Monday, January 3, 2011

The Liturgical Year

The Liturgical Year is a part of the 8 book “The Ancient Practices Series” from Thomas Nelson. It is also now the second one I have read in this series, and I must say that I enjoyed this a good bit more than the other(Fasting by Douglas Leblanc). I believe this may mainly be due to the topics, however. This one definitely lends more towards Chittister's style of writing from what I've heard quoted before(this was actually the first book of hers that I've read, though).

In The Liturgical Year, Chittister takes us through a year in the church calendar. Through this time we get different reflections of these periods as well as some history on the origin of these celebrations. I would have wished for more of the latter, but am still very appreciative of her different reflections on these times.

Joan Chittister is a Benedictine nun and prolific author, so it really is a treat to get her thoughts on these times for both of these reasons. Life in the monastery has a very different approach to time than the rest of the world, so these special days within the Christian calendar have a poignancy that most of us often miss. Our days often do not change that much on these days of remembrance, yet after reading through this it definitely seems as if it should. Our lives are often so involved that we fail to really slow down and ponder our remarkable history and the moments that are worth remembering. I'm not sure what my next steps will be in response to this, but I will certainly attempt to be more intentional in trying to understand and orient myself to the year.

Full disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life as a part of Thomas Nelson’s Book Sneeze program.

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