If you're a member of a parish which reads the Daily Offices publicly, consider yourself lucky. There are not many churches which offer Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer daily, and those that do are not reporting standing-room-only crowds, but that's a topic for another day.

A few dozen steps from my desk, at All Saints' Cathedral, from which we rent office space, the Daily Offices are read publicly, for which I am grateful. In recent months, I've become even more thankful for the Readings for the Daily Office from the Early Church. At All Saints' the custom is to read the Old Testament lesson and the epistle at Morning Prayer and the gospel at Evening Prayer. For the second reading at Evening Prayer, Readings for the Daily Office is being used, as allowed by the rubrics in the prayer book. This book, edited by the Rev. J. Robert Wright and published in 1991 by what was then known as Church Hymnal Corp. (now Church Publishing, Inc.), offers readings from 64 theologians of the early church, the well known and the near obscure. Segments of sermons, letters and treatises from such early Christians as Augustine, John Chrysostom, Irenaeus, Ambrose, Francis of Assisi and other familiar giants are offered, along with lesser-known theologians like Egeria, Rufinus of Aquileia and Cento of Proba.

One of the luminaries whose comments about the book are found on the back cover writes that Fr. Wright's selections are "modern, inclusive translations." I don't know about that, but I do know that the readings are fairly easy to understand for persons who do not have considerable theological education. And for those who want some education about the theology of the early church, there's a topical index toward the back of the book which contains such subjects as angels, deacons, exorcism, holy oils and repentance.

When used as one of the readings for the offices, these selections often compliment the other lesson. They are particularly effective on holy days when the presentations may be sermons about that day. For example, on the Feast of St. Andrew, there is a reading from a sermon of Bernard of Clairvaux in which he asks about Andrew, "Where did he get so spiritual a soul, so fervent a charity, and so strong a will?"

Some other examples:

Week of 1 Advent, Tuesday - Gregory of Nazianzus writes on charity: "In obedience to Paul and Christ himself, we must look upon charity as the first and greatest commandment, the sum of the law and the teaching of the prophets. And the chief traits of charity are love for the poor and compassion for our kin."

Week of 3 Advent, Tuesday - Catherine of Siena describes how faithful Christians should receive Holy Communion.

Proper 20, Tuesday - Augustine of Hippo presents a commentary on the Lord's Prayer.

Proper 22, Monday - A reading from The Imitation of Christ, the finest "spiritual" book I've ever read, presents "My words are spirit and life." And we find that these words "must be listened to in silence and received with all humility and great affection."

Proper 26, Thursday - One of the best, John Chrysostom on prayer: "Prayer, loving conversation with God, is the supreme good. It is both a relationship with God and union with him ... Prayer is not the result of an external attitude; it comes from the heart. It is not limited to set hours or minutes, but, night and day, it is a continuous activity."

If you don't have a copy of this book, get one. You'll develop a greater appreciation for what the early church was about.