Minor glitches don't spoil (for me) an impressive work, 9 Jan 2006

I have never used CCP, but do use CW:DP, so my comments may be slightly misinformed!

For CW:DP users like myself, the purpose of buying a volume like this is to have a single, compact book which contains everything you need – no extra lectionary or bible required – for use on holiday or when commuting. This volume does contain everything you need, but it is a little disingenuous to describe it as ‘pocket-sized’ – it’s height and width are only slightly smaller than CW:DP, although it is much thinner, at under 400 pages (rather than almost 900), and considerably lighter.

The most notable omission is the lack of any ‘Prayer During the Day’ office, which could be used for mid-day prayer in CW:DP. This is understandable for reasons of space – the introduction suggests you just say the Anglus Domini at mid-day (which is included, in modern English). Night Prayer looks pretty much identical to the provision in CW:DP, although without the seasonal psalms.

In Morning and Evening Prayer, the lectionary readings are about the length of those in ‘Prayer During the Day’ from the final edition of CW:DP, although there are rather more of them – seven passages for each of Morning and Evening, times seven ‘forms’ of the office, so about 100 overall. Unlike CW:DP, each seasonal form of the office doubles up as a form of the office for a day of the week in Ordinary Time (e.g. ‘form 2’ is used for Pentecost, *and* Mondays in Ordinary Time). Psalms are printed within the office (about two-thirds of the Psalter is included overall).

My only real disappointment with Celebrating Daily Prayer is that it does not offer all the options available in CW:DP. There is no indication of what is optional in the text itself - effectively the book makes the decisions for you. In particular:

* The short prayer just before the psalmody (“The night has passed, and the day lies open before us...”) is excluded.
* Psalm refrains are excluded.
* The Gloria Patri (“Glory to the Father...”) at the end of the psalmody is exluded – but psalm collects (an alternative) are included.
* There is no indication that, if more than one reading is being used, one or more may be said between the psalmody and the first canticle
* The responsary to the reading is much shorter (more like ‘Prayer During the Day’ in CW:DP).

There is also some inconsistency in the language, making it harder to find what you’re looking for – e.g. “general prayers of intercession” in CW:DP are “litanies” in CDP; “the litany” in CW:DP is “the great litany” here. Most of the seasonal prayers of intercession in CW:DP are to be found within the appropriate seasonal form of Morning Prayer in CDP, rather than separately at the back. Also, the cycle of intercession in CDP is different to the one in the final edition of CW:DP (I think it might be based on the cycle in the preliminary edition of CW:DP [2002], as there are three items for each day/season rather than five, which makes me wonder what else here is based on that earlier version of CW:DP.

Nevertheless, although these niggles are numerous, they are pretty minor for me, and I recommend it heartily. I still use CW:DP when I’m at home (for Morning Prayer) with my lectionary, study bible and commentaries, but for Evening Prayer on the bus back, or for taking on holiday, this is ideal.

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