Catholic Customs: A Fresh Look at Traditional Practices

by Regis J. Flaherty

Sacraments and sacramentals. Feasts days and fasts. Rosaries, novenas, stations of the cross. These and many other traditional practices of the Catholic faithful receive a fresh look in this book. Here you’ll learn more -traditions surrounding the sacraments
-liturgical seasons and feasts
-customs in prayer
-sacramentals and other symbols
-traditional devotions to Christ and the saints
-customs at Church and at home
-new developments in Catholic traditions

189 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Dennis Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated the way Flaherty spoke to his readers as if they were children. And half of the metaphors he used were irrelevant to the topic he was trying to explain. I picked up this book as a means to get plain facts on Catholic catechism. If he chose to do some preaching in the process, then this book was given a misleading title. He also spoke about the "touchy" subjects (priest scandals, indulgences, etc) with a combination of very high levels of both defensiveness and aloofness. So I didn't even get the full picture I was searching for.

I am a Catholic. And I do like that I am one. But this book really was not the way to go about gaining more facts about faith and Catholic customs. Yes, facts were there, but not nearly as much as I wanted. And they were far too interspersed with fluff. Fluff that was deduced as if it were meant for village idiots.

[Sarah Yasin]

this book does not include regional customs