The Book of Before & After is the traditional name given to the book of commonly-used portions of the liturgy of the hours of the Church of the East (the branches of which are now the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Apostolic Assyrian Church of the East, and the Malabar Catholic Church). This volume will present, for the first time, a complete English translation (from the original Aramaic/Syriac) of all the Ordinaries and Commons of the Liturgy of the Hours used by all the Churches of this Tradition. It will also include a complete translation of the Psalter as included in the liturgical books (with antiphons and prayers between sets of Psalms), the full collection of the famous “Martyr Hymns,” and extensive selections of the Propers for each week of the Liturgical Year. Finally, the volume will also include translations of the Introductions written by the various Chaldean and Assyrian Patriarchs who published editions of the Hudhra (the full liturgy of the hours) over the past two centuries, as well as a comprehensive Introductory Essay by Younan. Many of the hymns translated in this volume will be singable according to their original melody.

Rev. Andrew Younan is professor of philosophy and biblical languages at John Paul the Great Catholic University and the author of Matter and Mathematics: An Essentialist Account of Laws of Nature.