Eastertide: Prayers for Lent Through Easter from The Divine Hours

The Divine Hours

by Phyllis Tickle (Foreword)

In her acclaimed trilogy , The Divine Hours, Phyllis Tickle introduced modern Christians to the time-honored practice of "praying the hours." In this exquisite new volume, she provides a vibrant program of prayer dedicated to the anticipation of Christ’s resurrection.

Beginning with Ash Wednesday and moving through Lent and on to Easter Sunday, Eastertide provides the daily prayers that bring practitioners into the full spirit of this season. Each day is filled with psalms, readings from the Bible, and hymns of praise and worship, just as they appear in the larger volume, The Divine Prayers for Springtime . Newcomers to this beloved tradition will find that Eastertide is the perfect introduction to joining the ancients in the tradition of fixed-hour prayer.

"A wise rabbi once told me that it is not how many prayers we don’t say that matters to God, but rather how many we do. That is important to all of us, but especially for beginners. If this is your first attempt to return to this most ancient of Christian practices, it is wise to remember that you are entering into a discipline and, like all disciplines, this one sits hard and heavy upon one at times. There are hours you will miss and/or some that you can’t even begin to figure out how to observe. That is all right, for either the joy will carry you into greater joy and transmute the discipline into privilege, or you will find yourself simply the wiser and the richer for such experience as you have had. As the rabbi said, that is what matters ultimately."

Genres: Prayer, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Theology, Religion, Christianity, Faith

255 pages, Paperback

First published February 24, 2004

About the author

Phyllis Natalie Tickle was an American author and lecturer whose work focuses on spirituality and religion issues. After serving as a teacher, professor, and academic dean, Tickle entered the publishing industry, serving as the founding editor of the religion department at Publishers Weekly, before then becoming a popular writer. She is well known as a leading voice in the emergence church movement. She is perhaps best known for The Divine Hours series of books, published by Doubleday Press, and her book The Great Emergence- How Christianity Is Changing and Why. Tickle was a member of the Episcopal Church, where she was licensed as both a lector and a lay eucharistic minister. She has been widely quoted by many media outlets, including Newsweek, Time, Life, The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, C-SPAN, PBS, The History Channel, the BBC and VOA. It has been said that "Over the past generation, no one has written more deeply and spoken more widely about the contours of American faith and spirituality than Phyllis Tickle." A biography of Tickle, written by Jon M. Sweeney, was published in February 2018. Phyllis Tickle: A Life (Church Publishing, Inc), has been widely reviewed.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved, loved this prayer book. It, unintentionally, became my devotional for the time of lent and it was exactly what I think, I needed. It is broken down into Call to worship, refrains, psalm, hymn, a Scripture reading, the cry of the church, and two prayers. It's broken down into morning, afternoon, evenings. I have really loved the Divine Hours and I can't wait to continue them in the Springtime and in the Summer.

[Michelle Gourley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading the Vespers section with my kiddos as bedtime. There is something deeply rich and comforting about reading the scriptures, the hymns and prayers of the ancient church over my kids during Lent.

[William Bradford · Rating 3 out of 5]

it well organized

I thought this would perhaps be a better way to go through Lent than the source, but (at least in the Kindle version) the organization is really lacking. In the future I will stick to the spring Divine Hours (which I do recommend)

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely wonderful resource for Lent.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a wonderful Lenten practice. A great way to remind myself of the season. A good way to reflect without being too dark.

[Adam Shields · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short reviews: Bad ebook formatting marred an otherwise good prayerbook. The days were not marked/separated, the table of contents was too brief, etc. The biggest problem is that this (and Christmastide) are excerpts of longer prayer books that are not available for ebook. If there was ever a book that screamed for ebook availability it is a 700 page prayer book. But it needs to be formatted correctly.

My longer review (which also has ideas about how to properly format a prayer ebook) is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/eastertide-prayers-f...

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read through this during Lent this year, and I appreciated the format of thrice-daily prayers from (mostly) Scripture. I am sorry to say that I am too much in the habit of a morning quiet time and found it hard to remember to read the midday sections on time, often going through the midday and vespers readings after dinner. I do like the format and discipline. God is worthy of unceasing praise!

[Darlene Hull · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the rhythm of praying the hours, even though, as a Protestant, it's not really part of my culture. These books make it so easy! I love these books.