Evening prayers are the prayers you say at home before bed. They’re your chance to look back on the day, ask forgiveness for what you did wrong, thank God for what went right, and commend yourself to His protection through the night.
They’re personal. Not the same as Vespers at church, though they’re related. Think of them as bringing the Church’s rhythm of prayer into your bedroom when the day’s done and you’re about to sleep.
Why We Pray Them
The day ends. You’ve said things you shouldn’t have. Left things undone. Thought thoughts you’re not proud of. Evening prayers give you a moment to stand before God honestly and say, “I messed up. Forgive me.” It’s not complicated. You’re asking for mercy before you close your eyes, because none of us knows if we’ll wake up tomorrow.
There’s also thanksgiving. You made it through another day. That’s not nothing. Whether you spent it at the refinery or with the grandkids or stuck in traffic on I-10, you’re still here. God kept you. The prayers acknowledge that.
And there’s protection. We believe the spiritual world is real. When you sleep, you’re vulnerable. The prayers ask Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Theotokos to guard you through the night. “Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit and my body”, that’s how the Antiochian evening prayers end. Same thing Christ said on the cross. You’re putting yourself in His hands.
What’s Actually In Them
The Antiochian Pocket Prayer Book has the standard evening prayers. You’ll find the Trisagion Prayers at the start: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.” Then prayers of thanksgiving. “Now that the day has passed, I glorify you, O Master, and I entreat that the evening with the night be sinless.”
There’s a prayer for forgiveness that gets specific: “O Lord our God, if during this day I have sinned, whether in word or deed or thought, forgive me all.” No wiggle room there. It covers everything.
You’ll pray to Christ not to depart from you, to the Holy Spirit to guard you with His light while you sleep, to the Theotokos for her intercession. The prayers aren’t long. Maybe ten minutes if you’re going slowly. Some people add Psalms. Some keep it shorter when life’s hectic. Your priest can help you figure out what works.
Evening Prayers vs. Vespers
Vespers is the church service at sunset. It’s got psalms, hymns, Scripture readings. It’s liturgical and communal. Evening prayers are what you do at home, alone or with your family, right before bed. They’re simpler, adapted from the Church’s full cycle of daily prayer but made practical for laypeople who aren’t monastics praying eight services a day.
Both sanctify the evening. But Vespers celebrates Christ’s resurrection and the day’s end in the Church’s full voice. Evening prayers are quieter, more penitential. Just you and God at the end of things.
How to Start
If you’re new to this, don’t overthink it. Get a copy of the prayers from your parish or download them from antiochian.org. Set them by your bed. When you’re ready to sleep, stand if you can and pray them. If standing’s hard, sit. God cares more about your heart than your posture.
You’ll stumble over the words at first. That’s fine. You’re learning a new language, the language of the Church at prayer. It’ll become familiar. Some nights you’ll mean every word. Other nights you’ll be exhausted and just pushing through. Pray them anyway. The prayers carry you when you can’t carry yourself.
This isn’t about earning anything. You’re not checking a box so God will like you. You’re stepping into a rhythm that’s older than you, that connects you to Christians who’ve said these same words for centuries. You’re letting the Church teach you how to end your day like a Christian: with repentance, with gratitude, with trust that God will see you through the darkness to morning.
