Go Forth Christian Soul: The Biography of a Prayer

The prayer Go forth Christian Soul on your journey from this world has supported generations of Christians in the moments of their dying. In this original biography of the prayer known as the Proficiscere the author traces the history of this well-known text from its origins in eighth-century France to the present day. During 1200 years of biography we meet an extraordinary range of people whose lives have affected or interacted with the life of the prayer. These include Thomas Cranmer William Caxton Cardinal Newman General Gordon of Khartoum Edward Elgar and Cardinal Basil Hume. Versions of this famous prayer have found their way into contemporary funeral liturgies. The author draws on liturgical scholarship history and not least his own experiences as a minister to the dying. At the end of this biography you will never look on your own dying or that of others around you as you have before. You will be better prepared at your death to hear the words Go forth Christian Soul. This is a fascinating and timely book: fascinating because it traces the life and meaning of what has come to be a much loved prayer and timely because although the prayer was originally composed in the Middle Ages for use with the dying it has been in recent centuries more frequently recited at funerals. People need to be helped to die well as Lampard argues and I hope his book will open up new avenues for good pastoral practice that is backed up by the kind of rich learning on offer here. --Kenneth Stevenson Anglican Bishop of Portsmouth England A whole book devoted to the history of just one ancient prayer for the dying may sound as if it is aimed only at specialist scholars but John Lampard has succeeded in writing in such a way as to make it accessible and interesting to the ordinary reader who will learn much here about changing attitudes towards death in the course of Christian history. --Paul Bradshaw Professor of Liturgy University of Notre Dame South Bend John Lampard is a Methodist minister in London and a former Local Preachers Secretary in the Methodist Church. He is the author of several short books as well as many articles and book reviews.