ORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED has been informed that Arouca Press has recently republished an important collection by Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster (d. 1954). Whether you celebrate the Ordinary Form or the Extraordinary Form, these volumes are extremely important. Their scope is quite wide. For example, currently there is widespread confusion with regard to “Rood Screens”—Blessed Schuster deals with this topic. Church musicians will appreciate how the volumes contain many ancient hymns, such as “Salve Festa Dies” with English translation. Blessed Schuster even provides a “Hymn for Extreme Unction” (Volume 3, page 440). At the end of Volume 3, there is a “Hymn for the Holy Name,” which is an Acrostic on “JESUS.” The books each have an excellent index.
(The entire collection was translated into English by Arthur Levelis-Marke.)
Download the complete set as PDF files:
* PDF Download • FIRST VOLUME (418 pages)
—Published in 1924 • Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster (d. 1954).* PDF Download • SECOND VOLUME (428 pages)
—Published in 1925 • Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster (d. 1954).* PDF Download • THIRD VOLUME (442 pages)
—Published in 1927 • Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster (d. 1954).* PDF Download • FOURTH VOLUME (456 pages)
—Published in 1929 • Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster (d. 1954).* PDF Download • FIFTH VOLUME (348 pages)
—Published in 1930 • Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster (d. 1954).
Notice that Part 8 is divided between Volume 4 and Volume 5:
In the olden days, liturgists would say “look it up in Fortescue.” If you are planning on writing anything regarding the sacred liturgy, it would be good to first “look it up in Schuster.” Corpus Christi Watershed has several PDF scans of important books by Father Adrian Fortescue which we plan to release soon (hopefully).
We congratulate Arouca Press for making it possible to purchase hard copies of the works by Blessed Schuster. The person in charge of the Arouca Press wrote to me: “Arouca refers to the northern region in Portugal where part of my family is from. Also, Blessed Mafalda, an incorrupt saint, is buried there.”
NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:
Note: Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster was born in Italy. He was a Benedictine monk, but later became the Archbishop of Milan (from 1929 until his death in 1954). He accepted the name “Ildefonso” as a Benedictine monk and served as an abbot prior to his elevation to the cardinalate.