A Book of Uncommon Prayer

Acclaimed, award-winning essayist and novelist Brian Doyle (1956-2017)—whose writing, in the words of Mary Oliver, is “a gift to us all”—offers one hundred original prayers that evoke his deep Catholic belief in the mystery and miracle of the ordinary (and the whimsical) in human life.  

In A Book of Uncommon Prayer: 100 Celebrations of the Miracle & Muddle of the Ordinary, which was named “A Best Spiritual Book of the Year” by Spirituality & Practice, you will find a series of prayers unlike any of the beautiful, formal, orthodox prayers of the Catholic tradition or the warm, extemporized prayers heard from pulpits and dinner tables. Doyle’s often-dazzling, always-poignant prayers include eye-opening hymns to shoes and faith and family. In Doyle’s words, “the world is crammed with miracles, so crammed and tumultuous that if we stop, see, savor, we are agog,” and the pages of his book give voice and body to this credo. By focusing on experiences that may seem the most unprayerful (one prayer is titled “Prayer on Seeing Yet Another Egregious Parade of Muddy Paw Prints on the Floor”), he gives you permission to discover the joys and treasures in what he often calls the muddle of everyday life.

192 pages. Paperback.