Rev. Clifford Howell, S.J.
 
From the author of our popular reprint, Preparing for Easter, we present this 1952 publication of a series of articles originally written for the liturgical review, Orate Fratres.
 
This book concentrates and expands upon Pope Pius XII's statement in Mediator Dei (Encyclical on the Sacred Liturgy):
"The work of our redemption is continued, and its fruits are imparted to us during the celebration of the liturgy."
 
As Fr. Howell himself continues in his Preface:
"In this book will be found some account of the work of our redemption precisely under this aspect of its continuation and application through the liturgy.
 
The first part deals with some underlying principles and with the seven sacraments; the second part treats of 'the crowning act of the sacred liturgy' [Mediator Dei], namely, the sacrifice of the Mass."

...The editor [of Orate Fratres] wanted some articles which would be intelligible to new readers of the review―readers who had as yet no 'liturgical background,' and he did me the great honor of asking me to write the series which, it was hoped, would help not only beginners but also others who desire to spread the knowledge of the liturgy."
 
The two parts mentioned above include these informative chapters:
Of Sacraments―Part 1
Why Worship?
The Good Tidings
Sharing Divine Life
Of Things Visible and Invisible
The Making of a Christian
Increase of the Body
Holy Orders
The Health of the Mystical Body
 
Of Sacrifice―Part 2
The Meaning of Sacrifice
Man's Yearning
What Happens at Mass
Completing The Sacrifice
The Mass is a Liturgy
Problems of Participation
A Glance into the Past
Liturgical Piety
 
Each chapter also uniquely features Discussion Questions formulated by Benedictine Fr. Alexis Portz.
 
In addition to these easy-to-understand lessons on the Catholic Faith from a liturgical point of view, are line illustrations of great symbolic―and thereby teaching―value.
 
It is noteworthy that this catechetical work earned the highest recommendation from the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine "for use as an aid in Religious Discussion Groups," though of course it is equally effective for individuals who would like to deepen their Catholic faith.
 
190 pages, illustrated, softcover.
 
REVIEWS
Fr. John Perricone, PhD
Professor of Philosophy and Theology, Author and Speaker
Romanitas Press must be applauded for this reprint of Fr. Clifford Howell’s classic, Of Sacraments and Sacrifice. With his incisive theological genius he unveils the great richness of the mysteries of grace in the Divine Liturgy. No Catholic need fear a scholarly denseness. Fr. Howell makes sophisticated theological concepts as clear as a spotless pane of glass. Each sentence is like a feast nourishing starved Catholic souls with the doctrines it requires to live in this vertiginous world of ours. Miss Jane Sampson’s art work is a luminous complement to Fr. Howell’s text. It would be a thousand pities if this work were not on every Catholic shelf.
 
Classic Reprint Highlights the Vital Life of the Liturgy
Fr. Thomas Kocik; Adoremus Bulletin, June 24, 2024

...Father Howell states in his preface that he set out to write an engaging introduction to the subject of liturgy for people with no liturgical background. We have here no technical theological treatise. Instead, Howell supplies the raw material needed to develop a “liturgical outlook,” a way of seeing the Catholic Faith as more than “just a list of obligations” but “something for which you will thank God continually, with joy and gladness in your heart” (10). (...) the book is divided into two parts, each consisting of eight chapters. Part One (“Of Sacraments”) begins with a question one might expect from those—and they are legion—who equate religion with being nice: Why worship?

But what is the liturgy? Before defining the term, Howell puts to us one more principle of the liturgical outlook. Namely, he expounds what theologians call the “sacramental principle,” a way of seeing the world as—in the words of another English Jesuit, Gerard Manley Hopkins—“charged with the grandeur of God.” The sacramental principle holds that visible, material things can be a sign of something beyond themselves, pointing to invisible, spiritual realities, including the mystery of God. (...) The remaining chapters of Part One deal with the seven sacraments as they relate to the Mystical Body as a whole and to each individual member. (...)

Part Two (“Of Sacrifice”) concerns the Mass, the Church’s highest form of worship. Because the concept of sacrifice is foreign in contemporary society, (...) Howell first considers the nature and purpose of sacrifice. Combining observations from anthropology and cultural studies, he offers a definition of sacrifice (97-98) based on common elements in the worship of various peoples throughout human history. (...)
 
Howell rounds out the book with a discussion of active participation (internal and external) in the liturgy—an ideal descending from the Liturgical Movement, which had as its principal aim “that God be worshiped as perfectly as possible by all the members of Christ’s Mystical Body,” and that all these members “be enriched as much as possible by the graces which flow from Christ the Head of the Body” (152). (...)

So popular was Of Sacraments and Sacrifice that it had to be reprinted every year since its original appearance. (...) [Read full review]