L'Anno liturgico - Volume secondo: Tempo di Quaresima – Tempo di Passione – Proprio dei Santi 3 febbraio - 5 aprile

The Liturgical Year #5

by Prosper Guéranger

Quando la preghiera e un’intensa meditazione sulla Sacra Scrittura si incontrano con un amore sincero e appassionato per la divina liturgia, non possono che nascere opere dal respiro universale ed eterno come L’Anno liturgico dell’abate Guéranger. Scritto e pubblicato tra il 1841 e il 1866, non era più disponibile in italiano. Questa edizione rinnovata nella forma e nella traduzione ha il merito di colmare questo vuoto e di restituire alle mani di addetti ai lavori e semplici fedeli un patrimonio profondamente attuale, di analisi, spiegazioni e meditazioni sui sacri testi e sulle forme liturgiche. La ricchezza e la profondità di questi scritti rimangono tuttora per molti versi insuperate. Nella sua millenaria sapienza, la Chiesa ha saputo fare di ogni gesto, di ogni parola, di ogni momento liturgico un segno intriso di significato teologico e spirituale, che potesse condurre più facilmente e sicuramente l’anima a gustare la gioia dell’incontro profondo con Dio. Oggi, in un tempo in cui la cura della Bellezza nella liturgia ha lasciato il passo alla superficialità, quando non alla sciatteria, le parole del Guéranger sapranno nuovamente condurre il lettore a riscoprire quel tesoro di sublimità inestimabile racchiuso in ogni atto di culto divino. Nel presente volume sono raccolte le meditazioni relative al Tempo di Quaresima, di Passione e il Proprio dei Santi relativo a questo periodo.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Prayer

418 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 7, 1845

About the author

Dom Prosper Louis Pascal Guéranger, Servant of God, was a Benedictine priest, abbot of Solesmes Abbey (which he founded in the disused priory of Solesmes) and founder of the French Benedictine Congregation (now the Solesmes Congregation). Dom Guéranger was the author of The Liturgical Year, which covers every day of the Catholic Church's Liturgical Cycle in 15 volumes. He was well regarded by Pope Pius IX, and was a proponent of the dogmas of papal infallibility and the Immaculate Conception. Dom Guéranger is credited with reviving the Benedictine Order in France, and revitalizing the Tridentine Mass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosper...

Reviews

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great daily devotional during the first four weeks of Lent. It's also very informative about the background of each of the day's readings, for the 1962 calendar, anyway.

[Galicius · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thorough history of practice during Lent from early Centuries to more recent time.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! My daughter and I are both reading it and find it's changed how we think about Lent, helping us to have a meaningful, sacrificial Lent.

All the books in this series are indispensable for families / individuals who seek to understand and live out our traditional Catholic faith. So much of the common store of knowledge and practice has been forgotten, but Dom Gueranger can help us bring it back!

[Raul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dom Prosper Guéranger’s fifth volume of The Liturgical Year is an absolute masterpiece of spiritual formation. More than a simple commentary on the Mass, this work serves as a profoundly immersive guide through the desert of Lent, leading the reader toward the glory of the Resurrection.

What sets this volume apart is Guéranger’s ability to weave together history, theology, and deep mystical insight. He doesn’t just explain the "what" of the Lenten liturgy; he reveals the "why," connecting ancient Roman "Stations" and the lives of the Saints to the universal call for conversion. His prose is both regal and tender, challenging the modern soul to embrace penance not as a burden, but as a "sweet necessity" born of love for the suffering Christ.

For anyone seeking to move beyond a superficial observance of the season, this book is an indispensable companion. It turns the daily readings into a vivid, lived experience, making the mysteries of the Passion feel as urgent and personal today as they were in the first centuries of the Church.