Evening Prayer

Evening Prayer is held at St. Gabriel at 6:00 pm every night, Sunday through Friday. Please consider joining us whenever you can. It is a wonderful way to close your day!

What is Evening Prayer?

In the Holy Spirit, Christ carries out through the Church “the work of human redemption and God’s perfect glorification,” not only when the Eucharist is celebrated and the sacraments are administered but also in other ways, and especially when The Liturgy of the Hours is celebrated. Christ himself is present in the assembled community, in the proclamation of God’s word, “in the prayer and song of the Church.” The sanctification of human beings is accomplished, and worship offered to God, in The Liturgy of the Hours in an exchange or dialogue between God and human beings in which “God speaks to his people…and his people reply to him in song and prayer.”

Why attend Evening Prayer?

Those taking part in The Liturgy of the Hours have access to holiness of the richest kind through the life-giving Word of God, to which it gives such great importance. The readings are drawn from Sacred Scripture, God’s words in the psalms are sung in His presence, and the intercessions, prayers, and hymns are steeped in the inspired language of Scripture. The Liturgy of the Hours is the prayer of the entire Church. The Liturgical renewal of Vatican II has endeavored to make it accessible to all Catholics by a simplification of structure. The Church desires that wherever possible at least the celebration of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer in public worship services should be encouraged. The Liturgy of the Hours, distributed over various periods of each day, is intended to sanctify time and work. It is also a perfect means for putting into practice the word of Jesus “about the necessity of praying always without growing weary” (Luke 18:1). Contact with the riches of this liturgical prayer, which is pervaded by Sacred Scripture, will give Christians authentic spiritual food, encourage them to do good, and unite them closer to the Church of God throughout the world.