Eastern and Western Christians share a rich spiritual heritage in the Hours of Prayer the brief services of praise and psalmody that mark the progress of each day, sanctifying the hours of our lives. In this gem of a book, Patricia Egan digs deeply into the meaning of each of the Hours, drawing on poetry, nature, experience, and theology to show how the services reflect the different aspects of our salvation and our lives. A Book of Hours is an excellent companion for anyone who wants to experience the blessing of praying through the Hours of each day.
From the Author
A Book of Hours interrupted other books I was writing, one published in October (The Mystical Ticket Booth: Through the Looking Glass to a French Convent) and another to be published in March, an all-new translation, with accompanying narration, of St. Patrick's epistles. I was meeting so many individuals who were genuinely seeking the face of God but who had been failed by their churches, or had no experience of church, that I wanted to write something that might respond to their often unarticulated desires.
Neither dry academic theology nor sentimental comforters satisfied their requirements which were primarily focused on deepening faith and their understanding of it. So I thought of using the structure of the Church's hourly prayer as a framework on which the summons to "pray always" could be hung. In this way I hoped to be able to move a person through hours of the day and seasons of the year simultaneously in such a way that their contribution to our growth in faith/prayer would be felt and theological understanding would increase without too much effort.
Not having time to attend to promotion, I've only just become aware of ways to do a little of it so I don't think my page reflects the reception of the book. I know several people who have read bits of A Book of Hours every day for the past four years and many who have bought ten, twenty, even a hundred copies to give as gifts. That is satisfying as no advertising campaign could ever be.
Neither dry academic theology nor sentimental comforters satisfied their requirements which were primarily focused on deepening faith and their understanding of it. So I thought of using the structure of the Church's hourly prayer as a framework on which the summons to "pray always" could be hung. In this way I hoped to be able to move a person through hours of the day and seasons of the year simultaneously in such a way that their contribution to our growth in faith/prayer would be felt and theological understanding would increase without too much effort.
Not having time to attend to promotion, I've only just become aware of ways to do a little of it so I don't think my page reflects the reception of the book. I know several people who have read bits of A Book of Hours every day for the past four years and many who have bought ten, twenty, even a hundred copies to give as gifts. That is satisfying as no advertising campaign could ever be.
![Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians, A [hardcover]](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-f4f99/images/stencil/465x722/products/7563/3163/TC-PRBOTR__31854__73233.1339549823.gif?c=2 "Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians, A [hardcover]")
