A collection of simple prayers is helping to renew the spiritual lives of Anglicans in the diocese.
The 31 prayers – one for each day of the month – are found in Prayers Through the Ages, a resource produced by the Season of Spiritual Renewal, an initiative of the diocese that seeks to renew the spiritual lives of Anglicans and, by extension, the Church itself.
The prayers span the centuries and are written by a broad cross-section of writers, from St. Columba to Professor Jane Williams. The resource includes Indigenous and African prayers, plus prayers from the Quaker and Orthodox traditions. They are short, thoughtful and easy to read.
The prayers are available on the diocese’s website and can be printed on 8.5×11-inch paper or in booklet form. They are also printed on pages 6-7 of this issue of The Anglican.
The Rev. Canon Janet Read-Hockin, incumbent of St. Cuthbert, Leaside, says the prayers help to ground her during her often busy days. “I keep the prayers on my desk, and every now and then I’ll open them up at random and just stop and read one of them to centre myself,” she says. “It gives me the strength and perspective I need, no matter what I might be experiencing.”
The Rev. Jennifer Schick, incumbent of All Saints, Whitby, echoes her words. “The prayers have helped to take me out of my routines a little bit and connect with those who have gone before, and they remind me what it means to be human and to worship God,” she says. “As I pray them, they give me something different every day to focus or reflect on.”
Both clerics are using Prayers Through the Ages in their parishes, with considerable success. At St. Cuthbert’s, the prayers were first shared with the monthly prayer circle, and then printed off and left in two gathering spaces outside the worship area.
“I thought we’d be generous in running off a first batch of 30 copies, and they all went,” recalls Canon Read-Hockin. By the middle of August, about 80 copies had been taken. “What we’ve discovered is that not only members have taken the resource but also people who come into the building for other reasons.”
All Saints has had a similar experience. In addition to providing a link to the prayers for those who wanted to access them online, the church printed up booklets and put them at the back of the church. Parishioners were encouraged to take one and use it over the summer holidays. “We printed up a number and saw them all go, which is lovely,” says Rev. Schick.
All Saints keeps some booklets on hand for its weekly silent prayer and meditation time for the public. It also has copies at its booth at the Whitby Farmers Market. “For those who visit us and talk about wanting to go deeper into faith or show an interest in a prayer life, we can offer it to them,” she says.
At St. Paul on-the-Hill, Pickering, the Prayers Through the Ages resource came at just the right time, says the Rev. Canon Stephanie Douglas, incumbent.
In the spring, St. Paul’s hosted its Prayer Project, a week-long initiative in which the church stayed open for people to pray. There were prayer stations with guided activities. The event was inspired by the 24-7 Prayer movement, which encourages people to pray and provides them with resources.
The focus of the Prayer Project was spiritual renewal in the parish, so Prayers Through the Ages came at the perfect time, says Canon Douglas. At one of the prayer stations, participants were given a prayer journal and some guidance on how to use it. Then they were encouraged to choose a prayer from Prayers Through the Ages and to make that their daily prayer for the coming year.
“We had about 35 people come out for prayer, which for the first year was encouraging,” says Canon Douglas. “The feedback from the people who came was very positive, so we’re going to do it every year. We’d like to have people who used their daily prayer give testimony, so hopefully it will grow.”
All three clergy say their parishes have a strong tradition of prayer, and Prayers Through the Ages helps to augment that. At St. Cuthbert’s, for example, some lay leaders have been inspired by the resource to write prayers of their own. The prayers are sometimes said at the beginning of meetings and other events and included in the weekly bulletin.
“The resource has given people permission to be more open about how prayer forms them, and to act as a witness for others about the power of prayer in our ministry,” says Canon Read-Hockin.
She says the enthusiasm for Prayers Through the Ages, especially among visitors to the church, indicates a spiritual hunger in the wider community. “What it says to me is that the hunger to connect with the spiritual is very strong, not only within the community but outside it as well. The prayers are brief, so they’re very accessible, and they cover not only the Anglican tradition but a breadth of other traditions as well. There’s an inclusivity that makes them very accessible.”
Rev. Schick agrees. “The Season of Spiritual Renewal started because there was a callout – people said they were hungry to know Jesus more and love God more deeply, and I think we’re seeing that overall. This resource gives people an opportunity to tap into that a little bit in a way that is very non-threatening.”
Prayers Through the Ages is available on the diocese’s website at www.toronto.anglican.ca/spiritualrenewal.
