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 a ...

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 ...

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 prac ...

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 the ...

, 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 A breviary (Latin: ''breviarium'') is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times. Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such as ...

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 an ...

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 times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers. In ...

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 Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

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, teenage ...

, 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 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 particula ...

(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, edite ...

(Anglican Christian) *

Vatican Croatian Prayer Book The Vatican Croatian Prayer Book ( hr, Vatikanski hrvatski molitvenik) is the oldest Croatian vernacular prayer book and the finest example of early Shtokavian vernacular literary idiom. Written between 1380 and 1400 in Dubrovnik as a transcript ...

(Catholic Christian) ''Breviaries'' *

Agpeya The ''Agpeya'' ( Coptic: Ϯⲁⲅⲡⲓⲁ, ar, أجبية) is the Coptic Christian "Prayer Book of the Hours" or breviary, and is equivalent to the Shehimo in the Indian Orthodox Church (another Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination), as wel ...

(Coptic Orthodox Christianity) *

Anglican Breviary The ''Anglican Breviary'' is the Anglican edition of the Divine Office translated into English, used especially by Anglicans of Anglo-Catholic churchmanship. It is based on the ''Roman Breviary'' as it existed prior to both the Second Vatican Cou ...

(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 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 notati ...

(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 The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscrip ...

, 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 Britain ...

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 service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English wo ...

. ; Service & liturgical books: *

Lutheran Service Book ''Lutheran Service Book'' (''LSB'') is the newest official hymnal of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC). It was prepared by the LCMS Commission on Worship and published by Concordia Publishing Hou ...

, 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 is ...

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 the m ...

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 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

Agenda (liturgy) The name Agenda ("Things to be Done"; Germ. ''Agende'' or ''Kirchenagende'') is given, particularly in the Lutheran Church, to the official books dealing with the forms and ceremonies of divine service. Equivalent terms prior to the Reformatio ...

, 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 Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Common Worship ''Common Worship'' is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical Movemen ...

, in

Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

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 164 ...

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

References