The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime (Paperback)

by Phyllis Tickle (Author)
Key Phrases: glorious resurrec tion, obtain everlast ing life, faithful people offer, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, The Call (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“The Divine HoursTM is simply the best book for people who want to work prayer into the fabric of their daily life.”
—Bert Ghezzi, author of Voices of the Saints

“A welcome remedy for the increasing number of lay Christians who have rediscovered the Daily Offices . . . Tickle puts each day’s prayers, psalms, readings, and refrains—everything you need—in one place . . . The rhythm that Tickle’s book establishes gives one a stronger sense of participating in an ancient, worldwide but very personal liturgy.”
—Nora Gallagher, Beliefnet.com, and author of Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith


Product Description
Phyllis Tickle, among the most respected authorities on religion in America today, is one of many modern Christians who observe the ancient tradition of praying the Divine Hours, also known as the Daily Offices. This final volume in paperback, The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime, provides four sets of offices—morning, midday, vespers, and compline—for every day from October through January. Each includes prayers, psalms, and Bible readings for each day of these two festive seasons which include the Feast of All Saints, the Season of Advent, the days of Christmas, and the Epiphany.

Making primary use of the Book of Common Prayer and the writings of the Church Fathers, The Divine Hours is also a companion to the New Jerusalem Bible, from which it draws its Scripture readings. It blends prayer and praise in a way that respects and builds upon the ancient wisdom of Christianity—yet it is extraordinarily fresh and vibrant.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Image (September 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038550540X
• ISBN-13: 978-0385505406
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #126,939 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars AVOID THIS VERSION AT ALL COSTS!!!!!, July 25, 2006

By	T. A. Ward (El Paso, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The printed versions of The Divine Hours are marvelous. The online versions (of which there are several) should be avoided at all costs.

I am a great fan and reader of the Divine Hours series. I have been in the computer industry all my life so I recently purchased the electronic version for my Palm PDA and was looking forward to having your work with me as I travelled.

There is a very serious ommission, however, that renders it virtually unusable.

There is NO TABLE OF CONTENTS by day. The table of contents only lists the months. Thus, if I miss a day or two of readings (which is not uncommon), it is IMPOSSIBLE to return to a specific day.

All I can do is search for some text for a specific day (that I have previously found in the printed version). If I don't have the printed text handy, there is no way to return to a specific date.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My go-to series for daily devotions, February 13, 2008

By	M. Smith "cenmad" (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tickle has done a great service for everyone who practices daily devotions. Along with the "Prayers for Summertime" and "Prayers for Springtime," this book provides everything one needs to pray one or all of the Daily Offices (the night prayers of Matins, Laud, and Prime are contained in her "The Night Offices").

The book is broken into chapters by month, with daily Morning Prayer, Midday Prayer, and Vespers. Compline is the same from week to week within a given month, so Tickle provides the seven days of Compline readings at the back of each month. The Introduction also includes a history of the Divine Hours and some instruction in how the use the prayers. She encourages readers to chant or sing the psalms or prayers when appropriate, but affirms that silent reading, chanting, or singing is a matter of personal preferences.

Each day's Offices follow the structure of the Book of Common Prayer, although the old familiar Invitatories and Responses are replaced by other varied, often less-familiar, lines from Scripture. The readings are usually biblical, but may also be from Christian sources. All-in-all, each office takes only a few minutes to read to oneself, and is varied, accessible, and enjoyable. The book, itself, is easy to use (although a built-in bookmark or two would be great), the type is easy to read, and it's not so heavy I'm going to mind packing it for a trip (although it's not a small book, by any means).

I highly recommend this book and its companions for the Divine Office beginner or regular practitioner. Those new to daily prayer may also enjoy Brook's The School of Prayer: An Introduction to the Divine Office for All Christians.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book, January 9, 2007

By	Isabel - See all my reviews

For anyone looking to pray the Hours, this is an easy way to do it.
Each day's prayers are very easily accessible and very easy to follow.
It really does not take that much time out of the day, and the time to pause and pray throughout the day is its own reward. Thank you Phyllis Tickle for bringing the Divine Hours to all of us.