Prayer of the First Hour

Our Daily Lenten Journey this year is focused on prayer. Yesterday we finished our series on morning prayers. Did you know the Church has ‘services’ dedicated to the different hours of the day? Now we will turn our attention to communal prayers offered during the day.

For centuries the People of God have gathered throughout the day for communal prayer. The first Christians continued this tradition and even gathered in the Temple. “Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.” (Acts 3.1) What happened?

Over the centuries, these ‘hours of prayer’ have fallen by the wayside. Except for Christmas, Theophany and Pascha, these hours are rarely offered except within some monasteries. This is unfortunate because the ‘hours of prayer’ have a lot to offer us. Each hour has a theme.

Before we look at today’s prayer, you should know when the ‘hours of prayer’ are during the day. Everything begins with sunrise and ends with sunset. You may also not know that ‘hours of prayer’ do NOT include nighttime hours. Those are called ‘watches of the night’.

O Christ, the true light that enlightens and sanctifies every man who comes into the world, let the light of Your countenance shine on us, that in it we may behold the unapproachable light. And direct our steps to keep Your commandments, by the intercessions of Your all-immaculate Mother and all the saints. Amen

Ther Prayer for the First hour, traditionally ‘set’ at 6am is the first service following Orthros. As you can see from the prayer, this prayer brings our attention directly on the Light of Christ. Life does not exist and cannot exist without light. We cannot exist without the Light of Christ.

The world is filled with darkness. You didn’t need me to tell you that. We devoted our personal prayer to asking for God’s help and mercy. Now we ask Him to Light the way, illuminate our steps, and make us holy. Who doesn’t want all three of these to be true, but how do we do it?

Modern technology provides us with a unique blessing the ancient world didn’t have. You may not be able to go to the Church, but you can still pray this prayer. You can set your smart watch or phone to remind you every day at 6am to pray this prayer, so that you can focus on Light.

I don’t want you to lose focus on why prayer is so important. It isn’t ever about ‘checking’ the boxes as if certain prayers were required. Each prayer is more than time spent talking with God. Each prayer is written to also inspire us to Live A New Life In Christ.

Living in the Light of Christ began at our baptism, but most of us allow the Light to fade. The good news is that the Light never fully extinguishes. There is always a ‘low glow’ in our heart waiting for the voice of God and our prayer to kindle the flame.

The struggle to kindle the Light of Christ in our heart is a daily battle. When we make the Prayer of the First Hour a part of our daily prayer life, it is like fueling the flame every day. It might dim a bit by evening, but thankfully tomorrow will give us another to kindle the Light with prayer.

Now that you know how to kindle the Light of Christ in your heart, through prayer, you might be surprised just how dark the world around you really is. The darker it gets, the more Light you will need. Kindle your Light and happy prayer.