First Hour

Enlighten Our Day So We May Shine

Every morning, we are given something valuable that we often overlook: 

another day. 

We wake up, and most likely the first thing we do is reach for our phones -- swiping through notifications and looking at our schedules, and the stress accumulates. Personally, at times my mind becomes full of priorities and responsibilities for the day before the day even starts. Yet our church has organized for us the Book of Hours, commonly known as Agpeya. We are called to stop each day at its beginning and recognize the greater gift we have been given; the day itself is a gift from God, and we shouldn’t enter our day alone but invite God to guide us throughout our day.

A phrase that stands out to me from the 1st Hour is specifically from the Prayer of the Prostrations, Come Now Let Us Kneel Down, we pray saying, “bring us to a good start… we ask You to keep us this day away from sin and deliver us.” At first thought, this sounds like a normal request of God at the beginning of the day, but looking closely, we are actually praying and asking God to enlighten and guide us throughout the whole day. We are simply requesting God to not change our tough, hard days but rather be with us and help us see the good in every tough, difficult circumstance. 

Enlightening our lives and ourselves is very important, as we are called to be; it is written: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5: 14-16). The tradition of the church teaches that as we draw near to God, His light, the Holy Spirit, shines within us. Through our constant spiritual life, our relationship with God grows and becomes enlightened with the knowledge of Him. For it is written, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). God is wisdom, and He teaches and grants us wisdom and discernment, which we all need as college students.

God is the only one who can guide us in our lives; He is all-knowing and wants what is good for us. College can sometimes be a struggle, especially with classes and all their logistics. We struggle with deciding which classes we should take; we worry about career choices and all the most our grades. Our lives have become a life of comparison with others and even our past selves settling on our mistakes. We spend so much time trying to determine our next steps and where the right direction is, but we forget to ask the One in control; we forget God. We notify Him after we make a decision, and in the end He only wants what's best for us.

Praying the 1st Hour reminds us that before we look to accomplish our checklist for the day, we should ask God, “Lord, be with me and guide me! How do you want me to live and spend my day today?” Oftentimes we want a successful day, but God wants us; He wants our hearts. During the Anaphora, the priest says, “Lift up your hearts,” followed by the congregation responding, “we have them with the Lord” (Liturgy of St. Basil --- Liturgy of the Faithful, Anaphora). The name Anaphora has Greek origins, which mean “uplifting”, “carrying up”, or “elevation”. The priest calls us to lift our hearts from this vain earth to the heavenly. Unlike our definitions of success, the Holy Spirit works in us throughout our days, teaching us to be patient and humble, allowing us to persevere in love, and leading us to repentance. Through the enlightenment of our day, we see our day and life through God’s perspective, rather than through our own limited and judgemental perspective.

Fr. Yohanna Meshreki, author of the article “Come to Him and Be Enlightened,” discusses how spiritual growth is not a one-time commitment but rather a journey. Fr. Yohanna states that the more we grow, the more our senses and minds become enlightened, and our discernment and wisdom increase. He emphasizes growth in our spiritual relationships through diligence and commitment, which requires making time for prayer and Bible reading while also participating in our church services.

This is where the beginning of our day becomes so important, or in other words, essential. The first thing we think or put into our minds influences how the rest of the day follows. Unfortunately, if the first thing we do is scroll through social media or we become overwhelmed by what is to come in our day, we start our day distracted. However, if we start our day with prayer and the Word of God, we allow His word to fill our minds and become the foundation for our life and everything else that is to come.

For it is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ (Matthew 4:4). As the human body needs nourishment through food, our souls need spiritual nourishment. We attain this nourishment through spiritual benefit from the Word of God; by bringing His word into our day, it enlightens our day, as is written in the Bible, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Now that we’ve agreed the Agpeya is very meaningful and important, when we pray the 1st hour, we are not completing an obligation on a to-do list, but rather we allow God to speak to us before the noisy obligations begin compiling. His words are to correct us as a father corrects his children, to reassure us, and finally to help us focus on what truly matters in our lives. By living in the Light and being with the True Light, we become more aware of our own darkness or shortcomings, and allow for our change and repentance towards a new beginning. 

As college students, our lives are very busy and stressful, which makes us impatient and, at times, prideful, forgetting our personal shortcomings. By being close to the Light, we can bring our darkness to Him, and He’ll take it. As it says in the Book of Psalmody, “He took what is ours and gave us what is His” (Theotokias --- Hymn to the Theotokos). 

Since we are called to be sons of Light and the light of the world, the light that Christ gives us, we must spread it to those around us. His light will be seen in the way we treat everyone around us, as with St. Anthony the Great, Father of the Monks, where everyone who met him rejoiced due to the Light on his face. This Light is the Light of Christ, the True Light shining within us. Even though we carry the enlightenment of Christ, we can still expect a normal life with troubles arising, but we then respond differently than the world because of the True Light.

Let us all pray together in our mornings: God, enlighten my mind so that I can make wise decisions and show my Christianity. Enlighten my heart so that I can love those who love me and those who dislike me. Enlighten my path so that I may see my shortcomings and may return to You. Bless me, Lord, with Your presence throughout this blessed day and with Your words which are “sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103).

St. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing,  that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…” (Philippians 2:13-15). Every morning, God gives us another day. Through His valuable and precious death and glorious Resurrection, He gives us hope of a new life, a new beginning in the midst of a spiritually lost and blind world. 

Through the prayers of the Saints, and most of all, Saint Mary the Theotokos, 

may we walk in His light and shine to the world.