This book is neither a deriding of the worldly "profane" nor a splitting up of reality into a supposedly unholy realm over against one which alone is consecrated to God.
But something which threatens to be forgotten, to disappear from the memory of man is fixed upon here: namely, that in this world which is given us as our life's environment, not only does the striving to take care of our daily needs possess an obvious right, as well the marketplace, the economy, scholarly research etc.; but in their very midst there is something in the fullest sense "beyond" our daily concerns: "God's tent" among men, the sanctuary where, set off from the round of daily work, the bodily presence of the eternal Logos become man is honored and celebrated.
"We must in the liturgy retrieve the dimension of the sacred."
— Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
"Josef Pieper is proof that some grow wise as well as old. This book is typical of the deceptively modest meditations that have won him a world-wide audience. `Is nothing sacred anymore?' is a plaintive question often heard. Pieper enables us to see what a thoroughly secularized culture has lost and at the same time he draws attention to the Church, the altar, the Eucharist."
— Ralph McInerny, University of Notre Dame
"Josef Pieper's profound insights are impressive and even formidable."
— New York Times Book Review
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