Celtic Benediction: Morning and Night Prayer

If one is interested in Celtic Spirituality, but belong to the Episcopal or Presbyterian or Methodist or another tradition of Christianity, then this book is an excellent resource for supplementary prayers that will make any prayer service Celtic in nature. It is a little book and it has in all 14 morning/evening prayers, one pair per day for a week. These are very short so they can easily be added to my Daily Offices without making much extra time. Since I am Episcopalian, I use the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), 1979 edition. This is how I use this book with the BCP:For the morning prayers, I start with this book. I do the opening thought and read the italicized thought for the day. Afterwards, I will take a moment to concentrate on the artwork displayed on the page. Then I read the opening prayer before starting on page 80 of the BCP. In this book, I generally skip the scripture and meditation portion. If the date on that day is an even number, say March 26th or December 4th, then I will read the Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession and move right on to the closing prayer. If the date ends in an odd number, say the 3rd or 17th, I skip that part and read it from the BCP. I will then always use the closing prayer in this book (everyday) and then do the closing sentence in the BCP to finish it off.I recommend using this prayer book in the mornings and evenings. I recommend using  Celtic Treasure: Daily Scriptures and Prayer  for the noon prayers.I will also suggest getting a book-marker for this prayer book, because this book cannot lay flat on its back without falling over itself. The binding is THAT heavy. This is okay, because I have noticed that this book is in excellent condition and will last for a long time because of the binding.I give this book 5 stars! I hope this review helped!

This is a simple book filled with prayers that are so beautifully written that I can hardly describe them....they are from a revival of the Celtic embrace of earth, God and mankind. This is a book that will give you a lifetime of awe....and maybe just what you need for your journey. It has done that for me.

I was required to use this prayer book for an entire semester during a seminary course. Coming from an Evangelical tradition that encourages spontaneous prayer and fears rote repetition, I confess that it took a while before this practice became meaningful to me (maybe 2 weeks?). Ultimately, though, my prayer life deepened in ways for which I had always longed. I think there is something about prewritten prayers that free us to rest more deeply in God's presence. I was always quite good at speaking to God, but horrid at quieting myself and listening to God. This book somehow opened the doorway for me to enter more fully into God's presence. By the end of the semester, I did feel that I needed "more." So I returned to my daily Bible study routine, but in a more contemplative spirit. About once a month or one week a quarter, I sense my soul's need to return to the simple depths of Celtic Benedictions. I keep giving my copies away, in fact, and I need Newell once more, so here I am at 1:30am trying to order yet another! :)

This is nearly the best meditation book I have read in years. I and my group sisters have been handing it out to friends and church members over the past 6 weeks. All have found it to be most helpful for meditation. The interesting thing for me is that as I have read it over and over these past weeks, there will be a word or phrase that seems new to me...as if I had never seen that word or that phrase before. Newell writes extremely well...using poetic prose.My hope and prayer is that all who read this book will be as struck by it as I have...and will make it part of their daily prayer life.

Book as described or better and shipped promptly. Thank you!

Timely delivery and beautiful books

Love the prayers in this book. Plenty to reflect on about nature and God. Morning and nigh prayers for each day of the week. Also small enough to take backpacking and guide you while you are in the wilderness.

The language of this little gem of a prayer book is poetically beautiful and evocative. I have used it for about two years for personal devotions. It has also given me inspiration when writing worship liturgy for church services and retreats in our Presbyterian church. Our pastoral staff and congregants love the refreshing thoughts and language. I always cite this book as my resource and recommend it to others for their personal use. Rev. Marilyn Cummings

I really appreciate the celtic and poetic style of these short, thought provoking prayer times. I use the evening prayers daily.

This is a nice way to start and end the day!