Prayer and Worship

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord’ Luke 1:46

Worship and prayer are at the heart of our life, and are expressed through the Eucharist, the saying of the Daily Office and personal prayer. In this way we share in Christ’s life of praise and intercession.

The Daily Office has its origins in traditional Jewish worship and in the prayer of the first Christians. It consists of a pattern of services recited at regular intervals through the day— the number of Offices varying from one religious community to another. The Office is rooted in Scripture and just as the psalms were used by Jesus in his prayer, so too they have a special place in the saying of the Daily Office today.

Our Community Office is five-fold - consisting of Lauds, Terce, Sext, Vespers and Compline. Plainsong is sung in English and forms an important part of our worship. This ancient form of music—like the Office— has its roots in Jewish worship and has evolved over the centuries. We sing Sarum plainsong which was developed and sung at Salisbury Cathedral from the 13th Century onwards.

In addition to our corporate worship, Sisters have time set aside each day for personal prayer and spiritual reading. Each Sister is encouraged to explore and develop God’s leading to her in prayer. Our spiritual reading feeds our prayer and is a meditative reading of the Scriptures, the spiritual classics or contemporary spiritual writers.