Thursday, October 6 : Saint Hippolytus of Rome

Pray before your body rests in bed. And then, around the middle of the night, get up, wash your hands with water, and pray. If your wife is there, both of you pray together. If however, she is not yet a believer, withdraw to another room to pray, then return to your bed. Do not be lazy for prayer… We must pray at that hour, for the elders from whom we have this tradition taught us that at that hour the whole of creation is resting for a moment from praising the Lord. The stars, the trees and the waters stop for an instant, and the whole choir of angels who serve God praise him at that hour with the souls of the just. That is why the believers must hasten to pray at that hour. The Lord also testified to this when he said: “At midnight someone shouted, ‘The groom is here! Come out and greet him!’” (Mt 25:6) And he goes on to say: “Keep your eyes open, for you know not the day or the hour.” (25:13) When the cock crows in the morning, when you get up, pray again.
maronite readings – rosary,team