The Daily Office is an ancient way to pray. It marks the passage of time by offering Morning and Evening Prayer as written in the Book of Common Prayer of The Episcopal Church. Each service features psalms, one or two Bible readings and prayers.
This blog version reproduces most of the content of our main site, dailyoffice.org, while enabling two features not found there: Comments and RSS feeds.
Welcome!
Greetings!
I was wondering how to activate RSS feed from this blog. I did not see any xml or atom button on the blog site to request feed activation. Any instructions?
Thanks!
Ian
Ian, There used to be a big button, but I don’t see it anymore. (My “management tools” say it’s selected and visible…) Instead what I have in my browser (Firefox) is a little orange icon in the bottom right; when I click that it gives me the choice of subscribing to RSS or Atom.
Hope this helps; I invite anyone who’s knowledgable to post more about it.
Josh,
I wanted to thank you for bringing discussion of Centering Prayer to your main Daily Office site.
I’ve been practicing CP since October last year, and will be teaching a class on it at St Helena’s Episcopal in Boerne, TX during Lent, using Thomas Keating’s “Open Mind, Open Heart.” During these few months, I’ve become absolutely convinced of the huge spiritual and psychological benefits of this when maintained as a regular practice in a chaotic and stress-filled world. It’s such a simple way to kick-start your spiritual practice, and to learn God’s first language, which is silence! My particular joy with it is the freedom from language and reason (words, words, words), to a place of simply being with God — that, right there, is a spectacular form of bliss.
Do you plan to bring a Centering Prayer thread over onto your blog, so that like-minded, CP-ing Episcopalians can share?
Sara
Sara, I’m not sure what you have in mind when you ask about bringing a Centering Prayer thread here. What do you suggest I do differently?
I am so new at it that I hesitate to even discuss it. I am no expert whatsoever, but sometimes people see me as some kind of authority. I’m not, I’m a layman from an Indiana cornfield.
I must add that I envy the people at St. Helena’s, Boerne for the opportunity to attend your class. I have “Open Mind, Open Heart,” lent to me by my pastoral counselor, but I got stuck early on when Fr. Keating talked about the guy doing the breath work who died because he forgot to keep breathing. Then he talks about some guy levitating. What?
The writer in me says that’s no way to start a book, with bizarre and scary thoughts. I know Keating is thought to be a great master, but he just lost me. Tell me about prayer, Father, what it can do for me, what I should expect, why I should try this different way of approaching the Holy One. I don’t want to levitate, I just want to get closer to God and invite him to direct my life, because he’s better at it than I am.
You can see I would probably benefit from your course! But I do have Pastor Tom, whom I’ll see again tomorrow.
By all means, please feel free to share with us what you know.
I am impressed and amazed by the faithfulness of our site visitors. They really are a wonderful bunch. Of course we’re all sinners here, but the Office sites (and some Christian/Episcopal blogs) are showing me more and more about the Family of God. Because the internet facilitates comment and conversation, I’m getting to know more real Christians than ever (and it’s not for me to judge who’s real and who’s not). If I only knew the people next to me in the pews, just think what their quiet witness might be!
I think we often feel alone—but we’re not! And it’s my failing, I suppose, that I never before realized that “the great cloud of witnesses who surround us”—the saints—live right down the street and go to my church and read the same newspaper and watch the same ballgames and pray, just like I do, maybe even “better.”
There used to be at one time such a variety of reasons that people went to church; it was expected, it was socially advantageous, it was a way to network for business reasons/money. Those reasons are gone now. The people left in the pews have all decided, have all committed themselves in some quietly dramatic way to the Carpenter’s Son. They are people I need to be with. Several have shown me in the last few hours that they are my sisters and my brothers. They have accepted me and welcomed me and cared for me; they have even protected me from attacking archbishops.
I don’t want to let them down. God has allowed me to perceive the Christ in them and man, the Christ is beautiful!
Alleluia, sing to Jesus…
Josh,
I was just interested in whether you had any thought to start a discussion thread on Centering Prayer in another area of your site (an area devoted to CP), since you had begun describing your experiences with it. But I’m sure you’re already busy enough!
I think Thomas Keating moved into his discussion of strange psychic and paranormal phenomena while he was making the case for what this kind of prayer is most definitely not. His examples were perhaps extreme but memorable foils for the definitely not odd and definitely not frightening nature of CP. I’m sorry you were put off and hope Pastor Tom helps allay your concerns.
Thanks for everything you do – I’m so glad you’re getting support from both friends and strangers at this difficult time. You certainly have mine and my prayers.
Sara
A postscript to other readers: Does anyone know of another discussion place for Episcopalians practicing and teaching Centering Prayer? I’d be grateful. I do recognize the ecumenical nature of CP, but am interested in the success or otherwise people are having introducing this predominantly Catholic practice to Episcopal circles.
Josh:
The pictures are of Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, but the feast today is of Ignatius of Antioch, 2nd century martyr
Dang! You mean Google isn’t God?
I’m sorry for the mistake, thanks for pointing it out. If Google isn’t God, who does that leave us with?
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord…”
Christmas blessings on this wonderful blog and sites from a site that is attempting similar resourcing in spirituality and liturgy: http://www.liturgy.co.nz
I would be interested in exchanging links.
Not just to the main page,
but I’m developing a “Liturgy of the Hours” section at
http://www.liturgy.co.nz/ofthehours/resources.html
God bless your venture
Bosco Peters
http://www.liturgy.co.nz
Bosco: We happily add you to our links. God bless the Church in New Zealand! You have no idea how dear you are to us. We stretch out our hands across the seas to grasp your island hands in the love of Christ.
Unless I’m mistaken, I don’t see a prayer of confession in your published liturgy. I’m curious as to why you omit this.
Because, Thomas Wilson, it’s optional and not historically included. Read your rubrics.
We include the Confession daily in Lent and on Fridays during Ordinary Time and Advent. We’ll give you every chance to confess your heart out. God knows we all need it.
I am a Baptist minister and PhD student who is moving into the Episcopal Church. I have found this blog to be an important part of my daily office. Thank you for publishing the daily liturgy!
Glad to do it, J.C. Welcome to the Episcopal Church and good luck with your studies!
I noticed this in the Daily office prayers: “Begin with awareness that you are praying with others around the world; this is the Common Prayer of the Church.”
This amazing, awe-inspiring truth is what has driven me to moving toward fixed-hour prayer/daily offices. I’ve not totally arrived, but I am taking step by faltering step!
My friend Cory (www.baldmanblogging.com) first introduced me to Phyllis Tickle’s book, “The Divine Hours”.
Thanks for ministering to people who want to pray with the Church.
Dear Blended,
Phyllis Tickle has inspired a lot of people to pray the hours, so I know you’re in good company. She also writes many prayers that people find meaningful.
As for my opening line, “Begin with awareness that you are praying with others…” I’m glad it helps you. I felt a need to add that reminder to the Prayer Book Office for an internet audience. People have always prayed the Daily Office by themselves, but it’s never been a mere one-to-one event, “just me and God.” When we pray online it seems like a completely solitary experience, and yet it’s not. We can’t see the other people, but indeed we are part of the whole gathered Church as we pray.
An illustration: I went on retreat at Holy Cross Monastery last September and attended most of the monks’ services throughout the morning, afternoon and evening. They have monasteries in South Africa, Ontario, New York and California, so they’re always thinking of their brothers in those places. When it’s 7 a.m. and time for Matins in Ontario and New York, the brothers in South Africa prayed the same service six hours earlier, and the brothers in California have another three hours before they do it. But that’s just one order; at any given moment, monasteries all over the world are praying the Office; churches are praying, individuals are praying, it never stops.
So we may be praying the Office one by one in front of our computers (handhelds, mobile phones), but to God we’re one big congregation. It does help us to remember that.
The marvelous thing is that God hears us both collectively and individually, because God resides inside each one of us.
Great blog. I had a daily prayer blog up for a while, using materials from Lutheran resources, but it got shot down because of copyright issues. I will write my own form of prayer, drawing on BCP with some Lutheran influences, but I haven’t the time right now. I love that the BCP is public domain – truly COMMON prayer, not proprietary prayer.
Anyway, have you considered offering email subscriptions? RSS is pretty good, but an email list would be magnificent. You can have daily emails sent using Feedburner (www.feedburner.com). Might be difficult with the scheduling of the email delivery and making available two prayer offices, but give it a look if you can.
Thanks!
Chris,
You point out a very important point; the Book of Common Prayer has never been copyrighted. There have been times when Anglicans regretted that, but mostly we support the idea that anyone who wants to use our prayers ought to be free to do so. Prayer should be free.
I have’t thought about e-mail subscriptions. It sounds like more work, and we’ve got plenty already! But I will go to Feedburner and see what’s up. Thanks for the idea.
Josh
Thank you for all your work on this site. I wondered where the daily collects are taken from, particularly the ones that are topical (Afghanistan, etc.). Is there an official Episcopal/Anglican site with suggested collects for each day (besides the more generic ones in the BCP)?
Robert,
I write topical prayers from time to time, including the one about Afghanistan. It is not officially approved by anyone, while the rest of the service is.
For collects of the day, we incorporate those from a second official liturgical book for the Episcopal Church called “Lesser Feasts and Fasts.” There is no official book that contains 365 different collects, one for every day, although certain Episcopal monasteries (Holy Cross, for instance) have their own books which are more elaborate and suited to their needs.
Also see the Anglican Breviary at http://www.anglicanbreviary.net/
We choose to stick with the official texts for simplicity’s sake and in order to offer what is officially approved by The Episcopal Church—except for my additions!
Great question, thanks for asking. Come back and see us again.
Am I mssing something or is this cite always a day behind?
Chris,
Actually it depends on the time zone you’re in. When it’s 5pm in Chicago, it’s 7am tomorrow in Tokyo but noon today in Honolulu.
We try our best to post for Chicago. But sometimes we fail, including lately because of computer, webhost and other problems. Our most reliable site is here, and it features audio and video this site can’t handle:
http://www.dailyoffice.org
This is only our auxiliary blog for RSS feeds, but we try our best to post on time twice a day.
Thank you for complaining!—but let’s be aware that the spiritual issue isn’t our currency or even devotion to the daily lectionary; it’s making the decision to pray. In that sense even yesterday’s service is efficacious. As Nike says, Just Do It, and yes, we’ll increase our efforts to be ready when you are. Thanks.
Thank you for your work, guy in a corn field.
Dear Loafing,
Farmers are out again today with their combines, harvesting the corn and soybeans, an annual reminder of the rhythm of life which the Office marks daily instead of yearly. Here’s what I mean.
I live in town and often go a few weeks without a need to hit the highway. But when I do, the sight is often a bit disorienting. In the spring, it’s “Oh my, the farmers have been planting, the corn has started to come up.” A few weeks later it’s “Wow, that corn’s knee-high already, and it’s only May.” In midsummer the country is lush with a million plants taller than our heads. After Labor Day, “Hmm, the corn is starting to turn brown. It won’t be long now, I guess.” And then in October it’s “My God, the land’s completely naked.”
I noticed this dramatically last year when I covered high school football. Our school is located among the fields, at a midpoint among the three towns in the district. At the start of the season in late August, it’s hot, the corn is still green and growing; by sectional time, though, it’s cold, it’s rainy, you bundle up, and then at the end of the game you pull out of the parking lot and realize you can see all the way across the fields to town. Time has a way of knocking us in the head.
So it’s good to take a moment to pray twice a day; it keeps us rooted and grounded in the love of God. The best plantings have the deepest roots.
Sometimes modern people object to the pervasive agricultural symbolism in the Bible; separating the wheat from the chaff, Jesus as the Good Shepherd, etc. They say, “I am not a sheep!” I guess they think expressways, buses and trains aren’t herding them where they need to go.
One thing remains true: By their fruits ye shall know them; by the results of our lives, whether we’re a houseplant on a ledge in the city or a vast field in the heartland. We all gotta eat.
10-15 says there are 2 women who are Doctors of the Church. The Roman church recognizes 3 (Theresa, Catherine, Therese). Which one does the Episcopal Church drop?
Great question. The Episcopal Church doesn’t “drop” any of them, but it does not recognize the last-proclaimed (1997, on the 100th anniversary of her death), Therese of Lisieux. No disrespect is intended, but she is not listed among TEC’s official commemorations approved by the General Convention. Teresa of Avila (d. 1582) and Catherine of Siena (d. 1380) are both recognized among the “lesser feasts,” meaning any saint not mentioned in the New Testament.
Generally speaking, TEC tends to limit public recognition of saints to those of the undivided Church prior to the Great Schism, of the Western Church prior to the Reformation, then to those of the Anglican tradition afterwards, unless those Christians were part of an ecumenical group of martyrs, usually including Anglicans (e.g., Martyrs of Uganda, of New Guinea and [proposed] of El Salvador).
Each national church of the Anglican Communion commemorates its own list of saints among those deemed to have the most teaching value in that culture. There is a lot of overlap among their lists, but no central authority mandating or prohibiting local observance. The U.S. Church celebrates a lot of Americans who are less known and less relevant elsewhere.
All additions to our list must be approved by votes of two successive General Conventions, including bishops, other clergy and laypeople. Seven proposed commemorations have passed “first reading” and await final approval at the 2009 Convention in Anaheim. The delay allows any opponents to organize and new research to come to light, while encouraging local parishes to experience their own observance of the proposed saint’s day.
At least one new candidate is expected in 2009: the great Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. But he has to pass two readings like everyone else. We don’t “make saints” lightly, but neither do we demand they be dead for fifty years before we’ll even consider them. Thus the Feast of Martin Luther King Jr. is well-established on April 4—and he, of course, was Baptist.
How does one pray the psalms when they say something one doesn’t believe? For example, tonight’s psalm said “The dead do not praise the LORD” which is contrary to the beliefs of most Christians (I think). Maybe the example refers to dead not in heaven. But still the question–those bloody war psalms then: annihilate your enemy! Any insights would be much appreciated.
Ah, a questioner after my own heart! The Psalms are often problematical; where, for example, is “that great Leviathan of the deep?” The Loch Ness monster? I don’t believe in him either.
I’ve found it’s best, when I run across a verse or idea I find screwy, to say to myself, “I’m not sure I believe that.” I don’t feel guilty about thinking such a thing; God doesn’t try to force-feed us Bible passages that don’t make any sense to us.
But such verses may be hiding secret passageways to deeper understanding – that what doesn’t make sense today may make perfect sense to me a year from now, once I know more.
Plainly the Psalmist in 115:17 either doesn’t believe in resurrection at all (why should he? Jesus wasn’t even born when this was written), or he refers to the dead souls in Sheol/Hell. And keep in mind the context of the psalm as a whole; it contrasts the People of Israel (believers in YHWH) with the heathens who believe in dumb idols. Their dead certainly “do not praise the LORD,” since they don’t even know who he is.
“But we will bless the LORD, *
from this time forth for evermore.
Hallelujah!”
And if after 80 years the verse still doesn’t make any sense to you, fuhgeddaboudit.
In the Prayer concerning War in Iraq and Afghanistan the Cross is referred to as “shameful.” Great prayer–thanks!–but I don’t understand “shameful.”
The prayer reads:
Almighty God, we look with grieved distress on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; we watch human beings murdered, decapitated, burned alive. All we can do is think of Jesus and behold your shameful Cross.
—
What I tried to do was to link the wars’ murders, decapitations, burnings and terrorist acts with the Cross. It seems to me they are all shameful. We know that in ancient times crucifixion was reserved for the worst criminals because it was the most brutal way to execute someone.
Christ, of course, transcended the brutality in his resurrection. He turned that “shameful” cross into the greatest symbol of hope and salvation.
Let’s ask ourselves why a band of terrorists would choose decapitation of all the ways to kill someone. It makes a couple of statements: it’s incredibly humiliating to the victim; and it says of the perpetrators, “we are willing to commit the most abominable acts, to appear to our enemies as savages. We will stop at nothing.” It’s an act of maximum intimidation.
So was crucifixion. That method was chosen by the Roman authorities and their religious collaborators to horrify Jesus’s followers into giving up their faith.
A few years later in the Roman Colosseum Christians were fed to the lions. Barely a week ago we featured St. Ignatius of Antioch, who was killed this way. As late as the 1500s, martyrs like Ridley and Latimer were publicly burned at the stake. Some had their severed heads mounted on spikes over London Bridge. The point was to make a public display of the brutality.
In the eyes of faith, the Cross is the opposite of shameful; it is Christ’s great glory. I am hoping this prayer helps us to realize that humanity is not the least bit removed from the brutality of old; that there is a dignity in death that nothing can alter; that the murderers condemn themselves by their actions, more than they could possibly condemn their victims.
I always knew this prayer would be disturbing, in the same way that the terrorist acts are. And I don’t want us to forget about the wars’ victims just because they’re no longer on TV or the newspapers’ front page. That’s why I wrote:
Give us the courage to look at your Son’s gentleness on Calvary, Lord. Give us the courage to look.
Ordinary citizens may not be able to do much to stop the carnage; that’s up to Bush and Bin Laden and others. But we can have and must have the courage to witness what’s going on; to mourn it, to do what little we can to stop it; to recommit ourselves to peace and justice in God’s name. Thus the intent of this prayer (whether it achieves the intent or not) is to help us witness and remember and act—not to distance ourselves from Calvary but to embrace it and give it to God.
Josh–hope you’re all right. I’ve become so used to just popping on your site and praying, I was startled when there was no EP on Halloween. You are missed!
Ack, I didn’t even realize I hadn’t posted it! Somehow I was so concerned about changing the liturgical color on our main site from green to white after noon that I guess I spaced out. I apologize to all the saints!
You had such a great day you forgot Evening Prayer? Hope you’re OK. Will pray Compline instead. Thanks again for all your work.
For a non- Episcopalian – what do the asterisks at the ends of some lines denote?
Mary, good catch! The asterisks denote line-breaks in the poetry, so they help us sing or read. They’re like silent punctuation.
Nearly every verse in the Psalms is a two-line couplet:
First this; *
now that.
But every now and then you’ll run into a three-liner:
First this,
and this; *
now that!
And sometimes you’ll see this:
The first line is very, very long and keeps going and going and it’s wider than will fit on a page (or in a blog format); *
which makes you wonder what the original Hebrew poetry looked like,
and how to read it.
Our Psalms are translations from ancient Hebrew into modern English, and sometimes a word or phrase in one language will take many more words to explain in another language.
But nearly always, the structure of the poem is translatable and obvious, so that the eye doesn’t really need the asterisk. In congregational worship, this gave rise eons ago to reading or singing the Psalms as a back and forth. One method is responsive:
(Worship leader) Line one; *
(Congregation) line two.
Another is antiphonal:
(Left side) Line one; *
(Right side) line two.
There are lots of variations in how you divide up the “sides”; perhaps my favorite in everyday parish worship is male/female. The women are often the better readers, but the men have stronger voices. It keeps the reading interesting.
Yet another good variation is not by line breaks, but by verses:
(Left side) Verse one
(Right side) Verse two
Antiphony is particularly common in the Anglican musical tradition, yet in my experience, most American congregations sing or read in unison, which is the most boring of all. It’s as if we get anxious about remembering which is “our part,” afraid to screw it up and embarass ourselves, so we’d really rather not be bothered.
Still, a well-trained congregation can make magnificent work of the Psalms, which is how they ought to be treated. Attend a Choral Evensong sometime (Evening Prayer set to music) and you’ll see what I mean. The whole of worship becomes a work of art.
Thanks for the photos of the fires out here. Please pray for us.
Is C.S. Lewis regarded as a saint in the same sense Elizabeth of Hungary is?
Clare, there’s not a rank ordering of saints, with one exception: Mary, Mother of God. Behind her, everyone’s more or less equal.
Keep in mind that Anglicans don’t require the saints to have performed miracles. I don’t know anyone who thinks C.S. Lewis walked on water.
Princess Elizabeth’s story is so remarkable because she was wealthy and powerful, but impoverished herself on behalf of the sick and needy. She took the Gospel seriously and is highly revered for it, with hospitals named for her all over the world. She’s also regarded as a patron of the Tertiary Franciscans; she lived the life.
Dr. Lewis’s accomplishment, in a far different time, was to explain and promote “mere” (common) Christianity in the mass medium of books. His fiction for children introduced Christian themes without making them explicit. In our own day he’s gone Hollywood; that’s quite an impact. But to me his greatest contribution was in speaking of faith to modern, well-educated women and men in an age of reason and science. He helped to clear out the underbrush of superstitition which always threatens to overwhelm religion. He was a saint for our own time.
The Episcopal Church maintains a diverse calendar of saintly observances, where we can find role models in many times and places. We can’t pigeonhole the saints as people of long ago and far away, and thus irrelevant, when many of us have C.S. Lewis books and movies on our shelves.
There are, however, two distinctions important to note: saints agreed upon by the Universal Church prior to the Great Schism with Orthodoxy; and saints agreed upon by the Western Church prior to the Reformation. Elizabeth of Hungary belongs to the latter group, while Lewis obviously is a recent “Anglican innovation.” I suppose that the greater the agreement among Christians, the more valid the claim of sainthood is.
But contrast that with our observance of Martin Luther King Jr., Prophet and Martyr, versus Rome’s ignoring the man because he was a Baptist, not a Catholic. Agreement cuts both ways. Americans need MLK’s example continually before us if we’re to carry on his work, and we can’t wait for the cultic bureaucracy to get it in gear.
That is the beauty of the General Convention.
Thank you for this site. I’m grateful, inasmuch as it could help me with a New Year’s resolution! I fear I won’t be able to manage the full Office at morning and night, so I may start with the Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families, using the readings that you include on this blog.
Thank you again.
k,
We’re glad to have you! Use this site any way you want.
When I advise people with limited time and patience, I suggest they use the Psalms of the Day rather than the Lessons; the Psalms are worship, not instruction, and often relate intimately to our lives, while the Lessons are just that, telling the story of the faith for a certain period of time. They’re “all good,” but the soul’s first need is to worship, while it takes a lifetime to study the Lessons.
You know what’s best for you, so Just Do It.
Josh
Dear Josh:
I just came upon your Daily Office blog. Wow! You’ve done a fabulous service making it easy for anyone to pray the Daily Office.
Actually, what took me to your blog was an attempt to find an online answer to a basic question. The Collect of the Day: how exactly is that determined? Where do I go for the texts of all these collects? It’s obviously not as simple as I thought (use the collect of the week in the BCP unless it’s a saint’s day).
If you can let me know at ddesilva@ashland.edu, that would be great.
I did reply by e-mail, but the short answer is that the other collects come from a supplemental prayer book called Lesser Feasts and Fasts (2006). This includes prayers for all the Convention-approved saints who are not mentioned in the New Testament, as well as Mary Magdalene, Timothy and Titus, who are.
Josh,
Thank you for the wonderful work you are doing here. I was searching the internet for a means of finding my daily readings available to me when I am not home but do have access to the internet.
God Bless,
Kathleen
Thank you, Kathleen. Yesterday our webhost was not responding and I couldn’t update our main site. (I did get Morning Prayer up here but that was all.) I guess it doesn’t happen that often but I always find it very disheartening.
Thank-you so much for creating this blog/site Josh. Living in NYC I find that so often I feel like I’m forced to join “us” or “them” (the “conservatives” or the “non-religious”) and as “liberal” who is also deeply longing to know Christ more and more for the rest of my days, –well it can feel lonely. But I’ve been noticing that when I spend more time in contemplative prayer and also following the Daily Office-I realize that who I’m asked to “join” is God and that I needn’t worry so much about the rest. It’s all about seeking a deeper knowlege of Him. So thank-you for helping me with that and keep up the good work!
(and if there are any other “liberal but passionate Christians” in NYC I’d love to hear from you!:)
Blessings
LM,
Thank you for the insight; you’re not the only one who needs to tune out the theological/cultural arguing and focus on God. Most of us need the same.
I think you’ll find there are a lot of liberal AND passionate Christians in NYC—they’re called Episcopalians! If you’re in Manhattan, try St. Bartholomew’s in Midtown, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine uptown, Holy Apostles in Chelsea or St. Luke’s in the Fields down in the Village (just to name a few I’ve been to recently). There are also great parishes in all the other boroughs, including Staten Island. You are surrounded by liberal, passionate Christians, you just don’t know it.
If anyone else reading has suggestions for the other boroughs, please chime in.
We live all across the country as well, not just in NYC.
I am so grateful to find this site through the Episcopal News (recent edition). It makes the Daily Office so easy and I love the way it is laid out. I am grateful.
I have a prayer request for my Mom, Opal R., and myself, her assistant. She is 90 and has Parkinson’s.
Thanks.
Thanks, Maria. My reply above was in response to a specific need. So, you saw that article in Episcopal Life, eh? It’s on my desk but I haven’t read the final version.
I hope you’ll visit our main site if you haven’t already. It has limitations (no RSS feed, no ability to comment) so thus we have this blog, which also has limitations (no multimedia unless I pay extra). Together I hope they work for most people’s needs.
I will add Opal and you forthwith – not just to a list, but to prayers we actually say. I’ve done the caregiving thing and it’s very difficult, so I pray for you as much as for her.
Hi Josh,
Thank you for this site. My mom brought it to my attention. I’m now using it for praying the offices every day.
Dear Josh,
You left a comment on our blog post http://urbanabbey.blogspot.com/2009/03/tweeting-daily-office.html regarding our recent use of twitter while praying the Daily Office. We have been praying the Daily Office for years using the prayer book, but recently we began moving into the electronic world and stumbled upon your site. It is well-done and accessible.
We always acknowledge your site when we post excerpts from the prayers, and we’ve done this in order to help people find their way to your site, because it is so well-done. I do, however, object to your use of the phrase “steal your work,” since the prayers were not written by you and belong to all of us. There are several other online sources we could point to, or we could just reference the prayer book — we would be happy to do so if you would rather we didn’t provide links to your site.
Raima Larter, Abbess of the Urban Abbey
Thank you so much for this site. It is a wonderful help to me in praying the morning office. God bless!
Josh,
After over fifty years struggling with the daily offices, you have given me the “easier softer way” through electronic media.
For someone in their seventies the electronic revolution has not been easy. Thanks to you I now rejoice in it. Thank you for this ministry.
I too discovered you in Episcopal Life which makes me very grateful for that print media. In the past two months I have been on this computer thing more than in the last 20 years that I have been trying to embrace this media. Thank you again.
Will you be at General Convention?
God Bless You,
Steve
Steve, I am so moved by this comment that I cannot reply here. I hope to reach you by e-mail instead.
To all who find technology a challenge: welcome to the service of the Lord. All you have to do is click once, and the whole world opens up.
God’s still getting used to these internets too, even though he invented them to reach us. “Just one click,” God said to himself, tapping away at his keyboard, “that would be good. Maybe they could listen if it’s only one click.”
Josh
Josh, it is always a joy to read your site. I am grateful you have re-started “In Memoriam.” It had become an important part of my prayer life, esp. the chance to remember by name the recently fallen soldiers in war. I use your musical selections in my meditation time prior to saying the Office; they indeed help me center. I do miss Lady Julian. Is she in your archives? I came to your site in the middle of your reading and would like to read along w/my text again.
Keep up the blessed work. Your efforts are appreciated.
Peace and blessings.
Roberta, thank you. “In Memoriam” is important to me too, primarily because of the soldiers. I don’t get television, so I’m dependent on Crooks and Liars. Either ABC doesn’t run it every week if there are no soldier deaths, or C&L doesn’t always put it up. This past week I had one but failed to post it until yesterday, now there’s another running today.
I’m pleased to hear that you listen to our music. No one ever comments on it, so I don’t know whether people like it or not. You’re also the first to mention the Julian podcasts, and I did 200 of them. (They greatly helped me if no one else.) As for the archive: I am in discussions with the Order of Julian of Norwich, which owns the copyright to Fr. JJ’s translation and daily readings, and we may have an announcement about it soon. The readings I made were for one-time use, and the sound quality was not professional, but we may be able to do something fairly exciting and make new readings available. I’d ask your prayers for that, and I will remember to contact you if it comes to fruition. Thanks again.
Josh
Josh,
I love your prayers particularly the Prayer for our web visitors and the War in Afghanistan.
But I must say that I do not believe there are not any ‘junior’ ministers. As I read our Baptismal covenant we all are “true” ministers. The prayer for our web visitors would read much better for me if ‘junior’ was replaced with true.
Will you be at General Convention??
Steve
Mr. Knight,
Your reading of the Baptismal Covenant is doubtless correct. But I wrote the phrase as I did, “junior ministers,” not to compare us with each other in this life, but with the glorious saints in heaven. This life is preparation for the Great Worship beyond; from that perspective we’re all pretty puny here.
I find it helpful to consider that we are already part of the “heavenly host,” we just don’t know it yet. As I get older I see our souls’ transition more clearly, as I get closer in time to physical death. (This doesn’t mean I write well about it, as I’m struggling to communicate my little glimpse even now.)
Anyway, thank you for praying with us. And no, I can’t make it to General Convention, but we’ve already started our prayers.
Josh
I am currently praying for the 2009 General Convention.
I am a gay male with a partner for 28 years. My partner is a life long Episcopalian while I am a 28 year convert. I know that the gay issue right now is very big in the church and has been since the election of Gene Robinson to the Episcopate. I also believe since way back in the 1970’s that it was affirmed that all people from all walks life are welcomed in the Episcopal Church — this includes the GLBT community. What I predict to come out of this year’s General Convention is: A resending of the resolution that was in response to the Windsor Report and probably a study on “Same Sex Unions”.
George
Josh,
Thank you so much for the website! It’s a true blessing. I started getting serious with the Word ever since my church got me started in reading the Bible from cover to cover and last week’s sermon was on ancient spiritual practices such as the Daily Office. We were encouraged to check it out (and to Google it). I was intrigued by it as I wanted to step up my spiritual life, so I Googled and came across your site. The Office is easier and more convenient than I thought!
I would truly appreciate everyone’s prayer for assured victory over gripping fear, anxiety, and depression as I’m in a time of transition, which entails testing. I’ve been having real challenges with a “triple whammy”: finances [and things related to them: job/career situation (direction], tense family situation, and last but not least, matters of the heart (which I won’t get into detail because it’s quite a long story, but God knows the exact situation).
Thanks so much again and God bless!
Bless this one, Lord; her name is Nancee and she’s trying to follow the Way. Bless everyone who comes here; help us connect with you and with each other. Amen.
Perhaps someone can answer a question for me. For many years I used a four volume set of the office readings. It’s quite convenient. Is it possible to get an electronic version?
LaRue, I’ve never heard of it.
I’m also wondering how a 4-volume set could be convenient, but okay. Maybe someone will recognize it. What was it called?
Church Publishing Corp. has limited availability of a four-volume set here:
http://www.churchpublishing.org/products/index.cfm?fuseaction=productDetail&productID=68
Cost $125, 2300 pages, uses Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Universalis.com provides an online version of the 4-volume Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, the RC counterpart to the Daily Office. (LaRue may be thinking of the book version of the RC Liturgy.) Universalis.com also makes a complete downloadable electronic version as an iPhone application, that can be used even without an internet connection. Have you considered producing an iPhone app?