This book is for ordinary men and women, and takes their working week into consideration. For instance, Sunday is a day of community prayer for most Christians, often centring on the Eucharist; the prayers chosen for Sunday reflect this. Similarly, Monday is the start of the working week, so the prayers are often directed to the theme of work and commitment to service. Those during the week recall the ordinary challenges and demands of working life: good relationships with others, social justice, discernment, speaking the truth with justice and kindness, deliverance from temptation, trusting in Providence, and seeking forgiveness – among many others. In keeping with a long-standing Christian tradition, Friday is a day of reflection on the suffering and death of Christ; prayers for that day focus on people’s tiredness from work, the need for perseverance and forgiveness of sin, prayer for the sick, the dying and the dead, and the search for meaning in suffering. Saturday is a day, if not of rest, then at least of change from ordinary work, and ideally a family day; the prayers chosen respond to this need. Saturday evening prayers are often a preparation for the Sunday Eucharist. As weekends are less pressured in terms of demands on time, prayers and reflections for Saturday and Sunday are usually a little longer than for other days.
One way of using the book is to read some or all of the prayers for each period, and to consider one of the Reflections. Continue in this way until the weeks have been completed; then start again, taking for consideration a different Reflection, and so on. The weeks given in the book are not related to the liturgical year; they stand independently of it.
The book was originally written as five volumes, but you can download the full text of all volumes here.