Vespers is the evening prayer service in some Christian churches — chiefly Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican ones, and especially in monasteries and convents, where the monks or nuns gather at the end of the day to sing and pray. It sits in a daily timetable of services, so a monastery might hold morning prayer, midday prayer, then vespers as the light goes.

Vespers is the evening prayer service in some Christian churchesvespers是某些基督教教會裡的晚間禮拜——chiefly Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican ones主要是天主教、東正教和聖公會，and especially in monasteries and convents尤其是在修道院裡，where the monks or nuns gather at the end of the day to sing and pray修士或修女會在一天結束時聚在一起唱詩、祈禱。It sits in a daily timetable of services它是每日禮拜時間表裡的一部分，so a monastery might hold morning prayer, midday prayer, then vespers as the light goes修道院可能會有早禱、午禱，接著在天快黑時做vespers。

The form is odd: it ends in -s and looks plural, but people treat it as one thing — *vespers is at six*, and you *go to vespers* or *sing vespers*, with no *the* and no *a*.

The form is odd這個字的形態有點奇怪：it ends in -s and looks plural字尾是-s，看起來像複數，but people treat it as one thing但大家把它當成單一的一件事來用——*vespers is at six*像「vespers is at six」（晚禱是六點），and you *go to vespers* or *sing vespers*你會說「go to vespers」或「sing vespers」，with no *the* and no *a*前面不加「the」也不加「a」。

Composers have written famous settings of the text, so you will also meet the word on concert programmes, as in Monteverdi's *Vespers* or Rachmaninoff's *All-Night Vigil*, which contains it. Outside religious and musical contexts the word is rare, and many English speakers know it only as "the evening one".

Composers have written famous settings of the text作曲家為這段禱詞寫過知名的樂曲，so you will also meet the word on concert programmes所以你也會在音樂會節目單上看到這個字，as in Monteverdi's *Vespers*像蒙台威爾第的《晚禱》（Vespers）or Rachmaninoff's *All-Night Vigil*, which contains it或包含晚禱的拉赫曼尼諾夫《徹夜禱》。Outside religious and musical contexts the word is rare除了宗教和音樂場合，這個字很少見，and many English speakers know it only as "the evening one"很多英語母語人士只知道它是「晚上那一場」。