Shorter Morning and Evening Prayer

Nice little prayer book, not complicated.

Good points:* It's small enough to slip into the jacket pocket. If you are short on time it's always there so that you can say the morning and evening Office at a lunch break, in a taxi, on the Tube, etc.* It contains all the elements to keep you in touch with the basic form of Office - a four week cycle of Psalter readings, scripture and prayers with simple easily understood seasonal variations and night prayer.Bad points:* It only has two ribbons and needs three of four. However if you need to use the book efficiently you have to make up bookmarks with passages on them (Benedictus, Magnificat, etc.). In my copy these render the ribbons redundant.* The detail takes a while to master, but its the Office and its worth the time spent doing this.I have read the complaints about the plastic cover and cheap production. The 'leather' covered version is presumably now out of print and may or may not come back into print. If it does I will probably buy it. Meanwhile however I don't mind the plastic. A book that sits in your pocket for large periods of time and is read on the move is going to come in for a fair bit of wear and tare. The plastic covered edition is nothing if not sturdy and this is about saying the Office, not quality of book production.

This neat, slimline book is beyond criticism in my opinion. I love the feel of the soft, imitation leather and the silky thin pages. I really just wanted the office of compline, and at first I thought it wasn't in this book, but it is, only under the name of `Night Prayer`. Compline is, of course, the Night Prayer of the church but compline describes it better as it comes from the latin, meaning complete. The size of the book is perfect for a handbag. The office can then be recited when awaiting an appointment, or when travelling, or even waiting in a queue. There are two ribbons which are adequate, and considering the modest price, this book is a bargain. It was even delivered the very next day. I love it and it certainly earns 5 stars from me.

(As per other reviewers, the product I got is NOT leather bound, despite the description; fortunately my plastic cover doesn't smell though, unlike another reviewer's)This is a pocket-sized version of The Divine Office, and it includes Morning and Evening Prayer, and also Night Prayer too. It does contain the complete four-week Psalter.However, being only 1cm thick and less than 500 pages long, they have obviously had to leave other stuff out. This isn't a criticism, and in general makes it ideal for travel / beginners. Before I bought it I would have liked to have known in more detail just what is in / out / different so in case anybody else wants to know:* As mentioned by another reviewer, the text is all black: rather than having the rubrics in red, they are in italic instead, which does make it a little harder to follow (esp if you're an absolute beginner)* The Proper of Seasons is a reduced version which contains "sufficient material ... to allow for seasonal variation" - such as "a week of proper material for each of the Seasons". Here are some examples of what this looks like in practice:In the full Office, on Mondays of the Easter Season, depending on which week of the Easter season it is, a different set of texts are given for the Benedictus and Magnificat Antiphons, Intercessions and Concluding Prayers, whereas in this shorter version, only a single set of texts is given for ALL Mondays of the Easter Season (the same as for Mondays of Easter Week 2 in the full version). This does make it simpler to follow.On The Ascension of the Lord, only Benedictus/Magnificat Antiphons and a Concluding Prayer are given in this version, unlike in the full Office, where the rest of the contents of Morning/Evening Prayer (I and II) are special for the Ascension too (Hymns, Psalms and Antiphons, Scripture, Responsory, Intercessions), and a special Invitatory Antiphon is also given.* The Sundays in Ordinary Time are included as normal as far as I can tell* The Proper of Saints is drastically reduced to just the Feasts of the Lord and a handful of Solemnities etc (e.g. only the major saints Our Lady, St Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul etc)* It does contain The Office for the Dead and the Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary* Beyond the hymns in the Psalter there are no extra Hymns for the seasons etc

After spending a few days praying with this book, I’ve found it extremely useful and easy to use. Structure of the years is easy to follow and overall good little prayer book.The size of this book makes it easy to use as an everyday carry and doesn’t take up much room.Bad points:Book came damaged in corners with marks that I can’t get off.Some of the text on letters and sentences has faded in some prayers making it difficult to make out.Price reflects quality.

This is my own copy of a book I'm already familiar with and it arrived promptly and in perfect condition. It's easy to follow and is attractively bound. The prayers consist of the appropriate (beautiful) psalms for morning and evening together with the antiphons and intercessions, the Benedictus and the Magnificat. By praying these daily we are joining in with the prayer of the universal Church, throughout the world and throughout the ages.

Our church use this prayer every Wednesday night for evening prayer so I got on for every evening to do the prayer and amazing prayer book

As someone who is currently learning about the Divine Office, this wee book is perfect! I love the size of it, so portable that it fits in my handbag and can take it with me wherever I go. This is a great start on my journey through prayer as I am about to start RCIA classes.Reasonable price and very happy with the customer service provided by Amazon!!