I really love the idea of this book and I have enjoyed so many of the prayers and hymns. Definitely recommend. I did this along with my devotionals or sometimes it was my devotional. It's not really a book you need to read every day but some mornings it was the way I started my day. I really enjoyed and I'll be doing the others throughout the year and revisiting this one again towards the fall/winter time.

A very helpful devotional tool. Each day has four prayers to use. They help give your day a real rhythm, and there is a context for each (e.g. the morning prayer contains a request to keep one from sin while the vespers and compline prayers contain words of repentance for the sins committed for the day). The book also follows (though a bit more loosely than other books) the liturgical calender (in this volume, for example, there are advent and Christmas prayers). Many elements remain the same each day, and they are noticeable when absent (such as the lack of the recitation of the Gloria Patri during Advent). All in all, I really appreciated this book, and it helped to remind me throughout the day whom I serve. On to volume three!

Just finished. (I didn't read it in-line with the calendar.)

This is a great book for starting to pray regularly. It is a compilation of scriptures, hymns, and church prayers. Highly recommend

So, this isn't the kind of book you read straight through obviously since it is a daily prayer book, but I love it. it has prayer 3 to for times a day, and revives the ancient practice of keeping the daily office. Nothing I have read or done recently has helped my prayer life more!

One of the finest novels in the English language, but unputdownable.

Phyllis Tickle has created such a beautiful resource for praying the Divine Hours. I did morning prayer and Vespers every day. So inspiring and comforting. Now on to Springtime and Lent.

Another good collection of prayers. I appreciated the extra prayers for Advent and Christmas.

The book is part of a three book set that covers the entire calendar year as well as providing special material for Lent and Advent. Please see my review for "The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime" by Phyllis Tickle.

Please see my review for "The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime" by Phyllis Tickle.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Of all of the web-based and book-form daily hour prayers, The Divine Hours seems to most closely fit my daily routine. There are a total of three volumes for the year; there is also a night-time Divine Hours from Oxford Press for over-night prayers. The Psalms are heavily cited, as well as other prayers, poetry, canticles and more. The only thing I don't follow closely is the reading of offices on exactly the hour or half-hour, as suggested in the book.

2025-02-09

Review 2025.02.002

Reviewers Note: It is the beginning of 2025 and one of the skills I desire to grow in is that of writing book reviews (having never done this before). I am doing this so I can better hone my writing (and reading) skills as I seek to think more critically about the books I am reading. I am sharing on Goodreads for my own personal development. I know this will be something I am always growing in so if you actually read these, please be patient with me as I develop this skill. I will also receive constructive criticism if you desire to help me become a better writer (and reader). I plan to use this disclaimer for the entire 2025 year.

The Divine Hours: Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle
688 Pages

Last year I read “Praying With The Church” by Scot McKnight. He discussed the liturgy of the church and the beauty of praying it together with the universal church. I have never been one for devotionals or praying things from a book but Mr. McKnight had a lot of compelling arguments and suggestions. One of those suggestions was The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle and so I bought the first volume (Summertime). I told myself if I made it to the end with relative success I would continue growing in my liturgical praying.

This is the second volume (Autumn and Wintertime) so I must have been successful. This book is just as accessible as the first one. While most days I am not as engaged in the text as I would like to be, doing the three daily prayers (Lauds, Sext, and Vespers) forces me to stop and focus attention on the things that are above if only for a few minutes. It has also given me the opportunity to read more of the Psalms as a bulk of the prayers in these books are just parts of the Psalms.

For protestants concerned about such things, there have been a few references to the apocrypha books but they are rare. There are also some references to praying to saints but very limited (I would guess less than five times in the two books I’ve read). I do not believe these will hinder your use of the books. There are a few issues with alignment on the Kindle edition but this is to be expected. And there seems to be a reoccurring typo where the word “play” is written instead of the word “pray”. It is one specific prayer that was duplicated with the typo.

There are also Compline prayers in the books but I have not included that in my current system. Given the success I have had though, I would like to add the Compline in the future. The issue is at night I tend to fall asleep reading instead of having a clear and focused mind. However, I do plan to add a longer and more mindful time with the Sext (noontime) prayer when I start year two of my liturgy growth. This will be more micro-reading while I take notes and think more deeply about the prayer.

Liturgical prayers are not for everyone. I honestly didn’t think they were for me until I tried them. I can recommend this book for at least two different groups of people. First for anyone who desires to grow in liturgy and doesn’t have a background in it, this is a good place to start. Second for anyone who wants to grow in prayer generally but doesn’t know where to begin. These books can be used to give you a starting point. The text provided can be your entire prayer or it can lead you into your own prayer.

There may be better liturgy books to begin with but my experience is limited.

A nice way to bring an order and settledness to daily, regular prayer. Not repetitive and not Catholic theology.

Very nice find.

If this is your first intro to fixed-hour prayer, Divine Hours can seem a little heavy. You might want to first try Common Prayer by Claiborne. However, this amazing series gives a much deeper journey into the practice as it includes 3 unique prayers for each day and a set of daily prayers for each month's compline. It also includes various special weeks for the high seasons of the Church. Following the BCP, with readings primarily from the Jerusalem Bible, and excerpts from Christians of many times, nationalities, and branches of the faith, you won't find a more beautiful way to structure your daily prayer life.