From Altar-Throne to Table: The Campaign for Frequent Holy Communion in the Catholic Church investigates what the celebrated scholar of liturgy Robert A. Taft, SJ, calls the greatest and most successful liturgical reform in Catholic history. Only a century ago, faithful, practicing Catholics received Holy Communion only once a year; now, among American English-speaking Catholics, Holy Communion is a routine, weekly devotional practice. This book explains how and why this ritual sea-change happened. This book emphasizes that significant ritual change may occur while liturgical texts remain the same, and it also proposes a method for understanding the causes for such a ritual change. It admonishes not to project current ritual practice into even our recent past. Further, it implies an explanation for the massive decline in Catholics' use of the sacrament of reconciliation.
- ISBN10 1282561332
- ISBN13 9781282561335
- Publish Date 1 January 2010
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 9 June 2015
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Scarecrow Press
- Format eBook
- Pages 225
- Language English