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kanejim57's review against another edition
4.0
With the season of Lent upon us, I have found a wonderful guide to prayer and reflection for it with Sarah Arthur’s Between Midnight and Dawn: A Literary Guide for Lent, Holy Week, and Eastertide. (Paraclete Press 2016).
Midnight and Dawn draws upon relevant readings from the Psalms, Old Testament, Epistles, Gospel accounts and a deep breadth of literary excerpts from 17th century poet George Herbert to 19th century poet Gerard Manley Hopkins to contemporary American poet Anya Silver. The result is a rich and inspirational guide for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter.
The title, which draws upon a portion of TS Eliot’s “The Dry Salvages” in Four Quartets
Between midnight and dawn, when the past is all deception,
The future futureless, before the morning watch
When time stops and time is never ending;
And the ground swell, that is and was from the beginning,
Clangs
The bell.
is divided into twenty-one sections with six given to the season of Lent beginning with Ash Wednesday, eight for the Holy Week and the Triduum (Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter) and then seven for the following seven weeks of Easter.
I have used similar guides in the past and found them very helpful to/for me. But what I appreciate about this guide is the rich literary pieces featured in the readings.
For example,
there is this quote from Alfred Lloyd Tennyson’s “In Memoiram A.H.H”
Thou seemest human and divine,
The highest, holiest manhood, thou: Our will are ours, we know not how:
Our wills are ours, to make them thine.
Then there is Anya Silver’s “Ash Wednesday” which includes this line
If God won’t give me His body to clutch,
I’ll grind this soot in my skin instead.
The result is some wonderful imagery that truly gave me a pause for reflection on this season of the Christian faith.
I really liked Between Dawn and Midnight and I am going to be using it as part of my Lenten prayer and meditations.
Note: I was received a galley copy of this book via the publisher and Net Galley in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.
Midnight and Dawn draws upon relevant readings from the Psalms, Old Testament, Epistles, Gospel accounts and a deep breadth of literary excerpts from 17th century poet George Herbert to 19th century poet Gerard Manley Hopkins to contemporary American poet Anya Silver. The result is a rich and inspirational guide for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter.
The title, which draws upon a portion of TS Eliot’s “The Dry Salvages” in Four Quartets
Between midnight and dawn, when the past is all deception,
The future futureless, before the morning watch
When time stops and time is never ending;
And the ground swell, that is and was from the beginning,
Clangs
The bell.
is divided into twenty-one sections with six given to the season of Lent beginning with Ash Wednesday, eight for the Holy Week and the Triduum (Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter) and then seven for the following seven weeks of Easter.
I have used similar guides in the past and found them very helpful to/for me. But what I appreciate about this guide is the rich literary pieces featured in the readings.
For example,
there is this quote from Alfred Lloyd Tennyson’s “In Memoiram A.H.H”
Thou seemest human and divine,
The highest, holiest manhood, thou: Our will are ours, we know not how:
Our wills are ours, to make them thine.
Then there is Anya Silver’s “Ash Wednesday” which includes this line
If God won’t give me His body to clutch,
I’ll grind this soot in my skin instead.
The result is some wonderful imagery that truly gave me a pause for reflection on this season of the Christian faith.
I really liked Between Dawn and Midnight and I am going to be using it as part of my Lenten prayer and meditations.
Note: I was received a galley copy of this book via the publisher and Net Galley in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.
ddejong's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this less than the comparable Advent book. For whatever reason, much fewer of the poetry selections really resonated with me. Still enjoyable and worth a read though.
lawerner's review against another edition
5.0
This collection contains a wide variety of poetry, prose, and prayers -- Eastern, Western, and in translation. It warmed my soul and helped steady my footing as I tried to recover a link to the Holy this year. Highly, highly recommend if you are a literary type who wants to commune with God but isn't sure what that looks like anymore!
debbiecuddy's review against another edition
4.0
This is a lovely collection of poetry and excerpts from literature appropriate to Lent and Eastertide. I have ordered the collection for Ordinary time and will start reading it next week.
bcbartuska's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this journey with poetry and Scripture. It helped me to slow down during Lent and Eastertide, which led to soaking in the truths rather than just skimming over them. Very rich, but I loved it.
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