The Harpercollins Book of Prayers: A Treasury of Prayers Through the Ages - Hardcover

The editor, an Anglican priest, resides in Little Gidding, England, a location that continues to inspire spiritual writers. Congregations and families should own this book because it would be invaluable for liturgy planning and home rituals. Unbelievers will appreciate the poetry of the prayers. The minute biographies preceding the (alphabetized) authors of the prayers are interesting provisions not usually found in such collections. The tones of the prayers range from solemn to witty. The voices include the lesser and greater known, for example, Frank Topping and Elizabeth I. Favorites and new discoveries fill many wonderful pages: Dag Hammarskjold, Thomas Merton, and Julian of Norwich share their prayers, for instance, with Aztec, Kalahari, and Wapokomo spirituality. There are meal prayers, "business meditations," and Johann Starck's winsome prayer for a baby. A Celtic hermit's petition competes with Yeatsian poetry. Yes, there is room on the shelf for another and superlative anthology of prayers. Amen! Gary Young

Beginning with Jesus Christ, then moving alphabetically from Adam of St. Victor to Zoroaster, this collection of predominantly Christian but also Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, etc., prayers expresses a wide variety of religious sentiments, needs, situations, and emotions in language that is mostly simple and direct but at times eloquent. The book is suitable both for personal meditation and reference, as a book of quotations. The compiler concludes, "The Holy Spirit inspires individuals according to their particular spiritual needs, not societies or churches according to their ecclesiastical traditions." Recommended for public and seminary libraries.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.