From Mattins to Compline – the church’s liturgy for daily prayer has been updated for the first time in a quarter of a century with the launch of a new service book.
Daily Prayer contains contemporary versions of services which have been held by Christians every day for generations. Fully bilingual, with English and Welsh facing pages, it is divided into Morning and Evening Prayer, prayer during the day and Night Prayer, as well as all the Psalms.
It is the latest in a series of services being revised by the Church in Wales and follows the publication of An Order for Holy Eucharist in 2004. The prayers, readings and canticles are written in modern language but maintain their traditional poetic imagery.
Daily Prayer is the culmination of five years’ work by the Church’s Liturgical Commission. The chair of the Commission, the Very Revd Dr Richard Fenwick, Dean of St Woolos, Newport, said, “This book addresses the needs of the church for daily prayer. It covers the ordinary devotion of lay people and clerics throughout the day – from morning and evening prayer to midday and night prayer – and has a wealth of season material. It also contains a most wonderful collection of canticles, taken from the Old and New Testaments and from ancient Welsh sources. It is very lively, beautifully published and likely to commend itself to all.”
The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan said the book was a response to the growing demand for contemporary liturgy that was accessible to all:
“Our revised Eucharistic services of 2004 have shown that we can express worship in new forms and styles and that unity does not entail uniformity of practice.”
He added, “No prayer book can be the final word in worship, because liturgy is more than words. These services can only provide a framework to encourage worship but the important thing is the spirit in which the words are used. The book is designed to meet current needs and is offered to the church in the hope that it might be a vehicle for offering prayer and praise to God.”
Daily Prayer is published by Canterbury Press, price £20. Copies can be ordered from the Church of Wales’ Publication Department and online at http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/publications/
