The Liturgical Year
The Liturgical Year
The Ancient Practices Series
By Joan Chittister Published by Thomas Nelson 3 out of 5 bookmarks
The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister is a good introduction to the theology and history of the liturgical year and the basic cycle which it follows. She begins the book with a teleological defense of the liturgical calendar and observes that while most Christians religiously follow the civic calendar, very few afford themselves the pleasure of permitting their souls to dance to the rhythmic ebb and flow of Christ’s life on earth.
While I appreciate the basic premise of the book (that the life lived according to the rhythms of the liturgy is a life lived in harmony with the life of Christ) I found that the author’s discordant writing style a bit hostile to the rhythmic cycle which she described. At times, I wanted to abandon myself to the rythm of Christ’s life, but was simply unable to put the choppy writing style and disconnected thoughts to rest. Perhaps this is a problem unique to my own love of the poetic. I certainly don’t think that it should keep one from reading the book for themselves.
In the end, I gave this book three out of five bookmarks. The Liturgical Year is certainly worth reading and despite my personal bias against the author’s writing style, I found the book informative and the author to be well acquainted with the topic.
