A prayer book is a book containing

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

s and perhaps devotional readings, for private or communal use, or in some cases, outlining the liturgy of religious services. Books containing mainly orders of religious services, or readings for them are termed "service books" or "

liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of the Catholic C ...

s", and are thus not prayer-books in the strictest sense, but the term is often used very loosely. A religion's

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...

s might also be considered prayer books as well.

Jewish prayer books

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

, the

Siddur A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, '' ...

is a prayer book "containing the three daily prayers; also the prayers for Shabbat, ''Rosh-Chodesh'' and the festivals."

Christian prayer books

Breviaries

Breviaries are prayer books used in many Christian denominations by believers to

pray Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

at fixed prayer times the canonical hours seven times a day, a practice that has its roots in .

Daily devotional

Throughout the year, and especially during certain seasons of the Christian liturgical kalendar such as Advent and

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

, many Christians pray a

daily devotional A daily devotional is a Christian religious publication that provide a specific spiritual reading for each calendar day. Many daily devotionals take the form of one year devotional books, with many being tailored specifically for children, teenag ...

, which contains a prayer for each day along with a reflection on a passage from the

Christian Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

Notable prayer books

The following are among the many books to which the term may loosely refer in various churches, although in strict usage a prayer book is likely to mean a miscellaneous book of prayers as opposed to the standard service books as listed in the last group below: ; Actual prayer books: ''General'' *

Daily Watchwords The ''Daily Watchwords'' (german: Herrnhuter Losungen) is an annual, globally distributed publication of the Moravian Church. It was started on 3 May 1728, and is now published in 50 languages, making it the oldest and most widely read daily d ...

(Moravian Christian) * Raccolta (Catholic Christian) * Saint Augustine's Prayer Book (Anglican Christian) * Vatican Croatian Prayer Book (Catholic Christian) ''Breviaries'' * Agpeya (Coptic Orthodox Christianity) * Anglican Breviary (Anglican Christianity) *

For All the Saints "For All the Saints" was written as a processional hymn by William Walsham How, who was ultimately the Anglican Bishop of Wakefield. The hymn was first printed in ''Hymns for Saints' Days, and Other Hymns'', by Earl Nelson, 1864. Tune The hymn ...

(Lutheran Christianity) * Roman Breviary (Roman Catholic Christianity) * Shehimo (Indian Orthodox Christianity) *Take Our Moments and Our Days: An Anabaptist Prayer Book (Mennonite Christianity) *

The Brotherhood Prayer Book Evangelisch-Lutherische Gebetsbruderschaft (''Evangelical Lutheran Prayer Brotherhood'') is a German Lutheran religious society for men and women, based on the doctrines of the Bible and Book of Concord, with regular prayer for the renewal and unit ...

(Lutheran Christianity) * Book of Hours, a prayer book that contains the canonical hours in various branches of Christianity * Common Worship: Daily Prayer The first prayer book published since the Reformation by the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

containing the complete round of services of the Word for every day of the year: Morning Prayer, Prayer During the Day, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer, also called Compline. ; Service & liturgical books: * Lutheran Service Book, in Lutheranism *

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

(BCP), first published in 1549 for the

and has considerable literary influence in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

Roman Missal The Roman Missal ( la, Missale Romanum) is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of th ...

in Roman Catholicism * Agenda (liturgy), in

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

* Common Worship, in Anglicanism *

Alternative Service Book The ''Alternative Service Book 1980'' (''ASB'') was the first complete prayer book produced by the Church of England since 1662. Its name derives from the fact that it was proposed not as a replacement for the 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'' (B ...

(adopted in 1980), in the Church of England *

Directory of Public Worship The ''Directory for Public Worship'' (known in Scotland as the ''Westminster Directory'') is a liturgical manual produced by the Westminster Assembly in 1644 to replace the ''Book of Common Prayer''. Approved by the Parliament of England in 16 ...

, adopted in certain areas of the Church of England in the 17th century

References