Timothy M. Gallagher - Praying the Liturgy of the Hours: A Personal Journey

Praying the Liturgy of the Hours: A Personal Journey, by Father Timothy Gallagher, is a candid and moving story of a priest who discovers the power and promise of the Breviary. Both veterans of the Divine Office and newcomers alike will be inspired and encouraged by his humble journey of faith. Particularly helpful is the discussion of the Divine Office as a relational prayer of praise. Here, Father Gallagher artfully shows how praying the Liturgy of the Hours is never a private act, but one that intimately unites us to Jesus and His Church. I warmly recommend this book to anyoneclergy, religious, or laitywho wishes to pray the Liturgy of the Hours with greater attentiveness and devotion.

Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York

Fr. Timothy Gallaghers willingness to present candidly his own struggles with the psalms makes Praying the Liturgy of the Hours: A Personal Journey immediately helpful to all those who desire to pray the Liturgy of the Hours with more spiritual profit.

Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago

Father Gallagher writes a captivating account on the spiritual richness found in the Liturgy of the Hours. The faithful who have experienced praying with the psalms to be a challenge will be helped by Father Gallaghers humble admission of his own personal difficulties with this ancient form of prayer. As Father Gallagher unlocks the depth of the Divine Office, the reader is led to understand and embrace this prayer of the Church with a renewed sense of appreciation and awe.

Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington

Father Gallagher has described an unfolding appreciation for the Liturgy of the Hours that names the experience of so many of us who have prayed the Hours for years. The growing number of those who are just beginning to know this prayer of the Church hear in these pages an invitation to be formed daily as prayerful disciples of Jesus Christ. We can all be grateful for this encouragement to reflect more deeply on the gift of the Liturgy of the Hours.

Most Reverend George Lucas, Archbishop of Omaha, NE

Fr. Gallaghers book, Praying the Liturgy of the Hours: A Personal Journey, stirred my interest right away and kept me fully engaged from beginning to end. Efforts to study the psalms and to understand how the Hours draw us into the life of Christ and the Church are needed from time to time, and always bring wonderful benefits for mind and heart. This is where Fr. Gallaghers book makes a real contribution. I heartily endorse Praying the Liturgy of the Hours: A Personal Journey and recommend it in particular for priests and religious, and for all those who want to grow closer to Jesus in their daily lives.

Most Reverend Thomas Olmstead, Bishop of Phoenix, AZ

In this thoughtful and well-crafted book, Fr. Timothy Gallagher provides some very helpful clarification regarding the theology and spirituality that inform the Liturgy of the Hours. But his greatest contribution is the sharing of his personal struggles with the office over many years. His honest and searching self-examination will prove invaluable to anyone who has undertaken the responsibility of praying this great prayer of the Church.

Father Robert Barron, rector of Mundelein Seminary and author of Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith, Word on Fire: Proclaiming the Power of Christ, and others

Both the newcomer to the Liturgy of the Hours, and those of us who have been praying the Office for years, will be genuinely enriched by this personal journey. For the person wrestling with the recitation of the Hours, I believe that Fr. Gallaghers words of encouragement offer an impetus to renewal and a more profound relationship with Christ through the perennial prayer of the Church. In my own heart I feel a movement from the temptation of complacency of habit to a renewed desire to delve deeply and receive richly from this treasury of grace.

Rev. Msgr. David L. Toups, S.T.D., rector of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL

As a priest of fifty-four years with multiple responsibilities in pastoral ministry, habit and over-familiarity unconsciously have led me down an uneven and at times bumpy path of simply saying the Divine Office. Father Gallagher attracted me by the very title of his book, Praying the Liturgy of the Hours. He tells us of his personal journey but only to prompt us to reflect meaningfully upon our own particular journeys into praying the Liturgy of the Hours. I highly recommend this book as a welcome travelogue into new discoveries of beauty in the word of God and wellsprings of nourishment that we may have missed along a well-worn path that we have all trod and that we continue to travel.

Msgr. John A. Cippel, retired pastor of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, FL, and spiritual director, St. John Vianney College Seminary, Miami, FL

The Liturgy of the Hours is an experience of spiritual growth. Father Gallagher demonstrates this reality by providing us with his own experience of appreciating this ancient but ever new Prayer of the Church. The reader of this text will be able to resonate with Father Gallaghers own stages and development of prayer. With very practical examples of growth, this book will be of help to all who desire to pray the Liturgy of the Hours with greater devotion and attentiveness.

Rev. Gregory J. Hoppough, C.S.S., professor of liturgy, Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary, Weston, MA

I have prayed the Liturgy of the Hours for over forty years, and Father Gallagher has helped me find new depths in it, as well as offering paths to other ways of enriching this form of prayer. His sharing of his own journey and challenges in praying the Liturgy of the Hours is encouraging. I also appreciate that he gives witness to the fruitfulness of this ancient prayer of the Church for laypersons.

Sister Linda Sevcik, S.M., regional leader, Marist Sisters

Father Gallaghers honesty and ability to describe the joys and the challenges he faces as he perseveres with this spiritual practice are very inspiring and refreshing. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to engage fully in any Christian spiritual practice, as his insights touch on the same kind of experiences that most people face in their daily prayer. Delight, struggles to continue, boredom, and peace: these are all words to describe what happens to anyone who desires a continued relationship with God through prayer. Father Gallagher lives them all.

Elizabeth Koessler, spiritual director, wife, and mother

In Father Timothy Gallaghers book we listen to his personal and heartfelt struggles in saying the Liturgy of the Hours. He offers us workable techniques and suggestions that will help us learn not only to say the Hours, but to pray with them so as to make Gods holy Word our own. This book is a gift to priests and laity alike. Read it as you pray the Liturgy of the Hours. You will not be disappointed.

Lawrence A. Dwyer, husband and attorney-at-law

Praying the Liturgy of the Hours

Praying the Liturgy of the Hours

A Personal Journey

Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V.

A Crossroad Book

The Crossroad Publishing Company

www.crossroadpublishing.com

2014 by Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V.

Printed in 2014.

Crossroad, Herder & Herder, and the crossed C logo/colophon are trademarks of The Crossroad Publishing Company.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be copied, scanned, reproduced in any way, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of The Crossroad Publishing Company. For permission please write to .