"Long have we tried to read eternity into the world, but rarely has the story of the pilgrimage of the soul been rendered as remarkably as it was in medieval Europe. During the traumatic upheaval of the late Middle Ages, the rise of the middle class, increasing literacy, and widening prosperity made possible a revolution in bookmaking. Beyond the musty scriptoria of the clergy, more books were produced than at any time since classical antiquity. And none was more prized than the gloriously illuminated manuscript called the Book of Hours. For the next 250 years, these lavish Latin prayer books were the most popular books of the day, medieval best-sellers intended not for the clergy but for ordinary men and women.

"The Book of Hours derived its name from the Hours of the Virgin, a passel of devotional prayers and paintings to Mary that were offered according to the canonical hours. In this time before time had been mechanized, medieval life revolved around the Church's canonical hours of the day: Matins (midnight), Lauds (sunrise), Prime (6:00 A.M.), Terce (9:00 A.M.), Sext (noon), None (3:00 P.M.), Vespers (sunset), and Compline (9:00 P.M.). By ritualizing private meditation, the Book of Hours helped laypeople focus on what was sacred about the hours of their everyday life. Gazing upon iconic images became a form of devotion; reading inspired words was like listening to Gregorian chant. With image and word put together in the miracle of a simplified prayer book you could have a perpetual conversation with the Virgin or the saints.

"What the cathedrals are to architecture and the 'Ave Maria' is to music, the Book of Hours is to literature and painting. Often described as 'cathedrals in the palm of the hand,' the Book of Hours offers a myriad of stained-glass window views into the medieval world, both cultural and religious. Through this proscenium, the divine mystery of the soul's relationship with God could be visualized, and by the holy act of naming the hours and the ritual contemplation of their own often personally selected prayers and pictures, secular time was sanctified for ordinary people as it had long been for the privileged few in the cloistered monasteries. The democratization of religion had begun."