The Spirit of the Liturgy | 
 enlarge | Authors: Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict Xvi
Creator: John Saward
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 50778
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 250
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1
ISBN: 0898707846
Dewey Decimal Number: 264.02
UPC: 008987078463
EAN: 9780898707847
ASIN: 0898707846
Publication Date: September 2000
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Book Description
Considered by Ratzinger devotees as his greatest work on the Liturgy, this profound and beautifully written treatment of the "great prayer of the Church" will help readers rediscover the Liturgy in all its hidden spiritual wealth and transcendent grandeur as the very center of our Christian life. In his own foreward to the book, Cardinal Ratzinger compares this work to a much earlier classic of the same title by Romano Guardini because Ratzinger feels that his insights here are similar with what Guardini achieved in his time regarding a renewed understanding of the Liturgy. "My purpose here is to assist this renewal of understanding of the Liturgy. Its basic intentions coincide with what Guardini wanted to achieve. The only difference is that I have had to translate what Guardini did at the end of the First World War, in a totally different historical situation, into the context of our present-day questions, hopes and dangers. Like Guardini, I am not attempting to involve myself with scholarly discussion and research. I am simply offering an aid to the understanding of the faith and to the right way to give the faith its central form of expression in the Liturgy." —Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
Not much more to say July 1, 2008
I echo what everyone else has said. This book gives you the gift of a more thoughtful approach to worshiping at Mass. Pope Benedict XVI (Cardinal Ratzinger) sometimes uses complex sentence structures (most likely because the book is a translation from German), but it give you the opportunity to really take time to re-read and soak in the depth of what each well-thought out phrase means in the context of his whole message. One of the most beautiful things he does is weave in a little religious history and puts the Catholic Mass within the whole history of worship. Read the book!
good service June 9, 2008
Highly recommended! Pope Benedict XVI, as always, writes with gripping clarity. His prose never disappoints or wearies the reader. Virtually each sentence sheds light, something true of all his writings. This book plumbs the depth and mystery of the Catholic liturgy in all its richness, and reasons that its sacred character must never be diminished by innovations responding to ephemeral cultural tastes.
The Spirit of the Liturgy February 13, 2008
This book was wonderful. Ratzinger is a wonderful author and it is an easy read.
Understanding what we do on Sunday. June 12, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book held me spellbound. Filled with insights and history surrounding the mass and the liturgy, as a lifelong Catholic, I suddenly saw the mass in a whole new light. Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Ratzinger demonnstrates his abilities as a clear patient teacher as he teaches about the liturgy and its meaning, in ways that are down to earth and don't require a degree in theology to understand. It will open your mind and understanding. Highly reccomended!
 Slow in the middle but thrilling at the end February 6, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The last of the four sections is the heart of the book and contains the enthralling thoughts one expects after reading "Introduction to Christianity". For me, the text on art proved very dull and lifeless. But in the final section of the book, the Pope returns to the topic of active participation in the liturgy. He brings vitality and thought to these topics. The section on the Human Voice as part of the Mass is exceptional and thought provoking.
Perhaps one day I will gain enough insight to revisit the middle sections. Undoubtedly, the last section will become familiar to all Catholics as the Mass adopts these thoughts in practice. Although I still have trouble with his thought of an oratio conducted largely in silence. The Eucharistic Prayer is the heart of the liturgy; to place it in silence seems a terrible loss.
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