How Not to Say Mass: A Guidebook for Using the New Roman Missal

While the title of the book would suggest a negative perspective on the subject, Smolarski provides insight into the "why" of the liturgy, exploring how some practices defeat the intended purpose. The book seems geared toward someone who is closer to the liturgy than the average church-goer. The only drawback I have to the book is its style. It's like an entire book of Q & A (although it would be more correctly Negative Imperative and Answer). While that style suits an interview well, it made the book a little less readable for me. Because of the presumed target audience, I would have preferred a little more in-depth treatment of some of the topics in flowing paragraph style rather than the presentation style he chose. But, all in all, I liked his perspective on the liturgy and how it can serve the community better than it has. I would be curious to hear how it is received by the clergy.

What a valuable little book! Anyone who says Mass should have one of these. It manages to convey the principles of good liturgy in a handy (and very entertaining) format.

The author does and excellent job in an interesting manner on "how not to say Mass". It give the bad practices that are so often seen in parish liturgies. He gives a no nonsense approach to the liturgy and gives the reasons from Rubrics and the instructions of the Sacramentary on why things are done. He is not a liturgist by training but has done more than most liturgists in explaing the ritual(s) and making them more meaningful