With The Sacraments, the task of publishing a new revision and new translation of A. G. Martimort's monumental L'Église en Prière (1965) is complete. This up-to-date series, THE CHURCH AT PRAYER, is a welcome addition to the bookshelves of liturgical scholars and educated lay readers, and the four-volume set will serve well as basic texts for an introduction to the liturgy.
The authors of The Sacraments survey the origin and development of the sacramental rites through a careful scrutiny of various pontifical, rituals, sacramentaries, and euchologia of the past and present. The scope of the book goes beyond the seven sacraments to provide a wealth of information about monastic rites and religious profession, Christian death, the consecration of virgins, the several ministries instituted by Vatican II, blessings, processions and pilgrimages, and numerous aspects of "popular" religion.
THE CHURCH AT PRAYER includes the following volumes: I Principles of the Liturgy, II The Eucharist, III The Sacraments and IV The Liturgy and Time.