This study proceeds historically, from the origins of the Eucharist up to our own day. Unlike most studies of this kind, it includes an introduction to and developmental summary of the diverse Eucharistic liturgies of the Christian East. It also explores the various Western rites (Ambrosian, Gallican, and Mozarabic) in addition to the Roman. With regard to theological themes, the authors give special attention to the topics of real presence (including the "consecration" of the bread and wine) and eucharistic sacrifice, the most central and most ecumenically challenging issues since the sixteenth-century Reformations. Making the book especially teacher- and student-friendly are the summary points at the end of each chapter. Each chapter also contains an abundance of liturgical texts for ease of reference.
Author
Paul F. Bradshaw: Paul Bradshaw is Emeritus Professor of Liturgy at the University of Notre Dame and Priest-Vicar Emeritus of Westminster Abbey. He is a former President of Societas Liturgica and of the North American Academy of Liturgy.<br><br>Paul Bradshaw is Professor of Liturgy at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, U.S.A., and holds a Ph.D. from London University, a D.D. from Oxford University, and an honorary D.D. from the General Theological Seminary, New York. Between 1995 and 2008 he served as Director of Notre Dames London Undergraduate Program, and still teaches there periodically. He is an honorary Canon of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana, priest-vicar of Westminster Abbey, and a member of the Church of England Liturgical Commission. He is also one of only two people ever to have been president of both the North American Academy of Liturgy (1993-94) and the international Societas Liturgica (1993-95), and from 1987 to 2005 he was editor-in-chief of the journal.
