We recommend practicing mindfulness, meditation, and prayer 8 times per day to boost mental and physical health.
Traditional prayer times are approximately every three hours, for a total of eight times per day. (For example: 12am, 3am, 6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm.) Old timekeeping was done by observing the position of the sun. The Romans divided the day and night into quarters, making eight solar hours in a full day. You can find local sunrise and sunset times in an almanac.
Other good times to observe are the quarter-hours, every 15 minutes. The Westminster Quarters, the popular chime melody which rings from church bells and clocks, samples the song “I know that my Redeemer liveth” from Handel’s Messiah. These lyrics are inscribed on a plaque inside Big Ben in London:
All through this hour / Lord be our guide / That by your power / No foot shall slide.
Other lyrics, attributed to the Brownies (Girl Scouts) are:
Oh Lord our God / Thy children call / Grant us Thy peace / And bless us all.
Table 1: Times of Day
| Solar Period | Approx. Time | Meal | Canonical hour (Christianity) | Salah time (Islam) |
| Midnight | 12am | Snack | Matins (Matutinum) | |
| Dawn | 3am | Snack | Lauds (Laudes) | Salat al-fajr |
| Sunrise | 6am | Breakfast | Prime (Prima) | |
| Midmorning | 9am | Elevenses | Terce (Tertia) | |
| Noon | 12pm | Lunch | Sext (Sexta) | Salat al-zuhr |
| Midafternoon | 3pm | High Tea | Nona (Nona) | Salat al-‘asr |
| Sunset | 6pm | Dinner | Vespers (Vesperae) | Salat al-maghrib |
| Night | 9pm | Snack | Compline (Completorium) | Salat al-‘isha |
World Peace Prayer by Masahisa Goi
A simple interfaith prayer which can be prayed by anyone.
May Peace Prevail on Earth.
Alternate version from ULC West Torrington:
Make Peace Prevail on Earth.
How To Connect by Thich Nhat Hanh
How To Connect is a compilation of Thich Nhat Hanh’s writings, published in 2020. It serves as a helpful guide for mindfulness, meditation and prayer, and can be used by anyone, regardless of beliefs.
☛ Daily readings from How To Connect
Salam – Shalom – Peace
Shin-Lamedh-Mem is the the root of many Semitic words, originally meaning “whole, safe, intact, unharmed, to go free, without blemish”. Derived from this are meanings of “to be safe, secure, at peace”, hence “well-being, health”. This is the root of the Hebrew word shalom and the Arabic word salam, meaning “peace.”
Additional resources:
☛ Falling In Love With The Earth by Thich Nhat Hanh
☛ Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
☛ The Art of Peace by Morihei Ueshiba and John Stevens
☛ The Penguin Book of Zen Poetry translated by Lucien Stryk
☛ The Written Works of John Muir selections by Sierra Club
☛ History of the ULC – Dusty Hoesly interview with Charles McCrary
☛ History of ULC Seattle by Dusty Hoesly
☛ We Are One: The ULC Tradition by Various Authors
☛ The Modesto Messiah by Lewis Ashmore
Interfaith Council of North Connecticut 