Morning and Evening Prayers

We thank and praise God in the morning when we get out of bed and face the beginning of a new day. The catechism provides a brief order, which begins with calling on the name of the Lord given us in Holy Baptism---"In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"---asking Him to govern the day. Speaking the Lord's holy name, we make the sign of the holy cross as a visible reminder that we have been redeemed by Christ the crucified. 

Next, we recite the Apostles' Creed, for it was into this faith that we were baptized and it is in this faith that we live each day. Then we pray the Lord's Prayer, since it is Jesus' own words, words that we are given the confidence and boldness to make our own. 

The order concludes with a brief prayer giving thanks to our Father for guarding us from harm and danger, asking Him to keep us from sin and every evil in the coming day. In words that echo Psalm 31:5, we...