Before the Altar Changed: Marian Devotions

She was everywhere in the pre-Vatican II Catholic home. On the May altar crowded with fresh flowers. On therosary by the bedside. On the brown scapular worn against the skin. On the holy card tucked in the missal. Inthe Litany whose titles — Tower of Ivory, Gate of Heaven, Morning Star — were as familiar as the alphabet.Before the Altar Changed, Vol. II: Marian Devotions recovers this world for the Catholics who never knew it anddeepens it for those who have never stopped practicing it. From the Rosary's medieval origins to the Legion ofMary's twentieth-century apostolate, from the apparitions at Guadalupe, Lourdes, and Fatima to the quietdomestic shrine of a May altar in a family living room, this volume offers the fullest available guide to theMarian devotional life of the pre-conciliar Church.Thirty-two chapters across seven parts cover:• The Rosary — its medieval origins, the three sets of mysteries, the family Rosary of Father Patrick Peyton• The Scapulars and Medals — the Brown Scapular, the Green Scapular, the Miraculous Medal, the Scapular Medal• The Prayers of Mary — the Angelus, the Memorare, the Litany of Loreto, the Little Office of the BlessedVirgin Mary, the great Marian novenas• The Feasts and Seasons — the Marian calendar, May and October as Mary's months, the Immaculate Conception,the Assumption, Our Lady of Sorrows• The Apparitions — Guadalupe (1531), Lourdes (1858), Fatima (1917), La Salette, Knock, Akita• The Confraternities — the Legion of Mary, the Sodality of Our Lady, the Children of Mary, the great AmericanMarian shrines• The Home and the Parish — the home altar, holy cards, Marian hymns, and the November devotion for the HolySoulsFive appendices supply the practical equipment of the devotional life the book describes: the complete prayersof the Holy Rosary with all fifteen mysteries and their traditional virtues, the Litany of Loreto in Latin andEnglish, the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Prime, Vespers, and Compline), a comparative calendar ofMarian feasts in the 1962 and 1969 Roman calendars, and an annotated bibliography for further study. Whether you are recovering an inheritance you once knew, or discovering for the first time the world yourgrandmother lived in, this book is your guide.The second volume in the Before the Altar Changed series. Volume I treats the pre-Vatican II liturgical year;further volumes on the Sacraments and on Saints, Shrines, and Popular Piety are forthcoming. Read more