Saturday, February 22, 2014

The Mass by Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Mike Aquilina




About the Book:
The Mass: The Glory, the Mystery, the Tradition is an engaging and authoritative guide to Catholicism’s most distinctive practice. And now, with the Church introducing revised language for the Mass, Catholics have a perfect opportunity to renew their understanding of this beautiful and beloved celebration.

With eloquent prose and elegant black-and-white photography, bestselling authors Archbishop Donald Wuerl and Mike Aquilina guide readers through the different parts of the Mass, from the entrance procession to the blessing and dismissal, capturing the deep meaning of elements that are at once ordinary and mysterious: bread and wine, water and candles, altar cloths and ceremonial books.

Step by step, they explain the specifics, such as the order of the Mass, the vessels used, the unique clothing worn, the prayers and responses, the postures and the gestures. Then they explore the rich historical, spiritual and theological background to each. Prayerful but practical, fact-filled but readable, The Mass prepares readers to participate more fully and appreciatively in the sacred rite at the heart of Catholic life.  

My Comments:
You'd think that a book like this would be "same-old, same-old" to someone who has attended Mass weekly and then some all her life, but it wasn't.  You'd think that any book that could teach something to someone like me had to be an unapproachable theological treatise that would require an advanced degree (or at least a dictionary) to decipher, but it wasn't.  It hit just the sweet spot of being easy to read and understand yet covering enough information not in common knowledge that I didn't feel like I had wasted my time reading it.  I highly recommend this book to just about anyone.  Grade:  A.

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy through the Blogging for Books program.  

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