St. Gregory's Prayer Book

The "St. Gregory's Prayer Book" is, hands down, one of my favourite devotionals. The book is bound with an attractive red leather exterior, and the gold icon of the sainted Pontiff from whence its name hails on the cover is fitting both content and colourwise. Even better, though, is what's inside on the pages! As the summary states, the SGPB is a product of the Anglican Ordinariates and the Patrimony they were established to protect. This means that readers will find hundreds of prayers in sacral English, a welcome treat in an age so flippant in its disregard for language. The devotions for the days of the week, as well as for the hours of the day, offer a wonderful way to consecrate time to God, its Author and Guide. The selection of Collects -both seasonal, sanctoral, and proper- provides the best of the BCP for use by Catholics. So to do the various and beautifully-rendered Psalms, an important part of Anglican spirituality made available for all the members of Christ's Church. I've personally used this book as an aid at Eucharistic Adoration, a companion for the Rosary, and an introduction to the unique "Sundays after Trinity." Additionally, the compiled treatise on the essence of prayer makes for edifying reading anywhere. Lastly, the section on the special Ordinariate Form of Mass is nice, although it's more of a brief overview than a hand missal. My one wish is that Ignatius Press had added pictures; besides from that, the "St. Gregory's Prayer Book" is a marvelous work which I have and will continue to recommend. Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, pray for us!

Such an amazing book of prayers, I highly recommend for anyone looking for a daily book of prayers!

As a former Anglican, and Anglophile in general, I must say that (after not even a full day with it) this is my favorite prayer book already. I have devotions to Our Lady of Walsingham and the Five Most Precious Wounds of Our Lord. Wouldn’t ya know it, there’s a Walsingham Chaplet of the 5 Wounds. There is also great devotional material for some lesser appreciated English Saints.

Obviously I wish the Mass ordinary was for the TLM and not the Ordinariate, but the prayers and collects from the BCP are quite beautiful and are great private prayers which I will reincorporate into my prayer life.

The materials, especially the paper of the pages, are also very nice. 10/10 would highly recommend

This really is a quite excellent book. It is meant to fill the role of the 'St Augustine's Prayer Book' for members of the Ordinariates. The SAPB is an Anglo-Catholic devotional manual first published in the 1940s. This volume meets the needs for Ordinariate Catholics for a similar devotional manual quite well. It is very comprehensive, and St John Henry Newman figures prominently in the pages. There are prayers from some of the more obscure (to Catholics without an Anglican background) English saints as well. There are even prayers from some Anglo-Catholic ministers that are consonant with the Catholic Faith.

I only have three criticisms. The first is that the paper used is too thick - this book cannot fit in your pants pocket like the SAPB could. Secondly, the section that contains the Divine Worship Mass only gives a small portion of the Mass - only the responses from the laity - there is no good reason I can think of why the entire Ordinary of the DW Mass could not have been included. And finally, there are no illustrations. There are plenty of line art illustrations in the public domain - both Catholic and Anglo-Catholic - that could have been included. But they may be absent in order to save space.

Aside from these shortcomings, this is an excellent book, recommended for all members of the Ordinariates, and even all Latin Catholics who want an English-flavoured devotional set in a sacred vernacular.

The St. Gregory Prayer Book is a great addition to the wealth of both American and English publications of Catholic devotionals! Even if you don't attend the Ordinariate Use, the wealth of prayers and beautiful language used will entice any tradition-minded, English speaking Catholic. The in-depth examination of conscience alone, with its beautiful prayers, collects, and the Seven Penitential Psalms, is worth the price alone of this prayerbook!

If you use wish to use this prayerbook at the TLM, think of the Mass Ordinary given (rather simple) as another variant of the Mass devotions given in a Fr. Lasance Missal or other like devotionals. Yes - there are instructions for "priest & people" to say a couple prayers, but these could quite easily be used privately - or just ignore the few pages it takes up and use **everything else**! :)

As one in constant search of identifiably "English" Catholic things, the St. Gregory Prayer Book is one of the devotionals that not only sits proudly on my shelf but is also used by the owner.

I know a religious who is a HUGE anglophile. I visited the abbey he is apart of and he fell in love with this prayerbook. Moved by his holiness and his love for all things anglo-Catholic, I bought him a copy. Now I see him using it daily. I use my own copy primarily for the examination of conscience and a few of the Psalms when I don’t have my bible on hand. Beautiful language. Say a prayer for Frater Gereon if you read this!