A prayer book is a book containing

prayer File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

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 Church service, religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of ...

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 often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

s might also be considered prayer books as well.

Judaism

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

, the

Siddur A siddur ( ''sīddūr'', ; 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, ''tef ...

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

Christianity

Breviaries

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

fixed prayer times Fixed prayer times, praying at dedicated times during the day, are common practice in major world religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Judaism Jewish law requires Jews to pray thrice a day; the morning prayer is known as Shachari ...

the

canonical hours In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of Fixed prayer times#Christianity, fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or sel ...

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 Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Chri ...

and

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

, many Christians pray a

daily devotional A daily devotional is a religious publication that provides 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, teenagers, stude ...

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

Christian Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

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: ; Prayer books: ''General'' *

Daily Watchwords The ''Daily Watchwords'' () 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 devotional work in the world. ...

(Moravian Christian) *Christenpflicht (Anabaptist Christian) *

Raccolta The ''Raccolta'' (literally, "collection" in Italian), is a book, published in many editions from 1807 to 1952, that collected the texts of Roman Catholic prayers and briefly described other acts of piety, such as visiting and praying in particul ...

(Catholic Christian) *

Saint Augustine's Prayer Book Saint Augustine's Prayer Book is an Anglo-Catholic devotional book published for members of the various Anglican churches in the United States and Canada by the Order of the Holy Cross, an Anglican monastic community. The first edition, ed ...

(Anglican Christian) *

Vatican Croatian Prayer Book The Vatican Croatian Prayer Book () is a Croatian vernacular prayer book and the example of Shtokavian vernacular literary dialect. Written between 1380 and 1400 in Dubrovnik as a transcript and transliteration from older texts composed in a mix ...

(Catholic Christian) ''Breviaries'' * Agpeya (Coptic Orthodox Christianity) *

Anglican Breviary The ''Anglican Breviary'' is an Anglican edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, Divine Office translated into English, used especially by Anglicans of Anglo-Catholicism, Anglo-Catholic churchmanship. It is based on the ''Roman Breviary'' as it exis ...

(Anglican Christianity) * For All the Saints (Lutheran Christianity) *

Roman Breviary The Roman Breviary (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''Breviarium Romanum'') is a breviary of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. A liturgical book, it contains public or canonical Catholic prayer, prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notat ...

(Roman Catholic Christianity) *

Shehimo Shehimo (, ; English language, English: Book of Common Prayer, also spelled Sh'himo) is the West Syriac Rite, West Syriac Christian breviary of the Syriac Orthodox Church and the West Syriac Rite, West Syriac Saint Thomas Christians of India (S ...

(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 book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

, 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 State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

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 Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer liturgy (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English wor ...

. ; Service & liturgical books: * Lutheran Service Book or

Evangelical Lutheran Worship ''Evangelical Lutheran Worship'' (''ELW'') is the current primary liturgical and worship guidebook and hymnal for use in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC). It was first publ ...

, in Lutheranism *

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

(BCP), first published in 1549 for the

and has considerable literary influence in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

Roman Missal The Roman Missal () is the book which contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Roman Rite, the most common liturgy and Mass of the Catholic Church. There have been several editions. History Before the Council of Trent (1570) ...

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

* Agenda (liturgy), in

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

* Common Worship, in

Anglicanism Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

* Alternative Service Book (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 (Lo ...

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

Mandaeism

The canonical prayer book in

Mandaeism Mandaeism (Mandaic language, Classical Mandaic: ),https://qadaha.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/nhura-dictionary-mandaic-english-mandaic.pdf sometimes also known as Nasoraeanism or Sabianism, is a Gnosticism, Gnostic, Monotheism, ...

is the

Qulasta The Qulasta, also spelled Qolastā in older sources (; ), is a compilation of Mandaean prayers. The Mandaic word ''qolastā'' means "collection". The prayerbook is a collection of Mandaic prayers regarding baptisms ('' maṣbuta'') and other sa ...

References

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