Thomas McKenzie

The Work of God Thomas McKenzie

Benedictine monks and nuns pray the psalms seven times a day, seven days a week. Every week they pray each of the psalms at least once. They do this because St. Benedict required this in his Rule. More importantly, they do it because the psalms are the prayer book of the Church, because they were the prayer book of Jesus. Praying the psalms is a transformative experience. About this book, the author/editor, Fr. Thomas McKenzie, says this: "For many years, I looked for a simple prayer book of the psalms. He wanted a way to pray along with the monks. Not that I think I can always devote that much time to daily prayer (though I'd like to). Rather because I'd like to make the psalms more central to my life of prayer and meditation. However, I was frustrated because I couldn't find the book I needed. So I decided to make one for myself. The project was more involved than I thought it would be. Towards the end of my work, I realized that there might be other people who would benefit from this prayer book. So I've made it available to the world at a low price. I am not the author of this book. I'm not even the one who decided what it would contain. I'm merely the person who laid it out. This really is just the psalms, along with a very few canticles, prayers, and ancient hymns. I chose to use the translations found in the Book of Common Prayer (1979). These translations are in modern language and are designed to be said or sung aloud. I hope it will be a blessing to your life of prayer."