Search Results (18)

Manuscript 50 (46) from the library of the monastery of Putna contains a text entitled “Discourse on the appropriate manner of standing in the church.” The first part explains the Eucharistic liturgy, from the vesting of the priest to the moment before the epiclesis. The service is dramatized as an interaction between the priest and an angel of God, who later enters a battle with a demon that distracts the congregation. The second part of the text consists of the vision of the monk who lost his faith in the Eucharist. At the prayers of the community, he receives a revelation of the reality of the liturgical mystery, in which he is shown a child slaughtered on the altar table. The visionary text in the first section is part of a tradition attested in the Slavonic environment of the Balkans, which later became popular in the Russian world. These Slavonic versions are based on a similar visionary text attested in Greek manuscripts, but the similarities are only partial. The present study places the text from the Putna manuscript in relation to the iconography of the liturgical space and highlights the relevance of this type of literature for understanding the local monastic culture. Full article

This essay provides a fine-grained analysis of selected passages of Giulio Aleni (艾儒略 1582–1649)’s translation of Catholic liturgy into classical Chinese in late imperial China. It focuses on the hitherto underexplored relationships between Aleni’s resort to medieval Aristotelianism and Thomism, as well as his translation-based introduction of Catholic Eucharistic theology into China. The case studies here revolve around Aleni’s Chinese translation of Aristotelian-Thomistic hylomorphism, with a focus on his interpretation of “anima” (i.e., the soul, which corresponds largely to linghun 靈魂 in Chinese), which is a multifaceted Western concept that pertains simultaneously to Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy and Eucharistic theology. It is argued that in his overarching project of introducing Western learnings (i.e., 西學) to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century China, Aleni’s attention is centered primarily on the body-soul and form-matter relationship. This is, as understood here, motivated to a great extent by his scholarly awareness that properly informing Chinese Catholics of the Aristotelian-Thomistic underpinning of Western metaphysics enacts an indispensable role in introducing Catholic liturgy into China, notably the mystery of the Eucharist and Transubstantiation that would not have been effectively introduced to China without having the Western philosophical underpinnings already made available to Chinese intellectuals. Aleni’s use of medieval European cultural legacy thus requires more in-depth analysis vis-à-vis his translational poetics in China. Accordingly, the intellectual and liturgical knowledge in Aleni’s Chinese œuvres shall be investigated associatively, and the medievalism embodied by Aleni offers a valid entry point and productive critical prism. Full article

Paul Ricœur’s narrative hermeneutic provides a unique lens for interpreting liturgy as narrative. Liturgy begins with the collective, prefigured knowledge of the assembly and configures symbols, music, prayers, scriptures, and actions into an interpretive narrative. This process engages the liturgical assembly’s imagination to synthesize its unique narrative of God’s divine story. This paper explores the function of imagination in the formative process of liturgical narrative arguing that imagination shapes human knowing and being through liturgical narrative. Full article

“Rejoice, Texandria, for Oda!” Thus begins the series of chants and readings commemorating the virgin St Oda, patron of the village that took her name—Sint-Oedenrode—in the late medieval liturgy of the town of ’s-Hertogenbosch. Overt praise for the surrounding region, Texandria, extending across the northern limits of the duchy of Brabant and diocese of Liège, is a recurring theme in the liturgy inspired by the saint’s legend. Yet how did Oda, of Scottish origin, become so closely associated with this remote region? And what was the significance of her liturgical veneration in ’s-Hertogenbosch, to which Sint-Oedenrode was enfranchised? Exemplifying interactions between central and secondary places within a specific region, this study argues for the relevance of the historical approach to urban–rural dynamics in medieval hagiography and its related liturgy. Recognition that smaller towns and villages played important roles in regional networks prompts more focused attention to regional priorities in the legends and liturgies of local saints. That Oda’s cult is attested by a diversity of extant documentary evidence—historical, hagiographic, and liturgical, including newly discovered liturgical readings—facilitates interpretation of her veneration in ’s-Hertogenbosch and of the intertextual connections between her legend and those of other saints, notably Lambert, associated with the duchy and diocese. As suggested by this example, regionalism merits greater scrutiny as an integral component of civic religion. Full article

The Seven Victories is one of the most influential works in Catholic literature from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The seven victories spiritual cultivation contained therein is the result of the localization of the practice of the Christian faith in the West. It is still a living tradition in the Christian religion and even in Western culture. Since the end of the Ming Dynasty, The Seven Victories has aroused significant repercussions in the ecclesiastical and academic worlds. Some scholars converted to Catholicism because of The Seven Victories and wrote preambles in response to it; some scholars wrote essays criticizing the ethical ideas of The Seven Victories; and some scholars were inspired by The Seven Victories to write about Confucian ideas of sin, the work of reform, and the liturgy of repentance. Together, these constitute the history of the reception of The Seven Victories in China. Through Confucian culture integration, Chinese Christian scholars have developed a localized interpretation of the seven victories spiritual cultivation, resulting in a localized Chinese spiritual cultivation of sin. Full article

Several scholars have observed the constructive possibilities in approaching sport as cultural liturgy. In what follows, I turn to hermeneutic resources in Paul Ricoeur and Augustine to elucidate the means of sports’ liturgical appropriation and the capacity of this appropriation to mediate values of ideological and religious significance. Drawing on Ricoeur’s analysis of Aristotelian mimesis, I approach sport as embodied metaphor and so locate metaphor as a central problem in sport hermeneutics. Following Ricoeur, I address this problem primarily by way of the ‘surplus of meaning’ within metaphor and its reference, and the role of Wittgensteinian ‘seeing-as’ in metaphor’s interpretation. Following Augustine, I observe the pivotal roles of desire and tradition within ‘ways of seeing’ and their outworkings in Augustine’s liturgical interpretation of ancient spectacles. Translating these considerations into sport, I argue that sport’s liturgical appropriation similarly proceeds through ‘ways of seeing’ or experiencing the embodied metaphor of sport, and that these ways are deeply informed by particular desires and cultural and ideological traditions. Full article

Liturgical practice and its theological interpretation are not only very important to the Chinese inculturation of Catholicism in particular and Christianity in general but also of great significance in the establishment of an indigenized Christian faith and system of life. This paper will analyze the methodological approaches and historical inspirations for the inculturation of Christian liturgical theology through Giulio Aleni’s (1582–1649) Explication of the Mass (Misa Jiyi, 弥撒祭义), the first book to utilize Chinese cultural resources to systematically interpret the Mass (Eucharist). Continuing the general Jesuit accommodation initiated by Matteo Ricci, Aleni established an indigenized liturgical system of theology through intercultural learning, borrowing, and creative construction. Three of his contributions especially stand out. First, Aleni explained the significance of the Mass in terms of the Chinese philosophical–ethical concepts of “repaying the roots” (baoben, 报本) and “giving thanks” (gan’en, 感恩). Second, he elaborated on communion with the Trinitarian God in the Mass through Jesus Christ by drawing on the ancient Chinese teachings of repaying (chou, 酬), commemoration (shi, 示), and hope (wang, 望), which Aleni related to “giving thanks to the Father,” “commemorating Jesus,” and “invoking the Holy Spirit.” Finally, he provided a deep spiritual explanation of the Mass, using the traditional Confucian concepts of “self-restraint” (keji, 克己), “self-reflection” (fanji, 反己), and “spiritual meditation” (chouyi, 抽绎) to help believers understand the activities of repentance, commemoration, and prayer in the Mass. Overall, Aleni emphasized that the essence of the Mass was to achieve “communion with the heart of heavenly Lord” (xihe tianzhuzhixin, 翕合天主之心), which, as a pivot of faith, could be extended into daily life through its spiritual practice. Aleni, therefore, established a comprehensive system of “liturgy-spirituality-life” for Chinese Christians by indigenizing Christian liturgical theology through intercultural learning. His creative synthesis yielded a dynamic balance between Christian and Chinese traditions, absorbing Confucian resources to imaginatively enrich and expand the Christian tradition, while encouraging the creative transformation of the Christian tradition into the Chinese cultural community. Full article

Every Purim, synagogues read the biblical Book of Esther aloud in liturgy, a tradition that exemplifies how synagogue performance practices elaborate on, revise, and refine minor characters in the text. This paper studies four such minor characters in performance from the second century to the present: Haman’s sons, Zeresh, Harbona, and Vashti. These characters evince ways in which performance practices of biblical texts construct moral and psychological assessments of characters in the story, through the interaction of audience, performer, text, and liturgical framing. Further, biblical characters are performed differently in ways which parallel textual interpretation of biblical texts as well as changing social trends and values. In performance, the narrative-critical work of characterization comes alive. Full article

During the Protestant Reformation of 1560, most of Scotland’s Catholic churches faced widespread destruction. Items considered idolatrous were targeted and destroyed. Significantly, stained glass windows were smashed and buried on site, or otherwise left to decay, and were replaced by austere, plain glass. In recent decades, archaeological excavations have recovered shards of this glass from several ecclesiastical sites across Scotland, allowing scholars the opportunity to better understand medieval liturgy and worship. Scientific analyses have been conducted to determine the ingredients used in manufacturing this glass, and to infer a place and timeframe of origin. These studies have proven invaluable in gaining an understanding of medieval trade links between Scotland and Europe, as well as of building and decorative phases for individual churches. Here, we consider the glass as an integral part of daily worship. Decorative patterns and colours of surviving fragments of glass, approximately dated, are considered in the wider and evolving context of medieval worship, and the prevailing religious Orders that were in Scotland at the time that many of these churches were founded. Two case-study sites are discussed in depth: Elgin Cathedral in Moray, which has yielded a significant number of glass shards through archaeological excavations; and Dunfermline Abbey in Fife, Scotland’s royal mausoleum. This inter-disciplinary study is the first to consider Scottish stained glass in terms of both its physical and chemical properties, as well as its wider religious meaning. This methodology will form the basis of future research to—for the first time—catalogue, scientifically analyse and liturgically contextualise all identifiable assemblages of Scottish medieval church glass. Full article

Continuing the long tradition of the allegorical interpretation of the Mass, the seventeenth- and eighteenth century ideal of proper mass attendance was devotion to the suffering Christ, inextricably linked to each step of the liturgy. In this article, post-Tridentine mass books, booklets, or chapters on the mass in devotional books for lay people, are investigated to understand the praxis pietatis in which they were embedded. These texts served devotional and educational purposes outside mass as well, but primarily they reveal a concerted effort to promote active participation of lay people at mass. In the post-Tridentine era, the mass books for lay people became a kind of Passional, serving active participation of the faithful at mass as a devotional practice configured to the actions of the priest as mass progressed. Joining Ordo and Passion, the mass books combined two dimensions of the one sacrifice with the main objective being to support a heartfelt, attentive focus on both. Based on the mass books and other devotional texts investigated, no sharp distinction can be made between attending the formal liturgy and engaging in a devotional practice as the Passion narrative unfolded in, and by, the actions of the priest. Full article

An increasing number of people identify outside of the sex/gender binary, many of whom are in crisis and under attack simply because of how they choose to identify. There are few opportunities for them to experience healing in liturgies, particularly as these liturgies often perpetuate a normative view of the sex/gender binary through language and art. This article offers Saint Wilgefortis as an emancipatory image that offers healing while also transforming ethical attitudes and behaviors toward those who identify outside of the sex/gender binary. First is an examination of the history of the cult of Wilgefortis. This is followed by interpretations of the medieval devotion to Wilgefortis, providing a liberating depiction of someone who blurs boundaries, who is ‘both and neither,’ who is and is not Christ (human and divine), and who is and is not ‘female’ or ‘male.’ Next is an exploration of contemporary portrayals of Wilgefortis, providing a queer, multivalent, and prophetic image for today. Finally, there is a discussion of how Wilgefortis could be incorporated into liturgies that minister especially to those who identify outside of the sex/gender binary while also expanding the imagination of those who struggle to see sex/gender as a spectrum. Full article

From 1338 onwards, the inhabitants of late-medieval Valencia celebrated a feast every 9 October commemorating the entrance into the city of King James I’s forces on that day in 1238. It has been argued that this was essentially a spiritual display from its establishment in 1338 until the beginning of the fifteenth century. The present study delves deeper into the religious and political aims of the feast from its origins, framing the celebration within a broader Mediterranean context. The first part analyses the 9 October feast in relation to two medieval liturgies that also commemorated crusading victories against Islam: the “Feast of the Liberation of Jerusalem” and the “Feast of the Banner of Majorca”. The second part focuses on the combination of performance and images during the ceremony, leading to the conclusion that the 9 October procession had similar goals to those in Jerusalem and Majorca. Indeed, the ceremony intended to convey an interpretation of the conquest as the continuation of Biblical history because it visibly and orally aligned the capture of Valencia with divine will and the sacred Scriptures. Full article

A liturgical phenomenology of Roman Catholic priesthood based on the experience of images of priests and people in scripture and liturgy lends itself to a renewed appropriation of Vatican II and post-conciliar approaches to priesthood. The authors interpret the relational dynamics of Christ’s own priesthood using the pericope of Christ’s anointing at Bethany (Mark 14:1–9), followed by a phenomenological examination of the dialogical introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer or anaphora in the Roman and Byzantine Eucharistic rites. The way ordained ministry is exercised in dialogical and symbolic fashions then provides the impetus for a new look at the significance of prostration in the context of Good Friday and of the Roman Catholic ordination rite. The trinitarian implications of the unified but differentiated priesthood of the Church are the theme of the final section. Full article

This article aims to demonstrate, by means of a comparison with Lacoste’s proposal, that we can find a particular phenomenology of liturgy in the early Heidegger’s phenomenology of religion, centered in the structure of “being-placed before God”. His examination of this structure manages to go deeper than Lacoste in order to account for the essence of human existence. With this purpose in mind, in the first section of the article I will the present the basic features of the liturgical experience, as it is introduced in Experience and the Absolute. In the second section, I will analyze the early Heidegger’s phenomenology of religion and its interpretation of Christian factical life experience. Finally, in the third section, I will bring the insights from both sections together to establish the particularities of Heidegger’s phenomenology of liturgy. Full article

Latter-day Saint (“Mormon”) liturgy opens its participants to a world undefined by a stark border between the transcendent and immanent, with an emphasis on embodiment and relationality. The formal rites of the temple, and in particular that part of the rite called “the endowment”, act as a frame that erases the immanent–transcendent border. Within that frame, the more informal liturgy of the weekly administration of the blood and body of Christ, known as “the sacrament”, transforms otherwise mundane acts of living into acts of worship that sanctify life as a whole. I take a phenomenological approach, hoping that doing so will deepen interpretations that a more textually based approach might miss. Drawing on the works of Robert Orsi, Edward S. Casey, Paul Moyaert, and Nicola King, I argue that the Latter-day Saint sacrament is not merely a ritualized sign of Christ’s sacrifice. Instead, through the sacrament, Christ perdures with its participants in an act of communal memorialization by which church members incarnate the coming of the divine community of love and fellow suffering. Participants inhabit a hermeneutically transformed world as covenant children born again into the family of God. Full article