This book forever changed the way that I look at the celebration of Mass. It goes into detail (sometimes almost painful detail) about the Jewish rituals of the Old Testament, how they foreshadowed the coming of Christ, and how almost all of our Catholic rituals come directly from the Jews or from Christian practice and NOT from paganism.

The book really is quite extensive, covering everything: incense, vestments, the minor clerical orders, singing, organs, marriages, ordination of priests, where we get "diocese" from, etc. It uses different sources from ancient Jewish writings and traditions, and ancient Christian writings to illustrate with acute detail how things were in the ancient days.

The one thing about the book that made me mark it down was at times the author became repetitive. It seemed that this repetition was intentional in order to drive home certain points, but it can become tedious at times. It could have also used some editing, especially when he gives his firsthand account at trying to observe a Seder meal in the Holy Land, which included too many personal details that were irrelevant.

With that being said, I used my highlighter more on this book than any other one I can remember, and I learned so much that I am truly grateful for this work being done.

Highly Recommended!