Prayer book? Orthodox? Roman Catholic? Eastern?????
I'm having a bit of a challenge determining what prayer book is used fore the Orthodox church.
- Is there only one?
- Are there full versions or edited ones?
- Do Roman Catholics use the same PB as the Greeks, Russians etc?
- Are there PB's that walk people through on how to use it?
These are the PB's I have in my library.
Any help would be super-appreciated.
- A Beginner's Guide to Prayer: The Orthodox Way to Draw Near to God
- Orthodox Daily Prayer
- Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church.
- Luthern Prayer Book: For the Use of Families and Individuals
- Book of Common Prayer (1928) Sunday Lectionary
- The Liturgy of the Evangelical Luthern Church
- The Orthodox Prayer Book: English
- The Orthodox Prayer Book: Slavonic
- A Book of Hours: Meditation on the Traditional Christian Hours of Prayer
- The Book of Common Prayer, 1928: Psalter
- An Inner Step Toward God: Writings and Teachings on Prayer by Father Alexander Men (Kindle)
mm.
Comments
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I'm answering assuming you are thinking of prayer of the hours; if you mean the Divine Service i.e. the primary (eucharistic) service of the day, I'll give you a different answer. Prayer books not only vary by denomination but there are often multiple prayer books used within a denomination. Their common thread is the use of psalms and specific prayer hours. The best book to orient yourself both in history and in liturgical tradition (denomination) is:
which, of course, is not in Logos. In Logos, to orient yourself I would recommend
- A Book of Hours: Meditations on the Traditional Christian Hours of Prayer | Logos Bible Software
- Praying in Time: The Hours & Days in Step with Orthodox Christian Tradition | Logos Bible Software (easy orientation in time)
- Praying the Hours in Ordinary Life | Logos Bible Software (this actually puts it all together)
- A Manual of the Orthodox Church’s Divine Services | Logos Bible Software (Eastern Orthodox introduction)
I don't have a simple, single-volume suggestion for the Eastern Orthodox tradition. But to get started I have heard great things about:
or try the online:
- Universalis home page (Catholic, Anglican)
- liturgy.io (Eastern Orthodox)
Once you are familiar with the basic structure and the convention of giving just the first words of the very common prayers, you should be able to tackle the "real thing"
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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The Orthodox Church has many different sects and subgroups. I studied Eastern Orthodox Churches as a class in the Theology Certificate I did. I will post the books we used. The class was very fun. It centered on Prayer and living as a Christian. From what I remember, the term "Roman" Catholic is a little misleading. Originally, Protestants used it as a slur to refer to Catholics (because the pope is in Rome). The Catholic Church is actually made up of 25 (I think) independent churches that have historically and occasionally concentrated on particular cultures. Every church has a leader and they are all unified under the pope. He is the patriarch of the Latin, or Roman, Church in addition to being the head of the entire Church. I do not remember that there was only one. The professor always said there were many as in an anthological collection.
if you want a comprehensive prayer book, there are only two options from what I remember, New Rome and saint Tikhon’s. The only difference there is that the former is contemporary, and the latter is older English
https://newromepress.com/orthodox-christian-prayer-book/ I own this one as a gift from my RC aunt.
This one is edited by Hieromonk Herman and Priest John Mikitish. It uses the familiar translation of the St. Tikhon’s 1982 edition. https://stmpress.com/products/orthodox-christian-prayers
Daily Prayers for Orthodox Christians: The Synekdemos (English and Greek Edition) https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Prayers-Orthodox-Christians-Synekdemos/dp/0917651219
The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology by Igumen Chariton
The Early Eastern Orthodox Church: A History, AD 60-1453 by Stephen Morris
When the Church Was Young: Voices of the Early Fathers by Marcellino D'Ambrosio
The Mountain of Silence: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality by Kyriacos C. Markides
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Agree with MJ
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It's a lot to take in. Big learning curve fore one who has been reared Evangelical all his life. I'll work through your suggestions and hopefully come out the other side more knowledgeable and deeper in life for it.
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You might want to start a bit before what I initially suggested. These books by Protestant converts, show what attracted them to liturgy ... before they knew much about liturgy:
- Evangelical Is Not Enough: Worship of God in Liturgy and Sacrament | Logos Bible Software
- The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth | Logos Bible Software
Then there is an analysis of why people are moving towards liturgical worship and a defense of the liturgy of the Church of England for the average church goer.
- Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Allure of Liturgy for a New Generation (audio) | Logos Bible Software
- The Ritual Reason Why | Logos Bible Software (an old resource)
Short of taking you to a liturgical service and letting you ask questions, these are my best thoughts on how to get oriented without get overwhelmed.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Sorry, just another thought: have you read this?
It will help you see the anti-liturgy kick is specifically English, otherwise the change from liturgical to nonliturgical was a gradual change. See chapter 3 of this book for a discussion:
We need some European to step in and point out how weird North American Christianity appears to the rest of the world.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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