Today, as the traditional liturgy of the Roman rite enjoys its resurgence amongst Catholics, young and old, the need for an up-to-date ceremonial manual for the celebration of the traditional liturgy according to the liturgical books in use in 1962 is greater than ever in the past forty years.

This volume is the GENUINE, REVISED, CORRECTED, and EXPANDED edition(14th) of Adrian Fortescue and J.B. O’Connell’s classic work, published in England, to guide and assist those celebrating the traditional liturgy today. Ceremonies covered in this manual include pontifical, solemn and low Mass, Vespers, Holy Week and the liturgical year, the sacraments, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, funerals, episcopal visitation and more.

Hardcover, 496 pp.

Preface

"It is my pleasure to present this fourteenth edition of The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, a work orignally written by the noted scholar, the Reverend Doctor Adrian Fortescue, and subsequently revised many times by Canon JB O'Connell. Dom Alcuin Reid OSB has continued the work of these distinguished experts on liturgical ceremonies by bringing this useful manual into line with the specific requirements of the liturgical books in use in 1962. The permission for the reintroduction into public worship of the Roman Missal according to the typical edition of 1962 dates from the issuance of the Letter Quattuor abhinc annos of October 3, 1984 by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship. The use of this missal was further encouraged by His Holiness Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei of July 2, 1988. Particularly since then there has been a growing desire for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in this venerable form of the Roman Rite on the part of a good number of the faithful. Likewise, a growing number of diocesan Bishops, whose responsibility it is "to control, promote and protect the entire liturgical life of the Church entrusted to him" (Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops, Christus Dominus 15; Code of Canon Law, canon 838), have accepted the invitation of the Holy Father to make "a wide and generous application of the directives already issued some time ago by the Apostolic See, for the use of the Roman Missal according to the typical edition of 1962" for the benefit of "all those who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition" (Ecclesia Dei 6,c). This development has rendered Dom Alcuin's most recent revision of this manual on ceremonies a particularly felicitous one."

May the publication of this new edition of a classic work contribute to "that blended 'harmony' which the earthly Church raises up to Heaven under the impulse of the Holy Spirit" (Ecclesia Dei 5, a)!

Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos President Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei 17 June 2003.