I haven’t posted many new prayers in the last year–only a few Lenten, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday litanies from some newly found resources.
Searches and hits on “Sanctus / Holy, Holy, Holy” remains the top item, with Luther’s Evening Prayer, Kyrie, Eleison / Lord, Have Mercy, Go Forth into the World, In the Midst of Life We Are in Death, and Agnus Dei / Lamb of God all in the top hits and searches.
With Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei as some of the top hits, I see a pattern of interest in the history of the Western Rite. Perhaps that could be a subject for a series of posts, or maybe even a book!
The chief views continue to be from English speaking countries (U.S., U. K., Canada and Australia), but there is growing usage from the Philippines, India and South Africa. There are very few countries that haven’t viewed A Collection of Prayers.
Links to A Collection of Prayers
WordPress lets me see referrers, that is, other websites that have a link to A Collection of Prayers. The biggest referrers are a liturgy website (www.liturgies.net), Christian spirituality websites (www.christianity.com, www.crosswalk.com) followed by individual ministries, churches, and even denominational websites.
The past year was more significant for the production and sales of books than for the database of prayers on the website.
The sale of books pays for the website and supports research. Prayers from the Ancient Celtic Church and The Antiphonary of Bangor remain the top sellers.
In 2023 I published Prayers through the Centuries, a revision of Prayers of the Early Church and Prayers of the Middle Ages by J. Manning Potts, now in public domain. This book had been finished several years ago, and the entire contents of those books is on http://www.acollectionofprayers.com. The time seemed right to publish those in print as a single volume.
I also published a revision of Paul Zeller Strodach’s Oremus, now titled Oremus–Let Us Pray.
I moved all my books from Lulu to Amazon KDP. Lulu’s system brought minimal returns for royalties when books were purchased through other retailers. Amazon KDP also sells through multiple retailers with a better return. Because many people use Amazon, using Amazon KDP makes my books easier to find. The whole Praying with the Readings series has been moved to Amazon KDP, and is getting more exposure. Now and Forever: Contemporary Collects was also re-edited to be a part of the Praying with the Readings series, now including the collects arranged for use with the Historic Lectionary.
Beyond This Website, Books and Products
Various denominational and devotional publishers have contacted me about using A Collection of Prayers as a source. I am always happy to share my work. People who share free worship materials on their websites have contacted me for permission to use and share–which is what A Collection of Prayers is all about.
May God be glorified and our neighbors edified!
A Collection of Prayers 