Volume IV: Sacraments and Sacramentals contributes to a deeper understanding of the nature and purpose of sacraments and sacramentals and leads the reader to a more critical appreciation of Vatican II decrees and what the postconciliar reform has implemented. This fourth volume opens with a review of the basic liturgical notion of sacraments and sacramentals and then examines them according to their earliest known form going back to the first four centuries. After the fourth century the treatment is divided between the East and the West. Where opportune, as in the case of confirmation, questions are raised about pastoral implications of the postconciliarreform.

Articles and their contributors are Christian Initiation During the First Four Centuries," by Adrien Nocent, OSB; "Christian Initiation in the East," by Stefano Parenti; "Christian Initiation in the Roman Church from the Fifth Century Until Vatican II," by Adrien Nocent, OSB; "Reconciliation in the First Four Centuries," by Antonio Santantoni; "Reconciliation in the Eastern Churches," by Nicola Bux; "Reconciliation in Rome and the Non-Roman West," by Antonio Santantoni; "Anointing of the Sick During the First Four Centuries," by Stefano Parenti; "Care and Anointing of the Sick in the East," by Stefano Parenti; "The Anointing of the Sick in the West," by Philippe Rouillard, OSB; "Orders and Ministries in the First Four Centuries," by Antonio Santantoni; "Ordinations in the East," by Stefano Parenti; "Ordination and Ministries in the West," by Antonio Santantoni; "The Christian Rite of Marriage in the East," by Stefano Parenti; "The Christian Rite of Marriage in the West," by Adrien Nocent, OSB; "Monastic Profession in the East," by Manel Nin, OSB; "Rite of Religious Profession in the West," by Matias Auge, CMF; "The Rite of Consecration of Virgins," by Nichola Emsley, OSB; "Funeral Rites in the East," by Elena Velkova Velkovska; "Funeral Rites in Rome and the Non-Roman West," by Vincent Owusu, SVD; "Blessings in the East," by Elena Velkova Velkovska; and "Blessings in Rome and the Non-Roman West," by Renier Kaczynski.

Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB, is the director of the Paul VI Institute of Liturgy in the Philippines and professor of liturgical inculturation at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome. Among his publications are Liturgies of the Future: The Process and Methods of Inculturation and Liturgical Inculturation: Sacraments, Religiosity, and Catechesis, published by The Liturgical Press.