Bose, monastic church

...Sunday, the day of the creation of light...

b) The liturgical week

According to the Christian tradition, the liturgical week begins on Saturday evening with the first vespers of Sunday. Sunday, the day of the creation of light and the day of the Resurrection, of the gift of the Spirit and of the Lord’s coming, is the day when Christians gather in assembly to listen to the Word and for the Eucharistic celebration. In preparation for the Eucharistic liturgy there is a night prayer, a vigil of listening, meditating, and praying the Scripture and also a celebration of the Resurrection at dawn on Sunday. Second vespers and then the traditional prayer of compline close this holy day, in which prayer becomes more intense. The other days of the week are characterized by the cursive prying of the Psalter and the reading of Sacred Scripture. A faint copy of the paschal triduum, however, is given by the Psalms and orations of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On those days, in fact, Psalms and orations follow the course of the paschal event: the passion, death, burial, repose in the tomb, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Bose, monastic church

the morning light through the window

c) The liturgical day

This is marked by the three hours of evening, morning, and midday, to which may be added the prayer of compline. In the morning, in addition to the Psalms, the prayer includes the reading of the Old Testament and of the Gospel, the canticle of “Benedictus” or “Christ the new sun”, contemplations of praise or of doxology, the morning collect, and the Lord’s prayer, the “Our Father”. In the evening the Epistles are read; the “Magnificat” is followed by intercessions, which in turn are followed by the evening collect. At the midday hour, besides the psalmody, there is a patristic or spiritual reading on the day’s Gospel, which is recalled through the proclamation of a verse (chapter).