During the late medieval period, the involvement of ordinary (lay) people within the church changed. Where the clergy and sacraments were the primary focus of medieval Catholicism, members of the laity increasingly incorporated Catholicism into their daily lives outside of the church itself. Parishioners began to direct their own religious practices, usually focused around individual, private piety. One symbol of this increased popular piety were the Books of Hours. This activity will help students understand what life was like in Northern Europe during the medieval period.