The Night Offices: Prayers for the Hours from Sunset to Sunrise (Hardcover)

~ Phyllis Tickle (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"People who have become accustomed to using Tickle's trilogy The Divine Hours will appreciate this paperback edition."
--Christian Century
"...satisfying windows into the ritual of fixed-hour prayer."--Publishers Weekly Religion Bookline

Product Description

Phyllis Tickle's inspirational trilogy The Divine HoursTM was the first major literary and liturgical reworking of the sixth-century Benedictine Rule of fixed-hour prayer--an age-old discipline of saying prayers at certain times of the day. This highly regarded trilogy has become one of America's best-loved and most frequently consulted manuals for observing this ancient form of Christian worship.
Now, in The Night Offices, Tickle offers the perfect complement to The Divine HoursTM, bringing together prayers, psalms, hymn texts, religious poetry and other readings not included in the original trilogy, covering the offices for the hours from late evening (Compline) to early morning (Prime). Fans of the Divine HoursTM will recognize Tickle's simple, elegant format, her use of a modern calendar rather than a liturgical one, and the single ribbon in the binding, to track one's progress through the year. As in the trilogy, Tickle makes primary use of the Book of Common Prayer and the writings of the Church Fathers, and she draws all the scriptural readings from the Revised Standard Version. The book includes a set of Matins, Lauds, and Prime specific to each day of the week and varied only by month. Thus, the Monday reading for January would be used every Monday in January, but Monday in February would have new offices for it. The cumulative total, being 84 Matins, 84 Lauds, and 84 Prime (252 offices), fits neatly into a single, nightstand edition, a small, compact book that can be comfortably held in the hand.
Easy to use, poetically rich, with a superb sampling of devotional works, The Night Offices will be welcomed by a broad readership, Christian and non-Christian alike.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195306716
• ISBN-13: 978-0195306712
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,034 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent nighttime prayer resource, December 26, 2006

By	Chuck Warnock "Chuck Warnock" (Chatham, VA United States) - See all my reviews

I admit that I am a fan of Phyllis Tickle. I own her 3-volume set, The Divine Hours, and it is one of the finest multi-volume prayer books available. Her newest book, The Night Offices, follows in the same tradition of her earlier work. Excellently bound and inclusive of a single, sewn-in marker ribbon, this volume proudly joins the others in her series.

Notwithstanding its subtitle, "Prayers for the Hours from Sunset to Sunrise," this volume covers three "offices" -- The Office of Midnight (10:30 PM to 1:30 AM); The Office of the Night Watch (1:30 to 4:30 AM); and, The Office of Dawn (4:30 to 7:30 AM). If you like The Divine Hours, you'll want to get this volume to complete the set.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and varied nighttime prayer., April 5, 2007

By	Michael Jones (Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Phyllis Tickle knows prayer as only a prayerful woman can. The bedtime prayers are our favorites because they often acknowledge the jangling events of the day but then conclude with the comforts God offers. We also recommend The Devine Hours, Tickle's varied seasonal prayers for the more active times of the day. Revs. Micahel+ and Beverly.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tradition Is Rich, November 20, 2007

By	Joshua D. Brown "www.iamjoshbrown.com/blog" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a book of prayers that are meant to be used from the hours between sunset and sunrise. It's more or less a compilation of scripture and prayers that have been prayed and recited throughout our common history. In a time in my life when I'm feeling like I have less and less to "tell God" and more and more to "listen to" . . . this book of prayers was like a deep well of treasures. In a Christian culture where a "good prayer life" seems to focus on "individualistic" wants rather than global needs, having a vast collection of well-worn prayers that have been repeated over and over for centuries is a nice change of pace. I'm not sure if some of my more Protestant friends will be comfortable with praying something that is not "theirs", but I think that's where the beauty lies. Praying something that is the community's yet uniquely individual. It's the best of both world. The community gives the gift that the individual can enjoy for the benefit of the community. Which I have a hunch is what is so powerful about the liturgies. My only complaint was that I got it from the library and only had it for 3 weeks. It's definitely on my early Christmas list.