The Book of
Common Prayer

Imprimatur
Preface
Acknowledgement

Prayers

Prologue
Qawmo
Ninth Hour
Evening
Bed Time
Midnight
Morning
Third Hour
Sixth Hour

Appendices

Qawmo for
    Passion Week
Holy Confession
Sunday School
    Hymns
Bibliography

According to the Syrian rite, each member of the Church is required to pray seven times a day. The Church does not strictly enforce this requirement. However, every one of the faithful are expected to say the prayers at least two times: a day—morning and evening. The morning prayers include four sets of prayers—midnight, morning, third hour and sixth hour. Evening prayers include three sets of prayers-ninth hour, evening and bed time. Each time a prayer starts with a prologue and a Qawmo which is a set of prayers with Trisagion and the Lord's prayer. The prayer also ends with the Qawmo and Nicene Creed.

Prayer is very important in Christian life. In prayer, a person transcends oneself to be in communion with God while praising and glorifying Him. The person is engaged in a relationship with God whom he encounters in prayer as a personal reality. Christ is the focus of that relationship, for in Christ, God the Father is accessible to us.

The value of prayer in our lives should not be underestimated. It is said that, " Our praise here on earth is related to the praise we will sing in heaven, for there cannot be among the heavenly host anybody who has not learnt to sing praises while on earth" (Catechism for Sunday School, 1985, p.166). St. Paul exhorts us, "Since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with him. Be rooted in Him, Be built in Him; ..." (Col. 2: 6-7).

It is widely accepted that Very Rev. Konattu Mathen Malpan was the pioneer in translating prayers from Syriac into Malayalam. The book popularly known as Pampakuda Namaskaram was published with the permission of Patriarch Ignatius Abded Aloho in 1910. This prayer book is based on the Pampakuda Namaskaram.

This prayer book is compiled for the benefit of the children of our Church living outside Kerala, especially in the United States of America. Special attention has been paid to identify authentic Syriac words. This will ensure that the vocabulary is intelligible and that the distortions in meanings are virtually eliminated. Biblical quotations are not extracted from a single source and this could lead to potential differences with a particular version of the Bible.

Fr. K. Mani Rajan
February, 1993.