The Book of Lamentations was written after the Babylonians had invaded the land, slaughtered the populace, and brought about national extinction. What remained for Jerusalem and Judah? The five poems of the book represent the authentic voice of Israel in exile-a mourner wailing over the judgment of God, desperately seeking an audience with Him but finding Him hidden and inaccessible.

In Prayers in the Dark, Fr. Lawrence Farley paraphrases the Book of Lamentations and exegetes each passage, following it with a meditation on human suffering-not to explain or ameliorate it but to point a way forward into hope. In the words of the sacred text, we find assurance that we are not unique in our suffering and that the way home to the Kingdom brings pain as well as joy.