Thanks to the good people over at REGINA Press, Liturgy Guy is now a book! LITURGY GUY: Essays by Brian Williams is now available at Amazon in both paperback and e-book format. From the back cover:

Before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger famously noted that “the crisis in the Church we are experiencing today is, to a large extent, due to the disintegration of the liturgy.”

Along those very same lines, Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Oregon has argued that “an authentic and faithful renewal and reform of the sacred liturgy is not only part of the New Evangelization—it is essential to its fruitfulness.”

At just under 50 pages, the book is perfectly sized to help catechize the faithful on the purpose and meaning behind certain traditional practices within the sacred liturgy. Some of the topics covered include:

• Ad orientem worship
• Kneeling for Communion
• The use of Latin in the Mass
• Male only altar servers
• Why Tradition and Why Now?

LITURGY GUY the book, in language which is both concise and highly accessible, explains why the recovery of our Catholic liturgical tradition is not simply a matter of preference, but rather one of urgent necessity. The book also contains several wonderful photos by John Cosmas, whose past work is very familiar to readers of this blog.

It is my hope that many lay Catholics AND clergy alike will read these timely essays and share what they have learned with others. As the reform of the reform and the restoration of tradition continue to gain momentum at the parish level, LITURGY GUY the book can serve as a great resource for ongoing liturgical catechesis.

Photo credit: John Cosmas