Unlocking The Feasts And Seasons Of The Liturgical Year

Inos Biffi and illustrator Franco Vignazia take readers through the liturgical year, introducing the celebrations of each season, beginning with Advent and ending with the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King. On each page, readers will find intriguing imagery and enlightening explanations that reveal the scriptural roots of our observances and immerse readers in the rich symbolism of the Church's calendar--an annual revolution around the meaning of Christ's Paschal Mystery. Far more than informative, this book provides a visual and poetic reflection on the spiritual depths of the seasons and special feasts.

This beautiful book will bring the rich traditions of the Catholic Church’s liturgical year into your home and your heart. You’ll find each month and season of the liturgical year is brimming with possibilities—feasts to be celebrated, litanies to discover, and saints to befriend. Throughout the year, you will learn and be encouraged by the saints, follow feasts and fasts, tune into the Liturgy of the Hours, and offer up a penance on Fridays in commemoration of Jesus’ sacrifice for you. Most importantly, you’ll grow closer to the Lord. Practical and easy to use, you’ll find opportunities to connect to your faith in meaningful and extraordinary ways, including ideas for finding time to pray, making seasonal snacks for the whole family, observing a meaningful Lent, celebrating the full Octave of Christmas, and so much more! Discover how you can grow closer to the Lord as you connect with him through the Church, her rhythms, and the many celebrations and observances she offers us.

Places the theological and spiritual elements of the liturgical world against the backdrop of its historical development.

This book provides an introduction to and history of the liturgical year, followed by a discussion of each of the major cycles. Each chapter includes questions for personal reflection or group discussion.

"A Book of Feasts and Seasons" recaptures the lost traditions surrounding major feasts and festivals--every occasion of the Christian Year.

This critical edition makes available for the first time Thomas Merton’s novitiate conferences on liturgy. Though dating from the period just before the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, Merton’s commentaries remain pertinent for their insights on his own commitment to this central dimension of Christian life, on his work introducing students to the patterns that would mark their lives as monks, and on the perennial meaning of the key events of the liturgical year. The thoroughly annotated text is preceded by an extensive introduction situating this material in the context of Merton’s lifelong writing on liturgy. As Merton’s former student Br. Paul Quenon writes in his foreword: “Nowhere in all of Merton’s writings can one find such an extended demonstration of the hermeneutical approach he took in commenting on Scripture. This was focused intensely on finding the meaning Scripture had for our life in God . . . These notes . . . take us into one man’s lifetime of reflection and seasoned experience of the Church Year.”