What do you guys think of Family Prayers from the Anglican tradition

Discussion in 'Faith, Devotion & Formation' started by anglican74, Jul 18, 2018.

  1. anglican74

    anglican74 Well-Known Member Anglican

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    I've often struggled with figuring out a daily and consistent sequence of prayers
    It seems to be a question on the minds of many: @Seeker20 has asked for precisely this, and in another thread about Daily offices, the answers didn't seem very satisfying to me

    Plus it goes without saying that one-off extemporaneous prayers feel cheap and insufficient! We need something ancient and histoirc, like devotional prayer liturgy, such that might be said with a family together

    I come back more and more to the Family Prayers from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer: their primary virtue is in not being dependent on questions and responses; it is essentially a sequence of single-person prayers; but it is so beautiful and pious and covers all aspects of the human heart, while being structured and robust in a way that an extemporaneous prayer never could be......It really seems like a perfect fit for a modern family

    What do you guys think?Can you see yourself saying this every single morning, and night?

    http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1928/Family_Prayer.htm
     
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  2. Shane R

    Shane R Well-Known Member

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    I use that form when my daughters wake up early or I get to morning prayers late. The Lutherans have produced forms which are as good or better in some of the service books of the conservative dioceses. I used to frequently use the form that ELS had devised. But, last time I moved interstate all but one of my hymnals was lost by the moving company and I haven't replaced them yet. I find it comforting to have a form to follow and the good ones have a certain logic and even rhythm to them.
     
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  3. anglican74

    anglican74 Well-Known Member Anglican

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    Thanks! Yeah I think I'll start doing that with my children as well... Isn't this one of the better morning/evening devotional liturgies, and why don't more people know about them?
     
  4. Magistos

    Magistos Active Member Anglican

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    I love these prayers. I have multiple versions of the BCP, and I keep coming back to the 1928 for reasons such as this.
     
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  5. Shane R

    Shane R Well-Known Member

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    I've guessing the ignorance is an effect of many parishes distributing a program each week. How many people ever actually open the BCP anymore? I know of many parishes that don't even have prayer books.
     
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  6. anglican74

    anglican74 Well-Known Member Anglican

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    What do you think were family prayers like say 200 years ago, prior to the 1928 BCP?
     
  7. Shane R

    Shane R Well-Known Member

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    That's a good question anglican74. I don't have any Anglican resources that address that particular time period in my library. I think the days of near universal community attendance at the Daily Office had passed. The Oxford Movement was just over the horizon. In another couple of decades John Mason Neale would begin to unlock the liturgical wealth of the East for the Anglican world (have you ever noticed how many of the old hymns were translated by him? it's astounding!).

    That said, Luther had prescribed a rule for the family in his Small Catechism. It went: Sign of the Cross, (Apostle's) Creed, Our Father, and a thanksgiving. He also suggested a hymn and reflection on one of the Ten Commandments each morning. I think perhaps the Anglican tradition would have been more likely to read a portion of Scripture at that point. I'll see if I can find some sources that discuss what the layman's practice in the early American period was.
     
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  8. Lowly Layman

    Lowly Layman Well-Known Member

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  9. anglican74

    anglican74 Well-Known Member Anglican

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  10. CFLawrence

    CFLawrence Active Member

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    Can I ask a question. And this is based on my experience. Is morning and evening prayer just too much sometimes that we need something like Family Prayer? I try my best to use the 1662 and when possible with Litany on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. I think I’m burning myself out OR I’m just lazy.

    Opinion?
     
  11. Lowly Layman

    Lowly Layman Well-Known Member

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    I can relate. I love MP and EP but sometimes all you can fit in is the family prayers.
     
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  12. anglican74

    anglican74 Well-Known Member Anglican

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    It seems to me that it is just like muscles.... when out of practice, our "prayer muscles" (patience, comfort with silence) could be weaker, and shorter prayers like these seem so suitable
     
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  13. Religious Fanatic

    Religious Fanatic Well-Known Member

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    Does this include "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who eats fastest eats the most"? :laugh:

    I always found that prayer funny, whenever people actually do say it just to make themselves seem religious. There's a rather humorous post on Yahoo Answers, where a man says he spanked one of his children for saying this, all the while mentioning how lukewarm-religious they were, and that they punished the child by copying two pages out of the bible to show respect. The person responding said they would do better if they actually took their faith more seriously by walking with God, to encourage the child to take it more seriously. You can read the post here:
    https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090706111849AAwL2ED&guccounter=1#