5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Catholic Customs: A Fresh Look - by Regis Flaherty, April 11, 2003
This review is from: Catholic Customs: A Fresh Look at Traditional Practices (Paperback)
As a lifelong Catholic, there are many areas of our faith that I accepted without fully knowing how and why they came to be. Reading this book has given me a new insight into the richness of our traditions and their basis. I have a deeper appreciation of the sacraments, the seasons of the church and the practices that surround them. I especially liked the review of the liturgical year, and I can see myself using this book to follow the Church calendar as an aid in spiritual growth. In short, a great book for Catholics who want to know why we do what we do.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Catholic Customs: A Fresh Look at Traditional Practices, March 5, 2003
This review is from: Catholic Customs: A Fresh Look at Traditional Practices (Paperback)
I thoroughly enjoyed Regis's book. I have both this book and his "How To" book on Catholic Devotions in my office. It is a life saver when co-workers ask me questions about my faith and I can provide a clear and accurate answer to thier questions. Also, my two daughters have found simple explanations to questions they have, especially with regard to the seasons of the liturgical year and the sacraments of our faith. God Bless you Regis, keep up the good work.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extraordinarily Informative for Its Size, November 26, 2006
This review is from: Catholic Customs: A Fresh Look at Traditional Practices (Paperback)
Many Catholics go through their lives knowing the customs of the Catholic Church without ever knowing just exactly where those customs come from. Most Catholics I believe go through their entire lives not having any idea just how ancient most of these customs are. Adult converts to the Church are given instruction in most of these customs but that instruction usually stops with the why and seldom reaches into the beautiful history of these customs. Even when the RCIA instruction does cover all of the bases and even when the cradle Catholic has been thoroughly schooled in the history and tradition of the Church much of that instruction and education gets lost along the way. There is just so much information that the human brain can absorb and learning all that there is to know about the majesty, history and glory of the Roman Catholic Church is simply beyond the average person's capacity.
That is why wonderful little books like this one are so important. This author gives the reader a concise but thorough explanation of some of the most important customs and traditions of the Catholic Church. Each subject is covered in only a few short pages or sometimes only paragraphs but all of the basics are there. The physical action required for the customs is explained very clearly so that for example someone who had never seen anyone genuflect could easily picture the action in their mind's eye. The author then tackles both the scriptural and traditional reasons for the custom and when the custom is practiced somewhat differently from one region to another he explains the differences and the reasons for them.
Personally speaking I picked up a lot of information about the history of some of our most cherished customs and how they had first come to be practiced. For example many, if not most of our modern practices can easily be traced as far back as the early Church because of images found in the Roman catacombs. I also learned a great deal about some other customs on which I was a little fuzzy like indulgences and scapulars. The very simplicity with which this author explains these things is what makes this such a fine little book. Simply put, you don't have to be a theologian to actually understand what the author is talking about and areas that have never been quite clear will begin to come into brilliant focus.
I did find one little typo on page 135 which is not the author's fault but the publisher might want to correct it in future editions, of which there ought to be many. I also found the author's description of a set of Rosary beads to be a little confusing and there are very few people more familiar with Rosary Beads than I. On the other hand I found in the Rosary section that the old English word bead meant, "to pray" which was a bit of completely new and fascinating information, at least it was for me.
Don't expect heavy theology or in depth analysis from this book but as a primer on why we Catholics do some of the things that we do this book can't be beat.
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