Lenten Books
Since Lent began, I’ve been praying the hours using an old 1963 Monastic Diurnal. The history of the Divine Office is complicated enough that I’m not going to go into it here. Suffice to say that there were some serious changes following the reforms of 1970.
One of the big changes was the calendar. This came home to me this evening, when I noted that tomorrow (on the old calendar) is the feast of one of the most remarkable of saints, Thomas Aquinas. March 7th is the day of his death in 1274.
On the new calendar, the good Doctor’s feast is 28 January, the date of his birth in 1225. Why they changed it, I’ve no idea, since most of the moved feasts were moved to better match up with dates of death.
For the record, today’s feast on the old calendar (and thus in my Monastic Diurnal) was that of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, which is tomorrow on the new calendar. Confused? I sure am.
In other book news, I was home sick yesterday and somehow managed to read through the three books I had set aside for my Lenten readings:
- Walking With God: A Journey through the Bible by Tim Gray and Jeff Cavins
- The Collar: A Year Inside a Catholic Seminary by Jonathan Englert
- Benedict XVI and the Sacred Liturgy: Proceedings of the First Fota International Liturgy Conference, 2008 edited by Neil J. Roy and Janet E. Rutherford
So now I’ve got to get some more books together!
I’m starting with an old favourite:
The Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
In thinking back, I’m pretty sure I’ve read this at least three times before, and at least one of those was as a Lenten reading. I’ve given away at least three copies.
Most likely, I’ll follow this with:
The Spirit of Solesmes edited by Sister Mary David Totah, OSB
After that? Who knows?
Thoughts? Suggestions?