On the Road to Emmaus

If you’ve been following along this series (or learned to pray the BCP Office by other means), after an attempt or two (or perhaps just upon hearing), it may seem daunting with all the flipping of pages and navigating through the book to find the appropriate material for each section. It may seem far from easy to flip all over the place between the Psalms, the Lectionary, the Collects, the Prayers, etc, never-mind keeping track of where you are from day to day . If you are thinking such – I agree with you! But there is a real simple way to make all of this super easy – in fact brainless. By implementing a simple system you will never get lost navigating around the Prayer Book. Better yet, once you implement this system, you will never even need to keep track of where you are in the Psalms, Lectionary, etc. It will all be ready for you with no thought beforehand. I often tell people that I know exactly what I’m going to pray that night (and every night for that matter) when I head to the Prayer Room at IHOP. That statement however is not entirely true. In fact, I have very little idea of what I am going to pray, I just know I am going to pray the Office and I have a simple system, with which I never have to think about what I’m going to pray – it is all ready for me every night.

Essentially, all we will be doing is putting ribbon book marks in your BCP to keep your places in the various sections of the Prayer Book. Implementing this system will entail a little bit of crafting, which I will now outline in detail.

This is my prayer book. It actually came with ribbons sewn into the binding. But I happen to be a ribbon-aholic. Once I found out how to add ribbon book marks to my BCP – I started adding them to all of my books. This Prayer Book happens to be a BCP and Hymnal combination, thus there is need for a LOT of ribbons. So I am adding more.

You will need to get your hands on ribbon like this – a different color for every bookmark you will need (or you will never be able to tell them apart!). You can get these for around 50-75 cents a spool at Wal-mart or Jo-Ann Fabrics.

Then get a 3 x 5 file card, fold it in half lengthwise and cut it down the middle. This card will get inserted into the little space between where the binding is sewn and the outside of the spine of the book. If you have a thin book, you may need to cut the card down to make it narrower.

To cut the ribbon, open your prayer book and lay the edge of the ribbon about an inch past the top in the middle of the book (as shown in the picture). Then extend it diagonally across the page 2-3 inches past the corner. Definitely make the ribbon longer than shorter – you can always cut them down later. It is important that you measure them across the page diagonally because if they are too short, you won’t be able to use them to turn pages.

Next, tape or glue the ribbons to the top of the file card. Make sure they are secure or they will rip off when you are using them. If you have a bunch of ribbons you may need to overlap them slightly.

Then insert the card between where the pages are sewn together and the outside of the spine — and you are done!

Now you can set your page markers. I recommend placing a ribbon in the following places:

Minimally:

-Orders for Daily Prayer (75ff.)
-Weekly Seasonal Collect (211ff.)
-Psalms (585ff.)
-Lectionary (936ff.)

My Ideal:

-Orders for Daily Prayer (75ff.)
-Canticles in Morning Prayer – for use during Morning and Evening Prayer (85ff.)
-Great Litany (148) (especially during Lent)
-Weekly Season Collect (211ff.)
-Holy Days Collects (237ff.)
-Psalms (585ff.)
-Prayers (810ff.)
-Lectionary (936ff.) – unless of course you use my Readings Booklets!

It is easiest to use the ribbon itself to turn the pages. Just grab the bottom of the ribbon, drag it around the book just past the bottom corner and then pull the book open using the ribbon. This is what makes using the ribbons superior to using standard book marks (plus they don’t fall out and get lost). As you move forward in the Psalms, Canticles, etc., just move the ribbon forward as you go to keep your place.

At the beginning I suggest taking another 3 x 5 card and write down which colors are for which section. Keeping your color-scheme consistent will make it easier over the long-term. Then stick the card in the cover of your Prayer Book so for the first while you can have it to help you remember which ribbon marks where. In a few weeks you won’t need the card any more – you’ll get the hang of it real soon.

Related posts

• How to Pray the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer (Part 6) – The Prayers (0)
• How to Pray the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer (Part 4) – The Psalms (4)
• How to Pray the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer (Part 3) – The Opening (0)
• How to Pray the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer (Part 1) – Christian Year Overview (8)
• Practical Suggestions for Celebrating the Church Year (2)