Announcing the Feast The Entrance Song in the Mass of the Roman Rite

This is a very important book for two straightforward reasons: it represents the best tradition of liturgical scholarship in shedding light on the complexity of the origins and development of the entrance song of the Mass; it does so at a time when the implementation of the new English translation of The Roman Missal naturally strengthens our desire to revisit the basic elements of the liturgy and to evaluate our experience in the light of tradition. This highly accessible study raises crucial questions for all who have a love and concern for the liturgy in general and liturgical music in particular.

This is an important book by a promising young scholar on a timely topic. It gives solid historical and theological information on the development of the entrance song or chant, with wise guidance on what this means for the Church's liturgical practice today.

I'm unaware of any book like [Announcing the Feast] in terms of focus, argument, and evidence. It is engaging and straightforward but clearly the result of many years of in-depth research. It makes a major contribution toward helping us understand just how crucial is the entrance to the Mass itself.. On a personal note, I warn you that if you are a liturgy geek like I am, this book is not something you want to have arrive in your mail box while you have other things to do. I found myself wildly distracted by its contents and argument, and nearly unable to put it down.

Carefully researched, clearly articulated and insightfully argued, Announcing the Feast will stand as a major resource for all involved in the study of liturgical music for years to come. A multidisciplinary tour de force. The careful reader will come away with presuppositions challenged, new ideas carefully nuanced and presented and a wealth to bring to the question of `what is next' for the continuing task of implementing the reformed liturgy.

In these pages, we find a sure and sophisticated knowledge of the past, but also an understanding of the present and a sense of the future to which we are moving. McFarland's knowledge of the chant tradition is here for all to see, but so too is his sense of what is pastorally required at this time. He rejects the false antagonisms that have troubled the liturgical life of the Church in recent times and speaks instead of a new synthesis-between the chant tradition and the other music which has appeared since the Council to foster greater participation and local adaptation. McFarland speaks of the need for creative fidelity, and this is surely right. McFarland's work not only points the need for such things but actually helps to create them.

Jason McFarland assists all those who are responsible for the liturgical life of the Church to address the question, `What shall we sing at the start of Mass?' and to answer it in a way that is faithful to the Council's call for authentic liturgical renewal.

Announcing the Feast is an important book for both liturgical scholars and pastoral musicians. McFarland's meticulous scholarship offers a history of the entrance song using a method that takes seriously the context of every worship event. This book will inspire those who read it to take another look at how their musical choices `announce the feast.'