The Carmichael Prayerbook: spiritual devotions adapted from traditional Gaelic prayers collected in Alexander Carmichael’s Carmina Gadelica

During the late Nineteenth Century, Alexander Carmichael (1832-1912) gathered the folk prayers, hymns, and incantations for his Carmina Gadelica while traveling as an exciseman in the Highlands and Western Islands of Scotland. Dealing with every aspect of daily life, binding otherwise ordinary activities to the Divine Presence that blessed these actions and protected the men and women involved in them, these spiritual treasures testify to the resilience of an ancient Gaelic spiritual culture that was passed from one generation to the next over the centuries — regaining its vitality each time the words of these ancestral prayers were repeated to invoke God’s presence or protection.

In The Carmichael Prayerbook, Timothy J. Ray weaves together the hopes and desires expressed in different petitions and invocations from the Carmina Gadelica to create a unique collection of devotions. Cherishing the history of these prayers while channeling them into new expressions of faith, he integrates these ancient prayers to create a contemplative worship service for congregations and prayer groups as well as seven thematic sequences for individual or communal prayer. He also presents four devotional practices for individuals that he developed through his own prayerful use of the Carmina Gadelica during the last two decades.

The Carmichael Prayerbook also offers resources for individuals and groups approaching these devotions. These includes suggestions on the use of readings and music during the worship service and prayer sequences as well as simple rituals that use blessings from the Carmina Gadelica to create sacred spaces for personal prayer.