Insygnia władzy kościelnej stanowią kategorię przedmiotów wyróżniających się pod wieloma względami spośród innych obiektów sztuki. Oddziaływanie na odbiorcę jest (przynajmniej potencjalnie) wielowarstwowe, a pełnione przez poszczególne insygnia funkcje społeczne, jak wykazały wcześniejsze badania, mogą się znacznie różnić. Artykuł stanowi próbę odpowiedzi na pytanie o celowość odwołania się w badaniach nad insygniami do metodologii nauk społecznych, nie tylko zaś humanistycznych i liturgiki. Postawiona została teza, że przedmioty te w ostatnich dwóch stuleciach ulegają przemianom formalnym i znaczeniowym, eksponującym ich społeczne funkcjonowanie, co ujawnić mogą badania uwzględniające problemy z zakresu nauk o komunikowaniu, psychologii i socjologii sztuki.

Preces are the prayers that in modern Liturgy of the Hours are recited during Morning Prayer (invocationes) and Vespers (intercessiones). For centuries they were usually composed of psalm verses quotes and placed in different canonical hours. Contemporary preces created after the Second Vatican Council by Coetus XII bis are generally not. The author of the presentation entitled “The Word of God in the preces of the Vespers on Epiphany”, considering the record of Sacra Congregatio pro Cultu Divino, Commissio specialis ad instaurationem liturgicam absolvendam, Schemata n. 348, pointed out some expressions and phrases in verses 2, 6, 7, 12 i 17 of Psalm 71, which belongs to royal prayers, as the biblical source for preces on the Feast of Epiphany. The result of his research is an observation that Scriptura crescit cum orante, not only during reading of the text but above all as the updating in the course of the rite, which dynamism feeds the prayer so lavishly that the Word of God becomes his own and motivates him to compose a personal prayer.
 Keywords: Word of God, preces, Vespers, Epiphany.

On 29th August 2006 Benedict XVI wrote his spiritual testament which was published soon after his death, i.e. 31stDecember 2022. The Pope started his will with the expression of thankfulness to God. Immensely important, also in the context of the following article, seem to be his words: Do not be confused! Often it seems as if science - on the one hand, the natural sciences; on the other, historical research (especially the exegesis of the Holy Scriptures) - has irrefutable insights to offer that are contrary to the Catholic faith. I have witnessed from times long past the changes in natural science and have seen how apparent certainties against the faith vanished, proving themselves not to be science but philosophical interpretations only apparently belonging to science - just as, moreover, it is in dialogue with the natural sciences that faith has learned to understand the limits of the scope of its affirmations and thus its own specificity. (…) I have seen, and see, how, out of the tangle of hypotheses, the reasonableness of faith has emerged and is emerging anew. Jesus Christ is truly the Way, the Truth, and the Life - and the Church, in all her shortcomings, is truly His Body[1]. 
 It cannot be denied that on the 31st day of December 2022, at 9:34, when Pope Benedict XVI went to the House of the Father, the Church lost her Shepherd, faithful to God and to every man, extraordinary and inspiring person, great theologian and mystic of Christianity, defender of faith and morality, and a humble worker in the Lord’s vineyard – as he used to call himself. The funeral service which took place on 5th January 2023 in St. Peter’s Square was attended by the author of these words who represented the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Cracow, the university which had conferred upon Benedict XVI the honoris causa doctorate many years before. During the funeral liturgy His Holiness Pope Francis said the following, unforgettable words about his predecessor: Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever! These beautiful words certainly reflected the very essence of the mission of the deceased Pontiff.
 This article presents the way of life and the achievements of Pope Benedict XVI, showing him as an outstanding theologian of liturgy and music. It was also important to reflect on his honoris causa doctorate granted to him by the Pontifical University in Cracow. The article finishes with Benedict XVI’s spiritual testament and message of hope.
 It was not easy to present in such a short form the immense scale of the achievements of this extraordinary man, so beneficial for the Church and for the whole world. The following text merely outlines the above, for the subject concerns a remarkable theologian, proficient liturgist and musician, defender of Catholic faith and her transparency, humble worker in the Lord’s vineyard and the faithful friend of the Bridegroom – as recalled by his successor. And it seems certain that in the next years, even in the following decades we will still be reading his spiritual message, or maybe one day this great Pontiff shall be accorded the title of the Doctor of the Church, so well deserved.
 [1] Benedict XVI, Mój testament duchowy [My Spiritual Testament] [in] L’Osservatore Romano, year XLII, Polish edition, no. 1(449) 2023, p. 8.

Renewed emphasis on the significance of the ambo on the part of the Roman dicastery for divine worship appeared in the context of the Roman rite in the late 1980s and once again in the Jubilee year 2000 but seems to have been overlooked in the vast majority of local churches. The author reviews what he considers to be a gradual restoration of the ambo to its medieval heyday while seeing that same restoration as central in placing the celebration of Christ’s paschal mystery at the heart of the liturgy renewed after Vatican II.

Abstract: This paper is a study of certain notions of ‘Divine Mercy’ in the West Syriac liturgical tradition in the light of Word of God and liturgical prayers. The author tries to explore the theme of ‘Mercy’ (rahme) in the liturgical prayers in West Syriac liturgical tradition using certain technical phrases coined with the word rahme. Some of the phrases are “Door of Mercy” (tar’o drahme), “Dew of Mercy” (talā drahme), “Sea of Mercy” (yamā drahme) and “Wings of Mercy” (kenfe drahme).

W Narodowym Archiwum Szwecji przechowywana jest największa w Europie północnej kolekcja fragmentów ksiąg pergaminowych (około 23 000), w dużym stopniu liturgicznych. Z tej liczby nieco ponad 5 000 zostało udostępnionych online (stan w 2020 r.). Autor wyizolował 67 fragmentów, które zawierają teksty i śpiewy Liturgii Godzin ku czci Św. Katarzyny Aleksandryjskiej. Do Soboru Trydenckiego skomponowano kilkanaście oficjów katarzyńskich, z których przewagę osiągnęły cztery. Oficja te, charakteryzują się dość wysokim stopniem wariantowości, co może być wskazówką w procesie ustalania proweniencji poszczególnych fragmentów.

The use of the ambo during the celebration of Mass with a congregation was restored to the Roman rite in 1964, it seemed after centuries of absence. Limited use of the ambo during Mass, or remains of the ambo such as lecterns, had continued interrupted in some Western rite contexts from the Council of Trent until the Second Vatican Council. The reception of the ambo from 1964 was rather modest with respect to its monumental history and symbolic wealth. This was due, no doubt, to the significance and history of the ambo going unnoted in Roman documentation and liturgical books in the years after Sacrosanctum Concilium. Renewed emphasis on the significance of the ambo on the part of the Roman dicastery for divine worship appeared in the context of the Roman rite in the late 1980s and once again in the Jubilee year 2000 but seems to have been overlooked in the vast majority of local churches. The author reviews what he considers to be a gradual restoration of the ambo to its medieval heyday while seeing that same restoration as central in placing the celebration of Christ’s paschal mystery at the heart of the liturgy renewed after Vatican II.

In this article, Fr. Francis Pittappillil critically analyses the structure, content and theology of the Qudasha (Anaphora) of Mar Theodore. According to the East Syrian tradition, the Second Qudasha is celebrated from the first Sunday of the period of Annunciation to the Palm Sunday. Although the theological thoughts of Mar Theodore were viewed with suspicion in the past, the opinion of modern theologians is that they are orthodox in theology and doctrine. The Second Order Qudasha is notable for its Semitic character, biblical usages, and developed theological ideas. Since this Qudasha contains typical East Syrian theological and liturgical elements, we can conclude that Qudasha of Mar Theodore is an East Syrian in origin and content. The special characteristic of this Qudasha is its developed theological reflection and structural organization. The Christological, ecclesiological, pneumatological and Eucharistic ideas in the Qudasha of Mar Theodore are very faithful to the teachings of the Sacred Scripture. Fr. Francis Pittappillil affirms that the Second Qudasha, being a theologically well developed Eucharistic prayer, is very helpful for the proclamation of the faith.

Abstract
 
 The aim of this article is to present an innovative concept of the ‘icon in sound’ created by the English composer John Tavener. The first part of the article presents the intermedial and intertextual features of Tavener's work, the second shows the genesis of the concept of ‘icon in sound’, to which three factors have contributed: 1) the composer’s interest in religious topics in his pieces, 2) the composer’s conversion to Orthodoxy, 3) collaboration with Mother Tekla, the author of the texts of many Tavener’s works.
 
 The last, third part of the article describes issues related to the formal structure and musical symbolism present in Tavener’s musical icons. The composer refers to painted icons by composing works characterised by static form and the expression of spirituality, mysticism and inner peace. These features result from the juxtaposing of melismatic structures, inspired by Byzantine music, with repetitive technique and dynamics often characterised by a low intensity. One characteristic of Tavener’s sound icons is a ‘luminous’ sound, achieved through the use of high registers of voices and instruments, which are combined with contemplative and lyrical expression. An important feature of John Tavener’s musical icons was the introduction of archaic elements, resulting primarily from the inspiration that the composer drew from the musical culture of the Orthodox Church (eg the use of Byzantine scales in Mary of Egypt, the introduction of instruments such as simantron in Mary of Egypt).

Ojcowie Soboru Watykańskiego II zdawali sobie sprawę, że właściwe wprowadzenie odnowy liturgicznej będzie uzależnione od tego, w jaki sposób samo duchowieństwo będzie przygotowywane do przyjęcia reformy liturgicznej. Artykuł przedstawia w jaki sposób realizowana była formacja liturgiczna alumnów Archidiecezjalnego Seminarium Duchownego w Krakowie w czasie wprowadzania odnowy liturgicznej (od lat sześćdziesiątych do osiemdziesiątych XX wieku). Formacja ta była realizowana była poprzez następujące elementy: poznanie nauki soborowej poprzez wykłady liturgiki, referaty zaproszonych gości, sesje i sympozja naukowe, kleryckie koło miłośników liturgii oraz poznanie obrzędów zreformowanej liturgii w kaplicy Seminaryjnej lub Katedrze Wawelskiej. Klerycy mieli także możliwość zaprezentowania swoich własnych przemyśleń na temat odnowy liturgicznej publikując artykuły w wewnętrznym seminaryjnym czasopiśmie „Novum Tempus Liberum”.