The Church sees that some aspects of the form of communal worship which we have inherited are no longer necessarily meaningful. She therefore encourages a quest for authenticity that aims at re-interpreting and adapting the liturgy so that it can better fulfil its function of transmitting the word of God. For all practical purposes the liturgical movement began at Solesmes at the inspiration of Dom Gueranger (1805-75). It was, at first, a renewal more than a movement. The concept of the liturgical movement as an attempt to bring the liturgy within the reach of the laity was only the second step and took root with a deeper realization that the liturgy's function was to teach by guiding the faithful, through the word of God, to a concious Christianity. With the realization the renewal moved out from the monateries, where it had begun, and became a subject of more general concern and of a debate that has grown in intensity ever since. The authors of this (which the translator has updated), themselves pioneers of the new interpretation of the liturgy, tell the story of the Movement's beginnings, its developments, and what reactions it found in Western Europe, Great Britain, and the U. S. A.