Eucharistic Rite Research Articles

Anglican Eucharistic Rites Today in the Light of Modern Scholarship

Abstract Liturgical revision in the Anglican Communion has proceeded relatively slowly since the days of Gregory Dix. While some changes have occurred, especially in the use of modern language, in other ways most rites remain uninfluenced by changes in society and by recent advances in scholarship.

‘Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood’

This essay reflects upon the representation of the Christian Eucharistic rite in two highly contrasting works: the Netflix miniseries Midnight Mass (2021) and Marina Abramović’s iconic work Lips of Thomas (1975/2005). Within these works, blood plays a central role both iconically as a potent visual presence, as well as indexically in pointing subversively towards the ritual of the mass. There is a degree of ambivalence evident in these works, in that neither appears to offer us a straightforward critique of doctrine or of religious belief, but instead appear to engage in a kind of distanced fascination with the Eucharist, and especially the doctrine of real presence. This essay proposes that the representation of blood in these works reflects both a subversive and an engaged reflection on the notion of real presence. In developing an analysis of the ways in which blood features in these works, this essay presents the concept of ‘personhood,’ as defined by feminist theologian Catherine LaCugna, as a means of understanding the paradoxical status of blood in Midnight Mass and Lips of Thomas. While discourses around concepts such as subject, body, self, identity, character and persona are well established within the wider field performance and performance studies, this essay argues for the utility of ‘personhood’ as a distinct concept. In doing so, this essay points to the more general notion that theological and liturgical concepts can overlap with and productively inform our understanding of secular performance practices.

Contemporary Eucharistic Theologies : Beyond the Western Mainline or Affected Interpretations

This research is regarding three theologians who began to argue different voices from the traditional eucharistic interpretation based on an ontological foundation. Christian churches have tried to interpret the words of eucharistic institution by Jesus Christ, "This is my body... This is my blood." through the lens of various methodologies. Since the bread and wine in the eucharistic rite do not change into the real body and blood of Christ, chemically and biologically, the issue of transforming the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ has been understood as symbolic change, not real change but the change of significance, or real accidental change of the elements. The interpretation of eucharistic change had been the primary theological concern in Christian churches since the medieval era. Not only Roman Catholicism but many Protestant traditions had been tried to explain this issue based on the existential understanding of Christ. Alexander Schmemann, Edward Schillebeeckx, and Louis-Marie Chauvet are regarded as the outstanding theological figures who oppose the onto-theological eucharistic change in traditional eucharistic theology. Researching these theologians' academic efforts, I have a chance to arrive at a strong conviction regarding the eucharistic theology for the postmodern era. Eucharist is not the rite for receiving the changed elements that signify the body of Christ, but rather it is the rite for encountering and experiencing God's existential way (love) and for allowing the participants of the rite to perform their ethical responsibilities toward the world.

Od mateřského jazyka k českému obřadu

The liturgical practice of the Czechoslovak Church (Cčs) represented a reform of the traditional ritual practices of Western Christianity. The Cčs’ reform proposals are interpreted as being similar to those launched by the contemporary modern liturgical movement in the Roman Catholic Church. The article deals with the principles of the reform set by the first Church council, interprets the Church’s eucharistic rite (the Liturgy of Karel Farský) and compares it with the Tridentine rite, briefly characterizes sacramental rites and occasional services, and presents an outline of the first missal (created by Alois Tuháček). Then, it points to the developments in the Church’s liturgical practices in the decades following the end of WW II until 1971, primarily focusing on the Church’s response to the state’s anti-clerical politics and atheist indoctrination. Finally, the article discusses the Church’s funeral rites, including the ritual provisions for cremation, and introduces the Church’s concept of the liturgical space. Occasionally, it refers to the liturgical diary notes recorded by Pospíšilová and David during their visits Prague parishes of the Church.

Social Justice in Spanish Golden Age Theatre

Social Justice in Spanish Golden Age Theatre

Relational Priesthood in the Body of Christ: A Scriptural, Liturgical, and Trinitarian Approach

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.

Image and Chalcedonian Eucharistic doctrine: a re-evaluation of the Riha paten, its decoration and its historical context

Abstract The iconography of the Communion of the Apostles, a theme well established in Byzantine art after Iconoclasm, first appears in a securely dated context in the silver patens from Riha and Stuma. These silver plates were produced in Constantinople sometime between 575 and 578. The iconography with the twofold depiction of Christ is usually explained as a reflection of the liturgical practice of the Eucharist, namely, as a reflection of the two actors in the Eucharistic rite, the priest and a deacon distributing bread and wine. I argue instead that during the early Byzantine period the twofold depiction of Christ is an expression of the two natures of Christ directed against the Miaphysites. I propose that the exceptional appearance of the scene in the two early Byzantine silver patens from church treasures from northern Syria is likely to be explained by its Christological significance with regard to Chalcedonian Eucharistic doctrine during the persecution of the Miaphysites in the 570s.

The liturgy as a source of the epigraphic formulary: some examples from the late antique Peloponnese

Abstract This paper consolidates some evidence on the impact of the liturgy on the epigraphic formulary.Without being an exhaustive study, it pinpoints several prominent examples of this development in the late antique Peloponnese. Textological parallels between inscriptions and extant liturgical texts indicate that liturgical formulae were adopted in epigraphic prayers of individuals as well as in the inscriptions adorning churches, and that authors of epitaphs often drew on the formulae of the eucharistic and funerary rites. The analysis makes it clear that the institutionalised forms of piety were perceived as authoritative and shaped the formation of the distinctively Christian epigraphic habit.

The Traditional Mass: History, Form, and Theology of the Classical Roman Rite by Michael Fiedrowicz

Reviewed by: The Traditional Mass: History, Form, and Theology of the Classical Roman Rite by Michael Fiedrowicz Daniel Waldow Michael Fiedrowicz The Traditional Mass: History, Form, and Theology of the Classical Roman Rite Translated by Rose Pfeifer Brooklyn, NY: Angelico Press, 2020. xvi + 331 pages. Paperback. $22.95. English speakers are in Rose Pfeifer's debt for her laudable translation of the 2019, fifth edition of Michael Fiedrowicz's The Traditional Mass. This book is an exemplary scholarly introduction to the content, meaning, and history of what is commonly called the "Latin Mass." The book aims principally for breadth, but at 304 body pages it also treats each of its topics with significant depth. The extensive footnotes and 15-page bibliography, organized by topic, are a tremendous resource for those wishing to do further research. Fiedrowicz's book is divided into three parts. Part I ("History") traces and assesses the historical development of the Roman Eucharistic rite. Chapter 1 succinctly details the growth of the Roman Mass from the apostolic era up to its revision in the 1962 Roman Missal. With this historical context in place, chapter 2 assesses the appropriateness of the various titles which have been given to the "Mass of the Ages" (46). Chapter 3 defends the theological legitimacy of the changes that occurred to the Roman Rite over the course of centuries. These various additions and reforms were always enacted in order to better express and protect the essence of the sacred mystery that is the Mass (54). Reforms were always "cautious and restrained," while additions always consisted of venerable liturgical customs that had already been proven in practice (55–56). Part II ("Form") studies the basic meaning of the structure and various parts of the Mass. Chapter 4 discusses the three levels of solemnity with which the Mass can be celebrated. Chapter 5 is an outstanding, step by step exposition of the meaning and historical origin of every major part of both the Mass of the Catechumens and the Mass of the Faithful. Chapter 6 covers the meaning of liturgical seasons and feast days. Chapter 7 treats the history and theological significance of ad orientem, versus altare and ad Dominum liturgical prayer. These practices express and promote faith in the true presence [End Page 150] of Christ in the Eucharist as well as the theocentric and sacrificial character of the Mass (147–150). Chapter 8 concerns the history and value of the Mass's use of Latin and Gregorian chant. Fiedrowicz makes a strong case for the exclusive use of a sacred language at Mass and claims that catechesis, not vernacular liturgies, is the best way to help the faithful understand the meaning of the Eucharistic liturgy (166). Chapter 9 examines the importance of rites, rubrics, and aesthetics to the promotion of the liturgy's sacred character. Fiedrowicz also expounds how the "active participation" of the laity in Mass is actualized primarily through their deliberate, prayerful, interior attempts to unite themselves with the sacrifice of Christ and adore his Eucharistic presence (225–231). Part III ("Theology") is an exegesis of the major dogmatic and theological truths contained in the prayers of the Latin Mass. Chapters 10 and 15 open and close this section by emphasizing how the public prayer of the Mass is the principal means by which the Church proclaims divinely revealed truth and fosters an orthodox, living faith among the people; hence, the theological content of the Mass matters. Chapter 11 describes how some of the orations of the classic rite bear witness to challenging theological truths that get watered down in the corresponding orations of the 1970 missal (239). Chapter 12 explores the history and logic of the lectionary. The readings in the older rite were chosen to illuminate the particular season or feast during which they were read. Their annual recurrence on fixed days helped the faithful to internalize their letter and spirit (252–253). Chapter 13 demonstrates how the offertory prayers which proceed the Roman Canon manifest the Church's faith in the sacrificial nature of the Mass. In the offertory the bread and wine are offered as "victims" to God, but these oblations are not independent and divinizing sacrifices...

‘Human Semen Eucharist’ Among the Manichaeans?

Starting from his De haeresibus 46,9-10, the present article examines Augustine’s contention that, among the Manichaeans, there was a certain ceremony in which human semen (i.e., sperma and menstrual fluid) was collected and consumed during a eucharistic rite. My contextual analysis of the pivotal passage, haer. 46,9-10, is followed by an overview of scholarly opinions on this text. From here I proceed to interpret the incriminated rite in light of the Seduction of the Archons myth and conclude that, according to Augustine, the Manichaeans consider the ‘vital substance’ (or ‘light’ or ‘living soul’) in the life of plants, animals and human beings, to be the very nature of God, which should be released whenever possible. I finish my research by interpreting the Manichaean practice within a wider ‘gnostic’ context, in particular Epiphanius’ report on the ‘Borborites’. My final conclusion is that we should try to understand both Manichaeans (like the ‘Catharists’) and Gnostics (like the ‘Borborites’) according to their own logic: both appear to have considered the life-substance of man, i.e., the semen, as divine, and indeed a part of God.

To picture and to perform: The image of the Eucharistic Liturgy at Markov Manastir (I)

This paper presents and interprets the iconographic programme of the frescoes in the lowest register of the sanctuary in the church of St Demetrios at Markov Manastir in the context of the relationship between mural decoration and the contemporary Eucharistic rite. In the first part of the paper special attention is paid to the scene in the north pastophorion, which illustrates the prothesis rite, and the depiction of the Great Entrance, placed in the sanctuary apse. The iconographic and programmatic features of the fresco ensemble, the most pominent place among which is occupied by the representations of the deceased Saviour and Christ the Great Archpriest - are compared to various liturgical sources and visual analogies (monumetal painting and liturgical textiles) in the medieval art of Serbia and Byzantium.

Supersession or Subsession? Exodus Typology, the Christian Eucharist and the Jewish Passover Meal

AbstractContemporary Christian construals of the Eucharist, both in doctrine and in practice, generally tend to subordinate, de-emphasise or omit theological reference to the Jewish Passover meal. And yet the key New Testament texts in which the Eucharist's institution is variously narrated – the very texts and institution allegedly ‘remembered’ in eucharistic rites – are virtually unintelligible apart from Passover. Thus, at the heart of Christian doctrine and practical life sits a particular theological problem: namely, precisely how to relate the distinctively Jewish character of the Eucharist's origins as narrated in the New Testament to the distinctively Christian character of eucharistic doctrine and liturgy. Drawing on two Jewish thinkers, Michael Fishbane and Yair Zakovitch, in this article I offer one model for understanding the Eucharist–Passover relationship in particular, and the Christian–Jewish relationship generally, as fundamentally typological, performative and ‘subsessionist’. That is, I propose a subsessionist (as opposed to supersessionist) typological understanding of the Eucharist as a Christian rendition of Passover, at once distinct from its Jewish counterparts today and utterly dependent on the ancient Israelite festival for its intelligibility and force. From Fishbane, I draw the idea that throughout the Hebrew Bible, the exodus narrative provides a crucial interpretative key applicable to both prior and anticipated redemptions. From Zakovitch, I draw the idea that the ubiquity of exodus typology in Hebrew scripture may function to create an impression of periodic repetition in salvation history, in effect reassuring Israel that future deliverance will conform to the essential patterns of the prestigious past. The typology at play here, then, so far from being a triumphalist ‘prophecy-fulfilment’ arrangement in which the ‘old’ is valuable only insofar as it serves as a signpost pointing to the ‘new’, is rather a ‘paradigm-rendition’ typology in which the new performance is clarified and authenticated precisely insofar as it corresponds to the old, exalted original. At stake here, I contend, is not only a more fruitful framework for conceiving the relationship between Eucharist and Passover (or indeed between Christianity and Judaism), but also a crucial theological strategy for resisting what amounts to ade factoMarcionism in contemporary Christian communities.

Culture, Economics and Drugs Addiction

Drug use is one of the pressing issues facing humanity since time immemorial. Ground reality exhibits that there are linear association of drug use with violence, corruption, incest and numerous other immoral activities. Towards drugs addiction the policy approach of contemporary science of economics is based on two hands. On one hand economists encourage the prohibition of drug use. On the other hand another influential group of economists apply the philosophy of market economy. They advocate that all inebriating materials should be legalized. In the economic case towards drug use, one cannot draw a clear line whether prohibition or legalization will be the best policy approach. Christianity which is considered as one of the universal religion encourages the use of drugs through the rite of Eucharist, Sacred Meal, and Holy Communion. In contrast Islam prohibits every type of inebriating materials including alcohol which is corroborated the latest scientific research. In Islamic societies on one hand there is a strict prohibition on the production of drugs, while on the other hand through moral education they discourage the use of drugs.

Reanimating sacrifice?

The language of sacrifice in relation to the Eucharist has had a controversial history in Christian theology. This article suggests that it remains an important and central concept in the Church’s eucharistic rites. It contends that we need to hold in creative tension the concepts of memorial and sacrifice as a way of understanding Anglican thought on this subject. Using the language of the ARCIC documents and by reference to Sarah Coakley, it argues for a confidence in sacrificial language that is rooted in the Anglican tradition, embraces ecumenical insights and is renewed for theology and worship.

Iconoclasmo e iconodulia entre oriente y occidente (siglo VIII-IX)

The following paper deals with the reception in the Carolingian west of the Byzantine Iconoclast Crisis. It considers the way both Christianities dealed with the problem that images presented to religious practices and the political consequences of iconic worship. The paper also states that during the VIII and IX centuries the iconoclast crisis allowed the emergence of a self conscious Latin Christian tradition. Consequentlyit was the moment that showed the beginning of two differing ways of Christian piety and the alienation of one towards the other. Western Christianity focused its religion practice in church building and the idea of Sacrality in the Eucharistic Rite. The oriental church, moreovers, centered its practices and theology on icon worship.

L’iconophagie byzantine : aspects du ritual eucharistique dans le christianisme oriental

In a letter of Louis le Pieux, dated 842, Emperor Michel II is accusing the “iconophils” to confuse during the Eucharistic rite the holy images with the consecrated substances of bread and wine, by blending the “body and blood of Christ” with ink dust which was scraped off the holy icons and then offered to the believers. By doing this, the “iconophils” attributed to the icon the virtues of the consecrated bread and wine, thus rendering the mysterium of transubstantiation more comprehensible. Besides the icon dust, other substances also enter the Eucharist celebration, such as vinegar, honey, grapes and even meat, which led, of course, to an increasing entanglement of sacred and profane food. These practices of superstitious and biblical origins are questioning the link between the incarnation and the act of eating by a series of gestures, like scraping, blending, distributing, swallowing and finally receiving communion. In other words, these practices represent an alternative theology of Eucharist which ...

La liturgia come "anàmnesis": una nozione da riesaminare?

Following the 2nd Vatican Council, the various liturgical rites in use in the Western Church underwent reforms. Contemporaneously with this, a new interpretative category applied to liturgical action came to be used widely, that of anamnesis. Liturgy came to be described as the anamnesis of the work of salvation. The fortune of this conceptions is well-deserved, if we bear in mind the problems it helps to avoid, especially in ecumenical contexts, but that is not to say that it is not open to questioning. Recent studies, which need to be taken into account, raise the question: is it possible or not to be explicit about the sacramental nature of the Eucharistic rite and, by extension, of the Christian liturgy without recourse to be notion of anamnesis?

Affected by Ritual. Predictors of Agreement with Church Marriage Rites in The Netherlands

AbstractWhy do couples opt for a church wedding ritual living in a modern secularized society. Based on the ritual form hypothesis of Lawson and McCauley, the authors identify the specific church wedding rites as special agent rituals and the rites that form the ritual framework of every eucharist or prayer (and communion) services (eucharistic rites) as special instrument rituals. The participants not only distinguished the church wedding rites from the eucharistic rites, but also discerned a third group of rites, musical rites. 26% of the participants were affected by the eucharistic rites, whereas 63% and 80% were affected respectively by the musical and church wedding rites. The research shows that different indicators of religious socialisation and conceptions of marriage predict the extent to which participants feel affected by the three types of rites. In the case of the musical and church marriage rites the sole influence is the importance attached to participation in ecclesiastic transitional rituals. Conceptions of marriage account for only a small part of the relation between religious socialisation and the extent to which people feel affected by church marriage rituals. Only in the case of the eucharistic rites religious socialisation and conceptions of marriage are decisive. The extend of affection by the church wedding rituals depends mostly on the importance the participants attach to ecclesiastic transitional rituals. The church is seen as a service institution that dispenses transitional rituals. In this way, the church helps marrital couples and their social environment to cope with the contingent elements of these pivotal moments.

Drinking Blood at a Kosher Eucharist? The Sound of Scholarly Silence

The element of drinking blood in the Eucharistic rite is at once a religious and a theological problem. How does one account for the practice, particularly given the alleged institution by a Jew in a Jewish setting? The lack of adequate attention to this specific issue is extraordinary. Those who insist on the historicity of the institution narratives need to be able to offer a reasonable explanation of a glaring incongruity—simplistic dogmatic assertion does not suffice; those who reject the historicity on the grounds of the incongruity have not provided a satisfactory history of this fascinating religious phenomenon. The state of the question is characterized by a deafening silence, or a tip-toeing side-step, the extent of which needs to be established, and this is done here by means of a comprehensive trawling expedition amidst the shoals of scholarly treatment of the Eucharist. The veritable litany of neglect is revealing. Some shifts in current New Testament scholarship are identified as possible avenues where advances can be hoped for in regard to a sensitive issue.

Anatomy of the Mass: Montaigne's “Cannibals”

What might the Mass resemble among a people who never experienced the Fall? Montaigne's most famous essay, “Of Cannibals,” emerges as a radical response to this question when examined in the context of his time's religious polemic, a context from which the essay borrows much of its imagery. Unlike Protestant controversialists who disparaged Catholic eucharistic rites as barbarous, Montaigne suggests such religious prejudices prove little better than the cultural ones under which New World natives labored. He elects to pursue a line of religious inquiry opened up by Renaissance speculation that Amerindians might constitute a non-Adamite race in order to conduct a personal exploration of alternative practices of faith. This two-mindedness with regard to religion suggests that characterizations of Montaigne need to step beyond the categories of believer and unbeliever. Abandoning tendencies toward denominationalism and, more generally, toward affixing labels to heterodoxy allows for an investigation of the fully idiosyncratic experience of early modern belief.