ALTAR & HOME - Liturgical Review for the Laity - March 1956 - Volume XXIII, Number 4

Sep 21, 2026

March 1956 issue of “Altar & Home,” a liturgical review for the laity, presenting an Easter-centered call to new life and a specific Lent focus on vocations. Editorial material urges prayer, study, and action to help individuals discern and respond to God’s will. The featured article “The Priestliness of God’s People” explains Christian vocation as apostolic witness and emphasizes divine worship, especially the Eucharist, as the source of priestly dignity and apostolate for lay members.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time1 h 31 min

AccessFree to download

Call of Christ

Editorial

The Priestliness of God's People

Everything for God

Call to the Altar

The Family and Vocations

Book Reviews

Contributors

FEB 28'56 ALTAR &HOME Liturgical revlew fok the latty Come,followMe March I956,Volume 23,Number 4 Coming.... In the next issue.... Easter means new life.It means new life for the wholeman and for the whole world. With the promise of a most fruitful Lent this year byreason of the restored Holy Week,this new life should bemanifest in greater abundance. The April issue of ALTAR G HOME will treat of the whole-ness of man in Christ. | Altar and Home
Liturgical Review for the Laity | | --- | | March,1956
Volume XXIII,Number 4 | | Altar and Home is published monthly except during June,
July,and August by the monks of Conception Abbey.With
ecclesiastical approbation.Contents copyrighted.
STAFF
Rev.Maur Burbach,0.S.B...
.... ...Editor
Rev.Norbert Schappler,0.S.B.
...Art Director
..Book Reviews
Rev.Ralph Sturm,0.S.B....
Business Manager
Rev.Daniel Schuster,0.S.B....
SUBSCRIPTION PRICES
Single:$1.00 annually.
Bulk:twenty-five or more,six cents per copy.
Foreign:$1.50 annually;or seven cents a copy for twenty-five or more.
CORRESPONDENCE
Two weeks should be allowed for all change of address notices.The
notice should include both the NEW and the OLD address--both clear-
ly marked.
Address all business communications
to Conception Abbey Press,
Conception,Missouri.
Address manuscripts and editorial communications to:Rev.Maur
Burbach,0.S.B.,Conception,Missouri.
Entered as second class matter,August 27,1935,at the Post Office
at Conception,Missouri,under act of March 3.1897.Printed in U.S.A. | CALL OF CHRIST CONTENTS ●Editorial .. 2 ·………………· ●The Priestliness of God's People Rev. Clifford Howell, S.J. 3 ●Everything for God..Rev. Ralph Sturm, 0.S.B.10 ● Call to the Altar……Rev.RaphaelWalsh,O.S.B.17 The Family and Vocations Rev. Leo Gales, O.S.B.21 …………………28 ●Book Reviews ………32 ● Contributors Every Christian mother and father, whatever their social status, must pray to God to make them worthy to have at least one of their children called to His service. Finally,all Christians must deem it their duty to encour- age and to aid those who feel called to the priesthood. -Pope Pius XII in Menti Nostrae. The word“vocation”is nolonger identified with “priest,”"monk”and“Sister."A voca-tion is God's will for an indi-vidual,and the individual's re-sponse.Obviously,God’s willincludes all men.It is not lim-ited to two percent To discover God's will is themost important duty for all ofus.To make our will coincide with His is perfection.Both require prayer,study andaction. Of some things we are certain.It is God's will that webe baptized.It is God’s will that we keep His command-ments and use His sacraments.This is the basic voca-tion.This is the all-important vocation.It can be statedin other terms.This is the vocation to reproduce Christin ourselves.It is the vocation to become perfect in loveof God,neighbor and self. But the particular framework in which each of us willpursue identification with Christ and perfect love varies.Some will be monks,some priests,some Sisters,some so-cial workers.Some will pursue perfection in marriage,some in the single state.Some will be doctors,othersteachers,businessmen,nurses or farmers.Again,it isGod’s will that is important. Ail of us can make this Lent a time of special prayerfor vocations,a time to find or pursue our vocations,atime to help others find theirs.Vocation has a socialmeaning.We are bound together in one Body of Christ.To help others in their vocation is part of our duty,partof our vocation. THE PRIESTLINESS OF GOD'S PEOPLE By Clifford Howell,S.J. Editor's Note:“Acknowledge,O Christian,your dig-nity;and having been made a partaker of the divine na-ture,do not by degenerate conduct return to your oldbaseness.Remember of what head and what body you area member."Thus did St.Leo exhort the l

FAQs

What does Easter signify in this issue of Altar & Home?

Easter means new life for the whole man and for the whole world, and it calls for greater abundance connected to a fruitful Lent and the restored Holy Week.

How does the issue describe a Christian’s vocation?

A vocation is God’s will for an individual and the person’s response, extending beyond identifying vocation only with priesthood, monastic life, or sisters.

What is emphasized as the basic vocation and source of the apostolate?

Divine worship is presented as the basic vocation, with the Eucharist at the center, because it both gives man’s life to God and receives God’s life into the Christian.

Sep 21, 2026

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