Personal Days: Divine Office, Vol. 1

The aesthetics of the spiritual life are important to me. Little things, like colors, matter.

This is one of the reasons I enjoy using the four-volume Divine Hours to pray, how each of the volumes is a different color. As Advent nears you anticipate putting down the brown Volume 4 for the last part of Ordinary Time to pick up the blue Volume 1, the Advent and Christmas prayers.

One of my favorite things to do with the blue prayer book is to say the prayers next to our nativity set. I'll light a candle, watching the flickering light dance over the Holy family, the shepherds, the wise men, the angel and the animals.

I'll move the colored ribbons around, getting all the prayers for the day marked. And then begin.