Jonathan's Lent 2026 Horologion



Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:24 (NLT)

Shalom, Duffy in Vermont, from Jonathan in New York, a fellow fifty-something disciple of Jesus, and likewise humbled by God's daily graces. 

As you kindly noticed, I was inspired last week to update my profile and roll out several new blogs. Hopefully this will make it easier for those who want to follow a particular aspect of my thought. Friday afternoon, I took a deep prostration dive with Google Gemini AI into the first Surah of the Quran, and I ended up getting some powerful recommendations about how to create a personal Horologion (Book of the Hours) for Lent 2026. I've been refining those insights in a continued dialogue with Gemini over the last few days. It is still a work in progress, but I map it all out for you here below. 

There is no way I will be able to do all of this for just one day, let alone 46 days. I am approaching this Horologion as the scaffolding of a very flexible experiment that I will modify regularly as I learn, not as a rigid plan that I have to follow in exactly the same perfect way every day from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.   

1. The Morning Watch. The Resurrection (5:00 - 8:15 AM)

A. The Office of Vigil
  • The "First Fruits of Zion" (5:00 - 5:10 AM)
  • Before the tea or the bed-making, offer the very first movement of your body to the Divine. As soon as you stand from your bed, move to your prayer rug or designated spot. Perform a long, slow prostration. This is the Prostration of Resurrection.
  • Recite: "I offer thanks before You, living and eternal Sovereign, for You have restored my soul within me with compassion. Great is Your faithfulness." (Adapted from the traditional Jewish morning blessing).
  • The Liturgy of the Hearth (5:10 - 5:30 AM)
  • Transform your "chores" (bathroom, bed-making, tea) into a moving meditation. As you relieve yourself and wash, visualize it as a ritual purification for the Torah study to come. Smoothing the sheets of your bed is an act of "ordering the world." Do it in silence, acknowledging that God is the God of Order. 
  • Preparing your tea is the "Alchemical Moment" of the morning. You are transforming two raw, opposite elements - Water (Fluidity/Mercy) and Fire (Heat/Judgment) - into a single "Medicine for the Soul." While the microwave is a modern convenience, in your hermitage, it represents the "Hidden Fire" of the Divine. Just as invisible waves cause the water to boil, recognize that God’s presence is often invisible but constantly "stirring" the atoms of your life. As the water heats, visualize the "coldness" of your own heart or ego being agitated and warmed by the Holy Spirit until it reaches a "Boiling Point" of zeal. In the monastic "Way of Tea," the moment the water meets the herb is a profound metaphor for Meditation. The Cup is your body and soul (the vessel). The water is your time and attention. The tea leaf is the Word of God (the Torah verses you will study). As the tea steeps, don't just see leaves in water; see your soul "soaking" in the wisdom of the Morning Watch. Just as the water becomes tea through the heat, your life is being "transmuted" into a manifestation of the Divine through the "heat" of Lenten discipline.
  • The "Seat of Wisdom" (5:30 - 6:00 AM)
  • After your tea is ready, sit for your meditation and journaling. Prostrate and recite as you transition from preparing your tea to your meditation cushion.
  • "O Light of the Heavens and the Earth, You have brought me back from the shadow of sleep. Open my heart to 'Read' Your signs in the world and in the Word. Let my study this morning be a form of worship, not pride. Guide my pen and my thoughts toward Your Unity. I stand, I bow, and I prostrate in Your Name. Amen."
  • Before opening your journal, bow your head deeply and ask for guidance. Approach your journaling as "Recitation." You are not just writing thoughts; you are listening for the "Still, Small Voice." At 5:55 AM, just before turning on the computer for Torah Study, perform one brief, final prostration. This "seals" the silence before you enter the world of digital information and complex text.

B. The School of the Word

C. The Mixtum
  • The Prostration of Surrender (8:00 - 8:05 AM)
  • Step away from your study desk. Stand in silence for one minute. Perform a full prostration. Recite Psalm 145:15-16, a traditional mealtime verse.
  • "The eyes of all look to You, O Lord, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing."
  • The Mixtum (8:05 - 8:12 AM)
  • Eat a light, simple snack. If you take medication now, say: "Blessed are You, Source of Healing." 
  • Integrating a mixtum into your liturgy creates a "bridge of mercy" between your deep early-morning Torah study and your midday meal. Historically and spiritually, this practice recognizes that the body is a partner in prayer, not an obstacle to it.
  • The term mixtum (or mixt) originates from the Rule of Saint Benedict (Chapter 35).
  • It teaches that moderation is more holy than extreme asceticism. By feeding the body a "morsel" (often defined as 1/4 pound of bread), the monk could continue their spiritual duties with a clear, focused mind rather than a distracted, hungry one.
  • Since you are a hermit, this is your "Minor Office of Refreshment." It allows you to step away from the computer and Torah study to recalibrate.
  • The Prostration of Returning (8:12 - 8:15 AM)
  • Clear your small plate. Perform a brief, final prostration, praying: "We thank You, Christ our God, for You have satisfied us with earthly gifts. Do not deprive us of Your heavenly kingdom." 
  • Return to your study or labor, refreshed and re-centered.

2. The Scriptorium Watch. Creation (8:15 - Noon)


  • Jesus with Jonathan (8:15 - 10:00 AM)
  • Work: Jesus with Jonathan
  • Recite: "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30)

  • Stand and Stretch Break (10:00 - 10:10 AM)
  • Stand and stretch with arms wide in the Orans posture.
  • Recite: "Spirit of Truth, guide me into all truth; let my heart be a vessel for Your light alone." (John 16:13 adaptation)

  • Alternate Blog Writing (10:10 - Noon)
  • Sun-Tue: The Messianic Vegan Monthly. Verse: “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food." (Gen 1:29)
  • Wed-Fri: Quran with Jonathan. Verse: "Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous." (Surah 96:3)
  • Sat: The Sabbath of the Pen.



3. The Midday Gate. Sound Sustenance (Noon - 1:00 PM)


  • The Prayer of Unity (12:00 - 12:10 PM)
  • Before you touch a single kitchen utensil, enter your prayer space. Perform a slow prostration to "break" the momentum of your morning work. Recite the text of the Prayer of Unity.
  • "O Sovereign of the Universe, the One who is Most Merciful and Most Compassionate.
  • We come before You from many paths, seeking the light of Your guidance.
  • You are the Creator of all humanity, the One who provides for every soul and knows every heart.
  • Grant us the wisdom to respect our differences while seeking the common ground of Your truth.
  • Lead us from darkness into light, and from discord into peace.
  • Help us to serve our neighbors and care for Your creation, acting as instruments of Your justice and kindness in the world.
  • We offer thanks for the gift of wholesome nourishment, provided by Your hand to sustain our bodies for Your service.
  • To You alone we turn for help, and in Your mercy, we find our strength.
  • Amen." 
  • Sound Sustenance (12:10 - 12:55 PM)
  • Prepare you main meal, eat, and clean up all while listening to high-quality Gregorian Chant.
  • "Sound Sustenance" is a brilliant liturgical pun. It operates on three levels: it provides audible nourishment, it ensures the sustenance you receive is spiritually sound (orthodox and centering), and it mirrors the monastic concept of Lectio Divina - where the ear of the heart is fed while the body is refilled.
  • In many monasteries, the Refectory (dining hall) is a place of absolute silence where one monk reads aloud from the lives of the saints or scripture. By choosing Gregorian Chant for this hour, you are effectively appointing the monks of the past as your "Refectory Readers."
  • Unlike complex classical music, Gregorian chant is monophonic (a single melodic line). This reflects Unity-Consciousness; it doesn't distract the mind with harmony but pulls the heart into a singular, focused point.
  • Chant is based on the natural rhythm of human breathing. Listening to it while you eat helps regulate your own pace, ensuring you don't rush the meal - a common struggle for those living in solitude.
  • For a hermit, the "many voices as one" in a Schola Cantorum provides a sense of the "Communion of Saints." You are eating alone, yet you are surrounded by the resonance of a thousand years of prayer.
  • The Closing Prostration (12:55 - 1:00 PM)
  • Just before you leave the kitchen or return to your computer/work, perform a brief bow. This acts as a "thank you" for the sustenance.

4. The Labor Watch. The Obedience (1:00 - 5:45 PM)

A. Tikkun: Manual Labor (1:00 - 3:00 PM)
  • Labor Manuum and the Cura Domus
  • In the New Monastic tradition, manual labor is not a distraction from prayer; it is "Prayer in Action." This is the practice of Laborare est Orare (To work is to pray). For a hermit, chores are the "Liturgical Care of the Sanctuary." They are an "obedience" that grounds the soul and fights the "spirit of sloth."
  • Here is how you can liturgize your Labor Manuum
  • Bow briefly before beginning and recite: "Establish the work of our hands; yes, establish the work of our hands." (Psalm 90:17)
  • The Liturgy of the Temple (Walking, Spinning & Strength Training)
  • As you begin walking or spinning, recite: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk your lives in him." (NIV, adapted). As you end walking or spinning, recite: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7 (ESV). Each repetition of strength training is an act of asceticism (askesis). As you lift, visualize yourself "lifting" the burdens of others or strengthening your resolve to serve the One. Recite: "The Lord is my strength and my shield." (Psalm 28:7)
  • The Liturgy of Purity (Vacuuming, Dusting, Laundry)
  • These tasks represent the Purification of the Heart. As you remove physical dust with vacuuming and dusting, visualize the "Dust of the World" (distractions, ego, triviality) being cleared from your soul. Laundry is the Sacrament of the Clean Garment. As you fold your clothes, pray for the grace to "clothe yourself in righteousness." Recite: "Create in me a clean heart, O God." (Psalm 51:10)
  • The Liturgy of the Essential (Decluttering)
  • Decluttering is a physical form of Apophasis—stripping away the "excess" to find the "Essential One." For every item you remove, say: "Less of me, more of You." It is a physical "letting go" of attachments that hinder your hermitage. Recite: "One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after." (Psalm 27:4)
  • The Liturgy of Restoration (Odd Jobs & Maintenance)
  • To encompass the reality of maintenance, repairs, and seasonal garden tasks, think of this segment as the "Cura Domus" (The Care of the House). In monastic life, this is the "stewardship of the infrastructure."
  • Whether you are fixing a leaky faucet, painting a fence, or pruning a hedge, you are not just "fixing things" - you are restoring order to a small corner of God’s creation.
  • The Contemplative Focus is on Tikkun (Repair). This is the idea that the world is "broken" and the hermit’s task is to participate in its repair, starting with their immediate surroundings.
  • Consider: "Blessed are You, Master Builder, who sustains the fabric of the world. As I repair this house, repair my soul. As I tend this garden, tend my heart. Let no task be too small for Your presence, and no labor be without Your love."
  • The emphasis in the physical act is on handling tools with mindfulness. Each screw turned or branch pruned is an act of alignment. As you prune a bush or clear a garden path, identify a habit or thought pattern you are asking God to "prune" from your life this Lent. Recite: "Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit." (John 15:2)
  • Organizing and provisioning is the Sacrament of Preparation. It includes things like changing lightbulbs, checking supplies, or organizing a shelf. Recognize that "God is in the details." Ensuring your hermitage is functional is a way of honoring the Guest who dwells there. Recite: "Let all things be done decently and in order." (1 Corinthians 14:40)

B. The Body-Soul Realignment (3:00 - 3:15 PM)
  • The Ritual Cleansing (3:00 - 3:05 PM)
  • Start your tea water. Wash your hands and face with cool water. Recite: "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." (Psalm 51:7) Head back up to your cell with your afternoon tea.
  • The Realignment Postures (3:05 – 3:12 PM)
  • The Reach (Praise): Stand and reach upward. Visualize your spine as a conduit between Earth and Heaven.
  • The Fold (Humility): A forward fold to release the "labor of the hands."
  • The Child’s Pose (Surrender): A supported prostration on your prayer rug. Feel the breath expanding the back of the heart—the space between the shoulder blades where we often carry the "weight" of the world.
  • The Seal (3:12 - 3:15 PM)
  • Transition to your desk. Sit in your chair with feet flat on the floor.
  • Recite: "Abba, expand my heart as I have stretched my limbs. I leave the dust of the earth and enter the silence of the mind. Let my service at this desk be an altar of Truth. Amen."

C. The Stewardship of the Gates (3:15 - 5:45 PM)
  • The Opening (3:15 PM)
  • The Prayer of the Steward. "O Lord, You are the Master of all resources. Grant me a clear mind to order these affairs with integrity and a quiet heart to engage the world without becoming of it. Let my 'yes' be yes, and my 'no' be no."
  • The Work: Managing the Gates (3:15 – 5:30 PM)
  • View finances and paperwork as "Accounting for the Talents." It is an act of honesty and groundedness. 
  • View email and calendar as "The Liturgy of the Neighbor." Each email represents a soul or a duty. Respond with the same "Fitra" (natural goodness) you seek in prayer.
  • Classical music is acceptable during this period.
  • Focus on New Monasticism with Jonathan. Since you are now writing on this topic during your clerical block, treat your administrative tasks as Case Studies for your blog. While managing finances or calendars, ask: "How does this specific task reflect the 'Trellis' of a modern hermit?" Use the final 30 minutes of this block (05:00 – 05:30 PM) to draft your reflections on the lived reality of your Rule. Verse: "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!" (Psalm 133:1)
  • The Closing: The Digital Fast (5:30 - 5:45 PM)
  • This 15-minute buffer of silence is crucial to prepare for the 5:45 PM Vespers Prostration. It allows the "static" of the world's affairs to settle before you bow.
  • Power down the computer and tidy the desk. 
  • Perform the Ritual of the Legal Pad. List 3–5 key "Stewardship" tasks for tomorrow. Place the pen on the pad and physically move away from the desk.
  • Recite: "I cast my cares upon the One, for You sustain me. The gates are closed; the labor is held; the night is for the Lord." (Psalm 55:22 adaptation)
  • In the monastic tradition, this practice is a form of "Depositing the Cares." By moving unfinished business from your mind (or the digital screen) onto a physical medium like a legal pad or index card, you are performing a psychological and spiritual "unburdening."
  • For a hermit, this is highly recommended for three specific reasons. 1) The "Closed Door" of the soul. Writing the list on paper acts as a liturgical seal. It tells your mind, "These concerns now live on this paper, not in my consciousness." This is essential for the 5:45 PM Vespers Prostration to be effective; if you are still "calculating" your budget while your head is on the ground, the prostration is incomplete. 2) Safeguarding the "Grand Silence." If you don't write it down, a forgotten task might "pop up" during your 6:45 PM Centering Prayer or, worse, while you are in bed for the "Small Death." Having a physical list in the office space allows you to stay in the silence of the hermitage, knowing the "Gate" is securely locked and the tasks are waiting for their proper time. 3) Protecting the Morning Scriptorium. Your 6:00 AM Torah Study and 8:15 AM Writing are your most sacred intellectual hours. Without a list from the night before, you might wake up and immediately start worrying about "clerical" tasks. The list ensures that your "Stewardship of the Gates" doesn't invade your "School of the Word."



5. The Evening Watch. The Return (5:45 - 8:00 PM)

A. The Evening Sacrifice (5:45 - 6 PM)
  • Psalm of Evening
  • Standing, recite a Psalm of Evening, such as Psalm 141:2: "Let my prayer be counted as incense before you; and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice."
  • As your forehead touches the ground, during the prostration, release the "weight" of the day.
  • Spend a few moments in wordless "Unity-Consciousness." 
  • You may find this "Liturgy of Return" helpful, combining the themes of Surah 96 with the Christian contemplative tradition: "Creator of the Day and Night, I return to You at the setting of the sun. I lay down the work of my hands, the pride of my intellect, and the burden of my errors. (Lower into prostration). As I place my head upon the earth, I surrender my 'self' to Your Infinite Will. I am the servant; You are the Master. I am the seeker; You are the Goal. Accept what was good in this day, and forgive what was fragmented. In this moment of bowing, I am one with all who seek Your Face. To You alone I belong, and to You I am returning. Amen."

B. The Liturgy of the Night Habit (6:00 - 7:00 PM)
  • Kitchen, Bathroom, Closet
  • Activities: Light dinner, medications, dental hygiene, kitchen clean-up.
  • The Bath (As needed): Treat the shower as a Mikvah - washing away the "dust of the world" before the final watch.
  • The Investiture: Changing into your "Night Habit" (pajamas). As you dress, recite: "Clothe me, O Lord, in the garment of salvation and the robe of righteousness." (Isaiah 61:10)

C. The Watch of the Polis (7:00 - 8:00 PM)
  • Gateway of Silence, Watch of the Polis, Prayer for the City
  • Action: Sit on your meditation cushion with a cup of herbal tea.
  • Spend 5-10 minutes in silent meditation one of your three master quotes
  • Sun-Tue. Biblical Foundation. "But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." - Jeremiah 29:7
  • Wed-Fri. Monastic Witness. "The hermit’s prayer is a prayer for the world. He does not flee the world to forget it, but to remember it in its deepest reality: in the light of the Cross." Thomas Merton, The Abbey of Gethsemani Tradition
  • Sat. Telos. "Because the man who lives virtuously is ordained to a higher end, which consists in the enjoyment of God...the final end of the whole society gathered together is not just to live according to virtue, but through virtuous living to attain to the possession of God." - St. Thomas Aquinas, De Regno, Book I, Chapter 15. On your day of rest from writing, reflect on the "End" of all your labors. Why do you write? Why do you pray? In Aristotle's view, the Telos of the city is Eudaimonia (Human Flourishing).
  • Study: Read in deep political theology. Take notes for later writing.
  • Contemplation: This is the "Hermit’s Intercession." You are studying how the Unity of God intersects with the Discord of Men. You read not for "news," but to understand the spiritual architecture of justice and power. 
  • Tea Antiphon: "Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." (Amos 5:24)
  • As you close your book and prepare for the Compline Prostration, recite this "Intercessory Seal."
  • "Sovereign of Justice, I have read of the city of man while sitting in Your presence. I lift up to You the rulers and the ruled, the oppressor and the oppressed. Soften the hearts of those in power and strengthen the hands of those who serve the poor. Let Your Kingdom of Unity break through our walls of discord. May the peace I find in this cell flow outward into the streets of the city. Amen."



6. The Night Watch. The Small Death (8:00 - 9:00 PM)

Reclining Centering Prayer
  • Moving from reading to Reclining Centering Prayer for your Night Watch is a profound monastic choice. It shifts the final hour of your day from "Consumption" (input) to "Communion" (presence), allowing the day’s theological study to settle into the marrow of your bones.
  • In the Hesychastic tradition, this is known as the "Prayer of the Heart," where the mind descends from the head into the chest, preparing for the "Sabbath" of sleep.
  • Perform your final Floor Prostration of the day. Recite: "Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God." (Psalm 31:5)
  • This is the physical "signing off" from the day's labor and the "Watch of the Polis." You are no longer a researcher or an advocate; you are a soul returning to its Source.
  • Transition into bed. Lie comfortably on your back (the "Savasana" or Corpse Pose). Extinguish all lights.
  • Choose a single Sacred Word.
  • Whenever a thought from your Torah study, political theology, or office work arises, gently release it and return to the Word.
  • You are not "thinking about" God; you are resting in God. Let the silence of the hermitage expand until it fills the room.
  • While remaining still, briefly scan the day.
  • Pray: "I seek forgiveness from the One for every shadow I cast today, and I forgive all who have cast a shadow upon me."
  • This ensures you do not carry the "friction" of the world into your sleep. You are entering the "Entombment" with a clean heart.
  • The silence you create at 8:00 PM is the soil in which the 5:00 AM seeds will grow.

7. The Overnight Watch. The Entombment (9:00 - 5:00 AM)

The Great Silence
  • The "Great Silence" of the Hermitage. The body rests in the "Brother of Death" (Sleep).
  • When waking to use the bathroom, use a brief, internal prayer to maintain "Unity-Consciousness" without fully breaking the silence. 
  • "Blessed are You, Source of Life, who has formed the human with wisdom and created within us many openings and vessels. It is known before Your Throne of Glory that if but one of them were to be opened or closed, it would be impossible to exist and stand before You. I thank You, O Healer of all flesh, who acts wondrously."
The Rule is for the Hermit, not the Hermit for the Rule.

In times of medical necessity, let patience be your prostration.

"One God. Many Paths. One Heart. One Body. In the dust of prostration, the Truth is found."

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