Liturgical Ceremonies Research Articles

The Virtues of the Mass: A Taxonomy of a Late Middle English Genre of Liturgical Significance

ABSTRACT The Virtues of the Mass is a literary corpus comprising around forty-four known Middle English texts. These writings expound the liturgical sequences of the Mass and/or its spiritual and physical benefits for both clerical and lay audiences, whether literate or illiterate. This article traces 107 manuscripts containing variants of the Virtues of the Mass (as examined in the appendix) to contend that this corpus of texts should be viewed as a comprehensive genre. It proposes a new taxonomy that categorizes the texts into two traditions: the first textual tradition focuses on the benefits of attending mass, while the second focuses on explaining the liturgical ceremony. This article contextualizes the genre in light of the renewed interest in corporate worship and communal devotional practices in England in the first half of the fifteenth century, and considers key themes associated with the genre such as prayer, soulhele, and liturgical habitus.

Rozwój luteranizmu we Wrocławiu w pierwszej połowie XVI stulecia

Martin Luther’s study arrived in Wrocław shortly after his appearance in 1517, and the capital of Silesia and the Diocese of Wrocław became the center of Lutheranism. The main promoters of the “new faith” were clergymen: Jan Hess - parish priest. Mary Magdalene and Ambrose Moiban, parish priest Elizabeth. Modernism has entered into numerous religious congregations, especially minors and Augustans. A great Lutheran ally was the city council. The Wrocław debate organized in 1524 contributed to the development of the first part of Protestantism. Over the years, Lutheran liturgical ceremonies have evolved, having at first many common features with Catholicism. The Lutherans in Wrocław attached great importance to the education and development of charitable activities. Lutheranism in Wrocław had an advantage over Catholicism until the end of World War II in 1945.

A Canonical Analysis of Canon 273 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law

All clergy have the special canonical obligation to show reverence and obedience to their ordinary and the pope. They bind themselves to this promise freely and publicly during their diaconal or priestly ordination. The ecclesiastical legislator gave the liturgical ceremony a normative form in can. 273 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. In this paper, the author presents the sources of the canon in question, presents a canonical analysis, places it into canonical context, and defines individual terms according to how the ecclesiastical legislator understood them.

Reflection of Significant Theological Issues in the Lavra School Paintings of the First Third of the Eighteenth Century

The article discusses the most significant monumental paintings of the Dormition Cathedral and Trinity Gate Church of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra created in the first third of the 18th century. They are сonsidered in the context of the most important trends of spiritual and cultural life of the Hetmanate. The author concentrates attention on the important details that characterize the system of painting in those temples and underlines the close connection between fresco images marked by the inscriptions with the church literature of that time. Besides, among the results of the research there is the point that the Holy Liturgy is the most significant theme in the theological program of paintings of both Lavra temples.It is noted that the topic of the Holy Liturgy became one of the central themes in Ukrainian theology of the second half of the 17th century. Sharp disputes between Kyiv and Moscow theological circles were concentrated on the very moment of the Holy Liturgy associated with Eucharistic Transubstantiation. The author mentions publications of the Ukrainian Orthodox printing houses of that time, which covered that issue, and underlines a number of discrepancies in other dogmatic moments found in Kyiv and Moscow publications.Lavra school monumental ensembles of the first third of the 18th century are presented as a reflection of this topic. We believe that the idea of a figurative display of the liturgical ceremony on the walls of the altar first appeared in the paintings of the Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Thus, the way was paved for the topic that has become traditional and lasted like that over the century. The analysis of the preserved project of baroque paintings of the Great Church, available images of the Trinity Gate Church, and inscriptions makes it possible to say that the ideological and artistic content of Lavra school monumental paintings of the first third of the 18th century reflected the most relevant ideas of that time. Among them one could mention sharp theological disputes over the moment of Eucharistic Transubstantiation that typified the second half of the 17th century.

Ciklus Svetog Dimitrija u Pećkoj patrijaršiji - III

Ciklus Svetog Dimitrija u Pećkoj patrijaršiji - III

«Kaddisch» par Ravel dans les miroirs hermeneutiques. Un miroir sonore infini de l’hebraïque «alas»

"We are proposing to situate Maurice Ravel in a refined poetic aesthetic. Our desire is to offer an original philosophical and musicological perspective on Kaddisch, because, personally, this composition determines us to reflect on what is “beyond” Being. We note that there is a particular Hebraic stylistic continuity at the time, and in this sense we also remember Joseph Achron, on the distinguished Hebrew Melody, op. 33. More than that, Yehudi Menuhin devoted himself playing both the composition of Achron and this special composition by Maurice Ravel on the violin. Maurice Ravel composed a part for the liturgical ceremony entitled Kaddish, and critics claim that he did not introduce this song as a novelty, because the composition already existed in the Hebrew tradition. However, behind that, we try to defend Ravel by observing what are the aesthetic-compositional novelties introduced in this beautiful song. Being a mystical song of a man who mourns death but, at the same time, weeps on infinite love, Kaddisch still let us to find various interpretations, whether it is a liturgical text or sheet music. Advancing with the observations along this paper, in the final part of the paper, we made a comparison between Maurice Ravel and Leonard Bernstein’s perspective on Kaddisch. Keywords: “Kaddisch (Kaddish)”; Maurice Ravel; Leonard Bernstein; Alexander Veprik; Yehudi Menuhin; violin’s aesthetic; metaphysical sadness; sacredness; mournfulness; mourning; the Hebrew-ʻalasʼ; the Portuguese ʻalémʼ. "

Doorway to Devotion: Recovering the Christian Nature of the Gosforth Cross

The carved figural program of the tenth-century Gosforth Cross (Cumbria) has long been considered to depict Norse mythological episodes, leaving the potential Christian iconographic import of its Crucifixion carving underexplored. The scheme is analyzed here using earlier exegetical texts and sculptural precedents to explain the function of the frame surrounding Christ, by demonstrating how icons were viewed and understood in Anglo-Saxon England. The frame, signifying the iconic nature of the Crucifixion image, was intended to elicit the viewer’s compunction, contemplation and, subsequently, prayer, by facilitating a collapse of time and space that assimilates the historical event of the Crucifixion, the viewer’s present and the Parousia. Further, the arrangement of the Gosforth Crucifixion invokes theological concerns associated with the veneration of the cross, which were expressed in contemporary liturgical ceremonies and remained relevant within the tenth-century Anglo-Scandinavian context of the monument. In turn, understanding of the concerns underpinning this image enable potential Christian symbolic significances to be suggested for the remainder of the carvings on the cross-shaft, demonstrating that the iconographic program was selected with the intention of communicating, through multivalent frames of reference, the significance of Christ’s Crucifixion as the catalyst for the Second Coming.

Protestant Rites and the Problem of Religious Difference in Colonial Korea

Abstract Colonial Korean society was a crucible of ritual conflict and innovation. The confluence of Protestant expansion, Japanese colonization, and cultural nationalism during the early twentieth century brought sweeping changes to Korean ritual life, especially to the all-important Confucian rites of passage. This article examines print media discussions of Protestant rites from the late 1910s to the early 1930s to trace how religious difference emerged as a political problem for Korean cultural nationalists. Early on, Protestant missionaries had banned ancestral veneration and other folk customs while spreading liturgical (marriage and funerary) ceremonies, in an effort to inculcate orthodox doctrines among new believers. Converts’ rejection of indigenous Confucian rites in favor of their own practices, however, soon became the focal point of heated public debates. When Protestants condemned ancestral rites as idolatry, they maligned fellow Koreans as primitive. Meanwhile, the rapid proliferation of Western-style church weddings excessively disseminated religious practices. Above all, cultural nationalists grew alarmed at how faith communities threatened to splinter society, diverting Koreans away from national concerns toward sectarian interests. I argue that Protestant rites prompted nationalist intellectuals to grapple with the sacred and secular, ultimately producing a narrow vision of religion subsumed under the aegis of the nation.

The Quranic concept of al-samad, history of its Greek translations, and correlation with the “Eternal God" in Slavic liturgical texts

The author examines the history of emergence of the controversial translation of “Eternal God” in the Slavic liturgical ceremony of the acceptance of Muslims into Orthodoxy; as well as reviews canonical texts and refers to the relevant scientific data to describe the known facts on the sources of the origin of this concept. Special attention is given to the problem of interpretation of the Islamic doctrine by John of Damascus, Theodore Abū Qurrah, Niketas Choniates, Bartholomew of Edessa, who had a remarkable impact upon the Byzantine perception of Islam. Leaning on the history of interpretation of the fundamental Quranic concept al-samad, the author provides a cross-section of the Orthodox – Muslim relations that have evolved over several centuries. The article demonstrates that the interpretation of the corresponding Quranic passage in the Christian polemical texts took the path of distortion and loose interpretation of the Islamic doctrine. The authentic Islamic description of al-samad along with the research dedicated to etymology of this word and its ancient pre-Islamic meaning are presented. The question is raised on the existence of various Slavic revisions of liturgical ceremony of acceptance of Muslims into Orthodoxy, since the initial centuries of the Christian mission on the Slavic lands until the amended versions of text emerged in the Russian Empire in the late XIX – early XX centuries, which expelled this term from circulation as improper.

Pedro de Obregón y la miniatura toledana a mediados del siglo xvii

Throughout the sixteenth century the Cathedral of Toledo continued its patronage program related to commission of illuminated manuscripts for its liturgical ceremonies. The Missal Rico de Cisneros, which marked the beginning of the century under the aesthetics of the School of Ghent and Bruges, opened the way to the incorporation of the all’antica repertoires developed in the last quarter of the century, under the multiple variants of the grutesco and the new Renaissance compositions. The seventeenth century began with the latest works for the Cardinal Quiroga’s Missal, in which Juan de Salazar worked as the main illuminator, influenced by Mannerist aesthetics; although, we soon noticed a lower production of illuminated manuscripts, with large periods without works. The documentary investigation reveals the presence of the painter Pedro de Obregón, born in Madrid, as one of the last miniaturists in the service of the primated cathedral, whose work presents the main characteristics of the Baroque style, as well as a progressive decline of miniature works.

Ofrendas en el Inframundo: el Libro de las Doce Cavernas en el Osireion de Abidos

The Book of the Twelve Caverns consists of a litany of deities who inhabited these mythical regions of the Beyond. The versatility of its cosmographic nature enabled its use and adaptation to different contexts. It was used in certain liturgical ceremonies in temples and also in a funerary sphere related to the burial equipment of certain deceased individuals in order to help them in their journey through the caverns of the Duat. The version of the composition inscribed in the south chamber of the Osireion in Abydos is, beyond any doubt, the most completed copy hitherto preserved. It can be dated to the reign of Merenptah (c. 1213-1203 BC). The aim of this paper is to present the main features of this example of the book. Its specific features will be highlighted, as well as its textual and iconographic adaptation to the cultic sphere. The absence of differentiation in some aspects to the funerary versions of the book will also be underlined. The composition will be analysed in the architectonical context of the chamber and, at a more general level, in the iconographic programme of the Osirian underground complex. Finally, the relationship with some other sources throughout the history of the book’s transmission will be detailed

The content and the ideological construction of the early pontifical manuscripts

This article addresses the earliest manuscripts of the ‘pontifical’ genre which are to be found in the Latin West from the ninth century. Pontificals contain the liturgical ceremonies peculiar to a bishop. Here are examined two distinct and particularly expressive manuscripts from France: eleventh-century London British Library Add. MS 15222 and ninth-century Paris Bibliotheque de l’Arsenal MS 227. Traditionally, liturgical studies has focused on the practical utility of these kinds of books, but the two examples here expand our understanding of what they might be designed to do. Each explains and explores its ritual texts, contextualises and justifies them and offers alternatives. Most dramatically, they link their rituals to the practices of the wider Church, particularly to Rome. Papal practice is transmitted and imitated in actively creative, not passively obedient, ways. This methodology is suggested as an essential element of the earlier pontifical manuscripts, that they allow readers to perceive liturgical usages in the broadest possible context. This is wholly in keeping with the priorities of liturgical scholarship from the Carolingian era, when these books first appear.

The phenomenon of the conciliar reform of the rites of the consecration of virgins

Fenomen soborowej reformy obrzedow konsekracji dziewic Malo znany jest fakt, ze w Kościele istnieje konsekracja kobiet świeckich, czyli specjalny obrzed liturgiczny, podczas ktorego kobieta sklada przyrzeczenie, ze bedzie zyla w dozgonnej czystości dla Krolestwa Bozego. W zamyśle Kościola obrzed ten przeznaczony jest przede wszystkim dla kobiet niezrzeszonych w zadnych Instytutach ani wspolnotach, ale zyjących indywidualnie i prowadzących świecki tryb zycia. Warunkiem dopuszczenia do tego obrzedu przez biskupa jest to, ze kobieta nie zawarla malzenstwa ani nie zyla w stanie przeciwnym czystości. W dopuszczeniu do konsekracji dziewic świeckich, pozostających w świecie i wykonujących swoje prace zawodowe i spoleczne, wyraza sie cala nowośc obecnych obrzedow. Po ośmiu wiekach od czasu zaprzestania praktyki konsekracji dziewic świeckich Kościol, kierowany duchem czasu, wraca do swojej dawnej tradycji i przywraca obrzed konsekracji „ich pierwotnym wlaścicielom”, czyli kobietom świeckim. Mozna odnowione obrzedy konsekracji uznac za szczegolny wyraz szacunku dla kobiety, ktorej godnośc jest niekiedy obrazana przez spolecznośc zdominowaną mitami hedonizmu i konsumpcji. Autor zajmuje sie tozsamością i charakterem diecezjalnym stanu dziewic jako typowym dla tej formy zycia konsekrowanego. Porusza ponadto zagadnienia związane z warunkami dopuszczenia kobiet do konsekracji, zalozeniami teologicznymi obrzedu oraz formą jego sprawowania.

El rito bautismal y las imágenes pintadas en la iglesia de Curahuara de Carangas

In the baptistery of the church of Santiago de Curahuara de Carangas, built at the end of the 16th century, a complex mural painting program was executed in the last quarter of the 18th century. The present text intends to establish the links between the scenes painted and the rite of baptism. We do not see a direct or evident relationship in a didactical or performative sense. The images are there to be potentially activated during the liturgical ceremony in order to reveal the efficacy of the sacrament. We have the advantage of working with a set of images that remain in their original location. Therefore, this essay proposes a potential relationship among gesture, words and paintings, as they could have been related in the 18th century. In the analysis, we put into dialogue the resonances intended by the Church and the reception by the indigenous community.

Indoor Climate in Jesuit Church of Holy Name of Jesus in Telc

The Jesuit church of Holy Name of Jesus from year 1667 is integral part of main square of Telc with Baroque houses from 17th century listed in UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992. The natural indoor climate of Jesuit church is heated only in occupied pews during liturgical ceremony in winter season. The hygrothermal analysis of natural indoor climate in Jesuit church is performed by preventive conservation method of Target range and Historical climate in period from April 2017 to October 2018. The obtained result shows appropriate indoor climate for preventive conservation of historical furniture (main altar, lateral chapels, pulpit, confessional, organ, paintings), holy remains and valuable artefacts for liturgical ceremony. This hygrothermal analysis of natural indoor climate in Jesuit church supports current state of local heating in occupied pews during liturgical ceremony in winter season.

Zero Waste. Some Remarks About Copper Alloy Bowls Recycling in the High and Late Middle Ages

The article presents the results of interpretation of a parts of a copper alloy bowls from the 10th-13th centuries. The vessels might have been originally used for liturgical ceremonies. We know a lot of bowls fragments from Europe that have been reworked as linings, ferrules or rivets. In all these examples we are dealing with metal recycling.

From the Cross to the Stage: Divine Puppets and Spectacular Saints in Spanish Culture

Hispanic Catholic liturgical ceremonies since the thirteenth century have drawn upon material symbolic imagery of Cristos articulados (jointed Christ-figures) for staging episodes from the Passion of Christ during Holy Week, such as the Veneration of the Cross, the “Holy Burial, the “Visit to the Sepulcher,” and the “Resurrection.” Similarly, Spanish early modern hagiographical dramas looked to the puppet as the player of choice for materializing the concept of the divine. Only the puppet, an entity supposedly deprived of independent consciousness, has the capacity to represent God and His saints without profaning their sacred content, recasting their metaphorical nature in various forms of religious drama. This article explores the spectacular and dramatic roles played by Cristos articulados and maquinas reales, puppet theater companies specializing in hagiography, in liturgical and dramatic contexts and in communicating the complexity of theological notions with figures that index the realities of pre-modern Christianity. In an endeavor to bring the puppet's agency closer to the present, I examine two productions: El misterio del Cristo de los Gascones (directed by Ana Zamora, 2007) and El esclavo del demonio (directed by Jesus Caballero, 2009), both of which have rigorously revisited and revived two long-forgotten dramas in the twenty-first century.

De catedrales, escuelas y niños: el ejemplo del Toledo bajomedieval

This paper focuses on the presence of children in medieval cathedrals, which was much more common than previously thought. It takes the late medieval Toledo as an example and it analyzes the five circumstances in which this presence became a reality: their studies at the cathedral school; their collaboration in the development of liturgical ceremonies; their close participation in the musical activity of the temple; the celebrations in which the children played a special role; and the assistance activity which offered protection to abandoned children.

El tabernáculo de Guillermo de Orta para la capilla del Sagrario de la catedral de Córdoba

This work focuses on the tabernacle in the Sanctuary of Cordoba Cathedral as an image of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, in the context of the Sanctuary Chapel. This was designed as a House of Wisdom inside the Cathedral, which in the sixteenth century was thought of as the ‘New Jerusalem of Cordoba’. In this century, it became one of the key venues for the liturgical ceremonies held in the sanctified area of the old Mosque of Cordoba, and this celestial city was identified closely with the real city.

La vie consacrée des femmes et l'ascétisme domestique. Normes, liturgies, pratiques (finive-débutxiiesiècle)

Female domestic asceticism between the late fourth and early twelfth century has been left in the shadows by historiography. Using the example of Jerome's circle of widows, virgins and chaste couples in Rome and its environs, the article notes the porosity between the different forms of consecrated life. The conciliar documentation, the hagiographic narratives and the charters attest that women continually led consecrated lives in the world, in their own home, but also in symbiosis and in the service of the masculine communities. Whether virgins or widows, they could engage in two ways, either publicly expressing their intention to remain chaste, or by submitting to the sanction of a liturgical ceremony. Discreet variations mark the differences between virgins and widows and between women withdrawn to a monastery or living at home, as observed in the late tenth-century Romano-Germanic pontifical.