Last night was the official launch of the Book of Hours at McNally Robinson. The cafe was packed for live music, readings, and a few speeches. It was a great event.

I must say that I am completely impressed with the finished product.

Now, this is the first time I've spoken of the Book of Hours here, so it deserves some explanation. A Book of Hours was a prayer book which brought the prayers of the monasteries outside into the community.

The book centers around seven seasons in the church calendar (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost and Ordinary Time) and the seven times of prayer (Vigils, Lauds, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline). All together there are 49 sections to the book and each has a piece of writing, art, and/or music to illuminate it.

I must confess that I think this is a really neat idea and it has been brilliant in its execution. This is a book made by small community featuring content from almost 50 of its members. Its nice to be a part of a community that values art in this context and provides ways of sharing it with others.

If you want to learn more, visit the book's website. There are also music samples from the included CD and details of how it can be purchased.