Taft, Robert F. Through Their Own Eyes: Liturgy as the Byzantines Saw It. Berkeley, CA: InterOrthodox Press, 2006. First Edition. ISBN: 1932401067. [10097]
172 pp. clean softcover with former owner's signature in ink at front, no other writing or markings. Very good. Paperback.
"Fr. Robert Taft, the leading scholar of Byzantine Liturgy, presents in vivid detail the actual experience of the Byzantine Church's liturgy throughout the centuries. In this examination, he offers the words of Byzantine commentators themselves on the details of Byzantine rituals, from the processional liturgies processing through the streets of Constantinople to the sometimes unruly and unseemly behavior of the people in attendance. Some of the material presented in these Distinguished Lectures acts as a corrective to the all-too-common myth of some 'Golden Age' of Byzantine Liturgy which, 'instead of being scrutinized, has often been invented and exploited to justify decisions already made, or reduced to cliches in support of some vision or other of reality that will not stand up to a re-reading of the sources.'" - publisher.