Can I Change My Prayer Book?
Reading through pre-Communion prayers tonight in preparation for Sunday morning Liturgy, I was reminded again of a little edit I made to my prayer book. I did not used to write in books...ever, but this is different, like marking music. So, here is why I changed the wording in my prayer book.
In our family, we like to sing the prayers before Communion (at least, that parts that I know of that can be sung). The Canon in Preparation for Holy Communion (starting on page 159) states that it can be sung in tone 2. So, the irmos for each ode can be sung in irmos tone 2, and there is a kontakion after ode 6 which can be sung in troparion tone 2.
Just one problem: it is close to impossible to consistently sing this wording accurately. The "unfathomable abyss" is, at least for this poor tongue, a mount too high to climb. So, I thought through several variations of the same meaning, but variations that would be easier to sing. A depth is like an abyss, and just as an unfathomable depth cannot be measured it is so deep, so the seemingly bottomless depths would get across the meaning...but be WAY easier to sing.
That is all to say, sure, it is perfectly fine if you feel a need to edit your prayer book. I guess it could be questionable in some cases, especially if you feel quite strongly about a particular concept or idea and your disagree in some way. That seems like a red flag; I would talk to my priest about that one. If I am just stumbling over my words, though, I (as you can see) would not hesitate to slightly alter the wording.
Of course, you can just get used to it, too. That always works.
In our family, we like to sing the prayers before Communion (at least, that parts that I know of that can be sung). The Canon in Preparation for Holy Communion (starting on page 159) states that it can be sung in tone 2. So, the irmos for each ode can be sung in irmos tone 2, and there is a kontakion after ode 6 which can be sung in troparion tone 2.Just one problem: it is close to impossible to consistently sing this wording accurately. The "unfathomable abyss" is, at least for this poor tongue, a mount too high to climb. So, I thought through several variations of the same meaning, but variations that would be easier to sing. A depth is like an abyss, and just as an unfathomable depth cannot be measured it is so deep, so the seemingly bottomless depths would get across the meaning...but be WAY easier to sing.
That is all to say, sure, it is perfectly fine if you feel a need to edit your prayer book. I guess it could be questionable in some cases, especially if you feel quite strongly about a particular concept or idea and your disagree in some way. That seems like a red flag; I would talk to my priest about that one. If I am just stumbling over my words, though, I (as you can see) would not hesitate to slightly alter the wording.
Of course, you can just get used to it, too. That always works.
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