The Divine Hours, Pocket Edition

I am an Evangelical Protestant and I feel that people like me have a lot to gain spiritually by returning to some of the spiritual practices of earlier Christian traditions. Praying the hours is a great help to anyone who wants to grow in faith and spirituality. Miss Tickle makes the process very easy unlike most works on the hours. The only issue I have is with the fact that certain Catholic/Anglican ideas have made their way into a work that is mostly timeless and useful for Christians of any denomination. Such is, of course, to be expected and I don't let it take away from my five-star rating. Such ideas as veneration of saints and Eucharist are not dogmatic in nature given the devotional quality of the divine hours and are easily ignored if anyone feels uncomfortable with ideas outside of their tradition. I know I probably shouldn't, but I am also writing this as a review of Phyllis Tickle's full four volume set of the more complete hours. They follow the seasons and provide a different set of readings and prayers for every day of the year in the same simple, easy to follow format. The Pocket Edition is a great supplement, especially for the Midday Prayers for those of us who don't want to carry a full sized hardcover around with us but are willing to drag their little Kindle around all day. Work like this makes truly blessed forms of spiritual exercise available to groups of people that it hasn't been before and I would like to see more authors follow this author's example

Over the years, I have enjoyed the company of many prayer books. I love them, prayer books. I have used the prayer books compiled by Phyllis Tickle for a number of years now, most faithfully, her three-volume set of Divine Hours. While I enjoy the larger, more comprehensive set of the Divine Hours, it is somewhat cumbersome to carry when you are on the road and away from home and study. This pocket edition solves that problem.The Divine Office: Pocket Edition is set up to meet the needs of the full week of fixed-hour prayers also known as the Daily Offices of Prayer. Phyllis has allowed for each of the seven hours of the Office to be prayed, if that is your habit. She also includes in the indices Traditional, Seasonal, and Occasional Prayers and a listing of authors for prayers not taken directly from Scripture. If you are away from home, simply recycle and repeat the prayers as necessary. See also the online version of the Divine Hours.The prayer book is a good size, compact, slim, and has a very reasonable and readable font. There is nothing that I do not like about it; however, I do think a few minor improvements might be made. I would like the option of a leather bound edition along with one or two ribbon markers. My copy is a hardback edition and has no ribbon markers. This is certainly no deal-breaker, but it would be a nice option.

I had read about fixed-hour prayer for years and had wanted to try it but when I'd tried previously, the manuals, like the Book of Common Prayer, seemed overly complicated. When I saw this little book however, it didn't seem so intimidating. One week's worth of prayer and all laid out for you without having to know what liturgical week it was or flipping back and forth in the book, it was perfect! If you're looking to get your feet wet but perhaps feel it's too much, start here.I found it easy to get into a daily rhythm by setting an alarm for each time I should pray on my iPod Touch. I had always had a hard time with praying daily but now I feel much closer to God and can talk to him more freely. You may want to adjust the suggested times to say the prayers to better fit your schedule and don't worry about saying all seven offices, start with one or two and go from there.One negative thing about the book is that it instructs you to say The Gloria and The Our Father but doesn't give you the words to them at all. While finding the words was relatively easy, it seems like a no-brainer to include them for the uninitiated.

Finding, moving through the ebook is cumbersome. I would like it to be a smoother transition. Thank you for the beauty of the prayers I find them inspiring.

This is a great introductory book for protestants looking to get into a pattern of saying daily ritual prayers. Tickle has pared down her larger books into a pocket edition with a week's worth of prayers (said several times a day). In the back are some traditional and occasional prayers.One addition that would be nice would be to print the Lord's Prayer, the Gloria, and a few of the other prayers mentioned as one line in the daily prayer rounds - these are not spelled out anywhere in the book, and for the novice, a copy in the back would be helpful.

I own Tickles 3 volume work The Divine Hours. The beauty of this little volume is the simplicity of it, one has only the days of the week rather than a years calendar for prayers. Obviously this leaves a lot of material out, but it is much more accessible and manageable. There are, as in the larger work, some real treasures in the daily prayers, such as hymns like Cowpers God Moves In Mysterious Ways, along with quotes from the great mystics. I also like very much the prayers included in the back, the Collect for Purity from the BCP, prayed daily by John Wesley, Anima Christi, the Prayer of Saint Francis, and many others. If you like liturgical prayer, or are simply curious about it, this would make a great beginning.

I like this edition - and it is handy to have with me in my Kindle. The drawback is that the table of contents lists only the days - not the services within the days. So, if I want to read Vespers, I need to go to the contents, find the day, then page through the services that precede Vespers. It would be handier if, say, under Thursday, Vespers and the other services were listed separately. This book is one of those that would be better used as a real book, rather than an e-book.

This is wonderful for continuing to do The Daily Office while I travel. In a way I like it even better than the larger seasonal books, because it has more options for time of day. There is no time of day there is not a set of prayers for. I wish the larger manuals had that. I especially enjoyed the early morning prayers.

I've been using Phyllis Tickle's 3-volume 'Divine Hours' books for some time now as a devotional supplement, but they're big-ish books, and not ideal for taking on a trip or holiday.This little book addresses that need perfectly. Like the larger books, it includes Morning and Midday Prayers, Vespers and Compline for a full week, together with a selection of traditional, seasonal, and other prayers.However, it actually goes a step further, because it also includes Midnight, Night-watch, and Dawn prayers. I like this. I keep the book at my bedside, and if I wake up during the night (I'm not a good sleeper!) I can put the time to good use until I'm ready to sleep again.Highly recommended.

For anyone with a love of liturgy this one is for you. A great taste of the 'Divine Hours' series for those who, like me, have not bought the bigger volumes. This has encouraged me to add those to my wishlist.Lovely prayers, great verse, well written, easy to slot into daily life whether you go the whole hog and do all seven offices or just cherry pick the ones that fit your schedule. The joy of this book is that it's handbag sized so can be taken anywhere for the orthodox follower.My only critiscism was that 'The Gloria' was requested but not actually written in anywhere so I had to look it up in order to 'pray' it. Would still highly recommend it to those seeking a prayful life.

Love this. Perfect size. Covering ALL the services of night and day for one whole week. Just right for inspiring, meditative contemplation.

I gave this little book to a friend for her birthday. The quality of the pages and illustrations are excellent. My firend was very pleased with her present.

Good quality product. Will do business with this company again.