At what time of day does the church service called vespers take place?
Vespers Vespers Vespers is a sunset evening prayer service in the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours. The word comes from the Greek ἑσπέρα ("hespera") and the Latin "vesper", meaning "evening". It is also referred to in the Anglican tradition as evening prayer or evensong. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations (such as the Presbyterian Church and Seventh-day Adventists) to describe evening services. Vespers, also called Evening Prayer, takes place as dusk begins to fall. Evening Prayer gives thanks for the day just past and makes an evening sacrifice of
Vespers abbreviated form used only on the afternoon before a vigil and is redundant to the subsequent great vespers, being a place holder betwixt the ninth hour and compline and is seldom used except in monasteries where the vigil literally lasts all night. Since the liturgical day begins at sunset, vespers is a day's first service and its hymns introduce the day's themes. The general structure of the service is as follows (psalm numbers are according to the Septuagint): On strict fast days when food and drink are prohibited before vespers, "e.g.", Christmas Eve, the Annunciation when it falls on a