The Seasons, lasts, and Festivals of the Christian Year. By
Vernon Staley. (A. R. Mowbray and Co. is. net.)—Mr. Staley b well known as an expert in matters of ritual, and a handbook on this subject has a very general welcome. He is not', we see, wholly averse from change. He would diminish, for instance, the num- ber of fasting days in the year. There are now as many as a hundred. And he would mitigate the discipline itself, for he is not above taking account of such things as climate and modern conditions of life. On this point, however, the words of the Homilies are very severe. They define fasting as "a withholding of meat, drink, and all natural food from the body." Another passage, however, has "restraint from some kinds of meats and drink." This looks like a. distinction between " fasting " and "abstinence." On the other hand Mr. Staley seems to regret the disregard of canonical limita- tions as to times of marrying. The forbidden days amount to some- thing like one hundred and forty-five in the year, Christmastide, Eastertide, and Whitsuntide 'being among them.
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