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Presiding over the liturgy takes more than following instructions. Good presiding is artful presiding. It is knowledgeable and inspirational. It faithfully grasps the church’s heritage and gives it personal expression.
In Ars Celebrandi, Father Paul Turner offers a guide for priests in preparing for and celebrating the Mass. Building on a liturgy which adheres to the liturgical books, Turner examines styles of presiding and reflects on principles that will help the presider to foster active participation of the faithful.
Paul Turner is pastor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, Missouri and director of the Office of Divine Worship for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. He holds a doctorate in sacred theology from Sant’ Anselmo in Rome. His publications include Glory in the Cross, Let Us Pray, Inseparable Love, One Love, Whose Mass Is It? Light in the Darkness, When Other Christians Become Catholic, and The Stations of the Cross in Atonement for Abuse and for the Healing of All. He is a contributor to Give Us This Day.
In addressing this important task of liturgical presiding, Father Paul Turner offers more than just a “how to do it” guide through the liturgy. Rather, he points to a foundational vision for the Ars Celebrandi—a way of thinking about it—with keen insight into the inner disposition necessary to celebrate the liturgy authentically and well. This foundational understanding then, is woven into a well-grounded hermeneutic of the rites as they are now given to us and undergirds the practical, concrete, and detailed recommendations that follow. This has long been needed and will be an important addition to the library of every liturgical minister.
–Rev. R. Bruce Cinquegrani, D. Min., Pastor, St. Anne Catholic Church, Memphis, Tennessee
