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 Hours: 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."
