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Spiritual
Daily Devotions
Daily devotions are regular acts of prayer, reading and reflection, such as salah, puja or a Christian quiet time, done every day.
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The idea
Daily devotions are regular acts of worship or spiritual reflection that people repeat every day. Many religions have them. They often include prayer, reading sacred texts, meditation or quiet thought, and they are often tied to certain times of day. By returning to the same words and actions, people bring their beliefs into ordinary life.
In Christianity, a quiet time is a regular personal session of prayer, private meditation, Bible study or reading a daily devotional, and it has also been called a "morning watch". In the Latin Catholic Church, priests are obliged to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, a set of prayers that marks the hours of each day. It is made up mainly of psalms, along with hymns and readings. In Islam, salah is a series of required prayers performed at set times each day while facing the Kaaba in Mecca. Muslims pray salah five times daily, or three times in some traditions. In Hinduism, puja is a worship ritual, often an offering of light, flowers, water or food, and it may be done daily in the home.
These practices share a steady rhythm. Some are done alone, while others, such as Friday prayers in Islam, are meant to be done together. The Liturgy of the Hours, for example, aims to make each ordinary day holy with prayer.
Check yourself
Question 1 of 3
What is the Islamic practice of required prayers at set times each day called?
Composition
what it's made of
- Prayer — Words of praise, thanks or request directed to the divine, said alone or with others.
- Sacred reading — Reading scripture, psalms or a daily devotional book.
- Set times — Many devotions are tied to fixed times of day, like the hours of daily prayer.
- Offerings — In Hindu puja, worshippers offer light, flowers, water or food.
- Home and worship places — Devotions happen at home, in temples, mosques and churches, or wherever a person prays.
Connection
how it relates
Under Rituals and Practices
Change
how and why it evolves
- Past
- According to tradition, early Muslims prayed toward the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem before the direction was changed to face the Kaaba. Before 1971, the official prayer book of the Latin Catholic Church was the Breviarium Romanum, first published in 1568.
- Now
- Today Christians of both Western and Eastern traditions, from Catholics and Orthodox to Lutherans and Anglicans, celebrate the canonical hours in various forms. Many Hindu festivals involve puja, such as Lakshmi puja during Diwali.
- Next
- Phone apps and online prayer guides will likely keep changing how people fit devotions into busy days, while the core practices stay rooted in tradition.