On Reading the Psalms as Cranmer Intended
My community joins a number of others in reading the Psalter as part of the Daily Office in Cranmer's 30-day cycle (indicated in headings in the Book of Common Prayer.) This produces some odd dissonances from time to time, but the overall effect is powerful. One is somewhat down at the sea in ships, being cast high or low, then in a quiet eddy, sometimes a bit queasy, then by turns thrilled, occasionally becalmed then narrowly escaping the maelstrom of anger and the funnel of hatred, only to sail into a safe harbor of Hallelujah's as the cycle comes to a close.
Tobias Stanislas Haller BSG
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3 comments:
I too follow the 30-day cycle (and I still use the Great Bible text of the psalms too...). It's odd how often the psalms coinciding with fixed feast days just seem to "work".
I find that any more diffuse cycle leaves me too forgetful -- no sense of "ah yes, I remember being here".
Indeed, the consonances are sometimes as delightful as the (passing) dissonances!
I love the Psalms (especially the parts that are traditionally ommitted). They lift up the entire human experience to God: Love, hate, joy, sorrow, hope, despair, humility, arrogance, etc.
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