Morning prayers
Morning prayers from the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant traditions.
Morning prayer is one of the oldest patterns in Christian devotion. Every major tradition opens the day with a fixed office, and the prayers gathered here are drawn from all four.
Morning prayer in the Catholic tradition
The Liturgy of the Hours begins the day with Lauds, the office of morning praise. Alongside it, the Angelus is traditionally rung and prayed at six in the morning, and the Pater Noster is said at the start of the day as it has been since the earliest centuries.
Morning prayer in the Orthodox tradition
The Orthodox day begins with Matins and the First Hour. The Trisagion Prayers open the morning office, as they open nearly every Orthodox service, and the Jesus Prayer is said through the early hours as part of the personal rule.
Morning prayer in the Anglican tradition
Morning Prayer, or Mattins, is the first of the two daily offices in the Book of Common Prayer. Its Collects for Grace and for Peace, the General Thanksgiving, and the Te Deum sung as the morning canticle have shaped English-language morning worship since 1549.
Morning prayer in the Protestant tradition
Luther appointed a short morning prayer in the Small Catechism of 1529 for use in the household, and the Wesleyan tradition added its own morning intercessions and hymns. Both are brief by design, meant to be said before work rather than in choir.
Short prayers for the start of the day
Not every morning allows a full office. The Aaronic Blessing, Psalm 23, and Psalm 91 are short enough to say from memory and old enough to have been prayed at sunrise for a very long time.