Question on Two Books

Justin Kissel · Post by **Justin Kissel** » Tue 10 August 2004 9:11 am

Does anyone use either of the following?

The Great Horologion, by Holy Transfiguration Monastery
A Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians, by Holy Transfiguration Monastery

If so, what do you think of them?

Gregory · Post by **Gregory** » Tue 10 August 2004 11:51 am

A Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians, by Holy Transfiguration Monastery

Dear Justin --

I just ordered this book and should receive it this week.

There are no pictures on the internet of this book, but I believe that I have seen it before. Hopefully it is the one that I ordered

It is slightly larger than the prayer book published by Jordanville. It is covered in light blue bookcloth. The translation is roughly the same as Jordanville's, but it is expanded. The font and presentation is much better than Jordanville's.

I never saw it for sale at Holy Transfiguration Monastery when I visited there. Therefore, I hope that it is the same one.

Hope this helps!

Gregory

Mor Ephrem · Post by **Mor Ephrem** » Tue 10 August 2004 7:07 pm

The prayer book that HTM puts out is a nice complement to the one Jordanville puts out, IMO. The former has more "liturgical" material in it. The morning prayers are shorter than in the Jordanville prayer book (don't know if this reflects some tendency of the Greek tradition to be "short" in the mornings or simply an editor's preference). I think the HTM prayer book is more attractive than the Jordanville prayer book, but I personally like the contents of the Jordanville prayer book better (not being EO, a lot of the "liturgical" stuff, while nice, is of little use to me other than for reference). If you can afford it, I'd get both.

The Horologion, however, is another story (sounds heavy!).

Justin Kissel · Post by **Justin Kissel** » Wed 11 August 2004 1:36 pm

Gregory,

Thank you When you get it, if you'd like to share any thoughts/impressions, I'm all ears. My wife and I sort of use a mixture of different prayer books at the moment, but most of the stuff comes from the Jordanville (1996). We figured it'd be good to switch to a Greek one though, so we're looking into the option.

Mor Ephrem,

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that it has more liturgical stuff, and less morning/evening prayers (which is really what we're looking for). Thank you for saying so, though.

Gregory · Post by **Gregory** » Fri 13 August 2004 8:12 am

Justin --

I received the HTM prayer book in the mail yesterday. I agree with everything Phil said.

The HTM prayer book does not have a canon of repentance which I found odd. Other than that, the book is very nice. Small Compline is included which is nice.

Gregory

Mor Ephrem · Post by **Mor Ephrem** » Thu 19 August 2004 10:05 pm

Justin Kissel wrote:
Mor Ephrem,

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that it has more liturgical stuff, and less morning/evening prayers (which is really what we're looking for). Thank you for saying so, though.

Well, if I'm not mistaken, you are about to join a Greek jurisdiction, right? Perhaps you should find out why there is a discrepancy in the two prayer books as far as morning and evening prayers as it might reflect authentic Greek practice. IIRC, the HTM book's morning prayers have everything the Jordanville book has up to the prayer of Saint Basil after the Creed, and a few shorter prayers after that, and that's it. "Evening prayer" is Small Compline, which I actually think is great. Too bad they don't put in Prime for the "morning prayer".

The prayer book put out by Saint Tikhon's entitled Orthodox Daily Prayers has, if I'm not mistaken, all the morning and evening prayers which the Jordanville book has, plus Small Compline for the evenings. The translations are a bit more modern, but it has some good stuff in it.

Alternatively, since the HTM book has the ordinary parts of Vespers and Orthros in it, as well as Small Compline in the evenings (and its own morning prayers, as already mentioned), you might consider using some of the ordinary parts of these liturgical services in your daily prayer.

OrthodoxyOrDeath · Post by **OrthodoxyOrDeath** » Thu 19 August 2004 11:14 pm

Justin,

As Mor Ephrem says, if you want to find out the origins of the HTM prayer book, read the preface to the Great Horologion, which is the same text as the blue prayer book. There you will find some history on the origins of the texts.

If memory serves me, it is a translation from a Greek text used in the 1800's on Mt. Athos, and as you may know, the texts on Mt. Athos are often very very old.