What do you think?
Rate this book
A New Song for the Lord: Faith in Christ and Liturgy Today
The pope’s definitive statement on liturgical reform. Pope Benedict XVI shows that in the controversies over liturgical reform and the Latin mass, liturgy is not just a pragmatic matter but a central feature in our relationship to Christ, the Church, and ourselves.
- GenresCatholic
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
3 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Pope Benedict XVI
944 books951 followersOriginally
Joseph Ratzinger
, a noted conservative theologian before his election in 2005, Benedict XVI strove against the influence of secularism during his papacy to defend traditional Catholic teachings but since medieval times first resigned in 2013.
After Joseph Ratzinger served a long career as an academic and a professor at the University of Regensburg, Pope Paul VI appointed him as archbishop of Munich and Freising and cardinal in 1977. In 1981, he settled in Rome as prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, one most important office of the Roman curia. He also served as dean of the college of cardinals.
Benedict XVI reigned 265th in virtue of his office of bishop of Rome, the sovereign of the state of Vatican City and the head of the Church. A conclave named him on 19 April 2005; he celebrated his inaugural Mass on 24 April 2005 and took possession of his Lateran cathedral basilica of Saint John on 7 May 2005.
Benedict XVI succeeded Saint John Paul II, predecessor and his prolific writings on doctrine and values. Benedict XVI advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increase of many developed countries. Relativism denied objective truth and moral truths in particular; he viewed this central problem of the 21st century. With the importance of the Church, he understood redemptive love of God. He reaffirmed the "importance of prayer in the face of the activism" "of many Christians engaged in charitable work." Benedict also revived a number and elevated the Tridentine Mass to a more prominent position.
Benedict founded and patronized of the Ratzinger foundation, a charitable organization, which from the sale of books and essays makes money to fund scholarships and bursaries for students across the world.
Due to advanced age on 11 February 2013, Benedict announced in a speech in Latin and cited a "lack of strength of mind and body" before the cardinals. He effectively left on 28 February 2013.As emeritus, Benedict retained the style of His Holiness, and the title and continued to dress in the color of white. He moved into the newly renovated monastery of Mater Ecclesiae for his retirement. Pope Francis succeeded him on 13 March 2013.
(more info on Ratzinger Foundation: https://www.ewtn.com/library/Theology...)
After Joseph Ratzinger served a long career as an academic and a professor at the University of Regensburg, Pope Paul VI appointed him as archbishop of Munich and Freising and cardinal in 1977. In 1981, he settled in Rome as prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, one most important office of the Roman curia. He also served as dean of the college of cardinals.
Benedict XVI reigned 265th in virtue of his office of bishop of Rome, the sovereign of the state of Vatican City and the head of the Church. A conclave named him on 19 April 2005; he celebrated his inaugural Mass on 24 April 2005 and took possession of his Lateran cathedral basilica of Saint John on 7 May 2005.
Benedict XVI succeeded Saint John Paul II, predecessor and his prolific writings on doctrine and values. Benedict XVI advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increase of many developed countries. Relativism denied objective truth and moral truths in particular; he viewed this central problem of the 21st century. With the importance of the Church, he understood redemptive love of God. He reaffirmed the "importance of prayer in the face of the activism" "of many Christians engaged in charitable work." Benedict also revived a number and elevated the Tridentine Mass to a more prominent position.
Benedict founded and patronized of the Ratzinger foundation, a charitable organization, which from the sale of books and essays makes money to fund scholarships and bursaries for students across the world.
Due to advanced age on 11 February 2013, Benedict announced in a speech in Latin and cited a "lack of strength of mind and body" before the cardinals. He effectively left on 28 February 2013.As emeritus, Benedict retained the style of His Holiness, and the title and continued to dress in the color of white. He moved into the newly renovated monastery of Mater Ecclesiae for his retirement. Pope Francis succeeded him on 13 March 2013.
(more info on Ratzinger Foundation: https://www.ewtn.com/library/Theology...)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 10, 2023
“In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter between Christ and the Church. The liturgical community derives its unity from the “communion” of the Holy Spirit who gathers the children of God into one Body of Christ. This assembly transcends racial, cultural, social— indeed all human affinities. The assembly should prepare itself to encounter its Lord and to become ‘a people well disposed’” quoted from the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1097
“The renewal of the Church which is always necessary is not a matter of handcrafting structures as diligently as possible. All that emerges from this is homemade—“our” Church. What is made, however, is always of less value than the maker; a homemade Church can be interesting but it cannot support us. What matters is not that we work as much as possible on the Church but that we let the “our” disappear as far as possible so that “his” Church, the Church herself, comes to light. This happens to the extent that we “believe”. Not by making or doing, but believing renews the Church and us.”
-pg 150
Pg158. I Always thought that private confession was “invented”by Irish monastic communities, but Cardinal Ratzinger here shows that this “view was proposed by Bernhard Poschmann from Breslau and was adopted by Karl Rahner and was taken up into the theological consciousness. Today we know that in early Judaism at the time of Jesus the confession of sins by the individual, that is personal confession was a common practice which continued and merged organically into the life of the Christian communities. Baptism by John was connected to confession of sins, Mark 1:5, Matt 3:6, James 5:16, the Acts of the Apostles 19:18, The Didache, The Practice of personal confession could obviously not be kept up in the growing Gentile- Christian communities and was reduced to general formulae. But the monasticism that was evolving in the early church took up this practice and also made it available again to the rest of the faithful. Only in this way can we understand how personal confession falsely called “private confession” already became the normal form of penance at the close of the Christian antiquity in the Eastern Church, which experienced no influence from Ireland. In 692 the basic structure of this rite could then be defined in a conciliar canon in the East.”
“The renewal of the Church which is always necessary is not a matter of handcrafting structures as diligently as possible. All that emerges from this is homemade—“our” Church. What is made, however, is always of less value than the maker; a homemade Church can be interesting but it cannot support us. What matters is not that we work as much as possible on the Church but that we let the “our” disappear as far as possible so that “his” Church, the Church herself, comes to light. This happens to the extent that we “believe”. Not by making or doing, but believing renews the Church and us.”
-pg 150
Pg158. I Always thought that private confession was “invented”by Irish monastic communities, but Cardinal Ratzinger here shows that this “view was proposed by Bernhard Poschmann from Breslau and was adopted by Karl Rahner and was taken up into the theological consciousness. Today we know that in early Judaism at the time of Jesus the confession of sins by the individual, that is personal confession was a common practice which continued and merged organically into the life of the Christian communities. Baptism by John was connected to confession of sins, Mark 1:5, Matt 3:6, James 5:16, the Acts of the Apostles 19:18, The Didache, The Practice of personal confession could obviously not be kept up in the growing Gentile- Christian communities and was reduced to general formulae. But the monasticism that was evolving in the early church took up this practice and also made it available again to the rest of the faithful. Only in this way can we understand how personal confession falsely called “private confession” already became the normal form of penance at the close of the Christian antiquity in the Eastern Church, which experienced no influence from Ireland. In 692 the basic structure of this rite could then be defined in a conciliar canon in the East.”
November 30, 2021
One of the best books I ve read by His Holiness. A synthesis of all his thoughts.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews