The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is a prominent part of the observance of Lent in the Orthodox Church, for during that period the divine liturgy is only celebrated on Saturdays and Sundays, while twice a week, or sometimes more, during Lent, and on the first three days of Holy Week, a liturgy is celebrated using the sacred elements consecrated on the previous Sunday. In contrast, in the western rite the Liturgy of the Presanctified is reserved for Good Friday alone, while Lent is a period of intensified eucharistic celebration (in the pre-Vatican II missal, there were readings for weekdays during Lent, and not for the rest of the year). In this excellent book, Stefanos Alexopoulos explores the history of the Presanctified Liturgy in the Byzantine rite. He begins by tracing the prehistory of the rite in the practice of daily communion from the bread consecrated at the Sunday liturgy, a practice that had ceased, except in some monastic circles, by the end of the fourth century. The Presanctified Liturgy had emerged by the early seventh century, for the Chronicon Paschale records evidence of such a rite, and gives in very much its present form the text of the hymn of the Great Entrance, which contains the theological themes of the Liturgy. All aspects of the rite are explored, beginning with the frequency with which it is celebrated (the Trullan Synod decreed its daily celebration during Lent), and its authorship (as celebrated today it is ascribed to Pope Gregory the Great, the ‘author of the Dialogues’, a very late ascription in the manuscripts). Alexopoulos then looks briefly at the Presanctified in other eastern rites and in the Roman rite (it is unknown in other western rites), before moving on to a detailed exploration of how the rite developed from the seventh century onwards. As a Lenten service, it invariably follows Vespers, after which the day's fast is broken, and this leads to a number of apparent anomalies (such as what looks like a double lucernarium), which the author explores concisely and convincingly (there is also a brief discussion of non-Lenten presanctified liturgies, for example at coronations and weddings). One point that emerges is the universality of belief in consecration by contact in the earlier rites, a doctrine that dropped from Russian Orthodox practice after the time of Peter Mogila, with consequent changes in ritual practice. This is mentioned, but not explored in any detail, by Alexopoulos. This is essentially a work of liturgiology, in the tradition of Taft, who is frequently mentioned; as such, it is a worthy example of this tradition. There is little, however, about the theology and devotional impact of the rite, which, like the western service of Benediction, includes elaborate veneration of the consecrated elements and has something of the same contemplative dimension. It contains, however, or points one in the direction of, all the evidence for pursuing such reflection.