A Manual of Eastern Orthodox Prayers [Hardcover]

Alexander Schmemann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 1997

Morning and evening prayers, communion prayers, selected troparia and prayers for various occasions.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 113 pages
• Publisher: St Vladimirs Seminary Pr (July 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881410128
• ISBN-13: 978-0881410129
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,378,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Light from the East, October 14, 2001

By 

dylanissimus "dylanissimus" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Manual of Eastern Orthodox Prayers (Hardcover)

This small purple book (originally published in Great Britain in 1945) contains prayers of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, prayers from which any reader can derive joy and benefit and fitting words to praise the one God in three Persons, God who is Light and Life, Transcendence and Immanence, Majesty and Mercy.

There are morning prayers, evening prayers, prayers for different occasions, anthems and hymns for saints and holy feasts (troparia and kontakia), the Orders of Confession according to Greek and Slavonic uses (in English), prayers for use before and after the reception of Holy Communion, and a calendar of the saints who are honoured in holy Orthodoxy.

The "O Heavenly King" can be found on page 2, prayers to the Theotokos on page 8, a prayer of St John Chrysostom "according to the hours of the day and night" on pp. 14-15 (this prayer, or series of short prayers, quite lovely); Metropolian Philaret's prayer where he dares not ask for either cross or consolation, on p. 24; a lengthy and lovely prayer in verse by St Symeon the New Theologian, beginning on page 71, and a penitential pre-Communion prayer of surpassing beauty ("Thou hast smitten me, O Christ, with yearning; and with thy divine love hast thou changed me") on page 77.

The language is reminiscent of earlier days in the life of the Church (thees and thous), and when psalms are quoted, it is the 1662 Book of Common Prayer version that is used. This comparatively young, Western, Roman Catholic reader values this small purple book, A Manual of Eastern Orthodox Prayers, for its loveliness of language, its acute awareness of -- and profound humility before -- Divine Beauty, and its recognition (often absent in the language of modern Western Christianity) that God is Majesty, and that as we approach him, a feeling of awe is not malapert.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to Orthodox prayer, esp for inquirers, July 21, 2002

By 

Dana Netherton (St Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Manual of Eastern Orthodox Prayers (Hardcover)

As other reviewers have noted, this book has many prayers used by Orthodox Christians in personal devotions. It also has some materials used for public worship, such as scripture lessons for the Twelve Great Feasts and for the Sundays of Great Lent, as well as certain Sunday and weekday troparia (theme-hymns).

Originally published in 1945, its language does predate today's interest in "Modern English for worship". Also, having first been published by an Anglican-Orthodox fellowship, rather than by an Orthodox jurisdiction, the book itself might not necessarily be used by large numbers of Orthodox Christians in English-speaking lands (they might use other collections of these prayers prepared by their own Churches).

However, those other collections might be less accessible to people outside Orthodoxy than this one, which can be ordered so easily through Amazon. It can therefore introduce inquirers to a portion of the rich treasury of Orthodox prayer.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Compilation of Orthodox Prayers, September 5, 2001

By 

Thomas F. Ogara (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Manual of Eastern Orthodox Prayers (Hardcover)

This little book includes most of the prayers that Orthodox laity would be apt to use in their daily life, along with the liturgy and preparation for confession.

Clergy of other denominations interested in Orthodox ritual will probably find this book of use as well, since it points out differences in Russian and Greek usage and also gives the most complete church calendar I have ever seen in English. Anglican readers will find a perhaps unpleasant surprise - Lancelot Andrewes' "preces privatae", rather than being his own inventions, are in fact prayers from the Orthodox preparation for communion, as you will find if you compare them with the versions in this book.