The Unread Vision. The Liturgical Movement in the United States of America: 1926-1955 by Keith F. Pecklers, S.J. (review)

328book reviews of twentieth-century American Catholic missionary impulse—individuals (men and women), religious orders or lay missioners, bishops, or sponsoring organizations ? Likewise, what inspires missionary impulse—gospel, political realities, evangelical competition, finances, education, or theology? Though specifically unstated or unresolved by Dries, these issues serve as her invitation to historians and scholars to integrate missionaries within American Catholic history, missiology, and world history. Twentieth-century China missions reveal questions of missionaries' cultural accommodation, relief work, service of men and women in mission, death, internment and expulsion of missionaries throughout the Nationalist, Japanese, and Communist periods. Missionaries of the post-WorldWar II era (1946-1959) faced a world of freedom vs. communism. Opinions of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen and Father John J. Considine, M.M., shaped the period. The genesis of the mission impulse to Latin and South America and the conflictual dynamics surrounding liberation theology and the re-emergence of the martyr myth in 1980 is well done. The conclusion is a synthetic summary of the "themes and threads" in the book. Helpful would have been Dries's addressing the attraction of the missionary vocation itself. Why were some interested in the missions never sent while those having no interest were? Enriching as well would have been comparing the American Catholic missionary movement in relationship to other regional impulses such as that described in Edmund H. Hogan's The Irish Missionary Movement (1990). Noteworthy are valuable appendices, excellent footnotes, listing of mission periodicals and archival and library deposits, a rich bibliography, and a thorough index. This book will serve as a standard work on the American Catholic missionary experience. Robert E. Carbonneau, CP Passionist Community, Catholic Theological Union Chicago The Unread Vision. The liturgicalMovement in the United States ofAmerica: 1926-1955. By Keith F. Pecklers, SJ. (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press. 1998. Pp. xvii, 333- $24.95 paperback.) Professor Keith Pecklers of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Sant'Anselmo in Rome has written an excellent survey of the liturgical movement in the United States from 1926 to 1955. This book examines the major ideas and the leadership of the movement. book reviews329 At times, I found the footnotes to be as interesting as the main text. Professor Pecklers often presents key passages from the writings of our liturgical pioneers, from official documents, and from personal interviews with actual pioneers and their associates. There are a very comprehensive twenty-sixpage bibliography and two useful indexes: a subject index and an index of names. Like many comprehensive surveys, this book can exhaust its readers with details . In the interest of documenting the nationwide contributions of liturgical leaders, there are occasionally a greater number of examples of a particular notion or practice than the reader may care to know. Despite the valiant efforts to make the rationale behind the liturgical movement clear to both clergy and laity alike, there was and still is a great gap between popular understanding of the liturgy and the actual intent of the renewal itself. This book will definitely help fill this gap. It is a superb introduction to the goals of the movement, especially for those unfamiliar with it. I found the division of chapters to make eminent good sense. Chapter 1 begins with the European roots of the movement from 1833 to 1925. It highlights the pioneering efforts of European leaders, especially in Germany, France, and Belgium. Chapter 2 surveys the beginnings of the movement, emphasizing the goal of full and active participation in the liturgy. It summarizes the efforts of and the challenges faced by our liturgical pioneers. Chapter 3 deals with the connection between liturgy and social justice. It is here that our American movement made its most distinctive contribution, uniting both the social justice and liturgical movements. Unfortunately, this connection was lost during the 1950's. Chapter 4 is on the liturgical movement and education. It surveys numerous publications, summer programs, liturgical days and weeks, catechetical efforts, study clubs, academic programs, and seminary programs. It documents the difficulties our pioneers faced in finding support for liturgical education. Chapter 5 deals with the liturgical movement and art, architecture, and music. Ideas such as art serving the needs of the liturgy,liturgies being the...