A Listing of Suggested Prayer Books
The Jordanville Prayer book: good translation (for the most part) and
reasonably complete. It uses the Psalter According to the
Seventy produced by Holy Transfiguration Monastery. For ROCA
parishioners, this is the best one to use, because of the
translation. The edition currently available is the work of Fr.
Lawrence (Campbell). This book is nearly identical to the one
published by Holy Transfiguration. The main difference is that
there are many additional morning and evening prayers. Full
text now online!
A Prayer Book for
Orthodox Christians (translated
from the Greek and published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery):
Especially good for those in a Greek parish. Contains Morning
Prayers and Prayers at Mealtime, and the complete service of
Small compline, Vespers, Matins, and the Divine Liturgy, together
with the principle hymns of the feasts of the year, and the
complete Service of Pascha. Also included are the Akathis Hymn to
our Sweet Lord Jesus Christ, the Akathist Hymn to the Most Holy
Theotokos, a supplicatory Canon to our Lord Jesus Christ, both
the Small and Great Supplicatory Canons to the Most Holy
Theotokos (translated to fit the Greek melodies), a Supplicatory
canon to the Guardian Angel, and the Communion Prayers. Legible
type in a volume that can easily be held, for use at home and at
church, printed in black and red throughout. 382 pp.
The Old Orthodox
Prayer Book, or as it is commonly referred
to The Old Believer Prayer Book:
This prayer book has a lot of useful instructional material, and
a lot of services that are set up such that they can be done as
reader services (such as a Moleben). It also has the Slavonic
text and the English text on facing pages. The disadvantage to it
is the Slavonic text is not the standard text used by the Church
(being the Old Rite) and so it differs in wording, and often in
structure. Nevertheless, it is quite useful. This prayer book was
produced for use by the Old Rite community in Erie, Pennsylvania
(ROCA).
The St. Tikhon's Prayer
book (Slavonic/English Edition): This prayer book is
particularly useful in parishes in which both English and
Slavonic are used. The disadvantage for ROCA users is that the
English translation differs from that in standard use in the
ROCA, but it's utility when in a service that alternates back and
forth outweighs this disadvantage. So until Jordanville puts out
a bilingual edition of the Jordanville Prayer book, this is a
good one to have if you are in a bilingual Russian parish.
The Service of
Preparation for Holy Communion, with
Akathists to Our Saviour and Theotokos (Holy
Transfiguration Monastery, 1986): this is an excellent, small
pocket book. It is one of the few, if not the only, texts in
English for the Greek practice of preparing for Communion (the
slightly different Russian practice is contained in the
Jordanville prayer book). This book is handy because of its size.
One can easily carry it to church in a breast pocket or purse.
The prayers for thanksgiving after Holy Communion, which are not
read aloud in many parishes today, can then be privately read by
the communicant following the service. Note: the entire text of
this pocket book is contained in the larger Prayer Book
published by Holy Transfiguration (above).
The Book of
Akathists (Holy Trinity
Monastery): an excellent book containing 23 Akathists, which
include an Akathist to the Trinity, several to the Lord and to
the Mother of God, many important saints, and an Akathist for the
repose of the departed. It is $30, plus $3 dollars postage and
handling. It is well worth the money—in fact, the Akathist for the repose of
the departed is well worth the money alone.
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