The Brendan Book of Prayer

Rating:
Summary: Uncommon commonality
Review: St. Brendan was an early Irish monk who had a particular affinity for the community model of the Christian church. In our increasingly individualistic society, the renewed call to community and communal expression of things such as prayer (often held to be primarily a private matter) is very welcome. However, there is also a trend very recently toward the 'mega-church', in which literally thousands of people come together -- in this sort of community, people can remain comfortably anonymous and thus individuals, and unless intentionally formed, the process toward true community will not proceed.

O'Halloran sets out a practical guide for intentional community formation around prayer. This book is a small-format book (the pages are small format, and the book can easily fit into a coat pocket), yet it is designed to be used for community formation over the course of an entire liturgical year. Beginning in Advent, and continuing through the liturgical seasons of Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary time, the pattern is set for 39 meetings. Community does not grow overnight.

The structure of the meetings in O'Halloran's model is simplicity itself -- opening prayer, gospel sharing, reality/action, spontaneous prayer, blessing, and simple hymnody. The reality/action piece is a unique wording; O'Halloran doesn't look for a sermon or homily as such (and hence does not use that wording), but rather he seeks a galvinised emotion that will lead the people of the group to true action, on behalf of the group itself and the wider community. There are set pieces for the liturgical-minded, and spontaneous/fluid pieces for the unstructured sorts. Very practical and useful, this book is a wonderful starting point.

James O'Halloran is a priest well experienced in small group work. In addition to this little gem, he has also written a book about small Christian communities.

Columba Press (name for St. Columba, 'the dove of the church') is a growing press based in Ireland, begun in 1985 with three titles relating to religious and spiritual themes. Since then, they have grown substantially and now publish across a broad range of areas, including pastoral resources, spirituality, theology, the arts, and history. With over 200 books in print, they add another 30 or so each year. Additionally, they are the British/Irish/European distributors for many other titles in the same fields.

Rating:
Summary: Uncommon commonality
Review: St. Brendan was an early Irish monk who had a particular affinity for the community model of the Christian church. In our increasingly individualistic society, the renewed call to community and communal expression of things such as prayer (often held to be primarily a private matter) is very welcome. However, there is also a trend very recently toward the 'mega-church', in which literally thousands of people come together -- in this sort of community, people can remain comfortably anonymous and thus individuals, and unless intentionally formed, the process toward true community will not proceed.

O'Halloran sets out a practical guide for intentional community formation around prayer. This book is a small-format book (the pages are small format, and the book can easily fit into a coat pocket), yet it is designed to be used for community formation over the course of an entire liturgical year. Beginning in Advent, and continuing through the liturgical seasons of Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary time, the pattern is set for 39 meetings. Community does not grow overnight.

The structure of the meetings in O'Halloran's model is simplicity itself -- opening prayer, gospel sharing, reality/action, spontaneous prayer, blessing, and simple hymnody. The reality/action piece is a unique wording; O'Halloran doesn't look for a sermon or homily as such (and hence does not use that wording), but rather he seeks a galvinised emotion that will lead the people of the group to true action, on behalf of the group itself and the wider community. There are set pieces for the liturgical-minded, and spontaneous/fluid pieces for the unstructured sorts. Very practical and useful, this book is a wonderful starting point.

James O'Halloran is a priest well experienced in small group work. In addition to this little gem, he has also written a book about small Christian communities.

Columba Press (name for St. Columba, 'the dove of the church') is a growing press based in Ireland, begun in 1985 with three titles relating to religious and spiritual themes. Since then, they have grown substantially and now publish across a broad range of areas, including pastoral resources, spirituality, theology, the arts, and history. With over 200 books in print, they add another 30 or so each year. Additionally, they are the British/Irish/European distributors for many other titles in the same fields.