The Brotherhood Prayer Book - YES!

Reviews of books and resources are few and far between from me, but I am compelled to write something regarding the Brotherhood Prayer Book, compiled by Benjamin T. G. Mayes and Michael N. Frese, published by Our Savior Lutheran Church in Grand Rapids, MI in 2004. An updated edition was released in 2007. I own the original 2004 edition.

In short, this book is an amazing resource and fills the gap in an area that has a strong tendency to be neglected in Lutheranism, let alone its complete non-existence in other non-traditional forms of Christianity.

The book is a comprehensive resource as well. There is a piece on the daily offices and the roles that are traditionally held in these offices. Within the same section of the book there is also an explanation of Gregorian musical notation used for chanting (singing) the prayers and Psalms. All of this is very helpful to people who are not familiar with the offices and the practice of singing the Psalms and prayers (like me).

The BPB follows the traditional church calendar and takes you through the year ordered around the various festivals of the church. The normal daily prayers, called the ordinaries, form the guts of the book. The ordinaries are Vigils (Matins), Morning Prayer (Lauds), Midday Prayer (Prime, Terce, Sext, None), Evening Prayer (Vespers), and Night Prayer (Compline). For those who pray the offices, the ordinaries are the prayers that are done on a daily basis (unlike me, the sinner, who doesn't do them every day). However, since the book is ordered around the church calendar (as well as the days of the week themselves), there is an entire section on specific antiphons, collects, and readings to be done on specific days of the week, seasons of the church calendar, and feast days. These are called the Propers.

The book also contains the entire Psalter (book of Psalms) and the Psalms are all pointed for singing if you so choose to do so. In addition to the Psalter, there is an entire daily lectionary of readings for each day of the year. The lectionary readings include an Old Testament passage, New Testament passage, and an additional reading from various sources for each day of the year.

The BPB has chosen to use classical, Jacobean English for the book. I quote,

"We have chosen to use classical, Jacobean English for the prayer book. The text of the Psalms and Canticles is from the King James Version. The text of the propers conforms to that of The Lutheran Hymnal (St. Louis: Concordia, 1941) and other works which use classical English. This has been done for several reasons. First, new English translations of the Bible appear constantly. No matter what version we would choose, no one knows whether that version will be widely used in as little as ten years. The King James, on the other hand, has been a classic of the English language for 400 years. It will never go any more out of style than it is now. In addition, the King James, unlike modern English Bibles, is in the public domain. Its classic language often preserves nuances in the biblical languages which are lost in modern English, such as the difference between the 2nd person singular and plural (thou and ye)." (Mayes and Frese, The Brotherhood Prayer Book, Grand Rapids: Our Savior Lutheran Church, 2004)

In addition to the Psalter and the lectionary, the book also contains the Great Litany, the Litany of the Holy Sacrament, and a section with various collects (short prayers) for all occasions.

To be succinct, this is an excellent resource if you desire to pray the daily offices ordered around the church year. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

The book can be purchased here: BPB - Emmanuel Press It's $50 price tag is pretty steep, but well worth the investment.

There is also an outstanding online resource, mainly of audio files, where one can listen to the different chanting done in the BPB. That is found here: Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood