Sexta
[Midday Prayer]
[Midday Prayer]
The hora sexta of the Romans corresponded closely with our noon. Among the Jews it was already regarded, together with Terce and None, as an hour most favourable to prayer. In the Acts of the Apostles we read that St. Peter went up to the higher parts of the house to pray (x, 9). The Fathers of the Church dwell constantly on the symbolism of this hour. Noon is the hour when the sun is at its full, it is the image of Divine splendour, the plenitude of God, the time of grace; at the sixth hour Abraham received the three angels, the image of the Trinity; at the sixth hour Adam and Eve ate the fatal apple. We should pray at noon, says St. Ambrose, because that is the time when the Divine light is in its fulness (In Ps. cxviii, vers. 62). Origen, St. Augustine, and several others regard this hour as favourable to prayer. Lastly and above all, it was the hour when Christ was nailed to the Cross; this memory excelling all the others left a still visible trace in most of the liturgy of this hour.
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia
As part of the OLPA elementary grade curriculum, [students lead this hour of prayer at OLP], the following Psalmody and hymns will be used during the school year:
SEXTA HYMN I: ANIMA CHRISTI
[1st Semester]
SEXTA HYMN II: AVE VERUM CORPUS
[2nd Semester]