Both come from breviaries. Wikipedia says that a breviary “is is a liturgical book containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially for priests, in the Divine Office.”

The first is at Universalis.com. It contains complete readings and services for Morning Prayer (Lauds), Evening Prayer (Vespers), an Office of Readings and Night Prayer (Compline). At various times, I’ve used all of them or some. Currently, I use the Night Prayer before bed. The main advantage to this is that it uses the psalms for prayers. It also includes a time of examination of sin, which is helpful for me to stay in a spirit of repentance.

The second is an automated email service provided by Presbyterian Church USA. It includes the readings for the daily lectionary used in the Revised Common Lectionary. You can subscribe by sending a blank email to (click the link and it will automatically generate an email) mailto:dailylection-subscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org. I actually don’t use this anymore since using Universalis. But it is excellent as a guide for daily reading in the Psalms, New Testament, Old Testament and Gospel.

Technorati Tags: breviary, lectionary, devotions