Family Evening Prayers
Posted by Eric (August 23, 2006 at 2:12 pm)
In preparation for a recent family vacation, I put together a set of evening prayers [PDF], plucking some of my favorite pieces out of the Vespers book from the Metropolitan Cantor Institute. I hesistate to share this for two reasons:
- I did not obtain permission to use any of this (not necessary, I believe, for limited private use).
- This is really quite a hack job, not up to my usual standards.
To obtain the pieces that comprise this 8-page booklet [PDF], I used the camera tool in Adobe Reader, set at a high resolution, and then edited each image with Corel PhotoPaint and laid it all out with CorelDRAW, from which I generated the PDF. So you’ll see all kinds of different type size and such.
Anyway, it’s just a draft. I found in practice that it’s a bit too long, especially with the First Kathisma, which I included because it’s my favorite part of Vespers. But I offer these prayers[PDF] here for others to try out and comment on, with a view to producing a tidier version in the future.
Note: This prayer booklet is “booked,” meaning that the pages are laid out for back-to back printing on standard letter paper, to be stapled down the center. So you’ll see pages 8 and 1 on the first PDF page, 2 and 7 on the next, etc. If you’re not up to printing them as a booklet, you could just cut the printed pages in half, put them in the right order, and staple them. I had a few copies made and stapled for cheap at a local copy shop.
See also: Evening Prayers at ByzFaith.
This is a project I have been meaning to complete for this website. Luckily for me, Jeff at the 
One might think that Christian worship begins and ends on Sunday, but that is not the case. All the hours of every day have been made holy, and are proper times to sing praise to God. The Church, following ancient customs going back to Jewish practice, has specific liturgies for the various hours of the day. By praying along with the Church at “morning, noon, and night” as the Psalmist puts it, we can sanctify the whole day and the whole week. Sunday is not the only liturgical day, but the biggest celebration in a constant symphony of praise.