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The Little Book of Hours: Praying with the Community of Jesus

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A week ago, I got to spend time at a Trappist Catholic Monastery near Charleston, South Carolina called Mepkin Abbey. During the time I was there, I spent time praying with monks during their Liturgy of the Hours which this book describes as "an ancient tradition of the church, sometimes called the Liturgy of the Hours, or the Divine Office, which punctutates the day with prayer at certain times: morning, noon, evening and night." Among the liturgies I participated with the monks at Mepkin Abbey were: (1. "Morning Prayer or Lauds" according to this book (2. "Midday" prayer (3. "Vespers" which according to this book is "Latin for 'evening star' and "is a prayer of thanksgiving as we look back on the day and finally, (4. Compline, which according to this book means "from the Latin,. . .'complete' or 'finished.'" According to this book, and what I experienced at Mepkin, Compline "closes the day, as we commend ourselves to God's care through the night." I knew I would only stay at Mepkin for a few days but I wanted to continue the daily prayers that the monks at Mepkin do every day. At the gift shop at Mepkin, I asked one of the monks there what book of prayer I could use after I left Mepkin so I could participate in the "Hours" or Liturgy of Prayer that the monks did everyday. He recommended 4 books- One of those books was this book, the little book of Hours Praying with the Community of Jesus. With this book, I can now participate in the prayer of the monks at Mepking Abbey even though I am no longer there: This book, according to its book jacket, "presents a modified version of the Liturgy of the Hours. . .providing four weeks of services, with three services for each day." These services are Morning Prayer, Midday Prayer, and Vespers Prayer, as well as Compline Prayer for the end of the day. It has been very rewarding for me to read this book out loud during the various prayer times of the day. It allows me to pray. This book describes itself quite well: "You hold this book in your hands because, like us at the Community of Jesus, you believe that praying has something to do with living." In fact, I would say that praying has everything to do with living, and that with this book, you can participate in that living. Compline, which closes this book, has its Closing Prayers end with these words:

Into your hands, O Lord,

I commend my spirit.

For you have redeemed us, Lord,

O God of truth.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Our Father, who art in heaven. ..

Lord, hear my prayer.

And let my cry come unto you.

Let us bless the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

May divine help always be with us.

And with those who are absent from us.

Amen.

First, let me say that I am not familiar with the Community of Jesus, so I cannot speak to their practices or philosophy. That being said, my wife and I used this little book on a daily basis to help us in a difficult time. Praying together during fixed points in the day brought us to a new level of communion with ourselves and with God. I didn't find any of the prayers or meditations controversial or unhealthy towards my sense of self. On the contrary, the words were very beautiful and profound.

perfect for travel, in the purse to work, to have for all the hours one wants to pray. it does not have the 'canticles' written in it for morning/eve/night...but if you've memorized them it works perfectly

The Community of Jesus is listed as the author of this book. Odd -- "communities" don't write books; people do. But this community is one in which selfhood is constantly under attack so the group attribution is no surprise to those of us who (too) well know the place.

There is undoubtedly some helpful advice in this book, but unless you want your money going to support a group accused by many of its ex-members as being cultish, authoritarian, mind-controlling, and abusive, you might want to look elsewhere for spiritual guidance.