Editor’s note: This article was first published in the Aug. 2, 1997, issue of America, titled “Praying the Psalms: Some Notes.” For some years I have been keeping rather extensive reading notebooks.

Master of Saint Augustine, "Scenes from the Life of St. Augustine of Hippo" (c. 1490), central panel of a triptych Belgium, Bruges (all photos courtesy the Morgan Library & Museum unless otherwise ...

Over the centuries, perhaps no volume of poetry has claimed the devotion of so many people across the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and also inspired the creation of artistic ...

In the center of the room, under glass, a Hebrew Bible lies open to the Book of Psalms. Gold leaf glimmers on the borders; red dragons grasp a blue shield while green and blue birds perch on curling ...

The Prayer Book of St. Thomas More, which he had with him in the Tower of London as he awaited his execution. Credit: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University When beauty and ...