings which offer, besides prayer, an opportunity for instruction and inspiration. Thus, we see here the beginning of the practice of setting aside certain times for private prayer as well as others for communal prayer.
Morning and Evening Prayer were liturgical services held each day at the local church, during which psalms were sung and prayers were offered to God.
We are commanded to pray standing, with faces towards the East, for at the last Messiah is manifested in the East. 2. All Christians, on rising from sleep early in the morning, should wash the face and pray. 3. We are commanded to pray seven times, thus...
The tradition of the Church in terms of a minimum standard is three times a day: morning, noon, and evening.
It is customary to pray formal prayers first thing in the morning after waking, before meals, and immediately before going to sleep at night.
For example, within Orthodox and Roman Christianity, the hours until very recently have been more often observed by monastics and clergy than by laity, a direct violation of their origin as an office of the people, just as they have been as often chanted as spoken, a rich custom that is none the less not a liturgical necessity.
Inside their homes, a cross is placed on the eastern wall of the first room. If one sees a cross in a house and do not find a crucifix or pictures, it is almost certain that the particular family belongs to the Church of the East.
Because Christ was expected to come from the east, Christians at a very early date prayed facing that direction in order to show themselves ready for his appearing, and actually looking forward to the great event which would consummate the union with him already experienced in prayer. For the same reason the sign of the cross was frequently traced on the eastern wall of places of prayer, thereby indicating the direction of prayer, but also rendering the Lord's coming a present reality in the sign which heralds it. In other words, through the cross the anticipated eschatological appearance becomesparousia: presence. The joining of prayer with the eschatological presence of Christ, unseen to the eye but revealed in the cross, obviously underlies the widely attested practice of prostrating before the sacred wood while praying to him who hung upon it.
The Copts, descendants of these ancient Egyptians, although Christians, have the custom of washing their hands and faces before prayer, and some also wash their feet.
