Shakespeare's Common Prayers revolves around Shakespeare's great overlooked source: the Book of Common Prayer, first published in 1549, whose appearance established Protestantism as the compulsory belief of the day. Written in a simple vernacular and incorporating familiar Catholic rituals, the book laid out the proper performance of church rites and services. And yet it was also highly disputed and constantly in flux; as Daniel Swift shows, the prayer book's history is one of passionately contested revision and of manic sensitivity to a verb or a turn of phrase. In the book's ambiguities and fierce contestations, Swift argues, William Shakespeare found the ready elements of drama: dispute over words and their practical consequences, hope for sanctification tempered by fear of simple meaninglessness, and the demand for improvised performance as a compensation for the failure of language to do what it appears to promise. Swift offers a study of Shakespeare at work: of his imagination at play upon a set of literary materials from which he both borrowed and learned, of his manipulation of the explosive chemistry of word and action that comprised early modern liturgy. Swift argues that the Book of Common Prayer mediates between the secular and the devotional, producing a tension that helps make Shakespeare's plays so powerful and exceptional. Tracing the prayer book's lines and motions through As You Like It, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Othello, and particularly Macbeth, Swift redirects scholarly attention to the religious heart of Shakespeare's work and time.

In this, his latest work, esteemed prayer book editior and author William G. Storey provides nearly 200 prayers of the Church for anyone new to the Catholic faith. Frequently, he places the prayers in their historical and liturgical contexts. The prayers are conveniently grouped by theme, such as Morning and Evening Prayers, Devotions to Christ and Mary, and Prayers of Praise and Thanksgiving. Appropriately, the book begins with basic Christian Prayers, including the Doxology, the Lord's Prayer, and the Hail Mary, among others.

Every day is filled with opportunities for prayer as we ask for help in facing life's inevitable difficulties, or seek ways of expressing our feelings of gratitude, love and joy. This special edition of some of the most moving, inspiring and comforting meditations and prayers broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Prayer for the Day is designed to be a true companion through our daily routine, as we make decisions, overcome challenges and open our hearts to others and to the world's wonder. In these uncertain and insecure times, these prayers from a broad spectrum of religious traditions show how the faiths are united by a desire to talk with God. And they indicate how, with God's help, our days can be times of healing, belonging, laughter and love, through the ordinary circumstances of our lives.

Despite the anxious and ubiquitous materialism of the modern world, the practice of prayer and meditation remains a source of both relief and inspiration for millions. This unique compilation of over 1,100 prayers combines the traditional with the modern, stretching from the Bible, the saints and mystics of the past, and the Book of Common Prayer, to a Ghanaian fisherman's prayer, and prayers from many influential non-Christian religions.
Selected for their literary merit as well as spiritual quality, these prayers speak to the modern reader. Arranged under headings such as "Prayers from the Scripture," "Prayers of Christians, Personal and Occasional," and "Prayers of Other Traditions of Faith," the anthology includes a subject index to guide the reader to prayers for particular occasions, as well as an index of authors and sources. It serves as the ideal source for browsing or for more structured prayer, as well as for private meditation or public worship.

SPANISH EDITION. Prayer is the engine of preaching -- before, while and after sharing the sermon with the hearers. In order to speak to men about God, you first have to speak to God about men. Prayer keeps the focus on God where it should always be -- not on the preacher.