Over the last thirty years a great deal of confusion has
arisen concerning liturgical practice. Many claim that liturgical law
no longer exists and that everyone, including the priest, is free to do
whatever he feels is proper. Many others say that individual priests can
dictate liturgical law in their parish independent of Rome and the councils
of bishops. Much of this confusion has come about because of a lack of
access to official Church law and a tendency among some of those in
authority to ignore law altogether.
This book is the most recent attempt to remedy this disturbing
situation. Liturgical law DOES still exist and the Church has made it
very clear on numerous occassions that "no one, not even a priest, may
on his own add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy" (Sacrosanctum
Concilium, n.22 ยง3 Vatican II). Other recent books including
Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite and Liturgical Question Box have
attempted this task but this book is the most thorough and completely
documented volume available. This volume was written by James Akin, one
of Catholic Answer's top apologists.
Mass Confusion takes the reader through an entire
Mass and explains what is proper for each part and provides the official
documentation to support each section. Following the section on the
Mass is a section on other liturgical matters including vestments, posture,
vessels, dance and gestures of reverence. The final section of the book
explains how to help put an end to liturgical abuse and the Appendices
include the American guidelines for receiving Holy Communion and the
Holy See's norms on translating liturgical texts. The book concludes
with a "quick list" of liturgical do's and don'ts.
If you are concerned about liturgical abuse or are just
curious about what the Church says about worship, we highly recommend
this volume as the first source for correct information (after this
website, of course).
|
Topics
Apologetics
