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The Divine Symphony: An Exordium to the Theology of the Catholic Mass by [David L. Gray]

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David L. Gray

The Divine Symphony: An Exordium to the Theology of the Catholic Mass Kindle Edition

by David L. Gray (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The Divine Symphony begins with this one presupposition; that all that God has revealed about Himself, and all that He yearns for His People to be, is offered through the Catholic Mass.

The exposition of that presupposition resulted in this unique book on the Theology of the Catholic Mass. The Divine Symphony presents a wonderful and seamless presentation of the liturgical continuity of the history, meaning, and mystery of the central and highest expression of worship and prayer in the Catholic Church.

For the past century and longer, nearly every book written by Catholics about the Catholic Mass has taken to the approach to explain the liturgy by dissecting it into separate parts and pieces. Contrary to this staunchly popular style of teaching, the Catholic Mass is not a disjointed litany of things laity says, things the Priest says, times they stand, times they kneel, things they do, and things they don’t do. Rather, in all of its liturgical expressions, from East to West, the Catholic Mass is a singular and Divinely inspired composition; a familial song of prayers and confessions. It truly is a Divine Symphony called the ‘Ite, Missa est.’

This is what makes David L. Gray’s work groundbreaking, in that finally there comes along a book that presents a harmonious symphony of the Catholic Mass.

Although Mr. Gray uses the Novus Ordo rite as the outline to narrate and guide the reader through the liturgical movements, he also draws into text much older Latin and Eastern rites, for the objectives of deeper study and explanation of the purpose, meaning, mystery, and orientation of the sacred liturgy. Such incorporation of so many various rites demonstrates, most beautifully, the universality and continuity of Christ Jesus’ memorial sacrifice.

A second unique feature of this work is Mr. Gray’s use of the classical symphony orchestra as a way to explain the structure and flow of the Catholic Mass. Even if the reader is not trained in the classical works, Gray gives them enough history and examples to give the reader a good reason to appreciate and understand their many similarities of form and purpose.

A third unique aspect of the book is that rather than attempt to explain the Mass through Scriptural proof-texts, the author has rightly moved to explain the Scriptures through the Mass. For, as the Scriptures tells the story of salvation history, it is the Mass, which brings the promise of the story to their fulfillment.

Through beautiful prose and a concrete presentation of the Divine Symphony’s history, meaning, mystery, and liturgical continuity, David L. Gray, in this exordium, gives reason to all to know, love and pray the Mass.

This well written and accessible a book is not only for Catholics, but for anyone who is looking to developing a deeper understanding and appreciation for what the Priests, Deacons, and the People are doing when they pray and confess the Ite, Missa Est.

To know the Mass is to love it and to love it is to pray it.

Length: 194 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

From the Author

"In The Divine Symphony, I go to great lengths in each of the movements to inspire the reader to live the Mass. Again, you can go to any Catholic bookstore and find all types of books on spirituality and Biblical-application, but I promise you that if we just diligently try to live our lives in union with and in reflection of the Liturgy we will become saints, and the world will be healed. There are a lot of loaded words and deep theological significance in what I am saying here, but it is simply to say that to know the Divine Symphony is to know how to live. It is true, all People are better off when they know, love, and pray the Catholic Mass." - Snippet from an Interview with Author David L. Gray published by Saint Dominic's Media

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

For the past century and longer, nearly every book written by Catholics about the Catholic Mass has taken the approach to explain the liturgy by dissecting it into separate parts and pieces. Contrary to this staunchly popular style of teaching, the Catholic Mass is not a disjointed litany of things the laity says, things the Priest says, times they stand, times they kneel, things they do, and things they don't do. Rather, in all of its liturgical expressions, from East to West, the Catholic Mass is a singular and Divinely inspired composition; a familial song of prayers and confessions. It truly is a Divine Symphony called the, ' Ite, Missa est.'

This is what makes David L. Gray's work groundbreaking, in that finally there comes along a book that presents a harmonious symphony of the Catholic Mass.

The Divine Symphony: An Exordium to the Catholic Mass consists of four very accessible and easy to read movements that narrate, explores, and explains the meaning, mystery, theology, history, symbolism, and continuity of the Catholic Mass. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Publication Date : May 14, 2018
File Size : 610 KB
Word Wise : Enabled
Publisher : Saint Dominic's Media, Inc.; 3rd Edition (May 14, 2018)
Print Length : 194 pages
Language: : English
ASIN : B07CYSV7LK
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced Typesetting : Enabled
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Page Numbers Source ISBN : 1732178402
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Lending : Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #1,031,324 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #541 in Christian Rites & Ceremonies
- #1,794 in Christian Rites & Ceremonies Books
- #4,438 in Catholicism (Kindle Store)

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Markie Works

Your Personal relationship with Jesus is about to get lit !

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2019

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The Word of God is sharper than a two edged sword ,,,, The Word , the book , The Bible is an awesome thing, but it's just that ,,, THIS book explains what THE BOOK is really all about and that is a Person , THE person who IS Jesus Christ and there is no other more valuable than he. Our intelligence is limited to existential ponderings of who,what,where and why of our purpose here in this fleeting life we are gifted with , however The Divine Symphony reveals OUR true purpose and Personal relationship with HE who IS Love. Jesus himself invites us into HIS family.
I particularly appreciated the female voice on the audio book as it brings to life The scene of The Bible Story of The wedding at Cana when The Mother of Jesus says to the stewards after they've run out of wine, " DO whatever HE Tells You !." Thanks for that, it brings me great solace to imagine my Mother Mary teaching us how to love HER Lord and Savior Divine Son Jesus. This book has the clarity and depth that will inspire the novice as well as the masters! I appreciate David using his God given gifts to help us lay people get into HIStory and accept the invitation to join the family of Jesus . Regards, Markie Marie Works

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Marvin Randash

Insightful

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2020

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David is extremely insightful spiritually. Great book!

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Devin Rose

In depth guide to the theology of the Mass

Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2018

David L. Gray has just published a book called The Divine Symphony: An Exordium to the Theology of the Catholic Mass. In it he delves into the theology of the Mass, bringing the reader a deeper appreciation of it.

The Mass As Divine Symphony

The "red thread" through the book that David makes is the analogy of the Mass to a symphony: it is broken up into multiple movements and has parts to it that resemble a symphonic piece of music.

I admit that I had to look up what "exordium" meant in the subtitle: it is the introductory part of a treatise or piece of music.

Before diving into the parts of the Mass and exploring them, David gives a good overview of what the book is and is not. He explains that he is not arguing for any particular Rite or sub-tradition within a Rite but rather focusing on the overarching similarities across all Rites, even in the Orthodox liturgies, as they all represent the same theological meaning.

So, for instance, he is not concerned with proving that the Ordinary Form (Novus Ordo) of the Roman Rite is superior or inferior to the Extraordinary Form (Traditional Latin Mass). He is not interested in claiming that the Byzantine divine liturgy is better or worse than, say, the Maronite one. He shows how each of these are substantially similar.

A Disagreement

I appreciate David's purpose in writing this book. He is not a traditionalist, but he values the Traditional Latin Mass and almost switched from being a Latin Rite Catholic to one of the Eastern Rites (Byzantine et. al.). He definitely seeks to refute those more extreme traditionalists who claim that the Novus Ordo is invalid; I am not one of those traditionalists so I had no disagreement with him here.

Where I did differ is that I would claim the Traditional Latin Mass is superior to the Novus Ordo. Yes both are valid, but that does not mean that one does not surpass the other in terms of beauty, theological exactness and power of expression, and depth of tradition. So while the Novus Ordo does hit all the notes of the Divine Symphony--to use his analogy--those notes are not as true, or deep in timbre, as the Traditional Latin Mass's are.

That said, he makes very clear that his purpose is not to give a full on defense of the Novus Ordo against the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

Maybe that will be in a future book.

What I Like in the Book

I really liked that David went through the Mass step-by-step. Each part, each important phrase, was explained and illuminated.

He includes insights from Pope Benedict, Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Francis, Cardinal Sarah, and many other writings, including those of the Church Fathers, which offer meaty food for thought on the Holy Mass.

I learned countless things from reading the book, and I think that everyone would as well. Even having been Catholic now for 17 years, and doing apologetics, this book reminded me of how much I have to learn even in the fundamentals of the Catholic Faith.

Kudos to David for writing this intriguing and informative book.

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Kaye Park Hinckley

One of the most valuable books I have read about the Catholic faith.

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2018

The Catholic Mass: The Composition of Christianity. A masterpiece, the embodiment of what we believe. The Mass makes God present to His people by telling His story, and is the daily echo of our Catholic faith.

As a cradle Catholic, I have a lifetime of love for the Mass. Yet, never before have I perceived it as a symphony; The Divine Symphony, as does David L. Bray in this remarkable book.

I read the book slowly, taking in the very familiar parts of the Ite Missa est, but seeing them in a new light--not as the Mass I’ve become used to, standing kneeling, responding, without much thought as to why we do all that--but as the particular movements of a symphonic journey revealing the Incarnation, and Christianity itself. David Bray reclaims our theology in this book, and reframes what we believe and why we believe it. He takes us through the essential life-giving act of God given to us in the Old Testament, and found in the memorial Passover sacrifice instituted before the exodus, then subsequently played out in the Crucifixion in the New Testament, and now, offered daily in Masses all over the world.

For those lifetime Catholics like me, this is a book for you. For those who are not Catholic and have wondered just what the Catholic Mass is--this book will reveal it. With examples from the Latin Rite, the Novus Ordo, Melkite, Orthodox—all—because, as David Bray says, “As God is one, so is there only one Mass that is expressed through various liturgical traditions that are rooted in a Divinely inspired cross-pollination with each other, especially for the first seven centuries of the Church."

Backed up by biblical history, both Old and New Testament, along with the earliest church writers, David Bray has set his very keen eye on our beautiful Mass and laid before us an impeccable encapsulation of our faith. In one sentence, this is the one of the most valuable books I have read about the Catholic faith.

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