Daily Office- What's your routine?

Do you follow the rubrics for clergy and pray the Daily Office at home?

If so, do you use the BCP(American or other national versions of it?)?

Or do you use the newer liturgical books (BAS in Canada, Common Worship in England and so on)

Or do you follow other models and if so what are they?


Also for the daily lectionary, what version of the Holy Bible do you prefer and why?

 

I enjoy following along with http://cradleofprayer.org/ and often use commonprayer.org. I use multiple versions of the bible but love the KJV the best. How about you?

 

I'm also a big fan of http://missionstclare.com/ but I prefer the 1928 BCP.

 

For the Bible, my favorite and well used book is a leather bound version of the Revised English Bible but I do switch it up from time to time with the KJV.

As for prayers I, since I'm Canadian use the 1959 version of the Canadian BCP (think 1928 for the Yankee version) but I also use the BAS (Book of Alternative Services, think Rite II in the 1979 American BCP) from time to time.

I also like using Forward Day by Day from Forward Ministries for devotions as well as Our Daily Bread.

 

In the Society of St. Francis we have a Daily Office prayer book that includes the Franciscan Ordo we use that with our local Lectionary for the readings unless it is a feast day like today. It contains Lauds, Sext, Vespers and Compline. If I don't have my prayer book with me which is very rare and I have access to my computer or my iPhone I use the RC Divine Office app. As a member of the tssf we also have our Community Obedience which is normally done in conjunction with either Lauds or Vespers. I created a site for my tssf brothers and sisters who have a computer or tablet at http://www.tssf.org.au/communityobedience which brings all the prayers into one place instead of flip flopping through our tssf prayer book. Normally this is done at the place where in the Daily Office you would do intercession prayer.

 

Thanks for the Cradle of Prayer resource; it's truly helpful and beautiful.

I also use the Forward Day by Day as a daily reflection and reading guide. I've benefited from its structure, but I'm not always crazy about the messages in them.

 

I use the "Daily Prayer" app by Church House Publishing/Aimer Media which uses the official "Daily Prayer feed" from the CoE. I set it to "traditional" which renders the 1662. I do the morning, evening and compline prayers. If I'm in a rush I put on cradle of prayer.

 

I use the 1928, morning and evening, and I save the psalms for later in the evening. Cradle of Prayer has been helpful for especially busy times of the semester.

 

So a question for those in the know!

When I visited a Greek Orthodox church there was a cantor who sung out verses, prayers, and portions of the litany before and during the main service. Her singing or chanting sounded very much like the cantor at Cradle of Prayer. Was there a similar function of a cantor at traditional Anglican service which has since been removed? Or was this only in the Eastern churches that a cantor can be heard during the entire service?

I find that the singing of the liturgy to be especially moving instead of the route reading as part of the call-and-response I see at church.

 

In more Anglo-Catholic parishes (I'm in the ACA ((Anglican Church in America)), yes, you'll find cantors. And I absolutely agree with you about singing the liturgy!

 

That's good to know. I think most of TEC in my area tend to be more low church (is that the right term?) and don't have many of the "formalities" or traditions I'm looking for. There is a church that has the solemn high mass, but its about an hour away. I might have to check it out sometime- but then I might get spoiled LOL

I'll be visiting a Catholic church with a good friend on Sunday. She is taking me to the service which has a cantor, so I'm interested to see what that will be like.

Participating in a beautiful service just makes sense to me. We want to offer real, true praise to God and also infuse our lives with His beauty. Having the service reflect this offers a real place of refuge from the outside and a gives us time to be filled with the presence of Christ.

 

Amen to that. I came to Anglicanism as a Presbyteruan and it all left my breathless -- prayers, music, "altar" instead of "table." There's no going back. Too spoiled!

 

I'm currently using the 1979 US. I have to leave early and commute to work in the dark during the week so I seldom pray the morning office before leaving the house. I pray the morning office during my lunch hour at work. When I get back home in the evening I pray the evening office and usually supplement with devotions from St Augustine's Prayer Book. I prefer the KJV for my lessons.

 

This thread has inspired me to pick up the 1928 BCP when I get a chance. I have started with the 1979 version and I'm really liking the language at Cradle of Prayer and want to follow along.

I want to learn how to use the BCP for everyday prayer, but it's very intimidating to learn all the details! Any website suggestions on newbies for learning to use the BCP?

Also, I use incense during my prayers and scripture reading. I've found it be very helpful in creating a reverent atmosphere at home- right now I'm using some myrrh and rose athonite incense. Does anyone else use incense?

 

I've never taught someone how to navigate it, I'm not sure where to begin! I would recommend http://commonprayer.org/ to see what it's like... it's the best online resource for the '28 that I know of but maybe someone else knows of another. Probably best to find someone in person to walk you through it. Maybe begin with the Psalter and get in the groove of reading through that every month, it's what got me hooked, and then I learned how to incorporate all the pieces together.

 

The easiest way is to find your local church to do a Morning Prayer a few times (or a few dozen times) with them. Often they'll have a bulletin with the whole liturgy laid out for you, including the Readings and the Daily Collects. Optional greetings and versicles will be condensed into one. The Doxology which follows each of the 3 read Psalms won't be hard to remember -it'll be right there for you. Overall everything will make a lot of sense.

 

I bounce between a 1979 and 1928 BCP. I use the BCP for the prayers, pray the Psalms using the ESV Bible, and do the Readings using the ESV Bible.

 

Although I'm no longer Roman Catholic, I still cherish my breviary which I prayed in the seminary 35 years ago as a very young man

 

I use the Morning and Evening Prayers in the 1662 BCP. I have found a wonderful resource for this, Cambridge Heritage BCP KJV, it combines the BCP and the Authorised Version of the bible. I don't follow the Lectionary though. I do follow the Psalm readings, but I am just reading a chapter, or two, of the Old Testament for the First Lesson and the same in the New Testament for the Second Lesson. That way, not only to I get to enjoy the BCP, I also get through the entire bible at least once per year.

Sometimes, if I'm able to stay awake, I also like to use the Compline Prayer from the Church of England's website.

 

In my experience, I feel quite blessed. Our church has two services. The first is a traditional "said" service where there is no singing or music. My wife and I attend this service. The second service is a contemporary language service where probably 2/3 of it is sung. We also have a cantor sing the Psalm reading, with a congregational response. I usually come back to the second service and get a double blessing on my Sunday mornings.