The Oxford Book of Prayer

A very useful collection of prayers. As a minister I have used it for years to undergird my extemporaneous prayers. I have also loaned the book to church members a as way to discover their own prayer 'styles'. This "Oxford Book of Prayer" is so useful that when I went back to work as a minister after downsizing into retirement, I had to buy a replacement for my original copy.

This reviewer was dithering between the 4- and 5-star ratings, and decided to err on the side of generosity. The Anglican bishop George Appleton was himself generous in compiling this book of prayers, taken largely from the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox traditions.If you're a Roman Catholic, you will find in the Oxford Book of Prayer examples of liturgical language that are lovelier than any of the passages you have heard at a post-conciliar Mass. For the Anglicans, there is Hooker and Traherne and Herbert of the earlier centuries, and Eric Milner-White, John Baillie, and Appleton himself for the twentieth century. Orthodoxy is very well represented, with Eucharistic prayers, with anthems and hymns for vespers and mattins at various points in the liturgical year.There is Cardinal Langton's immortal "Veni Sancte Spiritus" in both Latin and English. There are a few poems, or snippets of poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins. There are canticles by Alcuin of York, and prayers of Ghanaian fishermen, in happy juxtaposition. There is a litany to the Holy Spirit (prayer no. 672) used by the ecumenical Taize community in France.There is a moderately sized section of prayers from "other traditions of faith," from Jewish to Taoist, Muslim to Baha'i, a gracious but not overly concessive tribute to religious pluralism (a prayer-book consisting solely of Christian prayers would perhaps be seen as triumphalistic), but there, some beauty and genuine feeling for the transcendent is often to be found.As there are more than eleven hundred prayers in this admirably capacious anthology, any review of a few paragraphs is bound to fail in its attempt to convey the temper and the flavour of the book. Let us therefore take one prayer at not-quite-random, no. 588, from the Syrian Orthodox Church:"Open to us, Lord, your great door; O Fountain of all mercy, hear our prayer and save our souls. Shine upon me, Lord, and I shall be light like the day; I will sing your praise in light while I marvel; may the morning awaken me to the praise of your Godhead and I will pursue the study of your word all the day long. With the day may your light shine on our thoughts and may it drive away the shadows of error from our souls. The creation is full of light, give light also to our hearts that they may praise you with the day and the night."

George Appleton has put together a wonderful devotional resource. The book is divided into six sections. Section one has prayers of adoration, which are addressed to God. Section two consists of prayers from the Bible (Old and New Testaments) including those by the Psalmists, Jesus, Paul, and many others. The third section has prayers of other Christians including such themes as devotion, suffering, protection, etc. Section four has the prayers of the Church. This part is comprised of prayers relating to the creeds, the sacraments, the communion of saints, the Paschal and Christmas cycles, plus much more. Section five is called "Prayer of Listening" because it contains readings from Scripture where God addresses humankind (hence "listening"). The fifth section has prayers from a variety of other religions, including Judaism, Buddhism, Greco-Roman civilization, and primitive nature religions. This section is small compared to the Christian part and this book is primarily a Christian resource. Finally, there are prayers for the unity of humankind. Many famous Christian authors are included, ranging from the early church until the modern day. With over 1100 prayers, there is bound to be one for every occasion in a person's life. I highly recommend this book.

This prayer book is very complete and it has prayers through the ages grouped into loose categories based on how the prayer relates to the Lord's Prayer, Apostles Creed, etc. I use this in my personal worship quite a bit. The prayers are from a wide variety of saints and Christians. There are also some non-Christian prayers there for those interested.

This is an excellent reference guide for famous sayings that often come out of prayers. But, more importantly, there is a great tradition of Christians who have prayed. Calvin, St. Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila all led lives of prayer. This book creates a place to read the prayers of common people and theologians. Some of them viewed God very differently then is our current conception. Read them, pray them, browse them, leave with a deeper understanding.