Mtr Taylor Devine

Dear Friends,

This week I made myself a little guide to the Canticles that go after the readings during Morning Prayer. I should have done this, ahem, 8 years ago, when I first thought “gosh I’m always flipping to pages way after Morning Prayer to find the Canticles and getting distracted!” Once you find your starting place and the readings, Morning Prayer goes ahead pretty smoothly.

I’ve found over the years, though, that I don’t want to miss the chance to pray all of the Canticles in some rotation. Carefully selected from Scripture in community over centuries…these are the verses I want to have in my heart. It helps me to have a guide, and preferably one I don’t have to search for. My little guide is included at the bottom of this reflection.

I know I’m making a big deal about this little book mark, but praying these prayers is important to me. These pages in the Book of Common Prayer copies in the Chapel are thin from use. I want to join my prayers to those who have gone before, and to live in these pieces of Scripture in particular with our wider Episcopal community. If you are curious about how one chooses the Canticles for the day, here is a helpful explanation.

I have a special place in my heart for Canticles 11 and 4, the ones I prayed every Wednesday on “my” day when we were praying from home on facebook live. That regularity was important in that time. I also have a special place in my heart for Canticle 1—it’s long, the Song of Creation, and it feels like a special gift when I get to pray it on a Saturday morning, as if those who put the Book of Common Prayer together were thinking of me, who might have a little more time to pray on a Saturday morning.

These gifts of Scripture passed down, patterns shared, and prayers that can speak for me when I don’t have the words, are pages in my life to which I cling. If you’re curious about these Canticles—check out these pages in the Book of Common Prayer on Sunday or at home!

In Christ,

Mtr Taylor