Publican's Prayerbook (Melkite)

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Little_Boy_Lost

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Hey all,
I’m currently using “A Book of Prayer” my pastor gave me from the eparchy of newton. It’s ok. I use it for some of the prayers. I used to be an anglican so I have both the 1979 BCP and 1928 BCP and my understanding is the Publican’s Prayerbook (from sophia press) is similar to the BCP except it’s for private and small group usage as opposed to the Horologian which is liturgical. If I used to pray from the BCP, would the Publican’s prayerbook be suitable for my private at home use?

Side note: I’m thinking of keeping my BCP 1928 just for posterity sake, but what should I do with my BCP 1979? I paid a lot of it and honestly, I don’t think I’d get any money for it. It’s brand new.
 
The Publican’s Prayerbook is a wonderful source for private devotion. I own a copy and use it all the time. It has morning and evening prayers (private prayers, not daily Orthros and Vespers), as well as prayers to be said before one retires for the evening. It also has prayers to be said before and after the Divine Liturgy, an examination of conscience (which specifies that we as Byzantine Christians have no concept of “mortal sin”), the Canon of Repentence, a good number of other Canons, Paraklasis, several Akathists, etc. One of its nicest features is the section of quotes from the Church Fathers on prayer, asceticism, the Jesus Prayer, etc. I’ve often heard this book referred to as the Jordanville Prayer Book in more modern (but still dignified) English. It is quite a wonderful little prayer book and I can’t recommend it highly enough. 👍

That being said, I don’t know if it could be considered an adequate replacement for the BCP, but only because I’ve never looked at a BCP. Still, I recommend you buy a copy and enjoy it. 😃
 
Little_Boy_Lost said:
Hey all,
I’m currently using “A Book of Prayer” my pastor gave me from the eparchy of newton. It’s ok. I use it for some of the prayers. I used to be an anglican so I have both the 1979 BCP and 1928 BCP and my understanding is the Publican’s Prayerbook (from sophia press) is similar to the BCP except it’s for private and small group usage as opposed to the Horologian which is liturgical. If I used to pray from the BCP, would the Publican’s prayerbook be suitable for my private at home use?

Side note: I’m thinking of keeping my BCP 1928 just for posterity sake, but what should I do with my BCP 1979? I paid a lot of it and honestly, I don’t think I’d get any money for it. It’s brand new.
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I like both the Publican’s Prayerbook and the Jordanville Prayerbook and use both. I used the Publican’s Prayerbook last night for an RCIA session in my Latin parish. 🙂

I grew up on the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and I still look at it from time to time. The BCP has probably the greatest prayers in the English language, outside of the East. I love the Anglican General Confession/act of contrition “… We have erred, and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts…” which, again, I grew up with. As for the 1979 BCP you don’t care to hold on to maybe your local Episcopal parish or diocese can find a worthy home for it with a devout parishioner who lacks the funds to purchase one. They may have a prison ministry that could use another copy.
 
I hear good things about this book, I dont own it, but I do own the Horologion they produce and it is EXCELLENT.

I would reccomend it just on my experience with that. Make sure you have em ship it first class or priority. They actually had to send me TWO Horologions for me to get one.

Or buy it off a place like St. Joseph. Have a good one!!!

KS
 
Sir_Thomas_More said:
I hear good things about this book, I dont own it, but I do own the Horologion they produce and it is EXCELLENT.

I would reccomend it just on my experience with that. Make sure you have em ship it first class or priority. They actually had to send me TWO Horologions for me to get one.

Or buy it off a place like St. Joseph. Have a good one!!!

KS
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I’m also a fan of the Eparchy’s Horologion. It reads extremely well and has a very prayerful feel. I appreciate the fact that it’s in modern English, but is still very dignified and the prayers don’t feel like they were written by a 5th grade child. I’m not exactly sure how accurate the translation is, but when compared with Holy Tranfiguration Monastery’s Horologion it seems very accurate. I don’t really like the Eparchy’s Menaion and Octoechos, though. Parly because they are translations from the French, which are translation from the Arabic, which is a translation from the Greek. So what we’ve ended up with is what I’ve heard called an “adequate paraphrase”. Holy Transfiguration Monastery’s Menaion is superb, and I look forward to the day when they release their Octoechos (in about 5 years I’ve been told). St. John of Kronstadt Press sells a Menaion and Octoechos that are also amazing. I believe the monks at Holy Resurrection use the Kronstadt Menaion, but I’m not sure about their Octoechos.
 
I think their Publican’s Prayerbook is a personal prayerbook. I also have their Horologion. Those texts are designed for chanting I believe which isn’t necessarily true of the Prayerbook.

The Horologion is quite a bit more $ than their prayerbook. The Jordanville Prayerbook is still less $. It’s a hard cover as opposed to the soft leather of the Sophia Press books which are lovely. Whatever helps your prayer life 🙂

I like this cheap, simple little paperback A Pocket Prayer Book from the Antiochians which I paid $5. for at a Greek Festival. I gave it away a while ago. I confident it also includes the Diving Liturgy as well as the prayers listed here.
 
Well as far as the prayer books Ive seen, the best one is the HTM. It has Matins, a morning prayer, Vespers and Small Compline for actual liturgical prayers. The prayers in the Jordanville are no doubt beautiful and passionate, but they are not liturgical and if I didnt have the Horologion I would prefer the HTM by far. The worse thing about all the prayer books is that none of em (except the Old Orthodox) has daytime prayers. Dont be fooled by “prayers during the day” they are short prayers for begining work or completing it or saying grace before meals. Nothing like the little hours. The construction of the Jordanville is very nice. Gilded pages, leather or vinyl lined hard cover that is smyth sewn. The “how to pray etc…” section is very nice for a guy like me in the Jordanville. They are all solid with nice thick pages and clear easy to read font. The Ukrainian and HTM are also smyth sewn.

I dont even know how to use the Menion or Octoechos. Thanks for the heads up anyway.
 
I happened to just find this “Byzantine Ramblings” blog by a Melkite priest when I googled Jordanville Prayer Book:
Of Prayer Books - I (the Jordanville Prayer Book)
Of Prayer Books - II (Publicans Prayer Book)
Of Prayer Books - III (Holy Tranfiguration’s Prayer Book)
Of Prayer Books IV- (A Pocket Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians)
Of Prayer Books V - (A Book for Prayer)

The only one I don’t think we’ve already mentioned is the last one which I am not familiar with A BOOK FOR PRAYER scroll dowm to “Liturgical and Devotional”:
A pocket prayer book containing Byzantine morning and evening prayers from the horologion, along with meal prayers, preparation for confession and communion, an introductory article on private prayer, a schema for “priestless services” and a glossary (second edition). Paper, 81 pages, +EDUO24, $5.50
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PS Oops I see OP says he is using this one. 🙂 From the description and the price I wonder if it’s their equivalent to the simple little paperback A Pocket Prayer Book I mentioned and Father writes about in Prayer Books -IV.
 
Thanks for all your (name removed by moderator)ut. I think I will ask my pastor if he has any copies of the Horologion or the prayerbook. Maybe a parishoner has one I can take a look at too. Thanks!
 
I finally have been able to look at a copy of the Publicans and the Byzantine Daily Worship. The Latter seems to be a coveted item. How is the BDW different than the current Horologion by sophia press? Is the current Horologion cumbersome for personal use? I read elsewhere you really need some other stuff to celebrate the hours in full, I forgot what that “Other stuff” was though.

Thanks again!
 
Little_Boy_Lost said:
I finally have been able to look at a copy of the Publicans and the Byzantine Daily Worship. The Latter seems to be a coveted item. How is the BDW different than the current Horologion by sophia press? Is the current Horologion cumbersome for personal use? I read elsewhere you really need some other stuff to celebrate the hours in full, I forgot what that “Other stuff” was though.

Thanks again!
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The BDW is more of a personal devotional than the Horologion, but less so than the Publican’s Prayer Book. It is something like a personal-liturgical devotional. It contains The Divine Liturgies of Sts. John Chrysostom and Basil the Great as well as the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. I believe it also contains the complete fixed texts of Orthros and Vespers as well as the “Lesser/Little Hours.”

The other books you would need to celebrate Orthros and Vespers in their entirety would be the Menainon, Octoechos (Eight Tones), and Psalter. During Lent you would also need the Triodion (Holy Week is in its own category and the Eparchy hasn’t translated the texts for Holy Week to my knowledge), and during the Paschal season you would need the Pentecostarion. The BDW contains a very abreviated texts for each of these, sufficient for private prayer but you’d be hard-pressed to completely follow along if you took it to Orthros or Vespers.

From what I understand the current Horologion is in large part a revision of the texts for the Hours contained in the BDW. This is a great strength in my opinion since the BDW was originally translated from the official Greek texts issued by the Vatican for our liturgical services. The Horologion, however, does contain a great number of things not found in the BDW, primarily because it is intended for liturgical use at the cantor’s stand, whereas the BDW was intended for private devotional purposes. If at all possible I recommend owning both (along with the Publican’s Prayer Book).

Currently the BDW is somewhat of a hot commodity because it is no longer in print. I have heard rumours, however, that a new printing is in preparation and is scheduled to be released next year (if memory serves me correctly).

ICXC + NIKA,
Phillip
 
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