From Laws To Liturgy

In From Laws to Liturgy Edward Epsen shows that, using an idealist metaphysics as a tool, one can give coherent theological expression to biblical revelation about creation in a manner that is conversant with explanatory issues in philosophy and science.

Reflecting the range of their honorand's interests, the essays in Ritual, Text and Law provide a stimulating and panoramic exploration of the interrelated fields of liturgy and canon law in the Middle Ages, chiefly through the scrutiny of texts and their transmission. Roger Reynolds' scholarly work has not only considered the relations between law and liturgy, but has also focused on liturgical practice and the evolution of rituals, paleography and the often complicated relationships between canonical collections, in particular the southern Italian Collection in Five Books. Due in large part to Reynolds' research, the fields of medieval canon law and liturgy are now recognized as fundamental elements of medieval religious and intellectual history that shed light on medieval Christian belief and practice. The studies are grouped thematically under the headings of 'Ritual' and 'Text and Law'. Each section has an introduction by the editors, in which they survey recent developments in the study of medieval canon law and liturgy with reference to Reynolds's own research, provide historical context for the individual studies, and draw attention to the ways in which the studies reflect current concerns. Individually, the contributors offer new viewpoints on key issues and questions relating to medieval religious, cultural and intellectual history, particularly of the period c.900-1200, and especially the Italian peninsula. Collectively they illuminate the interaction of medieval Christianity and its rituals, as well as the relationship of the secular and the sacred as transmitted in liturgico-canonical texts from the time of the early church to the 14th century.

An indispensable resource for clergy, students, and liturgists, this revised volume assembles the liturgical documents needed for the study and preparation of parish sacramental rites, and other liturgies, such as Masses with children, the Liturgy of the Hours, and Eucharistic adoration. This second edition now includes the praenotanda from the sacramental rites, along with additional documents needed to prepare the Mass, blessings, and the Sacred Paschal Triduum. A pastoral overview introduces each document, explaining the purpose of the document, the degree of its authority, and its practical implications. With an extensive index and a glossary of terms, this volume is designed for easy navigation and frequent reference.

"The Sacred Liturgy is not a hobby for specialists. It is central to all our endeavors as disciples of Jesus Christ. This profound reality cannot be over emphasized. We must recognize the primacy of grace in our Christian life and work, and we must respect the reality that in this life the optimal encounter with Christ is in the Sacred Liturgy." With these words Bishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon, France, opened Sacra Liturgia 2013, an international conference in which he brought together over twenty leading liturgists, cardinals, bishops and other scholars from around the world to emphasize the centrality of liturgical formation and celebration in the life and mission of the Church. "The New Evangelization must be founded on the faithful and fruitful celebration of the Sacred Liturgy as given to us by the Church in her tradition - Western and Eastern," Bishop Rey asserted. Sacra Liturgia 2013 - the proceedings of which this book publishes - explored questions of liturgical art, architecture, music, the ars celebrandi, the importance of ritual in human psychology, truly pastoral liturgy, the place of the older liturgical rites in the New Evangelization, liturgical formation, liturgical law, the role of the diocesan bishop in respect of the liturgy, and more. Sacred Liturgy - The Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church is an important resource in ongoing liturgical formation for clergy, religious and laity, and makes a significant contribution to that renewal promoted in the Pontificate of Benedict XVI. That is the renewal which embraces the riches of liturgical tradition as valuable treasures, seeks to read the Second Vatican Council according to a hermeneutic of continuity, not rupture, and is in no doubt that, as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger once wrote, "the true celebration of the Sacred Liturgy as the center of any renewal of the Church."

The two themes brought together in this volume - the canon law and the liturgy of the early medieval Latin Church - have close links, as these articles reveal. At the basis of this lies that fact that the collections and manuscripts with which Professor Reynolds is concerned provide the source material for both fields of study. In the book particular emphasis is given to the Irish Collection canonum hibernensis and its many derivatives, to works from Carolingian Salzburg and eleventh-century Southern Italy, and to liturgical collections. The whole illustrates the need for liturgiologists to be aware of the riches in medieval legal sources, and for legal historians to take account of the wealth of liturgical material that is a principal ingredient of the law of the Church; and demonstrates how much one field can contribute to understanding the development and to the dating of the other. Les deux thèmes réunis dans ce volume - le droit canon et la liturgie de l'Eglise Latine du haut moyan-âge - ont, comme le révèle ce groupe d'articles, des liens très étroits. Ceci reposant sur le fait que les collections et manuscrits, auxquels le professeur Reynolds s'intéresse, apportent la substance se trouvant à la source de ces deux terrains d'études. Dans le livre, une importance particulière est donnée au Collectio canonum hibernensis irlandais et à ses multiples dérivations, ainsi qu'aux travaux issus de Salzburg à l'époque carolingienne à ceux provenant d'Italie méridionale au 11è s. et aux collections liturgiques. L'ensemble illustre la nésessité pour les spécialistes en liturgie d'Ãatre conscients de l'abondance de sources légales médiévales et pour les historiens du droit de tenir compte de la richesse en matière liturgique et que forme l'un des ingrédients principaux du droit de l'Eglise; il démontre aussi combien un domaine peut contribuer è la compréhension du développement et à l'assignation de date