Scholarship has progressed in the century since higher duties called Schuster from the classroom, certainly. Yet in these pages his thirst for learning is as palpable as is the true liturgical spirit-indeed sanctity-that animates his exposition of the nature of the liturgy and his meditations on the seasons and feasts of the liturgical year. From these we can learn a great deal, not only in respect of our approach to liturgical study and celebration, but also regarding the fundamental nature of Christian life and spirituality. That these volumes are once again in print is a singular grace. - Dom Alcuin Reid, Prior, Monastère Saint-Benoît, Fréjus-Toulon, France, Author, The Organic Development of the Liturgy
In addition to having been a worthy son of Saint Benedict and, later, successor of Saint Ambrose, Blessed Ildefonso Schuster (1880-1954) was a notable figure of the early Liturgical Movement, one whose scholarship deserves to be better known in the anglophone world....Although scholarship has progressed in some areas in the last century, it remains a valuable commentary on the living tradition that is the older Roman Rite, on a par with Dom Guéranger's magnum opus, The Liturgical Year. - Fr. Thomas Kocik, KHS, Author, Singing His Song: A Short Introduction to the Liturgical Movement
The achievement of Blessed Ildefonso's Schuster Liber sacramentorum was to build a bridge between liturgical scholarship and spiritual commentary on the Mass. The reprint of this great contribution to liturgical renewal in the twentieth century is most welcome at a time when the older form of the Roman Rite is rediscovered by new generations of Catholics. - Fr Uwe Michael Lang, Cong.Orat., Mater Ecclesiae College, St Mary's University, Twickenham, London
Ildefonse Schuster was among the towering figures of the Liturgical Movement in its healthy phase, where the overriding concern was to study the family history in the spirit of descendents keen to know their glorious heritage, so that they might carry on long-standing customs with grateful understanding, and rediscover lost, forgotten, or neglected treasures....This carefully limned commentary, spacious and leisurely, plunges us into the pure font of tradition and intensifies our participation in the life-giving mysteries of Christ. - Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, author of Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness: Why the Modern Age Needs the Mass of Ages
