Go Forth, Christian Soul

Book excerpt: The prayer "Go forth Christian Soul, on your journey from this world" has supported generations of Christians in the moments of their dying. In this original biography of the prayer known as the Proficiscere the author traces the history of this well-known text from its origins in eighth-century France to the present day. During 1,200 years of biography we meet an extraordinary range of people whose lives have affected or interacted with the life of the prayer. These include Thomas Cranmer, William Caxton, Cardinal Newman, General Gordon of Khartoum, Edward Elgar, and Cardinal Basil Hume. Versions of this famous prayer have found their way into contemporary funeral liturgies. The author draws on liturgical scholarship history and not least his own experiences as a minister to the dying. At the end of this biography you will never look on your own dying, or that of others around you, as you have before. You will be better prepared, at your death, to hear the words "Go forth Christian Soul."