Customer Reviews

People's Prayerbook

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Saint Joseph's People's Prayer Book is an interesting and downright thorough Roman Catholic Prayer Book. In reality, being a Vatican II Prayer Book it is appropriate for anybody with a catholic spirit, including many Anglicans, Orthodox, and Lutherans. I bought the book as an Anglican, but am now journeying to the Roman Catholic Church.

There are so many prayers and types of prayers in this book that it can be a bit overwhelming at first. It is divided into 12 basic sections, consisting of 1056 pages. The 12 sections are:

1. Prayers from the Bible
2. Prayers from the Liturgy
3. Prayers from the Enchiridion of Indulgences
4. Prayers of Saints and Spiritual Writers
5. Prayers of Orthodox, Protestants, and Non-Christians
6. Prayers in Accord with the Church Year
7. Prayers to the Blessed Trinity
8. Prayers to Saints
9. Prayers for Various Occasions
10. Prayers Based on Various Relationships
11. Prayers for Popular Devotions
12. Prayer-Blessings

Included in these 12 sections are Novenas, prayers to the Holy Spirit, Eucharistic Prayers, the Rite of Penance, Morning and Evening Prayer, Votive prayers, The Rosary, and popular Protestant prayers. There are even some occasional prayers that struck me as very particular, but also very good ideas, such as "a prayer before going on a date" and "a prayer before driving." There are also prayers of blessing for pets, boats, Christmas Trees, books, and even computers!

Overall this is a fine prayer book that is extremely thorough. I only had a few issues with the book. First, the prayers from non-Christian traditions initially offended me. I guess if one takes the view that these prayers were actually addressed to the Trinity "sub specie" the other deities, then I have less of a problem. In other words, because these people did not have the benefit of hearing the message of Christ, then these prayers were making them ready for Christ, similar to the argument of St. Justin on why Socrates and Plato were Christians before Christ. Another issue I have (not an objection per se) is the pictures included are straight from the 1950s, and actually remind me of Jehovah's Witness literature. The pictures do have a certain nostalgic feel to them, but I am not sure if others will feel the same way. Check this one out to deepen your prayer life, even if you are not Roman Catholic.

This is the most comprehensive Catholic prayerbook that I have seen. It begins with prayers from the Bible and continues with the Eucharist (Mass), the sacraments, and excerpts from the Liturgy of the Hours. It has prayers written by saints grouped by century. Prayers from religions other than Catholic are included: Orthodox and Protestant Christians, Jewish, religions from the East, and religions from the Americas. It continues with saints' prayers and prayers for various needs, traditional and modern, and much more. I find it to be a great reference.

I'm not particularly thrilled with this prayer book, although my reasons may be trivial.

First, I am a bit put off by the inclusion of non-Christian prayers. There are sections for prayers of other religions, including Jewish, Muslim, Bhuddhist, Hindu, Sikh, and Native American spirituality. None of the prayers are offensive, of course. There are no prayers to Vishnu, for example. And, I can understand the reasoning behind including them. But, I'd rather see those pages used for some Catholic purpose. There are many things not included in this book that I would like to have. For example, a guide to confession with an examination of conscience, or maybe some essays for meditation written by Catholics through the ages on various points of Catholic faith.

Second, this book contains some really ugly art. There are black and red woodcut illustrations, rather abstract and symbolic, at the beginning of each section that are banal and uninspiring. Then, there are some horrendously bad drawings of various things like people going to Church or worshipping at Mass, as well as some portraits of saints and illustrations of events in Scripture. I am unable to describe just how clumsy and bad most of them are. They do nothing to aid me in devotion. The only thing they do is irritate me a bit and take up space that could be used to a better purpose. (Really, I wish I could show you the picture of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington with people sailing and skiing on their heads. It's a marvel of ugliness.)

Third (and this is truly very trivial), many of the prayers are written in a dull tone, using flat, uninspiring language. There are sections of the book containing prayers from previous centuries, but a lot of the prayers for specific occassions and people are just dull.

There are some good points: the book has a big section on indulgenced works and prayers that I have found very helpful. And, I do like the sections of prayers from the Church's history.

But, I think that there must be a better book than this one. Something that contains all the good bits I like, but not the bits I don't. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, although I'm sure many people would like the very things about it I do not.

I purchased this prayer book precisely because of other Amazon reviewers that were uncomfortable with prayers from other Christian denominations and other religions. Those sections make up a small part of the book. This is a Catholic prayer book. I agree with the comments on the illustrations -- they seem straight out of the 50's. The Catholic prayer portion of the book -- which I'd say makes up at least 90% of the book, is comprehensive. It's gotten me back in touch with the prayers of my youth, whick is what I was seeking.

I use this prayer book daily. There are prayers for just about every aspect of your life. A wonderful book!!

I gave this to my mom after the death of my brother, she loves this book she reads it every day!

I don't have much to add to what other 5-star reviewers have written; they've summed up this excellent collection quite well.

Truly a great book to keep on hand (and not just on the shelf). Sometimes you may have the urge (or the need) for a prayer on a specific topic, and pretty much regardless of what that topic may be, this book will help.

Great to browse through, too--there are prayers for lots of occasions and states of mind.

I keep buying this book of prayers. One I gave to someone who was interested in learning about the Catholic faith, and wanted to know some prayers to say. One I gave to a new friend who had a "hard life" but was making every effort to practice a faith long forgotten. One was for my son in an effort to strengthen his faith. And one is for me! There are 1056 pages. The index of prayers is well structured and thorough.

I bought this book for my wife who is catholic. She liked it because it contained prayers for different religions. The binding was excellent. I can't say much about this book, because I'm not interested in religion.

Saul wanetick