A 'prayer book' is a book containing prayers and perhaps devotional readings, for private or communal use, or in some cases, outlining the liturgy of religious services. Strictly speaking books containing mainly orders of religious services, or readings for them are "service books" or "liturgical books" not prayer-books, but the term is often used very loosely. Prayer books may be Holy books, as well.
The following are among the many books to which the term may loosely refer in various churches or religions, 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 second group below:
Actual prayer books:
- Saint Augustine's Prayer Book, in the Episcopal Church
- Vatican Croatian Prayer Book, a Croatian vernacular prayer book
- Book of Common Prayer (BCP), first published in 1549 for the Church of England
- Siddur, in Judaism
Service & liturgical books:
- Breviary or Missal, in Roman Catholicism
- Agenda (liturgy), in Lutheranism
- Common Worship, in Anglicanism
- Alternative Service Book (adopted in 1980), in the Church of England
- Directory of Public Worship, adopted in certain areas of the Church of England in the 17th century
- Book of Hours
Famous quotes containing the words prayer and/or book:
“I have only ever made one prayer to God, a very short one: “O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.” And God granted it.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)
“Let the trumpet of the day of judgment sound when it will, I shall appear with this book in my hand before the Sovereign Judge, and cry with a loud voice, This is my work, there were my thoughts, and thus was I. I have freely told both the good and the bad, have hid nothing wicked, added nothing good.”
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)