Here is the book to provide you with the directions and indications needed to carry out the various rites found in the liturgical books of the Catholic Church. This manual aims to restore the grammar and syntax to the body language demanded by the celebration of Mass, the sacraments, and sacramentals. The scope is limited to those rites that the typical parish clergy are most likely to celebrate on a regular basis. It will assist priests and all those who exercise liturgical ministries with a detailed description of liturgical celebrations commonly found in parishes.
Msgr. Caron’s approach draws upon the traditional practice of the Roman Rite as it pertains to the postures and gestures of the various rites. It takes into consideration the immemorial customs that have grown up around the public worship of the Roman Catholic Church.
The General Instruction on the Roman Missal provides the framework for the way Mass is to be celebrated. Along with the rubrics, the General Instruction describes what is to be done by the priest celebrant, the other ministers, and the faithful. However, unlike previous editions, the Missal of Paul VI provides very little detail as to how a given action is to be carried out. Rather, it assumes that the traditional practice of the Roman Rite through the centuries informs the current celebration of Mass.
This principle of interpretation has been made clear only in the third edition of missal in 2002; it helps to define the proper body language of Mass, just as the spoken and sung texts have their own respective grammar and syntax. As such, Ceremonial for Priests is the heir to the various commentaries on the rubrics found in multiple languages prior to the Second Vatican Council. In these pages, you will find:
A consistent vision of what a renewed ars celebrandi (art of celebration) might look like today (You may be surprised!)
Parallel instances of similar gestures from the tradition that inform the descriptions of how a given gesture might be carried out now
How to restore unity through the proper celebration of liturgy
How to interpret the traditional practice of the Roman Rite and why the details matter
Why the liturgical action is taking place (Can you guess?)
Helpful diagrams and ways to enhance the spiritual good of worshippers
Ceremonial for Priests functions as a starting point for all those who wish to take seriously the need to offer God the worship due to Him in the beauty of holiness.
Endorsements
In Desiderio Desideravi, Pope Francis has issued an urgent call to identify a sound way of celebrating the Sacred Liturgy; one that is neither a mere ‘rubrical mechanism’ nor ‘creativity without rules.’ In his Ceremonial for Priests, Monsignor Caron provides a well-founded and carefully articulated response, which rightly interprets the liturgical norms in the light of the longstanding practice of the Roman Rite.
Rev. James Bradley, J.C.D.
In his Ceremonial for Priests, Msgr. Caron provides the sacred ministers of the Church a rich resource to execute with accuracy and reverence the rubrical norms of the sacred Liturgy.
Rev. Ryan Ruiz, S.L.D.
The two recent pontificates have inspired a renewed interest in the Ars Celebrandi, especially as it applies to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Msgr. Canon’s Ceremonial for Priests presents itself as an invaluable resource to priests, not only for the celebration of the Mass, but for the sacraments and the significant moments of the liturgical year as well. The text provides celebrants with an approach to the liturgy that preserves the traditional and beloved customs of the Roman Rite, while remaining faithful to both the spirit and letter of the reformed liturgy. The author has undertaken to give the Church a way forward to promote unity and continuity in celebration of the sacred liturgy.
Very Rev. Aaron Williams
Paperback, 448 pages