Customer Reviews

Liturgy of the Hours (4-Volume Set)

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I started with the one-volume "Christian Prayer" and moved to this four-volume "Liturgy of the Hours" after a couple of years at the advice of some beautiful, praying people I have met in the third order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and on the internet.

The four-volume set has many more readings for the day and more prayers than "Christian Prayer" (which I've thought of as the Reader's Digest version of the Liturgy of the Hours). [On the other hand, "Christian Prayer" does have the music as well as the words for the songs (the Liturgy of the Hours has only words), so you can sound out songs you may not have heard before].

I'm glad I invested in the leather binding for the 4-vol. Liturgy of the Hours. It is more expensive, but worth it. The book lies flat without you holding it down. This has been useful when I have prayed in the hospital, while nursing a baby, or had to leave my prayers for a moment before coming back to the page.

The day prayers are brief and have provided me with a healing respite when in the middle of a hectic work day, stopping in a church to pray a bit, settle my heart and fears, and refocus on the Lord.

The Office for the Dead has consoled me recently, with its tender focus on the mercy of the Lord.

The poetry section has introduced me to poets whose work I never knew was so deeply influenced by their faith. (I'm carrying John Donne on my Palm Pilot right now.)

"Keep in mind that Jesus Christ has died for us and is risen from the dead. He is our saving Lord, He is joy for all ages." This book can remind you of that joy throughout your days and even during a sleepless night.

This set of books, 4 in all follows the Catholic church's liturgical calendar. I started with the single volume, which only has morning and evening prayer. I was a bit disatisfied with that format so I sought this set. The single volume was a good start but I found myself desiring more. The books are broken down into the various seasons, at the time of this review we are currently in the largest volume, Lent. They are arranged to allow the reader some latitiude in how much prayer you wish to do for the day. I prefer to start with the Office of Reading (after the mandatory first prayer of the day, the Invitatory) and go directly to morning prayer. Most days, I don't have the opportunity to follow through with midmorning,midday and afternoon prayer although some people do. Next would be evening prayer (or more commonly known as vespers)followed just before bed with night prayer. While much of these prayers are from psalms, I prefer the office of readings as they are longer readings, currently from Exodus, which allows more material for meditation. The prayers are suitable for individual or group prayer, I've used them both ways. All in all a must have set of books, especially for anyone currently discerning a religious vocation.

It takes a while to get the hang of using the Liturgy of the Hours, but it is well worth the effort. I highly recommend finding someone else who already prays the Hours to help you learn to navigate. The easiest way is to pray with them until you can find your way on your own. There would very likely be someone in your local Catholic parish who can help you.

The Liturgy of the Hours can be used for private prayer and meditation as well as for communal worship. Concentrating on the words, it is easy to lift one's heart to God. The translations of the Psalms and Canticles are beautiful.

The one-volume set has the music in the back of the book. The four-volume set assumes you already know the melody to the hymns. If you don't know the melody, you can read them as poems instead of singing them.

The Liturgy of the Hours is a great stepping stone to transforming our entire lives into prayer. The single volume Christian Prayer is a good starter. With the discipline of sticking with it daily, we tend to thirst for more. Then the four volume, more extensive set becomes a valuable purchase. The organization of its volumes into the various liturgical seasons better than the single book enhances our ability to focus on them.

Where can this lead? By dedicating each thing we think, say or do as a pray offering to God, we gradually grow into a state of constant prayer. It isn't necessary to be directly thinking about God as we pursue each task of our daily lives. Simply their dedication makes of them a prayer. The result is that we become consciously aware of God's presence on an ongoing basis. It's like when a person is standing behind us. They see everything we do, hear everything we say but we can't see them. Yet we KNOW they are there, and are aware of it at all times.

Once we are constantly mindful of God's presence, we allow Him to begin the purgative process, as St John of the Cross explains it. We think of hell as a 'firey furnace,' yet in the New Testament fire refers more often to God's love than anything else. In Hebrews and Wisdom 3, Scripture speaks of gold being purified in fire. Gold jewelry is an alloy with another metal, to enable crafters to shape it into a permanent, hardened state since gold is a soft, maleable metal. When we heat it up to 2500 degrees, though, it returns to its molten or liquid state, and the other metal (or 'impurity') easily separates from the gold, leaving only the pure, 24 carat gold.

Constant awareness of God's presence allows Him to begin to burn away our impurities by exposure to the fire of His perfect love. We feel the dissonance of everything that we think, say or do with His love when they fail to conform with that love. This spiritual discomfort becomes a gentle pressure, as we naturally begin to conform our lives to that fire of love. As we yield to His love and permit Him to transform our lives thus, we grow closer to entrance into perfect union with Him, which is essentially what heaven is. John of the Cross notes that this is what happens in Purgatory, but that we can make greater strides in that process during this life.

One by-product of this type of spiritual growth is that we acquire a keener sense of what God's will is. In the Last Supper discourse of John's Gospel, Jesus repeatedly says that whatever we ask for in His Father's name shall be done for us. St John qualifies that, though, in his first Letter by adding that what we ask of God must be in accordance with His will. As we conform our lives to His love, we increasingly feel more exactly what is in concert with it and what is not. Thus, we become more refined in terms of the prayers of petition that we ask of Him.

The Liturgy of the Hours is an excellent way to strive toward the prayer discipline that lets God draw us into that deeper spirituality, and ultimately into perfect union with Him for eternity.

This four volume set is used by Catholic clergy and lay people throughout the world. It contains Psalms, Old Testament scriptures, New Testament Scriptures, writings of the early Christians, disciples of the Apostles, Church Fathers, Saints and Catholics who lived throughout the 2000 years since the time of Christ. Many Christians other than Catholics use the "Liturgy of the Hours" to enhance their spiritual life.

I recommend all four volumes whole heartedly.

The liturgy of the hours has been in use for a long time in the Catholic Church. It is wonderful book which has psalms, old testament readings, new testament readings for each season for the liturgical book. It helps a person to follow's Jesus' commandment to pray always. I have used this book for the past 12 years I found it very helpful in my prayer life. I plan to use it for the rest of my life.

The Liturgy of the Hours is a tremendous aid to Christian prayer. Based in the psalms, the four volume set provides the pray-er with the all that is needed for Morning Prayer, Daytime Prayer, Evening and Night Prayer as well as the Office of Readings. It takes a little learning of "how to" - but a comprehensive guide is provided. EXCELLENT for individual or group use.

The Liturgy of the Hours is well worth the investment. I find the daily readings to be a real source of spiritual strength, and would highly recommend that anyone interested in improving their prayer life consider investing in this set of books.

The initial difficulty I found with these books is understanding the order of the different prayers of the day. With some persistence, and patience, I have overcome this difficulty and now have the reading order and structure down pat. I would recommend that if you have difficulty understanding the structure of the Liturgy of the Hours, or rather "how to pray" the Hours, you consult someone that is familiar with the prayers who can personally instruct you. A priest, monk, or nun should be able to provide you with the necessary instruction.

My only regret is that I sometimes do not have enough time during the day to read the Hours, but this is more a matter of personal discipline than a fault of the books. I can usually read the Hours in their entirety within a single hour or two.

To add to the readings, I will play some light Gregorian chant in the background, and burn some incense. It's my personal way of praying that I have found helpful - The incense reminds me of the holy Mass, and the music reminds me of the chorus at Mass.

One of my favorite parts of the Liturgy of the Hours is the Office of the Readings, which includes a reading from the Bible followed by a historical reading, typically from a famous saint, pope, or other Catholic historical figure. These readings provide a wonderful insight into the biblical reading of the day.

These books would make excellent reading for a weekend retreat. The pictorial biography that I have on Pope John Paul II indicated that he would read the Liturgy of the Hours in the early afternoon, as the morning was occupied with Mass, and the evenings with a Rosary. The Pope would follow the evening Rosary with the Compline, which is the final reading of the day from the Liturgy of the Hours.

These are the same readings that priests, monks, and nuns are expected to read daily, preferably at the assigned hour of the day. If you take up the practice of daily reading the Liturgy of the Hours, you will be reading the same prayers as read throughout the Catholic world by devout Catholics worldwide.

I also find that there is a recurrent theme of praise towards God in the psalms, and prayers for protection against sin and wickedness. If you need spiritual strength in a difficult time, these books would certainly provide you with spiritual strength if read with regularity.

I highly recommend these books. They have been a source of inspiration to my efforts at prayer. I hope you found this review helpful.

My wife and I had each been using a copy of the one volume book (but different editions) for several years hoping to some day expand our use to include the Office of Readings. We were greatly pleased to find the quality of the binding, cover, and print in these four volume sets. The goldleaf on the page edges gives a real sense of the value of this prayer style. While the price was about the same as from the publisher shipping from Amazon was an unbelievable $45.00 less.
Great prayer and great savings too!

If you are seeking a way to delve deeper into your Catholic faith on a daily (even hourly) basis, this is the foremost way to do it. The Church's liturgy includes prayers, hymns, Scripture and homily readings that will carry you through the day.