• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe

Q&A with the Author of The Handy Little Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours

April 12, 2023
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

Many months ago, when Old Bay Goldfish were first released, I could not get my hands on a single bag. Barbara Szyszkiewicz—aka @FranciscanMom—found a package near her home in New Jersey and sent it to me.

And the angels sang.

When Barb isn’t saving me from life without Old Bay-flavored snacks, she is writing and editing—and she recently published The Handy Little Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours. I’ve been curious about the Liturgy of the Hours, but I’m not familiar with the prayers.

I reached out to ask Barb to share a little about her book and this beautiful practice.

What inspired/prompted you to create this particular book?

I was asked to write this book by Rebecca Martin, my editor at Our Sunday Visitor. So, I guess the better question might be, “Why did your editor choose you to write this book?” Rebecca knows that as a Secular Franciscan, I pray Morning and Evening Prayer from Liturgy of the Hours daily. I covered the Liturgy of the Hours very briefly in my previous book, The Handy Little Guide to Prayer, but in the scope of that book I couldn’t give it much more than a mention. This was a welcome opportunity for me to write an introduction to a type of prayer that’s a pretty well-kept secret, but which is too beautiful not to discuss!

Is the Liturgy of the Hours part of your daily prayer life? If so, can you speak a little about how that came to be—and what it means to you?

A campus ministry retreat in college was the first opportunity for me to experience praying the Liturgy of the Hours. Looking back, I think it’s pretty impressive that in the mid-1980s a college campus ministry retreat included liturgical prayer. Father Campbell, the chaplain at the time, began a Sunday-evening tradition of Benediction and Night Prayer and, as a liturgical musician, I was expected to participate. That got me, and some friends, in the door, and we saved up our money to buy ourselves copies of Christian Prayer, the single-volume breviary. Sometimes we would meet to pray that together, but we prayed it on our own, and I kept that practice going, off and on, for another decade until I began formation with the Secular Franciscans and solidified this prayer as a daily practice. 

If I could find one blessing in the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, it’s that my husband decided he wanted to learn to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, as well. He uses a podcast to pray other Hours, but we pray Evening Prayer together after dinner.

Tell me a little about the Liturgy of the Hours. Do you have a sense of its history and how it has been used over the years?

The Liturgy of the Hours originally developed from the Jewish practice of praying three times daily, which was integrated into the prayer life of the early Church. During the monastic age, the custom of praying at fixed times each day was modified and developed into the liturgical practice we know today. The Second Vatican Council encouraged the laity to take up this practice alongside priests and religious. But 60 years later, there are still very many faithful Catholics who have never heard of the Liturgy of the Hours, and many others who have tried it but given up because they found it confusing or complex.

Barb Szyszkiewicz

What are your hopes for the book—and what readers will experience?

I am hoping that the book will serve two purposes: to introduce Catholics to a form of prayer they’d never known about, and to reassure the ones who’ve tried it unsuccessfully that it’s possible, with persistence, to learn to pray this way—and that it can be a very fruitful form of prayer. I am self-taught, as far as the Liturgy of the Hours goes, so I’ve experienced that learning curve for myself. And I taught my husband how to use the breviary.

As you worked on this piece, was there anything that was surprising to you? 

I was surprised at the proportion of Catholics who had heard of Liturgy of the Hours and immediately written it off as too difficult. The perception is that this type of prayer is too hard to learn. I won’t sugar-coat things and say it’s actually easy, because it’s not. There’s a learning curve, but you get to learn as you pray—and pray as you learn.

Tell me about releasing the book! What has been particularly rewarding?

Releasing a book is always a struggle for authors because we have to toot our own horns. I’m always happy to share the news about other writers’ work—but it’s much more difficult when it’s my own. One lovely surprise was a request for enough signed copies of my book to share with a group of retreatants later this spring: they will be learning to pray the Liturgy of the Hours during this retreat.

—

Thank you, Barb, for the interview!

If you’re interested, here is a link to The Handy Little Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours. Whatever prayer routine you embrace this Easter season, I hope it’s a fruitful one for you.

Copyright © 2023 Catholic Review Media

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Rita Buettner

View all posts from this author

| Recent Commentary |

A loaf of sliced bread

We are part of the miracle

Question Corner: Do I need to attend my territorial parish?

The truth about transitions

A cry for unity

‘Public’ does not equal ‘state’ or ‘government’

| Recent Local News |

Radio Interview: Religious freedom faces ongoing challenges

ordination 2025 baltimore

Excitement and pride abound at ordination of five priests for Archdiocese of Baltimore

Pilgrims walk in the footsteps of America’s first saint

Juneteenth

Juneteenth seen as day to reflect on freedom, ending racism and Black Catholics’ contributions

Deacon O’Donnell’s ‘normal’ faith life led to priestly vocation

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Radio Interview: Religious freedom faces ongoing challenges
  • Pope leads Corpus Christi procession through streets of Rome
  • Excitement and pride abound at ordination of five priests for Archdiocese of Baltimore
  • ‘Slaughter of innocents’ in suicide bombing at Syrian church called ‘unspeakable evil’
  • Pilgrims walk in the footsteps of America’s first saint
  • Trump orders US attack on Iran nuclear sites, as Pope Leo, bishops plead for peace
  • We are part of the miracle
  • Visiting Upstate New York’s National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs
  • Washington Roundup: Trump weighs options in Israel-Iran conflict, CLINIC condemns expanded ICE raids

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED