Gone Before Us

Gone Before Us is a meditation rendering of songs, psalms, readings and traditional prayers from the Office of the Dead, for the hours of the morning, at daytime, in the evening, at bedtime, and in the middle of the night. When in grief or when hearing news of the death of a loved one, these sets of prayer can be very consoling. The psalms and canticles are slightly altered from the meditation rendering of the compiler's "One Week in Ordinary Time." Choices made in this meditation rendering are available at idjc.org/hinge-hours/, except that "The Lord" is used here instead of the Hebrew "Adonai" for the divine name. Gone Before Us is dedicated to Will D, Campbell, the Baptist preacher who helped me to get to know Mr. Jesus, and Edward Alberts, Catholic pastor, vicar of liquor and friend, whose June 2013 deaths finally prompted this long-considered compilation. Stephen Joseph Wolf is a parish priest in Clarksville, Tennesse, who spends most Mondays in silence and solitude writing for faith sharing groups and spiritual direction. For more visit idjc.org.