Vespers teaches the Church to end the day before God and to prepare for the coming liturgical day. Saturday Vespers, for example, looks toward the Sunday Divine Liturgy. Feast Vespers looks toward the feast being celebrated.
Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Evening Incense and the liturgical day
The Church’s prayer fills the whole liturgical day. Evening prayer receives the day that has passed and turns the heart toward God before the next day begins. The incense makes visible what the Psalm teaches: prayer rising before God.
In the Coptic order, Vespers is especially connected with preparation. The faithful give thanks, ask for mercy, remember the saints, and pray litanies for the Church and the world. The service trains the parish to begin worship before the Eucharistic Liturgy starts.
How it relates to the Liturgy
Vespers is a true prayer service that prepares the Church for the Liturgy by teaching thanksgiving, repentance, intercession, and watchfulness. When Vespers is prayed before a Sunday or feast, it lets the parish enter that worship before the morning service begins.