The book of hours is a collection of Christian devotional texts that was widely popular during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance
The book of hours is a collection of Christian devotional, opens a new window texts that was widely popular during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Books of hours were intended to help devout laypersons connect with one of the central obligations of monastic life: the ritualized cycle of daily worship known as the Divine Office, opens a new window, or Liturgy of the Hours. Books of hours provided a simplified set of texts and prayers that allowed readers -- who were usually neither priests nor monks -- to incorporate aspects of church ritual into their own lives; they facilitated quiet prayer and encouraged private reflection, often through the interplay of text with evocative images, as in the example at the top of this page.
