Anthony Ruff, O.S.B., has written a brilliant, comprehensive, well-researched book about the treasures of the Church's musical tradition, and about the transformations brought about by liturgical reform. The liturgy constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium stated many revolutionary principles of liturgical reform. Regarding liturgical music, the Council's decrees mandated, on the one hand, the preservation of the inherited treasury of sacred music, and on the other hand, advocated adaptation and expansion of this treasury to meet the changed requirements of the reformed liturgy. In clear, precise language, he retrieves the Council's neglected teachings on the preservation of the inherited music treasury. He clearly shows that this task is not at odds with good pastoral practice, but is rather an integral part of it. The book proposes an alternate hermeneutic for understanding the Second Vatican Council's teachings on worship music.

Sacrosanctum Concilium opened the door to all Christians to understand the contemporary challenge to their life and health, and it started with the reform of the liturgy. In the words of Paul VI the liturgy is the 'first source of life communicated to us, the first school of our spiritual life, the first gift we can give to Christian people by our believing and praying, and the first invitation to the world.' That is surely true for all of us.

Every papal document dealing with church music from Saint Clement (92-101) to Paul VI (1963-1978) was sought for this collection. The texts are presented in English translation accompanied by the author's commentary. Also included are decrees from the Council of Trent, the Congregation of Sacred Rites and other bodies dealing with the musical concerns of the Holy See. Much of the volume chronicles the restoration of Gregorian chant after Trent and completed four hundred years later when reforms under Pius X confirmed the work of the Solesmes Benedictines.

In the discussions and debates surrounding liturgical music of the past fifty years, music theorists, critics, and historians have contributed little, and their counsel has rarely been sought. Whenever the matter of liturgical music arises, most often in parishes, but sometimes in episcopal conferences or in the academy or in Vatican documents, the nature of the music, as music, almost never affects the discussion. With Sacred Treasure, Joseph Swain, a distinguished musicologist and accomplished performer, attempts to change that. He offers a theory for building authentic traditions of liturgical music for Roman Catholic parishes. This book is an exercise in pragmatic music criticism. By providing a rational basis for evaluating the essential issues, Swain seeks to show how a spiritually wholesome stability might supplant the confusion. Sacred Treasure shows how the hard facts of music must be taken into account in any holistic conception and any lasting form of liturgical music.

An overview of 10 key insights from CSL that have shaped the Mass we celebrate today.Reverend Joshua R. Brommer, STL, is the Administrative Assistant to the Bishop and the Director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Harrisburg. He earned his Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, in 2007 with a focus in Sacramental Theology and the doctrine of grace. Since ordination, he has served as parochial vicar in three parishes in the Diocese of Harrisburg, taught in the Diocesan Permanent Diaconate Formation program, and offered many classes, lectures, and retreats.

On a Mission to Preserve Our Worship of the Divine Sacred Music and Liturgy After Vatican II recounts the important role that Monsignor Schuler played in the post-Vatican II Church. It was his heroic commitment, through countless writings in Sacred Music magazine, and through the authentic implementation of the Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy at the Church of Saint Agnes in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that has helped keep the patrimony of Catholic sacred music and liturgy alive against all odds in the United States. With the dawning of the 17th century came a "flowering of religion...a spreading of Catholicism in Europe and in the newly discovered western hemisphere. The cause of all this was the Council of Trent and those who put it into effect. When it was finally put into practice, a great age dawned. So also will it come about in these times when the Second Vatican Council is finally given a chance and is put into practice." -Monsignor Richard J. Schuler