Internationally respected liturgist Adolf Adam provides both the content and the symbolic value of the feast days and major Sundays of the yearly cycle. For each feast day he provides a "liturgical guide," giving its history and the specifics to its celebration, and follows with a "spiritual reflection" that expands its meaning and interprets its significance for our contemporary world. He completes his reflections with an "impulse to further meditation." Reflections are provided for each Sunday of the Christmas cycle, the Easter cycle, the Solemnities of the Lord in Ordinary Time, and a selection from the Proper of Saints.
For many the proverb seems only too true that "You can't love what you don't know." The Key to Faith: Meditations on the Liturgical Year helps readers (laity, pastoral ministers, or clergy) acquire a new love and deepened appreciation for the riches of the liturgical year, and the inspiration needed for passing it on to others.
Adolf Adam, born in 1912, was ordained a priest in 1937. He served as a member of the theology faculty at the University of Bonn and later at the University of Mainz. In 1970 he was appointed professor of liturgy and homiletics at Mainz, retiring as professor emeritus in 1977. He is the author of The Eucharistic Celebration: The Source and Summit of Faith, and Foundations of Liturgy: An Introduction to Its History and Practice, published by The Liturgical Press.
"Fr. Adam picks up on the historical reality—at one time the church festivals were almost the only means of transmitting the faith . . . and may today offer a viable way to connect with both the faithful seeing continuing spiritual growth as well as those who need instruction in their faith."
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