Introduction to Eastern Christian Liturgies by Stefanos Alexopoulos and Maxwell E. Johnson

Abstract

Reviewed by: Introduction to Eastern Christian Liturgies by Stefanos Alexopoulos and Maxwell E. Johnson David M. Friel Stefanos Alexopoulos and Maxwell E. Johnson Introduction to Eastern Christian Liturgies Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press Academic, 2022 Alcuin Club Collections 96 xli + 430 pages. Paperback. $59.95. Assembled by two academics leading in their field, this new volume fills a real void in liturgical scholarship of the Christian East. As the introduction notes (xiii–xiv), other studies of Eastern Christian worship have largely been short, introductory, or limited in scope, and many of them have fallen out of date. This project, by contrast, addresses in detail the full range of liturgies, including the Divine Office, the Eucharist, and the other sacraments. It also draws upon the manifold advancements that have strengthened the field of liturgical scholarship in recent decades. It attends, moreover, to the uniqueness of the Armenian, Byzantine, Coptic, Ethiopian, East Syrian, West Syrian, and Maronite rites, while also emphasizing the essential communion among them. The first substantial introduction to Eastern Christian liturgies in more than half a century, this book continues the line of classic studies that includes the work of Irenée-Henri Dalmais (Eastern Liturgies), Donald Attwater (The Christian Churches of the East), and Alphonse Raes (Introductio in liturgiam orientalem). The introduction serves as an excellent primer on the origin, evolution, and character of the major liturgies of the Christian East. It rightly and proudly asserts that "Christianity originated [End Page 224] as an Eastern religion" (xiv), and it gives the reader an initial taste of what it clearly conveys is a plentiful wellspring. Abundant tables assist with comprehension and visualization, and numerous citations of liturgical texts (translated into English) keep the work well grounded. The general structure of the work, as the authors note (xl), follows the outline employed by Dalmais. Chapter 1 ("Christian Initiation and Reconciliation") surveys the practices and texts of the various Eastern rites, and, where appropriate, it distinguishes the logic of the Eastern rites from that of the Western rites. Punctuated by extraordinarily helpful tables (4–5, 12–13, 26, and 34), the first section of this first chapter argues convincingly that the unity of baptism, post-baptismal chrismation, and first communion in the Eastern traditions has helped them to maintain a more integral approach to initiation than what has developed in the Christian West. The second section of the chapter turns its attention to the practices associated with reconciliation, highlighting the interplay between communal and individual penance and ultimately concluding that "the sacrament of repentance is in crisis in the current practice of Eastern Christian churches" (56). Chapter 2 ("The Eucharistic Liturgies") prioritizes the Byzantine Divine Liturgy in a way that the other chapters do not, undoubtedly because the immensity of the subject does not permit a thoroughgoing study of each of the seven rites. Even still, the chapter begins with short sections that highlight some of the unique aspects of the Eucharistic liturgies proper to each rite. Thereafter, it considers the preliminary rites and liturgy of the word, the pre-anaphoral rites, the anaphoras, the communion and dismissal rites, and the liturgy of the presanctified. The chapter concludes with interesting sections on the consecration and on liturgical commentaries, exploring their meaning within Eastern Eucharistic theology. Chapter 3 ("The Liturgical Year and the Liturgy of the Hours") approaches its topic in two principal sections, each subdivided into sections on the seven rites. Numerous tables and outlines help to make this chapter very readable. The authors [End Page 225] acknowledge that "the current Western rhythm of life that has almost taken over the whole world" (211) poses a challenge for the celebration of the liturgical year and Divine Office among Eastern Christians, particularly in diaspora communities. Nevertheless, these features of the Eastern liturgies contribute both anamnetic and eschatological dimensions to the celebration of the liturgy, encouraging the worshiper to look back in remembrance upon the events of salvation history and to look forward with hope to the kingdom of God. Two sacraments are the focus of Chapter 4 ("Marriage and Holy Orders"). Addressing marriage, the authors begin by noting some of the ways in which marriage differs in the Christian East and West and...