Without doubt, the gravest symptom in the crisis the Western Church is
currently undergoing-the effects of which on art have already denounced
in the author's book The Symbolism of the Christian Temple-is the
calling into question of the very meaning and content of the Mass, given
that it is the heart and vital center of the Church. The intention of
this book, however, is not to engage in theological disputes directly,
but rather to survey the field from the vantage-point of the history of
religion, and to unravel the characteristics of the Christian liturgy
that link it to the universality of the sacred.
"Through his research into hidden or lost meanings, Jean Hani has
revealed and restored to our attention the most 'initiatic' dimensions
of the Christian religion." Jean Borella, author of The Secret of the
Christian Way, and The Crisis of Religious Symbolism (forthcoming from
Angelico Press)
Jean Hani (1917-2012), former professor emeritus at the University of
Amiens, was the founder of the Centre de Recherche sur l'Antiquité
Classique and a frequent contributor to the journal Connaissance des
Religions. After writing his PhD thesis on the influence of Egyptian
thought upon Plutarch, he produced annotated translations of the
latter's writings for the well-known Collection Budé. Later he became
known for his mastery of traditional hermeneutics and exegesis, and his
broad knowledge in the field of comparative religion. Hani's writing is
sensitive to the predicament of those moderns who seek a firm foundation
in traditional Christian values, while striving also to integrate into
that foundation whatever of value can be salvaged from the contemporary
world. His findings were presented in four important works now available
from Angelico Press in translation: the present volume, along with
Divine Craftsmanship (Preliminaries to a Spirituality of Work), The
Symbolism of the Christian Temple, and The Black Virgin (A Marian
Mystery).
