Liturgical Rites Research Articles

Traditions of Sufi Dhikr in the Musical-Poetical Culture of Tatar Muslims

The subject of the dhikr remains one of the unexplored areas of the Tatar religious culture today. The ‘Tatar dhikr’ has received adequate attention from researchers neither as part of the normative liturgical ritual, nor in the context of the Sufi culture that existed in the past. To some degree, it can be explained by the influence of the atheistic campaign of the Soviet decades, which caused a decline in the existence of, as well as competence in, ritual practices. At the present time, together with the return of many religious rituals to the life of the Tatar-Muslims, the dhikr has been re-introuced into the practice of normative service. Much less is known about the Sufi dhikr in the Tatar milieu, where the Yasawiya and the Naqshbandiya traditions were the most widespread. The handwritten and printed sources in Arabic script of the past are still waiting for special studies. Against this background, the materials recorded by Tatar ethnomusicologists in the last decades of the 20th century seem to be especially important: there are texts that reflect the importance of the Sufi dhikr for Muslims and show its structural features. Towards the end of the 20th century, such texts entered the repertoire of Tatar folk monajats and were recited in the style of the monajats. To a certain extent, the study of such samples provides an idea of the forms of the dhikr in the Tatar culture of the past; particularly it shows their connection with the Yasawiya tradition, and as a whole, proves the persistence of Sufi traditions in the folk culture. This paper is based on the survey of little-studied religious and historical sources, recordings, and interviews made during field trips in the 1990-2000s on the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia).

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.

The paschal theology of Abbot Ceolfrith of Wearmouth-Jarrow

Failure to achieve a consensus on a regular Easter cycle divided Christians in the second century and again in the fourth. In the seventh century and early eighth, the matter was contested among the churches of Britain and Ireland. In this period, Ceolfrith, abbot of Wearmouth-Jarrow, sent a letter to the king of the Picts, outlining the reasons for following a nineteen-year paschal cycle. Bede, in his Historia ecclesiastica, reproduced Ceolfrith's letter, preserving a unique study on the logistical and theological complexities in the debate on how to derive the correct date to celebrate Easter. Concentration on Ceolfrith's computistical argument, however, can miss his interpretation of paschal theology that emphasises the Resurrection rather than the Passion; his Christological emphasis on the biblical Exodus story; and his mystical interpretation of Easter as a spiritual journey where light triumphs over darkness. This article therefore discusses Ceolfrith's paschal theology and considers the way in which it may have affected liturgical rites.

John Skelton’s Bird Complex: Experiments in Macaronic Voice

ABSTRACTThis article takes up E. M. Forster’s tongue-in-cheek question—“had Skelton a bird complex?”—to explore the function of avian voice in John Skelton’s poetry. Past scholarship has frequently interpreted Skelton’s birds as vehicles of parody or satire. In contrast, this article argues that Skelton’s avian voicing can illuminate the non-semantic or extra-semantic qualities of human language. This argument moves beyond traditional theories of voice that conceptualize voice as a phenomenon experienced by human listeners. Specifically, it examines nonhuman macaronic speech in Phyllyp Sparowe and Speke Parott, two of Skelton’s most popular bird poems. In both poems, birds quote from liturgical or academic sources to access capabilities of language that cohere not in literal or allegorical meanings but affective performance. The first section of this article demonstrates how unauthoritative speakers in Phyllyp Sparowe use macaronic voicing to achieve the affective power of liturgical ritual. The second section explores unauthorized multilingualism in Speke Parott to suggest that nonsense macaronic style was a useful pedagogical tool in premodern literacy training. Both poems, therefore, employ avian speakers to theorize voice as non-lexical sonic material in premodern poetry.

CONVERSATION OR COLLABORATION? BASE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES AND THE DIALOGUE OF FAITH

The dialogue of Christians about their faith, expressed in literature, confessions, creeds, liturgical rituals, symbolic acts and proclamations of dogma, is a public record. As with all public records, one may ask to what extent this one is in the first place the reflection of the perspectives and practices of a dominant group, class or elite? Equally, to what extent may it legitimately be understood as the public record of the marginalized, silenced and poor sectors of its host societies throughout its history? The weight of the available evidence, I believe, favours the view that the products of the dialogue of faith strongly reflect the interests or perspectives of the dominant, and weakly reflect the interests or perspectives of the dominated. The relative perspective implied by the terms ‘strongly’ and ‘weakly’ is important, though: I do not accepts that the voices of dominated groups are entirely or almost entirely absent. Their voices may well be present only in the traces of their absence (hidden), or in encoded form. Just what this means is one focal point of this essay. Discerning these two kinds of ‘presence’ is a complex task, as historians of popular life well know. More so, when one takes into account the question of representation: whose voices in the end, do we hear? The voices of the oppressed themselves, or their voices as represented by others? If the latter, what changes in the act of representing the other in dialogue, as opposed to engaging with the other in dialogue? This is a second focal point. The third focal point is a reflexive move backwards from these first two point, to ask what the nature and goal of dialogue is, a question pursued by attempting to define a link between discourse and praxis.

A Classification of a Liturgy’s Use of Scripture: A Proposal

The relationship between scripture and Christian liturgy is one that was discussed and assumed in much of the liturgical and ecumenical literature in the twentieth century. The majority of that work focused on the use of the Bible within liturgical rites in general and not within the text of specific liturgical rites. This article is a constructive proposal of a comprehensive taxonomy to describe all the possible ways that a liturgical text can appropriate scripture as a source. Such attention to the ways biblical texts and exegesis are reflected in euchological texts not only has the potential to provide clarity on how the early Christians related to the Bible in general and within their liturgical rites. It may also provide an additional source for answering questions about the dating and provenance of particular rites by identifying the overlap with strains of patristic exegesis, for which we possess significant evidence.

The Performative Manuscript: Art, Agency and Public Ritual in Ottonian Mainz

The German city of Mainz under Archbishop Willigis (975–1011) witnessed a major flourishing of the arts, particularly in the field of architecture. During this period, a benedictional, now in St Gall, was also commissioned. Its only figurative content is an image of Christ in Majesty on its first folio. Taken as a case study, analysis of this permits an approach to the barely-explored concept of performativity in early medieval illuminated manuscripts. This Maiestas Domini, the list of blessings contained in the book and contemporary depictions of religious ceremonies invites consideration of the joint role that image and manuscript played in the dynamic liturgical rites during which the benedictional was handled.

Ritual Systems, Ritualized Bodies, and the Laws of Liturgical Development

The “laws” of comparative liturgical development (Baumstark, Taft) are derived from pre-modern liturgical texts and the findings of early biology and linguistics. Yet Christian liturgy is not an organically evolving species; it is a ritual system, a cultural, political, self-regulating, self-reproducing set of rites that are used to interpret and correct one another. Focusing on the reception of new practices by practiced communities, a performance theory approach spotlights the systemic interrelationships of rites and the ritual habitus of human bodies. A ritual system makes particular meanings seem natural, permitting some new liturgical developments, impeding others. Ritualized bodies constrain rapid changes, while the entrance of bodies ritualized in a different system changes the environment, leading some to attempt to reinforce the status quo. Technologies for passing on liturgies are developed and used when a crisis demands change or imperils valued practice. Accounting for differences in liturgical recording, early and medieval liturgical reception may inform our understanding of the colonial expansion of liturgy, when technologies for transmitting liturgical rites were brought to bear on bodies ritualized in indigenous systems of the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Performative evidence from the colonial context may in turn help interpret ambiguous sources from earlier periods.

Review: Hagia Sophia: Sound, Space, and Spirit in Byzantium, by Bissera V. Pentcheva

Bissera V. Pentcheva Hagia Sophia: Sound, Space, and Spirit in Byzantium University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017, 304 pp., 50 color and 42 b/w illus. $64.95 (cloth), ISBN 9780271077253; $34.95 (paper), ISBN 9780271077260 Over the past decades, art and architectural historians have shown ever-increasing interest in how users of monuments and cities have historically experienced these spaces sensually. Especially for premodern contexts, this is a challenging endeavor: first-person accounts are virtually absent, and scholars are often limited to textual sources that need to be mined and read against the grain. Many sensory studies in architectural history focus on sound, eschewing other sensory modalities and ways in which sound, sight, smell, touch, and taste interlink. This focus can be explained by the availability of technological aids such as acoustic modeling software for reconstructing historical soundscapes and geographic information systems for creating sound maps that visualize auditory relationships. Within this literature, Deborah Howard and Laura Moretti's Sound and Space in Renaissance Venice , which examines music in Counter-Reformation churches, is by now a classic, while Niall Atkinson's The Noisy Renaissance , investigating how Florence's residents experienced their city's acoustic topography, provides a more recent example.1 To this literature, Bissera V. Pentcheva's Hagia Sophia: Sound, Space, and Spirit in Byzantium brings a welcome addition that considers how sonic, visual, and, to a more limited extent, olfactory phenomena worked together to convey a dense web of meanings. The book integrates five different areas of exploration: Hagia Sophia's material fabric, the liturgy's written stage directions, the musical design of chants performed there, conceptual imagery found in Psalter marginalia, and a digital reconstruction of the church's acoustics (9). Using a broad array of sources (Paul the Silentiary's famous ekphrasis, the hymnody, Anacreontic poetry) and methodologies (textual and musicological analysis, participant-sensation, acoustic modeling), Pentcheva explicates “how the experience of the Hagia Sophia allowed the Byzantine participants in the liturgical ritual to be filled with the spirit of …

The Anthropology of the Temple: Contribution to the Study of Spatial Behavior within the Serbian Orthodox Church

According to William Robertson Smith’s and Paul Florensky’s thesis that the ritual as a cult foundation is the base of every religion and culture, this paper explores the interdisciplinary structure, dynamics and understanding of the sacral space in which the Holy Liturgy is practiced within the Serbian Orthodox Church. With the theoretical and methodological guidelines of the anthropology of Christianity, this paper studies the liturgical and theoretical function of the temple with the goal to analyze the liturgical ritual in a concrete space in relation with the posturing and positioning of the body, the orientation, direction and kind of movement of the liturgy participants. The author claims that it is necessary to place the operative focus on the naos, the part of interior intended for participants, since its use is most susceptible to variations which can be relevantly empirically monitored. Thus the subject focuses on the spatial behavior in the mentioned part of the temple and its border zones, both during the Holy Liturgy and individually, passing from doctrinal into the sphere of folk Christian orthodoxy.

Celebração e vida: dois momentos inseparáveis da celebração eucarística

A Eucaristia é a celebração do Mistério Pascal de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Nela faz-se memória da Páscoa de Cristo e da páscoa dos cristãos. Olhando para a sua história, percebe-se que nos primórdios do cristianismo a celebração eucarística tinha um desdobramento prático na vida do cristão. Com o passar do tempo, a relação celebração e vida foi se perdendo, e a celebração tornou-se um rito, muitas vezes, distante da vida. Hoje, um dos nossos maiores desafios é restabelecer esta unidade: celebração e vida são dois momentos inseparáveis da Celebração Eucarística.Abstract: The Eucharist is the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In it we remember Christ’s Easter and the Christians’ Easter. Examining its history we see that in the early days of Christianity the Eucharistic celebration had a practical development in the Christians’ lives. As time went by, the relation between celebration and life started to fade away and the celebration became a rite, often far from ordinary life. One of our greatest challenges today is to re-establish this unity: celebration and life are two inseparable moments of the Eucharistic Celebration.

Experiment rond de Tafel. Over Willem Barnards Onderzoek van het Sacramentele

The Dutch poet, minister and essayist Willem Barnard (1920–2010) greatly contributed to the artistic and theological exploration of fundamental questions on sacramentality. This article concentrates on the way Barnard addresses the paradox that sacraments are human acts. It starts out from his explorations of religious drama and argues that they are in Barnards works a key to a sacramentality, in particular of the Eucharist, that is intentionally performed, embodied and experienced. Central to Barnards explorations and a stimulus for his further theological reflection is the establishment of a ‘sacramental lab’ in the 1950’s (‘Nocturnen’). Barnard thus develops a concept of liturgy as ‘drama’ that includes theological reflection on ‘community’, ‘participation’ and the making of liturgical rituals. Moreover, the artistic perspective of drama enables him to thematize both the continuity and discontinuity between God’s acts and human acts.

Theophanic "Type-Scenes" in the Pentateuch: Visions of YHWH by Nevada Levi Delapp

Reviewed by: Theophanic "Type-Scenes" in the Pentateuch: Visions of YHWH by Nevada Levi Delapp Joel Kaminsky nevada levi delapp, Theophanic "Type-Scenes" in the Pentateuch: Visions of YHWH (LHBOTS 660; London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2018). Pp. xii + 186. $114. In this monograph Nevada Levi DeLapp analyzes the theophanies found in the Pentateuch by reading them through a canonical literary/theological lens. He contends that the Torah's story line affects how each book depicts God's self-revelation to individuals and groups. In chap. 1, D.L. gives a compact and well-rounded survey of the scholarship surrounding the study of theophanies in the Hebrew Bible and explains the method and approach he will employ. In chap. 2, he explores the theophany scenes in Genesis, arguing that they all fit a pattern containing three primary characteristics that flow from the nature of the narratives found in Genesis: "(1) the Genesis story presents a context of threat and human doubt, (2) YHWH visibly appears, (3) YHWH restates his promise" (p. 16). DeLapp analyzes Exodus in chap. 3 and contends that the story line entails a shift from intimate encounters with selected individuals to public events that also serve to demonstrate God's power and ability to act on Israel's behalf. "The theophanic God who promises now becomes the theophanic God who acts on these promises" (p. 43). In chap. 4, D.L. moves on to Leviticus, where he finds only two explicit theophany scenes (Leviticus 8–9 and 10:1-3). He notes, however, that Leviticus can be viewed as one continuous theophany because Lev 1:1 announces that God's commands throughout Leviticus are spoken to Moses from the tent of meeting, which the end of Exodus indicates was shrouded in God's visible presence. D.L. claims that the two explicit theophanies in Leviticus add unique elements to the public theophany scenes narrated in Exodus, specifically highlighting the role played by priests conducting liturgical rituals that in effect turn the theophany at Sinai into a permanent mobile theophany (i.e., the tent shrine) that Israel carries as the people journey toward the holy land. Numbers is taken up in chap. 5, and here strains in D.L.'s project begin to show. He acknowledges that, rather than introducing another specialized theophanic type scene, Numbers contains many Exodus-like public theophanies. He switches gears and argues that this is because the materials leading up to Sinai and those after Israel leaves Sinai mirror each other, but in Numbers Israel, rather than Pharaoh, is the object of God's wrath. This reverse mirroring is certainly true of Numbers 1–25, but D.L.'s framework seems less helpful in explaining the broad array of theophany scenes found here. Even less persuasive is his claim that the Balaam story has a private Genesis-like theophany because such theophanies occur only in or near the land, which Israel is now approaching. Such special pleading makes it appear that no evidence can ever disconfirm D.L.'s claim that these scenes unfold in a logical progressive fashion because his argument too often presumes that such coherence must exist in the canonical Torah rather than convincingly demonstrating it. [End Page 110] As noted in the acknowledgments (p. ix), chap. 6, analyzing Deuteronomy, was added at the request of the external reader of the manuscript. It seems likely that it was not included in the original project because the theophanies found here do not easily fit into D.L.'s attempt to trace a progressive literary pattern of theophanic scenes across the Pentateuch. As D.L. notes, theophanies in Deuteronomy are reported as memories that provide a corrective lens to avoid misreading the theophanies that occur earlier in the Pentateuch. D.L. does make a plausible case that Deuteronomy is not as aniconic as scholars like Moshe Weinfeld contend. "YHWH was not absent. He was present but hidden in the midst of the fire" (pp. 136-37). In a brief chap. 7, D.L. sums up his conclusions and attempts to draw out the implications of his research for theophanic scenes outside the Pentateuch. While this book is clearly written and in places...

Dramatic Elements in Liturgy: The Durham Processional

In May 1464, the annual chapter of Durham Cathedral Priory accepted a proposal that the Sub-Prior should be responsible for the missals and chalices used in the Priory’s ‘ludi ordinarii’ (liturgical performances). This article identifies two of these liturgical books as the Durham Missal (MS BL Harley 5289) and the Durham Processional (MS BL Royal 7A.VI, Item 28 [fols 116-26], which is referred to in the Missal as the ordinale; one of the chalices referred to was the ‘Judas Cup’, which was only used in the service commemorating the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday. Using these two manuscripts together with the descriptions of liturgical ritual in The Rites of Durham, which was completed in 1593 but describes the cathedral’s ceremonies in the 1530s, the article reconstructs the contents of the annual quasi-dramatic ceremonies in the Priory on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, and shows that while these ceremonies do not amount to liturgical drama in the fullest sense, they include important quasi-dramatic elements of which the monks of Durham were well aware.

Reguła mistrza o wyborze i nauczaniu opata

The monasteries which were raised in the Church in first centuries demanded rules stating life of their members. The initatior and founder of these monasteries was saint Pashomius. It’s noteworthy to remind anonymous work which were made in nine century called The Regula Magistri. This extensive ancient opus containing collection of monastic rules written by author of unknown name, was created in about fifth century south of Rome. Nowadays, we assume that The Regula Magistri became a model for the rule of Saint Benedict. The Rule of the Master was written for the monastery where the leading role was up to Abbot. He was the one who was preaching, teaching and he, indeed, was a master for his dis­ciples. Several chapter of this monumetal work is dedicated to the rules and proce­dures of choosing the abbot. It also contains list of the most important tasks which belonged to his office – these are the subject of this study. What’s interesting is that, the new abbot was being elected by his predecessor when he sensed that he is going to die shortly or serious ill makes him incapable of continuing his tasks. Abbot was looking after his brothers and encouraged them to acquire virtues. This kind of challenge could seem useful, because it was the motivating factor to, fulfill God’s will with dignity and humble, and also to life by the abbey’s rules. On the other hand, it could also had been dramatic, because the ascetic way of life sometimes was understood only in human succes category. The candidate was introduced on his duty by local bishop in special liturgical rite. There were also rules dedicated to possibly removal of the abbot, who – when his predecessor still lived – seemed to be unhumble and improper man for this office. The Rule also contains special instruction for the situation, when abbot dies in sudden death and had not decided who would have been his successor. The author of the Master’s Rule also draws attention to the manner of teaching conducted by the Abbot. The most important was the testimony of life, fidelity to the binding rules, exercising in virtues and avoiding sins. The Rule of the Master teach the Abbot, that he should be humble, treat the brothers equally, be responsible for the others and for himself, and ask as all brother for the opiniong in issues relating to the monastery.

Międzyuczelniany Instytut Muzyki Kościelnej w Krakowie. Dziesięć lat działalności (2008–2018)

W artykule autor przedstawia różnorodne formy działalności naukowo-dydaktycznej i artystycznej Międzyuczelnianego Instytutu Muzyki Kościelnej w Krakowie na przestrzeni dziesięciu lat (2008–2018). Działalność naukowo-dydaktyczna to zadania określone programem nauczania, a także organizowanie konferencji i sesji naukowych, wydawanie czasopisma poświęconego muzyce kościelnej „Pro Musica Sacra”, praca Koła Naukowego Studentów, prace licencjackie i magisterskie pisane w trakcie seminariów naukowych oraz prowadzenie studiów podyplomowych z monodii liturgicznej. Działalność artystyczna Instytutu znajduje swój wyraz w organizowanych koncertach, kursach mistrzowskich i warsztatach muzycznych, w dyplomowych recitalach organowych i dyplomach z gry liturgicznej, nagraniach płytowych i wydanych materiałach muzycznych. Autor podkreśla, że zasadniczym celem wszelkich poczynań – edukacyjnych, artystycznych i formacyjnych Instytutu – jest wykształcenie kompetentnych, profesjonalnych muzyków, którzy w przyszłości podejmą pracę w kościelnych ośrodkach duszpasterskich. Od nich bowiem zależeć będą odpowiedni poziom, godność i właściwy kształt muzyki w obrzędach liturgicznych Kościoła. Zwieńczeniem artykułu jest opis ważnego i wyjątkowego w historii Instytutu wydarzenia, jakim było nadanie w 2015 roku papieżowi seniorowi Benedyktowi XVI doktoratu honoris causa przez Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II i Akademię Muzyczną w Krakowie.

Cruces procesionales y cruces de término. Alcance teológico y social de sus particularidades iconográficas

El reino de Valencia, como otros de la Corona de Aragón y del resto de la península Ibérica, se mostró especialmente propicio al levantamiento de cruces de término; pero los pocos estudios académicos que les han prestado atención se han detenido en su aspecto estilístico, lo que ha llevado a no pocos investigadores a comparar estas cruces con las de orfebrería. Más allá de su decoración, sin embargo, sus respectivas tipologías iconográficas presentan sustanciales diferencias.La ubicación de las cruces de término, fuera del ámbito eclesiástico, su medio material y, sobre todo, su función podría haber determinado las diferencias iconográficas respecto a otras cruces y, por ende, las implicaciones teológicas de unas y otras. Aquellas formaban parte del ritual litúrgico de la Iglesia, mientras que éstas formaban parte de la vida diaria de la comunidad y responden, por tanto, a la religiosidad popular más que a la religión oficial.

Liturgical Rituals as Shared Intentional Practices

In my paper I argue that liturgical rituals presuppose shared intentions, beliefs and goals on behalf of the participants. Even if there are different roles in liturgy (priests, deacons, ‘normal’ believers), there is no intentional asymmetry between ‘performers’ and ‘followers’. My account of liturgical rituals as shared activities of participants with shared intentions, beliefs and goals requires a modification of Gärdenfors’ understanding of rituals as tools of learning.

Hemelvaart en geloofsvorming in die skoolkonteks: ’n Ritueel-liturgiese verkenning

Ascension Day and faith formation in the school context: A Ritual-liturgical explorationThe main aim of this article is to consider the value of special liturgical services in facilitating faith formation in children. Ideally liturgical rituals should be developed and performed in such a way as to recognise, respect and involve the full spectrum of human nature. This article focuses on 1 of 10 strategic recommendations developed from empirical qualitative research in the school context. The article closes with the pragmatic task by way of a proposal on the holistic design and use of liturgical rituals in the school context to deepen its potential in stimulating and facilitating faith formation in children.

Symboliczne wyobrażenia Kościoła w perykopach biblijnych proklamowanych w liturgii Obrzędów poświęcenia kościoła

The article presents and elaborates on the theology underlying the symbolic images of the Church in the biblical readings foreseen for the liturgical rite of the dedication of a new church. Each of these images and metaphors possesses its own particular content which needs to be properly understood in order to discover the mystery of Christ’s Church signified by every church built by men on earth. The biblical pericopes assigned to the day of the dedication of the church are the main point of departure for this article. The Old Testament which foretells the “fullness of time” as realized in Christ depicts the Israelites as a people gathered before God. They stand before the Lord in a cultic gathering in order to listen to the word of God. They foreshadow the new people of God whom Jesus Christ gathered around Himself. All of Christ’s followers and those baptized in His name are grafted onto the new People of God and become part of the Mystical Body of Christ. These two terms refer to the community of the Church in the New Testament. Thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit the Church is a spiritual temple called to offer spiritual gifts to God through Jesus in the Holy Spirit. The Church is an enduring reality, because it is founded upon the Apostles and prophets, among whom Saint Peter and his successors have a pride of place. The richness of the biblical readings’ theological content becomes an opportunity for a deepened catechesis about the Church’s nature. This, in turn, should lead the faithful to a more active participation in the life of a concrete parish community which is an image of the Universal Church.