Daily Prayer

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An Outstanding New Breviary - Rated
The Church of England's Liturgical Commission and Church House Publishing are to be congratulated for the outstanding work done in producing the definitive edition of "Common Worship: Daily Prayer." This revision of the Church's daily round of prayer should set the standard for other revisions throughout the Anglican Communion. Particularly noteworthy is the overall structure of these offices, their flexibility, and the tone and mood set with each seasonal variation. You begin to wonder at how so much could be included in so small a book! I especially appreciate the many scriptural canticles (pp. 548-644) and the options of beginning Morning Prayer with "The Acclamation of Christ at the Dawning of the Day" (p. 108) and Evening Prayer with the ancient ceremony of the "Blessing of Light" (p. 110).

While much that is good can be found here, there are also some things which, to my mind, require closer scrutiny. Verse 3 of Psalm 3 (p. 651) where God is referred to as "the lifter up of my head" and verse 2b of Psalm 115 (p. 823) "Where is now their God" seem awkward and unfortunate renderings. Because of their importance to these offices, a thorough review of the Psalms for translation and euphony is in order (while not perfect, the inclusive language version of the Grail Psalms might be considered). Most of the Forms of Intercession (pp. 366-399) are absolutely right on (see pp. 376, 394-395) while some need further work (see p. 374, which strikes me at least as too wordy and preachy).

These minor problems should not, however, detract from the great achievement overall of "Common Worship: Daily Prayer"--to make available to the ordained and non-ordained alike a round of daily prayer that is simple enough to be used widely, flexible enough to allow for local adaptation, and of ample inspiration and appeal as to invite use in daily prayer. I will continue to use it as part of my own daily spiritual discipline.

Roll Over Archbishop Cranmer - Rated
I would not consider myself as a reactionary Anglican, but this 'finished' edition of Daily Prayer makes me long for the straight forward and more accessible Book of Common Prayer usage. It suffers from the problems that the BCP sought to rectify in 1549, namely;

" The manifold changes of the [pre-reformation] Service, was the cause, that to turn the Book only was so hard and intricate a matter, that many times there was more business to find out what should be read, than to read it when it was found out."
BCP 1662 CONCERNING THE USE OF THE CHURCH

The shorter edition - 'Celebrating Daily Prayer: A Version of Common Worship Daily Prayer' (ISBN No: 0819281344) - is more user-friendly and compact, with sufficient seasonal material to give variation without the complexity of the parent volume. Consider 'Celebrating Daily Prayer'as your office book before buying this expensive tome.