Liturgical Forms Research Articles

Candomblé in Public: How Religious Rites Become Civil Technologies in Salvador, Brazil

Abstract In 2019, right before arriving in Salvador, Brazil, to develop missionary activities, an international Protestant organization declared that this city – the center of the black culture in the country – was “known for its people’s belief in spirits and demons.” The statement soon triggered indignation from activists and devotees of Candomblé, the Afro-Brazilian religion that is a key element of the city’s history and identity. This article analyzes the transformation of this case into a public problem, which demanded different forms of reparation and affirmation of religious differences. The text debates the extension of Candomblé's semiotic community in Salvador and how the circulation of its symbols in different social contexts furthers the dissolution of boundaries between “religion” and “politics.” I pursue such ideas by describing a form of civil protest that moves liturgical forms from the Candomblé temples to public spaces. Such civil protest technology engages music, dance, and a set of materialities, presenting an instructive performance of the constitution of “religion” and the “public” in a post-colonial landscape.

The Eucharistic Feast of Creation

The Eucharist, a gospel sacrament and central feature of life in the Christian church, also bears considerable relevance for growing concerns about the “green” complexion of contemporary faith. Yet traditional forms of eucharistic liturgy may not seem initially to address these concerns satisfactorily. What, then, to do? One approach involves pursuing new, experimental alternatives to existing liturgical forms. Such innovations are unlikely, however, to inspire those not yet disposed to welcome them. This paper aims instead to highlight those less-noticed features of classic eucharistic liturgy, both within and beyond the Episcopal Church, that already embody a vital, sacramental vision of engagement with the fullness of God’s creation. In this light, the eucharistic feast enacts not only the believer’s communion with God in Christ, but also the inherently ecological principle of interchange among human worshippers and with every other member of God’s created order.

Tot mijner gedachtenisse. Een vergelijking van de remonstrantse uitdelingswoorden bij het avondmaal met de gereformeerde

In 1640, the Remonstrants had liturgical forms for baptism and the Lord's Supper printed for the first time. This article takes a closer look at the words of administration at the Lord's Supper. In order to gain insight into the specific remonstrant position they are compared to the Reformed wording. This shows that the remonstrants placed particular emphasis on the Biblical justification of the wording used and on the connection with the London mother church and the first national synods in the Netherlands.

Ars Ludendi: Urban Liturgies as Public Service in a Secular World

Liturgy as art is one of the various particular relationships between liturgy and the arts. This article engages with “liturgy as public art” and addresses the question “how can urban liturgies be understood as public art in secularizing societies?” It presents three examples of contemporary “urban liturgies,” against the backdrop of the transfer and transformation of Christian liturgical forms and repertories from the church to the wider culture in post-Christian, post-secular Western societies. It then offers an anthropological interpretation of such liturgies, using the notion of play, but highlighting an aspect of play that has, so far, remained underexposed in liturgical studies. Afterwards, it unpacks how this anthropological interpretation is anchored in a Lutheran theological view of God as a playful God ( deus ludens), which also gives theology a critical position vis-à-vis liturgical practices. The last section answers the central question by concluding that urban liturgies are alternative occasions that offer a playfield emphatically addressing and challenging people’s hermeneutic capacity to meaningfully deal with the sacred, thus inviting them into God's play. Offering playfields is how these urban liturgies serve the common good: they open up the possibility for people to be drawn into God's play. These liturgies are not just rituals—they are a public art: the art of playing.

The Agnus Dei: Towards a Missional Dimension

Abstract As a devotional part of the eucharistic liturgy, the Agnus Dei also carries a missional aspect. Exegeting the verse Jn 1.29 (‘Behold the Lamb of God…’) two major theories of the atonement are seen to be involved and are applicable to the meaning of the Agnus Dei. These two theories of the atonement (ransom and substitutionary) in their relationship to each other are noted, and a primary emphasis on the ransom theory and its background of the Passover is argued for. The Passover Lamb focus is seen as liberative and missional. This leads to seeing the Agnus Dei in its referring to the redeeming death of Christ (‘Lamb of God’) as appropriately accompanied by the fraction of the bread. The history of the Agnus Dei and its Eastern Orthodox roots are brought to bear, as are our modern Anglican liturgical forms.

Apologetics in V.N. Ilyin’s Works on Aesthetics

In the article the author tries to view the works of Russian philosopher V.N. Ilyin on aesthetics as apologetic. Ilyin’s philosophic system that he himself termed as general morphology is based on such categories as “form”, “image” and “icon” as key elements, and thus it has obvious aesthetic dimension. General metaphysical principles stated in Ilyin’s theoretic and philosophic works that were not published in his lifetime, were reflected in his publicistic works – on aesthetics and liturgics. According to Ilyin, “form” is something by way of which the invisible ousia (essence) of the thing manifests itself on the surface – the phenomenon of invisible in visible image. For Ilyin the illustration of that principle was icon-painting. Ilyin also called his morphological system materologism – the doctrine on Logos running through the substance. Through the prism of this statement Ilyin views the phenomenon of bell-ringing, the “metaphysical task” of which was in “spiritualization of inorganic substance”, in that case – metal. An important part in Ilyin’s morphology was the metaphysics of light: light was something that allowed initially to discern forms and was the prerequisite for beauty and for admiring the beautiful. The appeal to beauty as something that was perceived directly in inner experience and lead the thought out of the limits of abstract logical construct, according to Ilyin, was part of the ontological argument of the divine being. Not only it contained the logically necessary conclusion of the divine being as the Absolute, but also included as a condition the “fact and act” of the man’s personal religious experience, – the experience of the direct perception of the divine reality in prayer and in church service, that, in its turn, was connected with the perception of the beauty of liturgical forms and with the cult as the phenomenon of the Absolute in circumstantial. This is the reason of the importance of the works on aesthetics and liturgics of Ilyin as an apologist.

The Obligated Self: Maternal Subjectivity and Jewish Thought

The Obligated Self: Maternal Subjectivity and Jewish Thought

A History of Anglican Exorcism: Deliverance and Demonology in Church Ritual

A History of Anglican Exorcism: Deliverance and Demonology in Church Ritual

The Mainline in Late Modernity: Tradition and Innovation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by Maren Freudenberg

Reviewed by: The Mainline in Late Modernity: Tradition and Innovation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by Maren Freudenberg Aaron Klink The Mainline in Late Modernity: Tradition and Innovation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. By Maren Freudenberg. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2018. 233 pp. This book attempts to situate the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in the changing landscape of North American Protestantism. Theoretically framed by sociological studies of the changing nature of American religion, it also draws from the author’s extensive field work among pastors, laypeople, bishops, synod staff, and seminary leaders in Wisconsin and Minnesota to [End Page 113] assess ways that different levels of church leadership understood and addressed change. By combining quantitative and qualitative dimensions of research on denominations, a rare thing to attempt in current literature, this book makes an especially important contribution to research on denominations. Freudenberg argues that Lutheranism’s doctrinal tradition makes it a “cognitive” tradition defined by confessions, rigorous theology, and focus on liturgical worship. She contrasts this theologically based tradition with denominations such as the Vineyard, or communities that claim to be part of the “emerging church” movement that are defined by emotions and subjectivity. But framing that debate neglects the fact that Lutheran doctrine is often designed to promote emotional responses such as trust, fear, or gratitude in the lives of the believers. The book also chooses to frame major divisions among Lutherans not as between “conservative” and “liberal” but rather between “confessionalists” and “pietists.” The book explores several tensions within the ELCA from both sociological and theological perspectives. She notes an increasing flattening of the leadership structure. Indeed, there are fewer and fewer employees at the ELCA churchwide headquarters and fewer deployed staff. Those of us who have watched the decisions know that they have often been about funding matters more than changes in theological understandings of leadership. So one questions if this is a transformation or a theology born of necessity. The author notes that change in the ELCA often seems to be driven not by people in the pews (one recent meme I received noted that Lutherans don’t like change), but by pastors and denominational officials. She argues that Lutheranism is becoming less clerical which is to say pastor-driven and instead leans toward lay leadership. She argues that this shift is in response to culture, but seemingly neglects that such a move is deeply embedded in Luther’s doctrine of the priesthood of the believer. Certainly, some congregations are more “pastor-driven” than others, depending on both the pastor and the congregational laity. So overall trends are difficult to define from a sample this small and geographically compact. The book also explores worship. She mentions innovative ELCA pastors who change liturgical forms, but do so in ways that are both novel but still within confessional frameworks. Pastors allow [End Page 114] tradition to take form in new ways. In the same way, she argues that Lutherans are trying to get parishioners to think more carefully about faith practices in daily life, such as reading the scriptures, prayer, and even being aware of miracles. None of these practices are distinct to Lutheranism but they have not been practiced by many Lutheran laity on a regular basis. Freudenberg also explores how pastors and communities are trying to find Lutheran ways to practice spirituality in daily life. It is this need to bring what they learn on Sundays into the rest of the week that many Americans seek. She notes that a focus on prayer, asking congregants to look for God’s action in daily life, even amid the miraculous, are crucial parts of this new spirituality. Freudenberg’s work has methodological limitations. Despite asserting that her sample is representative, those of us who live and work in Lutheran contexts in the United States know that Lutheranism in the upper Midwest is socially and culturally different then Lutheranism in New England or on the West Coast. Innovations in various contexts would probably look different in form and content. She also asserts that urban churches are not representative of overall dynamics in the ELCA but that rural and semi-urban churches do reflect those...

The Medieval Literary: Beyond Form ed. by Robert J. Meyer-Lee and Catherine Sanok

Reviewed by: The Medieval Literary: Beyond Form ed. by Robert J. Meyer-Lee and Catherine Sanok Michael Calabrese The Medieval Literary: Beyond Form, ed. Robert J. Meyer-Lee and Catherine Sanok (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer 2018) xii + 276 pp., ill. If I wax rhapsodic about this collection of essays, it’s because it’s one of the best I have ever reviewed or read in my 30 years in the profession and comes at a time when literary study—and the entire field of medieval studies—seems imperiled from so many different forces. The majestic work here dramatically affirms the perpetual modernity and relevance of the texts and cultural works of our period. By studying literary “form,” variously manifested in words, sounds, images, and manuscripts, this series of case studies of a diverse range of texts mounts an implicit manifesto for the dramatic way that medieval creative arts speak deeply to the aesthetic, ethical, and moral concerns of modern readers, scholars, and students. The editors introduce these issues with a critical overview of what been written about “form” in recent decades and how the current project hopes to contribute. Challenged frequently is the false distinction that one might make between the instrumental (the useful, functional, practical, didactic) and the literary (the affective, creative, imaginary, artful), which are often—and in dynamic ways—actually inseparable in the texts at hand. In an elegant, clear, and accessible essay, Clair Waters writes about Marian texts, which are prime candidates for the accusation of being simplistic, facile, and non-literary. Waters exposes the distinction between the instrumental and the aesthetic as artificial and anachronistic when it comes to these particular texts, which work purposefully and dynamically by generating an audience’s affective response and spiritual engagement. This work will be of particular interest to those who are professionally or personally devoted to Mary. Ingrid [End Page 235] Nelson then also exposes the false dichotomy between the instrumental and the aesthetic in certain grammatical texts, exploring how they are situated and glossed in manuscripts in what she calls a process of “dilation,” that is, a process of engagements and elaborations which, as Waters had argued for the Marian texts, is dynamic and generative. The featured text in this richly detailed and innovative essay is the lyric poem “Erthe toc of erthe,” which functions like a series of puzzles or “equivoca”—full of ambiguity and complexity of meaning. Nelson then applies the notions of equivocation and dilation to a 13th-century French equivocal grammar, a genre that bridges the didactic to the aesthetic, exemplified by the witty and “very “literary” Tretiz of Walter de Bibbesworth, intended to teach the French language to English speakers. Jessica Brantley then explores keenly the understudied genre of the “metrical or versified calendar” (67) as composed by the prolific John Lydgate in his “Kalandre,” a poeticized version of the catalogue of saints days. Even though Lydgate’s text is found exclusively in poetic collections, its form reflects a “Latinate layout. . .that offers the text as a vernacular entry into the liturgy” (75). “Readers of Lydgate’s poem,” Brantley continues, “understood the ways in which [the poem] both mimicked liturgical forms and enabled literary ones” (77), as she examines the marginal treatment of the text in its manuscript setting. Lydgate’s semi-liturgical efforts were rewarded, so to speak, when in 1523 Wynkyn de Worde printed the Kalandre, the start of a Book of Hours, and so “Lydgate’s vernacular poem ultimately does find a home in precisely such a [liturgical] volume” as had sparked its genesis and form (80). The next set of essays entitled “Form Performed” begins with Katherine Kirby Fulton’s and Andrew Klein’s essay on the poem King Horn, written in aabb rhyming couplets but depicted in various ways on the page (in half lines, as long lines of two verses together, in an inconsistent mix, etc.) indicating how scribes struggled with how best to present the text formally to account for its various hybrid poetic features, gesturing in an archaizing impulse toward the past forms of alliterative poetry and forward to more contemporary forms and rhyme. The next part of the essay fascinatingly explores the...

Religion in cathedrals: pilgrimage, heritage, adjacency, and the politics of replication in Northern Europe

ABSTRACTMuch of this thematic issue emerges from work carried out for an AHRC-funded project, Pilgrimage and England’s Cathedrals, Past and Present Cathedrals (PEC). In this introduction, we explore the possibilities of developing a new sub-field oriented around exploring the shaping of belief and praxis in and by cathedrals. After noting the renewed popularity of these institutions in England, we provide a brief history of cathedrals within and beyond Europe, highlighting both particular periods of expansion and pilgrimage practices relating to them. We emphasize the significance of cathedrals in juxtaposing ‘sacred space’ with ‘common ground.’ This approach is complemented by a focus on how cathedrals both embody and encourage material and liturgical forms of ‘replication’—a theme that provides a useful comparative approach for historians and ethnographers alike. Potential for future research is also briefly discussed.

Catholic like Orthodox, Orthodox like Catholic. On the history of establishing new religious rites and new architecture of the Orthodox churches in interwar Poland

The text shows the phenomenon of searching for completely new forms for the use of the Eastern rite in the north-eastern territories of interwar Poland, that is, in the historical area of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Religion and religious rites became a tool in opposing political actions conducted simultaneously by the Polish state and Vatican in this ethnically and religiously diverse region. In the plans for the future, eastern Poland was supposed to form a bridgehead for the prospect missionary action in Russia after the fall of the Bolsheviks. The Congregation of Jesuits was entrusted with a task to introduce the so-called Bizantine (or Neouniate) rite, which would faithfully keep to the liturgical forms of the Russian Orthodox Church and preserve all its typical architectural forms as well as icons, iconostases, paraments, etc. The Jesuit ministry centre was installed in Albertyn near Słonim (now Belarus) in 1926, where in 1936–1937 missionaries were furnished with a complex consisting of a Latin Church and an Eastern Orthodox Church, designed by architect Tadeusz Majewski. The temples, both serviced by the Jesuits, were placed symmetrically along two sides of the court, which was to symbolise the equality of both rites in the Roman-catholic universe. The Orthodox Church followed the eastern forms and most of its elements resembled a typical Russian temple in its décor, although figures of the Jesuit saints were introduced to the iconography of some of the icons. From the point of view of the Polish state authorities, the Neouniate action had a harmful effect due to propagating Russian, Belarusian or Ukrainian languages in the rite, which might have sapped the strength of Polishness in the eastern borderlands of the state. Therefore, since the mid-1930s, the state authorities, with a large share of the army, promoted the creation of a “Polish Orthodox Church” with services to be celebrated in Polish. In contrast to the Neouniate action, in which the Catholic rite was to be masked under the forms as close as possible to the Russian Orthodox Church on the basis of kind of “mimicry”, in the Polish Orthodox Church all the elements of religious cult had to be as far as possible from the Russian tradition and would be transformed into a “native” Polish rite. Besides, a new iconography was to be created. To this end, it was decided to build a prototypic “Polish Orthodox Church” in Grodno. Its construction began in 1938 (on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of regaining independence), but was not completed on account of the outbreak of war. As a result of competition, a design by architect Rościsław Rumiancew was selected. It represented an unusual, modern form, quite different from typical Orthodox Churches erected in the region before the World War I. Some extravagant modifications were introduced: among others, a glass dome, several large stained-glass windows and an iconostasis built from glass bricks.

The Intimate and Ultimate Adversary: Satanology in Early Second-Century Christian Literature

Much scholarship has recently been done on the Satanology (Satan-concept) of New Testament books or writers. This study attends to the Satanology of early non-canonical Christian writings, which have been comparatively under-researched. The literature examined includes the Apostolic Fathers and other texts that can be reliably dated to c. 100–150 c.e., namely Ascension of Isaiah, Apocalypse of Peter, Odes of Solomon, Gospel of Truth, Ptolemy’s Letter to Flora, and Justin Martyr’s writings. Over 160 certain or probable references to Satan, under various designations, are identified. Analysis of this data set proceeds in two directions. The first looks at the concept’s explanatory power: for what kinds of evil did Satanology help to account? The discussion traverses various loci of perceived satanic activity, from the human heart to community boundaries to earthly political authorities to a dualistic cosmos to the abstract realm of ideas. The second analytical section explores ways that Christian writers and communities incorporated Satanology into their religious life through liturgical forms, hermeneutics for reading the Jewish Scriptures, and theological debates about the nature of God and evil. Satanology is found to have been a pervasive and distinctive feature of Christianity in the early subapostolic period.

Constructing the Patriarchal Woman: Liturgical Challenges for Orthodox Christian Gender Equality

Orthodox Christianity is patriarchal in its heritage and institutional hierarchy. In the liturgical context, however, historical patriarchal orientations, images, and perspectives dominate even contemporary rites and forms that specifically address women’s religiosity. The liturgical setting is one in which actions and words have additional authority because most Orthodox believe this context to be reflective of and participative in a divine reality. Consequently, the androcentric actions, prayers, voices, and images that appear liturgically have the potential to sanctify implicitly the male domination of women’s religious experiences and identities. An acknowledgment of the liturgically reified patriarchal perspective, privilege, and prioritization prompts reconsidering the ways those with non-dominant religious identities may experience the liturgical forms and space differently than what is traditionally (and therefore patriarchally) presented, and the diverse ways they may nevertheless meaningfully constitute their religious selves.

The Divine Liturgy and the Byzantine Funeral: History and Contemporary Practice

The burial of the dead has taken a variety of liturgical forms at different times and places in Christian history. One element in particular that has appeared and disappeared over the centuries, bo...

Rzeka jako symbol Kościoła

River as a symbol of the Church From the historical point of view of settlement development, the community of people could be linked to the symbolism of a river valley which created the most favourable conditions for human existence and promoted the development of civilization. In the biblical context, the symbolism of the river could be referred to the Church community, based on the image of the river flowing out of Jerusalem, described by the prophets Ezekiel and Zechariah. This article presents an attempt to develop the image of a river as a symbol of the Church based on contemporary geomorphological and theological knowledge and using allegorical method of interpretation adapted by the Church Fathers. The purity of spring waters can be a symbol of doctrinally and morally clean societies that are necessary in the formation of man’s spiritual life. The three-dimensional connectivity of natural river channels could be considered as a symbol of the three dimensions of the Church community: the family, the local community and the universal Church. The need to create communities that go beyond families and refer to the incipient Christian communities should now be emphasized. A multi-thread river is a proper symbol of the early Christian Church, because with the same doctrine of faith and common moral principles, the incipient local Churches differed, among others, in liturgical forms or organizational principles. Contemporary human activities degrading river ecosystems could be compared to destructive actions of a church community. Symbolically, restoration activities conducted in river channels could be considered as a symbol of the necessity to make efforts in the Church to return Christians to the original faith sources. Particular attention should be paid to the need of rebuilding the faith environment of the local Church.

The Celebration of the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God in Light of Processions in Post-Tridentine Rituals of Wrocław of the 18th and 19th Centuries

Celebration of the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God is mentioned for the first time in Chronograph (A.D. 354) — a fundamental document explaining the origin of this feast. Over the centuries the Incarnation of the Son of God was given emphasis in various ways through ceremonious celebration of this mystery. Among many liturgical customs are Sunday processions during Advent, at Christmas, and festivities held in this time and Sundays until 2 February. Sunday processions were known in the old Polish tradition and this custom was sanctioned in the Piotrkow Ritual in 1631, but it does not feature processions for Advent Sundays, Christmas period, and holidays falling within this period. Liturgical texts intended for these days are present in four editions of the Wroclaw Ritual of 1723, 1775, 1794 and 1847. The processions started with the singing of appropriate antiphons, which had their counterpart in the texts of Officium divinum of that period or a liturgical day. The antiphon Missus est Angelus Gabriel... for Advent Sundays was an exception. It was intended for the monastic liturgy of the 11 th /12 th centuries, and it can be found in antiphonary Saint-Maur-les-Fosses. During a procession, statio in the middle of a church was an important point for worship. A verse or a prayer was said concluded with the singing of an antiphon. The prayer was typically found in a missal form for a particular feast day except for Advent, when the prayer was read from a form for Marian masses. Notably, the well-known antiphon Pax aeterna ... was sung only on Advent Sundays, which was replaced by the antiphon Hodie Christus natus est ... during Christmas. Antiphons concluding processions, however, were taken from an officium, as it was done during Advent or Epiphany. The antiphon O beata infantia ... is an exception, which is sung on the very Nativity Day, Circumcision Day, and on Sundays falling after Epiphany until the Fest of the Purification of the Virgin (2 February). This antiphon was present in the monastic tradition, for example in medieval antiphonaries of Saint-Denis and Saint-Maur-les-Fosses. Exploration of liturgical texts and various forms that are have been known over centuries as well as their origin makes it possible to sketch a full picture of traditions used in the Latin Church in the territory of Poland.

Arquitectura religiosa moderna reconciliar en América Latina

Along with the modernization of society and architecture, some dynamics took place since the 19th century, which demanded for theological and liturgical renewal, looking for a greater articulation between the life of the Church and society. In this process, the II Vatican Council, which was launched little more than half a century ago (1962-1965), perhaps plays the most recognized role in such articulation. The technical evolution, on the one hand (with new materials and structural forms), and the rethinking of liturgical forms, on the other (although circumscribed to small religious communities initially), will lead to new forms in the construction and the space in Catholic modern architecture. In the Latin American case, Catholicism has been, in different ways, part of the construction of the complex identity of their peoples and the Church has been an influential institution in social life. Contemporary forms of assuming Christianity have emerged here, in a context of social commitment whose object has been the dignity of man. This article makes a critical-historical tour around the process of modernization in architecture for the Catholic worship, through some of the earliest examples of preconciliar modern Latin American architecture, and the identification of the different symbolic forms that embodied it in bold structural shapes and moving spatialities.

Lay piety in Visigothic Iberia: liturgical and paraliturgical forms

While it is appropriate to remember that clerical and monastic elites form part of the whole which practices popular religion, it is clear that their spiritual habits were different from the rest of society. If ordinary Christians’ piety was less intense, less educated, and less documented than that of religious elites, it does not mean we should neglect this aspect of daily life. The leading bishops in post-imperial Iberia exhibited a clear concern to shape the laity's piety not only in terms of orthodoxy but also in vibrancy. Liturgical texts and related writings from the Visigothic and early Mozarabic periods, including hagiographic material, provide a view of religious practices of the masses and ways in which the episcopate endeavored to direct devotion. Taken together the evidence suggests a surprising range and depth of lay religious experience, notwithstanding the errors of common Christians frequently suggested in ecclesiastical texts.

Vývojové linie slavení eucharistie v předkonstantinovské církvi

The period of the first three centuries was characterized by a plurality of liturgical forms and texts. On the basis of preserved sources, this study pursues three types of the celebration of the Eucharist: parousial (in the Didache), staurological (in the Apostle Paul), and epicletic (in the Apocrypha). The conclusions demonstrate that, for the evolution both in the East and in the West, the Pauline conception with its strong connection to the anamnesis of the death of Jesus had a decisive influence. It consequently continues across the Eucharistic texts of Justin to the Anaphora in the document Traditio apostolica: the thanksgiving to the Father and the praise of Him are realized in the koinonia of the Spirit while making the anamnesis of the Son.