You know how I love free stuff, especially when they are Lutheran resources!!! Emmanuel Press has recently announced that Starck’s Motherhood Prayers for All Occasions is now available as a free download on their website!
Here’s a little history. You just might be able to recognize the name Johann Friedrich Starck from Starck’s Prayer Book. This Johann is not the more controversial Johann August von Starck, btw (Thanks, Wikipedia). He was a Lutheran pastor in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, who wrote devotional material and poetry with, if I remember correctly, something of a moderate pietistic bent. Therefore his stuff published in LCMS circles tends to be edited and tweaked a bit.
Anyway, Rev. Starck is known for affirming traditions of the Lutheran church and stressed the importance of the sacraments. Yay!
Both of my copies (one of each book) were theologically edited by Franz Pieper and translated by WHT Dau. Pieper, who wrote the highly influential Pieper Christian Dogmatics set, is an asset, I’m sure. Rev. William Herman Theodore Dau was no theological light-weight either! He helped to translate the Book of Concordia in the Concordia Triglotta—a beautiful parallel edition with Latin, German, and English! (I think it’s amazing! Although I can’t seem to find it well represented on Amazon. 🙁 CPH at least faithfully offers it as printable-on-demand here.)
Back to Starck’s Motherhood Prayers, these prayers were originally appended to his larger prayer book, but are now available in a separate form, both in print and in free digital download. (Although, since I can’t find a link for the print version that I have, maybe it’s out of print for now.)
Admittedly, these prayers are from the 18th century so they make an interesting tool for both womanly introspection and maternal devotion. You can keep that in mind before you email it to every single woman you’ve met in a coffee shop, but I hope you do download it and give it a thorough read. Maybe I can write up a review of it over my stay-cation/spring break to come.
As you skim through the other free goodies Emmanuel Press has to offer, you can give thanks to God for free Lutheran resources! Woo hoo! Thanks, Emmanuel Press!