While but a boy less than ten years old I heard my father speak of a book that he prized highly, and quoted frequently, because it told of one who was much gifted in prayer, and who through prayer achieved mighty results for God. I long tried to secure a copy of that book, but found it had gone out of print. I regretted this very much; more especially so, as the book would be an inspiration and blessing to any child of God. Within the last two years, having providentially discovered a copy in the home of an old English saint, I have been impressed that I should put at least a portion of this book before the public such excerpts as would portray this man of God on his knees. "The gift of the knees" comes through practice; Heaven's choicest blessings await the man who waits on God. My earliest recollections are a blessing to me, as I recall the stalwart men who would pray until the heavens would bend, tears start, and shouts ascend to the God who heard and answered. This work is sent forth in humble faith and prayer that it may prove an inspiration to men and women to ''pray without ceasing," knowing by experience "they that wait upon the Lord do renew their strength, they mount up with wings as eagles, they run and are not weary, they walk and are not faint." "And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray, and He was there alone." Who will go with him?

by George B. Kulp dated 1909

New Softcover Edition with Index! Considered by Ratzinger devotees as his greatest work on the Liturgy, this profound and beautifully written treatment of the "great prayer of the Church" will help readers rediscover the Liturgy in all its hidden spiritual wealth and transcendent grandeur as the very center of our Christian life. Among the many liturgical issues that he covers in this work, Cardinal Ratzinger discusses fundamental misunderstandings of the Second Vatican Council's intentions for liturgical renewal, especially the orientation of prayer at the Eucharistic sacrifice, the placement of the tabernacle, and the posture of kneeling. Other important topics he discusses include the following: the essence of worship; Jewish roots and new elements of the Christian Liturgy; the historic and cosmic dimensions of the Liturgy; the relationship of the Liturgy to time and space; art, music, and the Liturgy; active participation of all the faithful; gestures, posture, and vestments. "My purpose here is to assist this renewal of understanding of the Liturgy. Its basic intentions coincide with what Guardini wanted to achieve. The only difference is that I have had to translate what Guardini did at the end of the First World War, in a totally different historical situation, into the context of our present-day questions, hopes, and dangers. Like Guardini, I am not attempting to involve myself with scholarly discussion and research. I am simply offering an aid to the understanding of the faith and to the right way to give the faith its central form of expression in the Liturgy." - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, from the preface