Continue through the heart of the Easter season and contemplate the mystery of the Risen Christ in the weeks leading toward His Ascension.

Volume 8 of Dom Prosper Guéranger’s monumental The Liturgical Year is Paschal Time, Book II, continuing the Church’s celebration of Easter after the close of the Easter Octave.

While Easter Sunday has passed, the Church’s joy is far from over. Dom Guéranger reminds the reader that Paschal Time is an extended season centered on the triumph of Christ’s Resurrection. During these weeks, the liturgy continues to form the faithful in the joy, hope, and supernatural life that flow from Our Lord’s victory over sin and death.

This volume follows the liturgical calendar from the second through the fifth weeks after Easter, leading the reader steadily toward the mystery of the Ascension.

Readers will encounter:

• The continuing mysteries of the Easter season
• The Sunday and weekday liturgies following the Easter Octave
• The Church’s meditation on Christ as the Good Shepherd
• Our Lord’s teaching and preparation of His disciples before His Ascension
• The Masses, prayers, Epistles, and Gospels of the Easter season
• Commentary on the Introit, Collect, Scripture readings, Offertory, and other parts of the traditional Mass
• Saints and feast days occurring throughout April and May
• Ancient prayers, hymns, and liturgical traditions drawn from both Eastern and Western Christianity
• The gradual movement of the liturgy from the Resurrection toward the Ascension

Dom Guéranger shows that the weeks following Easter are not simply an interval between major feasts. They form an important period in which the Church contemplates the meaning of the Resurrection and prepares for the next great events in salvation history.

The Gospel readings of these Sundays turn increasingly toward Christ’s final instruction to His Apostles. The faithful are invited to consider the life of grace won through the Resurrection, the promised coming of the Holy Ghost, and the mission Christ is preparing His Church to undertake.

Throughout the volume, Dom Guéranger explains the traditional Mass in remarkable detail, drawing attention to the prayers and Scripture passages that can easily pass unnoticed. His historical observations and spiritual meditations reveal how each part of the liturgy contributes to the Church’s unfolding celebration of the Paschal Mystery.

The Liturgical Year was written to make the riches of Catholic worship more accessible to the faithful, allowing readers to follow the Church’s calendar not merely as a sequence of dates, but as a continuous journey through the mysteries of Christ.

Volume 8: Paschal Time II is an excellent companion for Catholics who want to continue living the joy of Easter after the Octave and follow the Church’s liturgy through the weeks that prepare for the Ascension and Pentecost.

By: Dom Prosper Guéranger, O.S.B.
Translated by: Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.
Series: The Liturgical Year, Volume 8 of 15
Season: Paschal Time — Book II