Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1988, Hardcover)

I like the Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office with its psalms and canticles, hymns, prayers, Scripture readings, and readings from others, such as the late Pope John Paul II and the Saints. Although the two main prayers are the Morning and Evening Prayer there are prayers for 5 other times of the day if one wishes to pray it more often.

Somewhere it says in the Bible either to pray or praise the Lord 7 times a day. Of course a book like this can certainly help with this. But many other "Divine Office" books like this can be confusing and too difficult for me to use-including the single volume "Christian Prayer" and even the "Shorter Christian Prayer." I find this to be a very simple book to use. Some communities of Sisters (or "nuns" as they're often called) are required to use this book.

If the Sisters are required to use this book and it's much simpler than the Divine office the priests have to pray, it must be a very good book for a lay person like myself to pray as well. In fact the laity is also encouraged to pray "the Office" though not required to do so.

Although I still need to go to Mass on Sundays and a few other days of the year and say the Rosary, this book is quite a welcome addition to my prayer life. And it's small and quite portable, and only takes a few minutes at a time to pray.