BOOK REVIEW: The Canterbury Book of New Parish Prayers & Lighten our Darkness : Discovering and celebrating Choral Evensong

This week I have acquired two excellent and useful books which I highly recommend - the Canterbury Book of New Parish Prayers by Max Kramer and Lighten our Darkness - Discovering and celebrating Choral Evensong by Simon Reynolds.

 
I bought Angela Ashwin’s ‘Book of a Thousand Prayers’ in a charity shop in Highgate several years ago and on a pound-per-page-used basis it is probably the most value for money purchase I have ever made!  But as useful as it is, with a helpful index of prayers by theme written by saints and distinguished figures from the history of the church as well as original prayers written to address particular concerns, some of the language is now rather dated and there are times when church life demands prayers for circumstances which it just doesn’t cover that well. As is always the way with these things, usually these circumstances arise on the days when your vicar has overslept after lunch and you need to quickly produce some suitable prayers for Evensong (not that that has ever happened to me of course!)

I was very pleased to acquire this week the Canterbury Book of New Parish Prayers by Max Kramer, which has recently been published. The book not only addresses the shortcomings of my current prayer collections but offers a lot more besides.

Part I of the book provides a succinct collection of prayers for particular feasts and festivals in the church calendar. What is unusual compared to other prayer anthologies - and very helpful - is that a preparatory sentence is included before each prayer; many of which are followed by references to further prayers on an appropriate theme that are set out later in the book (for instance the prayer for the Feast of the Visitation is followed by references to prayers on motherhood). 

Part II of the book contains ‘Prayers for the life of the church’ many of which cover useful situations that existing anthologies seem to have ignored; times of transition such as long-standing parishioners moving away, as well as prayers for special events such as arts festivals. Perhaps unsurprisingly from an author who is currently the Precentor at Canterbury Cathedral, there is an extensive set of prayers giving thanks for church musicians - something many existing anthologies do not cover extensively at all.

Part III of the book provides Prayers for the life of the world which, as you would expect from a recent anthology, contains texts to address modern day situations, including the aftermath of terrorist attacks. The section on work and unemployment is also very welcome - many existing anthologies contain similar prayers but use dated language about ‘industrial relations’ and ‘union disputes’. 

Perhaps the most interesting section is at the end of the book, offering advice on how to write your own collect style prayers; with guidance on structure, style and pattern. Having recently started to write prayers intraditional language for use during Morning Prayer, I will find this guidance very helpful. 

Simon Reynolds is an author who will be familiar to any current student of theology, having written many of our set texts on liturgy and worship. His latest book Lighten our Darkness: Discovering and Celebrating Choral Evensong begins with an overview setting the Anglican liturgy in its historical context. He then sets out to ‘unwrap’ the liturgy, section by section. Those who are new to the liturgy as well as those who have sung Evensong thousands times will find something of interest here. For instance, Reynolds offers an analysis of the scriptural references for each of the responses; as well as providing commentary on the influence of specific texts, such as the Magnificat, over the years. Each chapter concludes with a selection of poetry by authors from across the ages, as prompts for reflection.

This is a short but beautiful book that would be an excellent gift for anyone who sings in a choir or as well as any student of liturgy and worship or indeed anyone who is keen to know more about the beautiful liturgy of Choral Evensong. 

The Canterbury Book of New Parish Prayers by Max Kramer was published by Canterbury Press in 2020.

Lighten our Darkness : Discovering and celebrating Choral Evensong by Simon Reynolds was published by Darton, Longman & Todd in 2021.