I had a lot of frustration playing The Watch of Wisdom on Hours by Henry Suso. The cause of this difficulty is somewhat perplexing. Suso doesn't write in a particularly difficult style, nor is the subject matter up for grabs. Instead, my difficulties stem from two separate, but related, issues. The first is the lack of a definitive conclusion to the discussions in the first book. After approximately one hundred and sixty pages of dialogue between Wisdom and Disciple, Suso fails to answer the question of what exactly the reader is supposed to do with regard to the meditations that precede the book's rather abrupt ending. The text seems terribly incomplete. The second problem, namely the disjuncture between the apparent tones and goals of books one and two, does not help with this. While the first book was a mystical examination of the Passion of Christ, of Christ's relationship as Wisdom with the soul, and of a few other subjects which it touches upon briefly, such as the nature of heaven and hell, the second book focuses on much more practical questions. , to the point of specifying specific prayers to say at specific times of the day. Additionally, the second book barely touches on the Passion, which was central to the first two-thirds of Wisdom's Watch. Despite these differences, Suso obviously intended for the two books to complement each other. Therefore, I suggest that we read the first book through the second book, in order to better understand the general purpose and meaning of Suso's text. The subject matter of the first Wisdom's Watch book is fairly easy to discern. In fact, Suso himself tells us: "The subject of this first book is the most precious Passion of Christ, which itself moves... middle of paper... The whole purpose of Wisdom's Watch is therefore preparatory. The exercises, the contemplation of the Passion, the imitation of Christ prescribed for you can only serve to prepare you as best as possible for the visitation of God, which, according to Suso, is most likely to occur during the Eucharist. However, only God can determine if and when the union of soul and Wisdom can occur. As Wisdom says to the disciple: For most often, when the spirit in seeking me is troubled, it does not find in seeking; but when he least expects it, he will receive his beloved as a gift. »9 The Guard of Wisdom concluded with a plea for the disciple to take pity on him and grant him the union for which he has so earnestly worked and so ardently desires, and ultimately the message of the text is that that's all we can do. Works CitedSuso, Henry Wisdom's Watch Upon the Hours