Liturgy is God’s gift to man. It brings to earth a glimmer of the peace, warmth, and liveliness of eternity, engaging all the senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound. In Benediction, the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Mass, heaven touches earth, and we remember that the Word dwells among us. The Church invites everyone to the celebration.

Sacred music, then, should immerse us—however imperfectly—in the atmosphere of heaven. Yet how often does the sound of the liturgy leave us feeling empty, or distracted? How often does music at Mass seem to us like a mere concert or, worse, like kitsch? 

In this groundbreaking book, Robert Cardinal Sarah, longtime prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship, joins with Peter Carter, director of the Catholic Sacred Music Project, to dive into the spiritually rich tradition of Catholic sacred music, tracing it from the Church’s earliest days all the way through the Second Vatican Council and beyond. The cardinal minces no words in critiquing the liturgical confusion of our times, which has touched every corner of the Church. Yet he returns always to the true center: not aesthetics, but the beautiful person of Christ Himself, God incarnate. 

Cardinal Sarah’s meditations on the liturgy—as the Second Vatican Council imagined it—offers a spiritual and practical roadmap to authentic renewal, including at the parish level. Read with an open heart, The Song of the Lamb will make readers fall more deeply in love with the Mass and with the Divine Office, and it will fan the flames of the liturgical renewal that Christians across the world have so long desired.

“How fitting that the man who taught us the ‘power of silence’ should teach us the meaning of music. Cardinal Sarah’s conversation with Peter Carter has the potential to enrich the liturgy, and so enrich the world.”     
—Scott Hahn, Author, Rome Sweet Home and The Lamb’s Supper

“It’s extremely rare that a book about music lives up to the sublimity of music itself. This book does, because it so obviously flows from the rich contemplative lives of its authors. This is the best book I’ve read about sacred music.”
—Mike Aquilina, Songwriter and Author, How the Choir Converted the World

“Cardinal Sarah reveals to us the true meaning of sacred music in Catholic worship. Moreover, he shows us how to implement the liturgical reform as desired by the Church. Valuable guidance on how to make fruitful the time of renewal that the Church is entering into with Pope Leo XIV.”
—Dom Geoffroy Kemlin, O.S.B., Abbot of Solesmes

 “I enthusiastically recommend this work of love from the heart of Cardinal Sarah, who shows himself a true successor of St. Benedict. May his superlative insights have a far-reaching effect.”
—Mother Abbess Cecilia Snell, O.S.B, Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

“True beauty has a remarkable power to pierce hearts and awaken souls. His Eminence shares with readers that artistic excellence and beauty must not be reserved for the secular world, but must shine like a beacon, inviting all into the Church to behold.”
—Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Archdiocese of San Francisco

“Cardinal Sarah gives the very highest and most beautiful reasons and purposes for a piece of music to qualify as sacred and to be the most exalted choice for use in liturgical worship. This work is not just informative but inspiring and thrilling!”
—Michael Kurek, DMA, Author, The Sound of Beauty; Composer Laureate of the State of Tennessee

“Cardinal Sarah continues to bless and astound. He stresses the primacy of a prayerful, personal relation with Christ as the indispensable element in the discussion. He shows his remarkable familiarity with Catholic sacred music throughout the ages. Highly recommended!    
—Susan Treacy, PhD, Author, The Music of Christendom: A History