What is the daily Church cycle?

St. Basil the Great emphasizes the importance of the Prayers of the Hours ( Agpeya ) for our spiritual growth and our spiritual joy, and discloses their importance, saying, “None of these hours for prayer should be unobserved by those who have chosen a life devoted to the glory of God and His Christ.”⁶¹⁷ The book of the Acts of the Apostles contains the practice of praying the Prayers of the Hours in the early Church: the Third Hour (Acts 2:1, 5); the Sixth Hour (Acts 10:9); the Ninth Hour (Acts 2:1); and the Midnight Prayer (Acts 16:25). A person may pray the Prayers of the Hours wherever he might be, without anyone being aware that he is doing so. Each of the Hours has a special significance:

• a. The First Hour (Prime, Morning, or Matins): At this hour, we remember the resurrection of the Lord Christ, feel its joy each morning, and experience the new life of resurrection and the defeat of death. In this frame of mind, no apparently chance event can cause us fear or anxiety, for we know that nothing can happen except by the will of God or by God allowing it; He who is the Ruler of All, the Lover of all humanity.

617 St. Basil of Caesarea, The Long Rules Q. 37 (FOTC 9:311).

• b. The Third Hour (Terce): At this hour, we remember the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church on the day of the Pentecost, so we ask Him to work in our lives: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10).

• c. The Sixth Hour (Sext): At this hour, we remember the crucifixion of the Lord of Glory for our salvation. If the demon of noonday harasses us (with idleness and boredom) we pray that we may be delivered from him (Ps. 90).

• d. The Ninth Hour (None): At this hour, we remember the acceptance of the right-hand thief and the death of Christ in the flesh. It is an apostolic tradition, for the apostles Peter and John went to the temple to pray at the time of the ninth hour (Acts 3:1).

• e. The Eleventh Hour (Sunset, Evening, or Vespers): At this hour, we remember the taking down of the body of Christ from the cross. We also thank God that we have completed the day in His care, for His gifts, and for all He has done for us and within us, while confessing our failures.

• f. The Twelfth Hour (Compline or Before Sleeping): At this hour, we remember the burial of the body of Christ and we also remember that we too must one day fall asleep and depart from this world. We also pray that we may find rest in our sleep without disturbance or terrifying illusions.

• g. The Midnight Prayer: We receive this prayer from saints Paul and Silas (Acts 16:5). The psalmist says, “At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, because of Your righteous judgments” (Ps. 119:62). At this hour, we remember the second coming of Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom, on the clouds. Just as we start the day with the joy of the Resurrection, we conclude it at midnight with the joy of encountering the Heavenly Bridegroom. Thus, every day becomes a joyful feast, for we consider the Lord to be our eternal feast.