Subject: Death of a Liturgist by Lorraine V. Murray
Saint Benedict Press, Charlotte, North Carolina, 2010.

Just get it and enjoy reading Murray’s book. Five Stars out of five.

When I mentioned the title to a friend, a very serious and utterly devout catholic man, his eyes lit up and he grinned gleefully. He knew intuitively what was on my mind and what this book is all about.

We of the Catholic faith – and perhaps our other Christian brothers as well – who have ever wondered what happened to our liturgy will have great fun reading this book. Death of a Liturgist is great satire of the liturgical hip-hop culture wrapped in a mystery story.

The parish Murray describes really exists. The name has been changed, of course. The characters she brings to life roam not only in that parish but will be recognized in most others. Bad lectors and willful, mischievous, or unintentional misinterpretations of the post-Vatican II liturgy by the nefarious liturgist and clerics who do not care, these are all in this story. Satire is the highest form of criticism. Will they listen who make us sit through services "enhanced" with vacuous feel-good talk, hymns, and gesticulations?

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is easy to read. Murray’s experience as a writer shows. She writes a weekly column in our daily paper and the bulletin of the diocese. She is also the author of “Death in the Choir” and serious books such as “The Abbess of Andalusia” and “Confessions of an Ex-Feminist”.

R. Gerdes