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The Progressive Catholic Review: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Discourse Pentecost 2011 Vol. 1 No.3

An Electronic Publication of St. House of Studies Community of St. Francis of Reconciliation (Ecumenical Catholic Communion) ______

Review Essay1 HOW TO (potentially2) AVOID WORSHIP WARS The Legacy of the Last Century of Liturgical Scholarship

Gregory Holmes Singleton, ofr

We all know about Worship Wars. Most of us have experienced them. Some of us (mea culpa) have participated in them. One of the milder forms of Worship Wars is nicely illustrated by Thomas Day who reports that a friend of his attended one day in the early 1970s and was seated next to an elderly lady who said her rosary continually through the mass. ―The time came for the handshake of peace, one of those ‗new things‘ which made everyone feel a bit silly. My friend turned to the elderly lady at this point and, holding out his hand in friendship, said, ‗May the peace of the Lord be with you.‘ The old lady scowled. She looked at the proffered hand as if it were diseased. ‗I don‘t belief in that s***,‘ she replied and, without missing a breath, went back to the quiet mumbling of her rosary.‖3

1 A listing of recommended books with annotations follows this brief essay.

2 The potential is there, but the allure of continuing the warfare is, for some, an identity of sorts.

3 Thomas Day, Why Catholics Can’t Sing: The Culture of Catholicism and the Triumph of Bad Taste (New : Crossroad, 1990), p. 6. 2

At the other extreme is the tension that often hangs over worship planning meetings; a tension that is best characterized by an old joke that has taken two forms. The generic script is: ―What‘s the difference between a terrorist and a (liturgist or church musician)?‖ The answer is: ―You can negotiate with a terrorist.‖ Over the past three decades I have heard members of each of these groups tell this joke with members of the other groups as foils. Most often than not the combatants in Worship Wars are passive aggressive stealth troops with palpable attitudes expressed through body language and facial expressions—the rolled eyes by ―progressives‖ as ―traditionalists‖4 delight in the smells and bells, bobbing their heads at the name of , and bowing at the invocation of the Father, Son, and ; the grimace on the faces of ―traditionalists‖ at ―progressive‖ guitar masses in which ―God reveals God‘s self to God‘s people all over God‘s creation‖ and perhaps a little liturgical dance thrown in for good measure.5 What is ironic about the Worship Wars in our own time is that much of the controversy is the result of reactions to a multifaceted ―‖ that was intended to bring diverse voices into conversation in order to revitalize and deepen worship experiences. It began in 1832 with the re-founding of the Benedictine Solesmes Abbey and the recovery of under the leadership of Dom Prosper Guéranger.6 The Liturgical Movement gained added impetus in the late nineteenth century with a renewed scholarly interest in the Early

4 I have placed ―progressives‖ and ‗traditionalists‖ in quotes to indicate the terms conventionally used in such discussions and to indicate my serious doubt that these labels have any utility in really understanding those they attempt to thus classify.

5 Lest one get the idea that Worship Wars are a recent phenomenon in , let me hasten to add that we have ample evidence of such phenomena long before our own time. For an excellent study of an earlier (but by no means the earliest) liturgical altercation, see Joseph Herl, Worship Wars in Early : Choir, Congregation and Three Centuries of Conflict (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).

6 See Dom Pierre Combe, The of Gregorian Chant: Solesmes and the Vatican Edition (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press of America, 2003. For an intriguing placement of the Solesmes revival in a larger cultural context see, Katherine Bergeron, Decadent Enchantments: The Revival of Gregorian Chants at Solesmes [California Studies in 19th-Century Music series] (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998). For useful essays by recent participants in the movement, see Blair Gilmer Meeks (ed.), The Landscape of Praise: Readings in Liturgical Renewal (Valley Forge, PA: Press International, 1996. Also see Reid, O.S.B., The Organic Development of the Liturgy: The Principles of Liturgical Reform and their Relation to the Twentieth-Century Liturgical Movement Prior to the (San Francisco: St. Ignatius Press, 2005).

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Church leading to the publication of critical editions of texts (including liturgical formulae and commentary) from the first few centuries of Christianity.7 In the first decade of the twentieth century movement gained a multi-lingual voice with the publication of the first volume of the massive Dictionnaire d’archeologie chrétienne et de Liturgie edited by Benedictine theologians.8 The publication of volumes in this series continued for the next forty-six years. In the wake of the publication of the first volume we see the flowering of liturgical scholarship and reflection provides us with a great deal to think about. By mid-century this growing body of literature was large and diverse enough to yield some highly useful syntheses (buttressed by considerable research by the authors of these works). Here are some of the highlights of three ―capstone‖ studies: 1) Dom Gregory Dix in The Shape of the Liturgy (1945)9 drew attention to the very shape—the structural outline—of the liturgy itself, as that which gives our worship continuity with the past and preserves a heritage for the future. Indeed, Dix gives the general structure found across Ancient liturgies precedence over the words of institution, citing the Addai and Mari liturgy (at least as old as the 7th century) of the East Syriac churches in which one does not find the words of institution, but in which one finds the historic shape with a strong anamnesis.10 (According to Dix, the Syriac Anaphora provides all of the narrative that is needed for a valid sacrament—one could

7 As representative examples, see Jacques-Paul Migne, and available in expensive recent editions best consulted in the reference section of a good theological library and the 38 volume series begun by Philip Schaff and continued by subsequent editors, now available online at http://www.searchgodsword.org/his/ad/ecf/

8 Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, eds. Fernand Cabrol and Henri Leclerq (avec le concours d'un grand nombre de collaborateurs). Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1907-53 . Just four years before the publication of the first volume, Pius X endorsed the Liturgical Movement (at least the Solesmes component) with his motu proprio, Tra le sollecitudini which can be read in English translation at http://www.adoremus.org/MotuProprio.html. 9 Dom Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy (London: A. & C. Black, 1945). For an Anglican view that includes liturgy in the twentieth century, see Massey Shepherd, The Living Liturgy: Perspectives and Prospects (New York: Oxford University Press, 1946) and Massey Shepherd, The Reform of Liturgical Worship (New York: Oxford University Press, 1961).

10 For the text of this rite (still used by the Holy Catholic Assyrian , the Syro-Malibar , and the Chaldean Catholic Church) see The Order of the Holy Qurbana According to the Liturgy of Mar Addai and Mar Mari, The Blessed Apostles (San Jose, CA: Abiadene Publications, 2004).

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infer that a narrative containing the message has greater validity for Dix than the recitation of the Words of Institution apart from that message. Dix brings his study to culmination in the development of Anglican liturgies in the sixteenth century. 2) Luther Reed in The Lutheran Liturgy (1947)11 illuminated the deep reliance on Ancient and Medieval liturgical texts and traditions in the emergence of the various Lutheran orders of worship in the sixteenth century and elaborated upon the implications of this continuum for our understanding of both the Catholic and ecumenical nature of Lutheran worship. 3) Josef Jungmann in The Mass Of The (v. 1 1951, v.2 1955)12 concentrated almost exclusively on the Roman Mass, but he does a good job of detailing the great variety of liturgical forms that gradually, over a long period of time, are rationalized into a evolving Roman Rite. He does not consider the possible contributions of Eastern liturgies and their potential utility in the future of the Western liturgies.13 Over the past six decades a rich literature on liturgy has followed in the wake of these ―capstone‖ studies. These studies have benefited from the previous scholarship with the addition of important interdisciplinary nuances influenced by anthropology (particularly ―Ritual Studies), depth psychology, social history, and cultural criticism.14 This has yielded a body of literature highly suggestive of a

11 Luther Dotterer Reed, The Lutheran Liturgy: A Study of the Common Liturgy of the Lutheran Church in America. Philadelphia: Muhlenburg Press, 1947.

12 Josef Andreas Jungmann, The Mass of the Roman Rite: It’s Origin and Development. 2 vols. New York: Benziger, 1951, 1955. 13 Some readers may be surprised to find no mention of Adrian Fortesque and J. B. O‘Connell, The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described: 15th rev. ed. (London: Burns and Oates, 2009) which is often cited alongside Jungmann. The inclusion of books of instruction and commentary on ceremony would result in a much larger review essay and one that, frankly, might distract from the call to re-engage the recent literature of the Liturgical movement and enter in to conversations toward a cease-fire in Worship Wars.

14 A few representative titles are: Catherine Bell, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992); Victor Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure (Chicago: Aldine, 1969); Mary Douglas, Natural Symbols: Explorations in Cosmology (New York: Random House, 1973); Carl Gustav Jung, Man and His Symbols (New York: Dell, 1964); Gregor T. Goethels, The TV Ritual: Worship at the Video Altar. Boston: Beacon Press, 1981. Useful work in this broad genre continues with new areas of exploration. For a recent example, see Gary Laderman, Sacred Matters: Celebrity Worship, Sexual Ecstasies, the Living Dead, and Other Signs of Religious Life in the United States. New York: The New Press, 2010.

5 need to continue to find new ways to articulate the faith to the cultures of this world in our efforts at evangelism and theological engagement beyond ecclesia, but to maintain our continuity with the past in spaces and times of worship as an arena for perpetual formation in the culture created by the Gospel—a culture counter to all the cultures that are exclusively of this world. Indeed, many of these scholars demonstrate an intimate link between our worship and our outreach, but not one of them advocates the use of worship as an outreach tool. All of them endorse the ancient aphorism, “Lex orandi, lex credendi” (our worship shapes our belief). To this most of the authors would probably add that our worship shapes how we are church. These authors have a deep knowledge of the foundations and development of two millennia of liturgical development in all of its diversity and unity gained from extensive study of Ancient, Medieval and Modern texts. They have an equally sophisticated understanding of the complexities, ambiguities and contradictions inherent in our modern and post-modern cultures gained from immersion in the work of social theorists, sociologists, anthropologists and social/cultural historians. These authors can‘t be dismissed as antiquarians with no contact with the world in which they live, nor can they be dismissed as faddists following fashionable scholarly trends du jour with no grounding in the Great Tradition of the Church. Taken together, the books listed on the following pages (with a brief annotation for each)15 offer us food for thought and conversation that can take us out of the trenches of Worship Wars and into the realm of Christian discourse. Many who read this will be familiar with some, most, or all of the books listed. I would strongly suggest a re-visitation of these studies. For those who are not yet familiar with some, most, or all of this literature, please read the annotations and jump in with reading the book that seems most inviting. If we take these authors seriously we will leave behind irrelevant criteria in our discussions of liturgy and concentrate instead on: 1) the centrality of the Gospel; 2) the centrality of our tradition of worship as an expression of our inclusion of the Community of ;

15 The books listed are only a representative sampling, but will give the reader some sense of the large body of scholarship from which they come.

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3) our use of worship for praising God continuing formation and not as a tool of evangelism;16 4) being intentional in our sense of Christian community; 5) being intentional in our readiness to discern the Real Presence of our Lord in the Sacrament of the Altar, and in the assembly gathered. These are the essential matters in our worship. If we go too far beyond these considerations in either advocating or denouncing a liturgical agenda we run the risk of placing our own egos and predilections above our participation in the Communion of Saints. Even worse, we could wind up worshiping ourselves. These books—collectively or any given one of them—can help to keep us where we need to be and away from the petty and egocentric places that can lead us back to the trenches of the Worship Wars.17

Gerard Austin, Mary Collins, Stephen Happel, Kevin W. Irwin, Margaret Mary Kelleher, Fredrick R. McManus, N. Power, Gerrard Sloyan, : Toward the Third Millennium. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1997.18 This book can easily engage those with little or no background in liturgical , but can also be useful for those well versed in the literature. The essays collected in the volume were presented by the faculty of the Catholic University of America Liturgy Program in honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of that program. The essays pose important questions that are still worth pondering over a decade later.

16 The use of worship as an attraction to the un-churched overlooks the reality that the un-churched are called that because. . .well. . .they aren‘t in church. The most effective method of evangelism is Christians centered in the Gospel going about their daily lives in the world. If we do this, people will ask us what it is that draws us to this life, and we can begin fruitful conversations. We assemble for Word and Sacrament in order to continue our formation and to be nurtured and nourished for our sojourn back to the world after the dismissal.

17 We will still find much to disagree about, but if we commit to these five principles, or something like them, we can avoid wrangling over peripheral issues and save such conversations for matters where parties disagree over essentials.

18 The titles or annotations of some of these books will necessarily indicate the authors‘ specific tradition or denominational affiliation. Beyond that, I will not indicate affiliation. This literature is intentionally ecumenical and we can profitably draw insight and inspiration across the board. The pool of authors contains Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutherans, Anglican, Reformed and Methodist Christians 7

Louis Bouyer, Eucharist: Theology and Spirituality of the Eucharistic Prayer. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968. This is not a beginner’s book, but it is a must for those already familiar with some of the literature in liturgical theology. Bouyer draws on a wide and deep familiarity with the sources from pre-Christian Synagogue and Temple worship up to the Second Vatican Council to present us with a complex and at times dense analysis of what has changed over time and what has remained the same. Although written from a Western perspective, Bouyer has considerable knowledge of and appreciation for the liturgies of the East.

Marva Dawn, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for this Urgent Time. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995. If one is tired of Worship Wars and would like to find a way out or around such futile and useless engagements, this book is an excellent starting point for neophyte and veteran alike. The subtitle is a good summary of the nature of this book. The sub-title is a good summary of the message. Marva Dawn, A Royal “Waste” of Time: The Splendor of Worshipping God and Being Church for the World. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999. This is a sequel to the author’s Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down. Here she explores ways to bring the worshiping community into faithful conversation about how we worship and what it means to be Church.

Marion J. Hatchett, Commentary on the American Prayer Book. New York: Seabury, 1980. This is one of two commentaries on liturgical resources from a specific tradition that includes ecumenical comparative analysis across traditions. The other commentary (on the Lutheran Book of Worship) is by Philip Pfatteicher (1990). Both books are based on solid research.

Marion J. Hatchett, The Making of the First American . New York: The Seabury Press, 1982. This study is highly suggestive of the power of a common liturgy to unify beyond a specific worshipping assembly. Hatchett makes a good case for seeing the development of the 1789 liturgy (and the previous proposed liturgy of 1786) as an attempt to bring unity to scattered congregations formerly of the Church of 8

England so that a new national church might emerge. A final chapter provides a useful brief overview of the subsequent additions to and revisions of the BCP.

Kevin W. Irwin. Models of the Eucharist. New York: Paulist Press, 2005. This is more a meditation than either a work of Systematic or Historical Theology, but it is clearly influenced by a thorough knowledge of both sub-fields. Irwin invites us to contemplate ten perspectives on the Eucharist that impact our lives beyond worship: Cosmic Mass, The Church’s Eucharist, The Effective Word of God, Memorial of the Paschal Mystery, Covenant Renewal, The Lord’s Supper, Food for the Journey, Sacramental Sacrifice, Active Presence, and Work of the Holy Spirit.

Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright, Edward Yarnold, S.J., and Paul Bradshaw (eds.). The Study of Liturgy. Revised Edition. New York: Oxford University Press 1992. This is an updated version of the original 1978 edition is an excellent entry point for anyone who would like to sample the varieties of liturgical scholarship (and it is not a bad refresher course for those who already know something about it). The ecumenical intent of the collection of essays is evident in the variety of traditions represented by the editors and authors. The contributions are clustered into sections on Theology and Rite, Development of the Liturgy, Initiation, the Eucharist, Ordination, the Divine Office, the Calendar, Setting of the Liturgy, and Pastoral Orientation.

Aidan Kavanagh, On Liturgical Theology: The Hale Memorial Lecture of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, 1981. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1984. In a clear and precise style, which does not demand deep theological learning on the part of the reader, the late liturgical theologian presents an eloquent summary of a perspective shared by most liturgical scholars and practitioners since the 1960s: if you want to understand the Church as community, your investigations and reflections must begin, return frequently to, and end with the assembly gathered for Word and Sacrament.

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Aidan Kavanagh, The Shape of : The Rite of Christian Initiation. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991. This is both a theological treatise and a pastoral reflection. Kavanagh makes us aware of the continuing centrality of baptism long after the water has dried and on into eternity. This perspective makes us more aware of the various ways in which other rites reference and reinforce the perpetual nature of Christian initiation.

Theodor Klauser, A Short History of the Western Liturgy: An Account and Some Reflections. Second Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. If one is looking for a brief overview, this is the place to start and it will likely whet one’s appetite for more detailed treatments. The author is both historian and critic. One can rely on his historical scholarship no matter what perspective the reader brings to it. His critical comments will delight some and offend others, depending on by one’s own predilections. Two examples will suffice. The chapter on the period from the to the Second Vatican Council is entitled “Rigid Unification in the Liturgy and Rubricism.”

Gordon W. Lathrop, Holy Things: A Liturgical Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993. This is the first volume in a trilogy that is intended for both pastors and interested laity as well as for the author’s fellow theologians. In clear and accessible prose, Lathrop outlines the general structure of an ecumenical liturgy found across centuries and traditions. He suggests patterns of meaning associated with that structure, and how those patterns are realized in the assembly gathered for worship.

Gordon W. Lathrop, Holy People: A Liturgical Ecclesiology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999. In the second volume of his trilogy, Lathrop builds an ecclesiology starting neither with polity nor orders of ministry but with the worshiping assembly in the acts of proclaiming / hearing Scripture (including the homiletic commentary), baptizing / being baptized, and making Eucharist. From there he expands his analysis to the implications of the liturgical ecclesia for Christian unity, religious pluralism, and the various cultures of this world. Throughout he suggests that renewal of liturgy actually means renewal and not reinvention. It begins, according to Lathrop with 10 recovery of what we have forgotten from the Ancient Church, not with re- invention.

Gordon W. Lathrop, Holy Ground: A Liturgical Cosmology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003. In the final volume of his Trilogy Lathrop suggests the ways in which liturgical texts, ceremonial movements and gestures, and symbols shape the cosmology in which the Liturgical Ecclesiology and the Liturgical Theology are housed.

Bernhard Lang, Sacred Games: A History of . New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997. This is a unique “history” of Christianity, which is more an exercise in Religious Studies than in historical scholarship, but however one labels it, the book offers interesting insights. Lang begins with a detailed argument that all of Christian worship—Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant or Pentecostal—consists of six patterns or “games”: praise, prayer, sermon, sacrifice, sacrament, and spiritual ecstasy. He then explores the biblical foundation of each of these patterns and traces them through Ancient, Medieval and Contemporary expressions.

Enrico Mazza, The Celebration of the Eucharist: The Origin of the Rite and the Development of Its Interpretation. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1999. This book is more comprehensive than Klauser’s A Short History of the Western Liturgy both in length and the useful detailed discussions of various theological considerations of the Eucharist in different periods.

Leonel L. Mitchell, Praying Shapes Believing: A Theological Commentary on the Book of Common Prayer. Harrisburg PA, 1991. Mitchell infers a systematic (or at least structured) theology from a thorough investigation of the integrity of the diverse rites and prayers (both traditional and modern) in the American Book of Common Prayer. Unless one is already grounded in the history of liturgy, it is best to read this book in tandem with Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy or Senn, Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical.

Philip H. Pfatteicher, Liturgical Spirituality. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1997. Pfatteicher has written a wonderfully accessible yet challenging essay that will appeal to both the layperson who has never picked up a book on liturgy before as 11 well as the seasoned specialist in the field. The best summary of the author’s intent is found on the first page of the Preface (p. ix): “The title Liturgical Spirituality is meant to refer to that distinctive interior life of the spirit that is formed and nurtured by the Church’s liturgy.” Be prepared to meditate and pray a considerable amount as you read your way through this gift to the soul.

Philip H. Pfatteicher, Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context. Minneapolis: Augsburg – Fortress, 1990. This is one of two commentaries on liturgical resources from a specific tradition that includes ecumenical comparative analysis across traditions. The other commentary (on the Book of Common Prayer) is by Marion Hatchett (1980). Both books are based on solid research.

Gail Ramshaw, Christian Worship: 100,000 Sundays of Symbols and Rituals. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2009. This is a brief and useful introduction to the field of liturgical studies.

Don E. Saliers, Worship as Theology: Foretaste of Glory Divine. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994. Saliers indeed argues that worship is theological because it is God-centered but he also argues that worship is anthropological because what we do in worship is necessarily embedded in the context of specific human cultures. He also argues that the orientation of liturgy is eschatological, but obviously located in a specific time as well as a specific cultural space. Saliers then explores the implications of the synchrony of the divine / human encounter that is the glory of worship and the tension between the familiar “already” and the anticipated “not yet” in our Advent status.

Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy. New York: National Christian Student Federation, 1963. Schmemann’s argument is implied in the title. Our celebration, participation in, and reception of the Sacraments is not only for our benefit, but literally for the life of the world. Nurtured and nourished, we leave the sanctuary to deliberately return to the world and to those who have forgotten or never knew that by overcoming sin and the grave Christ made the whole creation new. In relatively few pages, the author elaborates upon this theme.

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Alexander Schmemann, Introduction to Liturgical Theology. London: Faith Press, 1975. This is the first book anyone, whether Eastern or Western rite, should reach for as an introduction to liturgical theology, both in terms of content and method.

Frank C. Senn, Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997. This is a formidable book, in three ways. First, it is over 700 pages in length. Second, although written from a Lutheran perspective it is comprehensive and covers a great many traditions, east and west. Third, the author has a magisterial command of the primary sources and scholarly literature for the whole scope of this enormous subject. This is analytical history at its best. In an Epilogue on “Postmodern Liturgy” he provides incisive and appreciative insights into the significance of alternative ecclesial modes.

Frank C. Senn, New Creation: A Liturgical . Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000. The dozen essays in this book had their origins in the lecture series delivered to clergy in the Church of Sweden and the Moravian Theological Seminary in Winston-Salem. They address the various ways in which our liturgical practices shape a worldview.

Frank C. Senn, The People’s Work: A Social History of the Liturgy. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006. In a book about half the size of his Christian Liturgy, Senn explores the larger social world in which liturgy takes place, the social implications of the liturgy, and the impact the liturgy has on our social being. In a brief Epilogue on “Postmodern Liturgical Retrieval” Senn updates the perspective found in his Christian Liturgy (published nine years previously) to include the “emerging church” phenomenon.

James K. A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009. This is the first of a projected three volume study of the Theology of culture. In this volume he concentrates on liturgy, formation and desire. Smith begins with a seemingly simple question:"What if education wasn't first and foremost about what 13 we know, but about what we love?" It turns out that the question isn’t all that simple. The author makes some assertions about the rigid mutual exclusivity of affect and intellect that I question but I recommend the book as a thoughtful consideration of liturgy practiced in the midst of a consumer culture.

Bard Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church. Cleveland: Meridian Books, 1961. Published on the eve of the full fruits of the modern Liturgical Movement, this anthology of liturgical documents from the First Apology of (c. 155) to John Wesley’s Service (1784) underscores Dix’s point about the general shape of the liturgy in spite of the considerable differences in realization of that shape.

Cyrille Vogel, Medieval Liturgy: An Introduction to the Sources. Washington, D.C.: Pastoral Press, 1986. This detailed discussion of the nature of the primary sources for the study of medieval liturgy raises serious questions for anyone who would assert that the Mass decreed by the Council of Trent was merely a standardization of what had been a generally shared specific rite (not just shape) for centuries throughout Christian .

Geoffrey Wainwright, Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine, and Life: A Systematic Theology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980. Wainwright’s asserts in his opening sentence, “This book may be taken in two ways. It is primarily intended as a systematic theology written from a liturgical perspective. It can also be considered as a theology of worship. He delivers on his promise, and demonstrates just how comprehensive a discipline theology is as he navigates a vast terrain from antiquity to the present, from worship to workplace, and from the culture of the Gospel to the various cultures of the world.

Alan W. Watts, Myth and Ritual in Christianity. New York: Vanguard Press, 1953. This was written earlier than any of the other books in this list and it is quite different from any of the rest. I have placed it here because I am unaware of anyone one else attempting what Watts attempts here, before or since. Using Jung’s categories of “Collective Unconscious” and “Archetype,” the author uses 14 the structure of the Mass, the Daily Office and the Liturgical Year to explore the mythic elements of Christianity. One may question Watt’s assumption that the Mass promulgated by the Council of Trent is simply the capstone of a linear development up until that time, but it will serve as well as any other for his purposes.

John D. Zizioulas, Eucharist, Bishop, Church: The Unity of the Church In the Divine Eucharist and the Bishop in the First Three Centuries. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2001. Listed last alphabetically, this work would be on my “must read” list for both and ecclesiology. The author has a command of the sources from early Christianity and the ability to bring the implications of those sources into the modern world in a way that informs our sense of who we are as Church.

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