The Proper for the Lesser Feasts and Fasts 1997: Together With the Fixed Holy Days

By Various

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898692741
• ISBN13: 9780898692747
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Church Pub Inc
• Weight: 1.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.3" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Days of our lives...

In the Episcopal pantheon of books, the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer are the top-tier books, the 'without which' that the Anglican world relies upon. Below this level are several second-tier books, those books which are also vital and useful, the books that no church or clergyperson tends to be without, and that most services in the church incorporate on a frequent if not regular basis. In this second-tier of books is the Hymnal, the Book of Occasional Services (those services not regularly scheduled enough to be in the Book of Common Prayer proper), and this text, the book of Lesser Feasts and Fasts. Usually, this book is updated every three years (at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church); however, for the most part, the text remains essentially the same from edition to edition, with certain additions and corrections, so that any particular edition has an effective useful life of a decade or so. The latest edition comes from the GC 2003 decisions, but pick up any LFF text over the past many versions, and you will find the format and the largest percentage of the contents the same. The book begins with a layout of the calendar of the church year. The first few pages are text that give the dates of principle feasts (or methods for calculating the movable feasts), holy days and major feasts, the fasts (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday), and days of special devotion and optional observance. There is then a twelve-page calendar, one month per page, of the days of observance for particular persons. The Anglican communion does not have the same method of canonisation of saints as does the Roman church; 'saints' as such are people accepted by communal assent as having led lives worthy of note and model, as appropriate. The persons here represented include saints common to the undivided church (prior to 1054) like the Disciples (sometimes with shared days), Cappadocian Fathers, early church figures (fathers and mothers, such as Monnica, Augustine's mother); figures of the Western church prior to the Reformation (Aquinas, Hildegard, etc.); figures unique to Anglican history (Lancelot Andrewes, Richard Hooker, etc.); shared figures in the broader Protestant family (Martin Luther, John Wesley, etc.); figures in American Christian experience, Anglican and otherwise (William White, Phillips Brooks, Samuel Seabury, Martin Luther King, Jr., etc.); and other twentieth century figures (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Florence Nightengale, Evelyn Underhill, etc.). The list is constantly changing and growing, to match the spiritual needs of the community. All the two-page entries for the people (arranged chronologically through the church year) follow the same format -- there are collects (prayers for the day) for each, presented in 'traditional' language (thee, thou, thy) and modern langauge, reflective of Rite I and Rite II in the Book of Common Prayer. The other page presents a brief biography of the person or people involved, or a little explanation of

An essential help in worship

This Book contains what the Book of Common Prayer leaves out. The BoCP has daily office readings and prayers for the major feasts and holy days, but leaves out the info for the lesser ones. The whole calendar is included here. For every holy day there is a prayer (both in archaic and modern English), some scripture readings, and a nice biography on each saint. For instance on Saint Antony's day the scripture readings focus on discipline and living separated from the world. Also included is a Eucharist Lectionary. I like this because I enjoy learning from the lives of the saints, and find keeping even the lesser feasts brings me closer to God. I would not be without this book. P.S. the type is huge, unlike some of the BoCP editions.