The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure by Victor Witter Turner My rating: 3 of 5 stars Heavy going but worth persevering, I found this book which examines ritual structures from an anthropological perspective quite interesting in the end. Well worth the effort. From the back cover: Looking back nearly a decade after the first publication… Continue reading Review: The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure
Month: September 2016
Review: Revelations of Divine Love
Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich My rating: 3 of 5 stars Once you get your mind around the slightly archaic English that is being used, this book is remarkably easy to read. The task of grasping the meaning of this book is, however, a task that will last a lot longer, since… Continue reading Review: Revelations of Divine Love
Review: Saint Peter’s Fair
Saint Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews
Review: Amazing Graces: The Blessings of Sacramentals
Amazing Graces: The Blessings of Sacramentals by Julie Dortch Cragon I wasn't impressed by the contents of this book; it promised much and didn't deliver. What could have been a thoughtful and erudite exposition on the place of sacramentals in the life of the (Catholic) Church was surrendered to an overly sentimentalised and pietistic text.… Continue reading Review: Amazing Graces: The Blessings of Sacramentals
Common Law and Common Sense
A long quote, but worthy of being shared given the subject matter: ...it is not necessary for anyone to demonstrate that the Missal of Paul VI abrogated the missal that was in force from 1962 to 1969, because this is clear according to common liturgical law. It is up to those who would argue otherwise… Continue reading Common Law and Common Sense
Review: Beyond Pius V: Conflicting Interpretations of the Liturgical Reform
Beyond Pius V: Conflicting Interpretations of the Liturgical Reform by Andrea Grillo My rating: 5 of 5 stars At the heart of the ongoing struggles - some might say wars - surrounding the liturgical life of the (Roman) Catholic Church, between those who embrace the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council and those who… Continue reading Review: Beyond Pius V: Conflicting Interpretations of the Liturgical Reform
A Lack of Liturgical Hope
There seems today to be a lack of hope in the liturgical reform, both among some young people who despair in new rites and presume that older rites better safeguarded the church (or at least what they imagine to be the true church) and among some older folks, prophets of doom who are also in… Continue reading A Lack of Liturgical Hope
The Ongoing Liturgical Movement
A third phase [of the liturgical movement] begins, broadly, in 1988 and extends up to today and into the future. Its precise nature is not yet entirely clear, but it promises a return of attention to the dimension of "initiation into the liturgy," withat all that this entails. this might appear at first glance to contradict… Continue reading The Ongoing Liturgical Movement
Addressing The Liturgical Question
The late modern age approached the "liturgical question" on two levels: that of an initiation into the rite and the reform of the rites themselves. Although it is clear today that the latter approach ultimately took precedence over the former, it never really succeeded in bringing about the aggiornomento that was hoped for. This is the fault not… Continue reading Addressing The Liturgical Question
Returning To Liturgy As Source
The renwal of liturgical theology was the fruit of a long period of important philological, historical, archaeological, theological, patristic, and biblical studies. But if the return to the sources of the liturgy did not have as its goal the return to the liturgy as source, the entire project would be useless, or of secondary importance at best.… Continue reading Returning To Liturgy As Source
Liturgy Must Be Popular
If liturgy means more than formalism, rubricism, and legalism, but rather is the church's public worship, then the only approach that guarantees a faithfulness to liturgical tradition is to recognize it as being marked by a pastoral and popular character. Contrary to the clerical understanding of liturgy that marked the life of the church in recent… Continue reading Liturgy Must Be Popular
The Need To Rethink
The Second Vatican Council was, in effect, an occasion on which the Catholic Church profoundly rethought its own identity, its own relationship with itself and with the world. Fifty years later, we need to think again about this rethinking, aware, in doing so, not only that the Council becomes the object of our study but also… Continue reading The Need To Rethink
Review: No False Prophet: Pope Francis and his not-so-cultured despisers: a theme and four variations.
No False Prophet: Pope Francis and his not-so-cultured despisers: a theme and four variations (FQI Collection by Peter Bannister My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book was a very accessible and enjoyable read, largely, I suspect, because in it the author took to task a number of writers who have claimed that Pope Francis… Continue reading Review: No False Prophet: Pope Francis and his not-so-cultured despisers: a theme and four variations.
Review: The Eucharistic Prayer At Sunday Mass
The Eucharistic Prayer At Sunday Mass by Richard McCarron My rating: 1 of 5 stars I had hoped this book might present me with some deeper insights into the central place of the Eucharistic Prayer in the celebration of the (Roman Catholic) Mass. Alas, the style of the presentation, which could be best described as… Continue reading Review: The Eucharistic Prayer At Sunday Mass
Review: Monk’s Hood
Monk's Hood by Ellis Peters My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews
