Private Devotions of Lancelot Andrewes

The Private Devotions of Lancelot Andrewes by Lancelot Andrewes, translated by Blessed John Henry Newman, edited by David A MacLennan, 62 pages

Famed for his piety, learning, and eloquence, Lancelot Andrewes served as chaplain to Elizabeth I and James I.  Disdaining the claims of Rome to supremacy but also rejecting the Puritan revolution, Andrewes became, at least in retrospect, a landmark along the Anglican via media.  Since its publication in the nineteenth century, his personal prayer book has been adapted, referenced, and most of all prayed by generations of pious Anglicans.

It is easy to see why.  Andrewes' prayers, here translated into English from Latin and Greek, are pure artifacts of crystallized devotion, their poetic power only enhanced by their extensive borrowings from Scripture and Tradition.  From an analytical perspective, there are a number of interesting elements, including Andrewes' vivid sense of the unity of Christendom, his abundant gratitude and continual desire to grow in humility, his concern for the poor, sick, and imprisoned, and his fundamental awareness of the social dimension of religion as summarized in his adage, "He who prays for others, labors for himself."