When Phyllis Tickle''s marvelous devotional trilogy The Divine Hours? appeared, readers responded with gratitude, praise, and a great many requests for an edition of hourly prayers that they could easily carry with them--an edition that would make this ancient form of Christian worship compatible with the pace and mobility of modern life. Now, in The Divine Hours Pocket Edition?, Tickle has gathered one full week of fixed-hour prayers, providing an ideal companion for travelers, office-workers, people on retreat or pilgrimage, as well as newcomers to this age-old spiritual practice. As Tickle writes in her introduction, "prayer is always a place as well as an action, and the daily offices are like small chapels or wayside stations within the day''s courses." Seven of these daily offices are offered for each day of the week, and each office contains the Call to Prayer, the Request for Presence, the Greeting, the Reading, the Gloria, the Psalm, the Small Verse, the Lord''s Prayer, the Petition, and the Final Thanksgiving. Tickle draws her texts primarily from the Book of Common Prayer and the writings of the Church Fathers, and includes memorable devotional and meditative poems by Cleland McAfee, Charles Wesley, and others. Tickle also provides a chapter of "Traditional, Seasonal, and Occasional Prayers" in order to accommodate special dates like Advent, Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving; major life-changes such as marriage, birth, death, and illness; and moments of special petition or thanksgiving. For all those who want to carry a "small chapel" of prayers with them, The Divine Hours Pocket Edition? offers a convenient, easy-to-use, and deeply spiritual guide to a devotional practice that extends all the way back to Christ and the twelve Apostles.
