Soon after the book was published in 2008, I was fortunate to be able to attend an excellent retreat at the Cenacle Retreat House in Houston that was led by Macrina Wiederkehr, based on this book. In addition, there is an accompanying CD of chants called Seven Sacred Pauses: Singing Mindfully Dawn Through Dark that is a beautiful collaboration between Wiederkehr and musician Velma Frye. Each chapter ends with a collection of quotes, poetry, prayers and reflections that we can use as a resource. Still itвЂ™s worth working on and, although it may be challenging to grow into the habit of pausing to bring mindfulness into our day, itвЂ™s good to just pause to breathe even if itвЂ™s just for a minute. I must admit that I had mixed success in being completely faithful to this practice, especially during week days when I was crazy busy. A few years ago, I enthusiastically made a drawing for each of the seven pauses that I kept at work with the book. Seven Sacred Pauses unfolds wisdom and is gentle in its cyclic approach to the hours. The final hour of the day, Compline (8:30 to 10:30pm), is associated with darkness and silence in anticipation of awakening. The sixth pause is Vespers (5:00 to 7:00pm), the beloved evening prayer with a mystical twilight quality. The midafternoon pause that Wiederkehr calls the Wisdom Hour (3:00 to 4:30pm) is a time for tying up loose ends. The midday Hour of Illumination (noon to 1:30pm) is the luminous hour of opposites and has traditionally been associated with prayers for peace. Terce, the midmorning pause that Wiederkehr calls the Blessing Hour (9:30 to 11:00am), is a time to take a break in order to recall the blessings in our lives and to gain perspective that we can bring into the work day. The second pause, the Awakening Hour (5:30 to 7:00am), also called Lauds, is a time for waking up вЂ“ for rejoicing and praising God. For each of the seven pauses, she draws upon a lifetime of Benedictine spirituality to describe the themes and images that are associated with the hour.ДЇor the Night Watch (midnight to dawn), she emphasizes that it is a time for deep listening and vigil. In Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day, Macrina Wiederkehr gives us a very beautiful and practical guide for incorporating gentle reminders of GodвЂ™s graces into our everyday lives. The liturgy of the hours is a traditional monastic practice of pausing for prayer at given intervals during the day.В However, this practice can also be adapted for non-monastics as a way of entering more mindfully into the rhythm of each day.

Seven sacred pauses