From the Last Supper, to the Mass of the Apostles, from house churches to medieval cathedrals, from the Tridentine Mass to the sweeping reforms of Vatican II, the Mass has undergone many changes in two thousand years. Yet, for Catholics, the Mass is the source and summit of our faith and remains, at its core, eternally unchanged and unchanging. Alfred McBride expertly guides us through the history of the Mass—the meaning of each element, the saints who illumined our understanding of it, the Church and political influences that challenged it. With dozens of illustrations, McBride offers a clear explanation for those new to the Mass and a deep revelation for those well-acquainted with it.
This book is a short introduction to the development of the Roman Rite of Mass, the most widely used of the Church’s liturgical rites, from its origins in early Christianity until the present day. Over the centuries, the form of Mass most Catholics are familiar with has been shaped by the Apostolic See of Rome in contact and exchange with other local churches. Understanding this rich and complex history will help not only the clergy in their sacramental ministry, but all the faithful in participating consciously and fruitfully in the liturgy of the Church. In the wake of the liturgical reforms initiated by Pope Pius XII in the mid-20th century, fully embraced by the Second Vatican Council, and implemented in the postconciliar period, there has been an intense and often controversial debate on continuity and rupture in liturgical development. Amid this debate, the long and complex history of the Roman liturgy is not always sufficiently acknowledged. The refinement of the Roman Mass, as this book shows, has been marked both by continuity and by change. From its formative period in late antiquity, the ritual shape of the Roman Mass was affected by religious, social, cultural, political, and economic transformations. But changes are to be expected over such a long period of time and the wide geographical area where this rite has been used. It is the essential continuity that stands out. This work challenges the conventional narrative that the liturgy of the Western church moved from early dynamic development through medieval decline to early modern stagnation and was only revived in the wake of the Second Vatican Council – a narrative that still has considerable traction both in academic publications and among the wider public.
"Until 2004 and the publication of ""A Short History of Boston,"" there was no good short history of the city of Boston, not in print anyway. With economy and style, Dr. Robert Allison brings Boston history alive, from the Puritan theocracy of the seventeenth century to the Big Dig of the twenty-first. His book includes a wealth of illustrations, a lengthy chronology of the key events in four centuries of Boston history, and twenty short profiles of exceptional Bostonians, from founder John Winthrop to heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan, from ""heretic"" Anne Hutchinson to Russian-American author Mary Antin. Says the Provincetown Arts, ""A first-rate short history of the city, lavishly illustrated, lovingly written, and instantly the best book of its kind."" "
Roman law is one of the key legal systems from which modern European law is derived. In this book Dr Tellegen-Couperus discusses the way in which Roman jurists created and developed law, and the way in which Roman law has come down to us.The most important creation of the Romans was their law. In this book, Dr Tellegen-Couperus discusses the way in which the Roman jurists created and developed law and the way in which Roman law has come down to us. Special attention is given to questions such as 'who were the jurists and their law schools' and to the close connection between jurists and the politics of their time.
