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Wesley’s Method Part II: Frequent Prayer and the Daily Office
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October 4, 2021John Wesley’s Oxford Holy Club participated in frequent prayer or sometimes frequent worship, depending on the author describing it. The two are in one and the same, and make sense in the context of the Book of Common Prayer and the setting of an Oxford College. Wesley is credited with saying “I believe there is no liturgy in the world, either in ancient or modern language, which breathes more of a solid, scriptural, rational Piety, than the Common Prayer of the Church of England.” Wesley also adapted the BCP for use among Methodist Societies, particularly in North America, with his 1784 Sunday Service of the Methodists. This continued as the Book of Worship for Church and Home and today the United Methodist Book of Worship. Services from these books have also continued in African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Churches. The Liturgy found in Methodist worship books is similar, if not identical, to those found in the Book of Common Prayer, including Morning and Evening Prayer, and also Noon-Day and Compline services in the modern Book of Worship. However, wide liturgical variations within the United Methodist Church (UMC) mean that many congregations may not regularly experience the style of worship that Wesley and the early Methodists were familiar with despite having these resources available to them.
The Ordinariates now greatly benefit from our Daily Office books that include orders for the lesser hours, even beyond noon-time and compline. This means, frankly, that we should never allow any event or gathering to go without common prayer from at least some form of the lesser hours. Common prayer doesn’t need to be a long or laborious service, and the lesser hours do not need to include music, lengthy lessons, or sermons. This not only sanctifies our time, but sanctifies with prayer everything that we do. We may dedicate Morning and Evening Prayer, which are the two chief offices of the day, to services specifically for their celebration; but we should utilize the lesser hours to bring an element of worship to every gathering we have. The prayer of the Daily Office, then, can be shared beyond the setting of an individual or family, or in corporate parish worship. Every committee meeting, bible study, and fellowship dinner should find a way of incorporating, at the very least, a lesser hour. With some planning ahead, parishes might consider having lay volunteers lead the lesser hours at the parish, or lead Evening Prayer services in parish churches or parish halls on Saturday or Sunday nights.
By the same token, Ordinariate parishes should consider making friendships with other parishes through the Daily Office. Vatican II desired that the laity participate more in the Liturgy of the Hours, yet this hope has made very little progress in the wider Church. However, the Ordinariate can help with that. Ordinariate groups may cooperate with nearby diocesan parishes to rotate evening prayer services throughout the week or on a week-by-week basis. Ordinariate members may even offer to lead Daily Office services for a diocesan parish. In this way, we can help the wider Catholic Church to realize the goals of Vatican II while sharing some of our patrimony.
Our prayerbook experience also has ecumenical outreach. Just as we can share these services to benefit Catholic parishes in our areas, we should also find ways to have joint worship services around common prayer with non-Catholic churches. Anglican, Methodist, and perhaps Lutheran churches would be most apt for this possibility. This could be done as a location-rotating joint worship service, but this could also be done by incorporating the lesser hours into community events. For example, a joint candlelight compline service followed by hot chocolate and music with a Methodist church near Christmas time might be a fun way to reach out into the wider ecclesiastical community.
The prayerbooks and Daily Office are a treasure of our spirituality – so let’s share them!
Paul Caleb Roland is an Ordinariate Catholic who writes from Oklahoma.Related articles by this author:
What Methodist Patrimony Brings to the Ordinariate MissionWesley’s Method Part I: Frequent Reception of Communion and the Love Feast
Wesley’s Method Part II: Frequent Prayer and the Daily Office
Wesley’s Method Part III: Form a Bible Study, Go Make Disciples
Wesley’s Method Part IV: Fasting Wednesdays, Fridays & Other Times for Sanctification
Wesley’s Method Part V: Forming Small Groups for Discipleship
Wesley’s Method Part VI: Following Christ by Works of Mercy
Wesley’s Method Part VII: Singing and a Hymnal in Every Home
Wesley’s Method Part VIII: How Field Preaching Equips the Laity to Proclaim Jesus Christ
Wesley’s Method Part IX: Holy Conferencing, Revivals, and their Ordinariate Potential
Wesley’s Method Part X: How Lay Servant Ministry Can Grow the Catholic Church
