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.