Vespers is the Evening Prayer of the Church. Vespers and Lauds (Morning Prayer) are the two principal “hours” that form the daily cycle of the Christian Church’s tradition of daily prayer. They match the rising and the setting of the sun—the beginning and the end of the day. On the Sundays of Advent and Lent, SMV Parish celebrates Vespers at 4 p.m. It is a reflective form of communal prayer that consists of psalms, a reading, the Magnificat (New Testament Canticle) and intercessions. At St. Mary’s, various choirs and ensembles, along with a cantor assume the leadership of sung prayer