The Daily Office SSF

Book excerpt: The opus dei is the prayer life of the Church. By the use of forms of prayer prescribed during the day, Christians of all traditions connect with the prayer life of the Universal Church. To members of religious orders, these daily 'offices' form the structure of the day. The patterns of this daily prayer embrace the three key elements of praise, intercession and engagement with Scripture. The Society of Saint Francis have been fervent advocates of the use of these forms of daily prayer for lay people, priests and religious people. Indeed the Church of England drew very heavily on the work pioneered by the Franciscans when they produced their own Daily Prayer part of the series of books following the publication of Common Worship (Church House, 2005). But this book has a lot of additional 'Franciscan' material and as such has long maintained a strong and devoted audience. Now this revised edition brings the basic texts into line with Common Worship by using more contemporary but dignified language and the Common Worship translation of the Psalms.