In this section a wide range of material may be found, arranged organically, and linked with our object of study. This will consist, on the one hand, of liturgical sources, that is to say liturgical texts (where possible in their original languages, accompanied by a translation) and on the other there will be monographs in which specific issues will be studied. The layout below shows a general plan to be completed gradually. The monographs will sometimes appear at first as mere notes to be elaborated upon as time goes by. Research may be put up in the various stages of its finalization
As such, all the material presented here may undergo developments during the periodic updates of these pages. To receive updates, subscribe below, at the bottom of this page, by clicking on the button (subscribe to: this post).
Fundamentals
I. Definition of the liturgy.
II. History of liturgical studies.
III. Comparative liturgy.
- The laws of liturgical development.
IV. Dictionary of liturgical terms
V. Basic elements of the liturgy. Liturgical texts, songs and gestures. Overarching characteristics: symbolism and liturgical language.
Constituent parts of the liturgical action.
A. Place and time of the celebration
1. The church-building - its features ancient and medieval
a. Exterior appearance:
The fully-coloured nature of Romanesque and Gothic facades
Wooden architecture in northern Russia (Project).
b. Interior layout:
Orientation of the temple and prayer.
Layout of the liturgical space in the medieval church-building.
Labyrinths of medieval cathedrals.
The Eastern iconostasis and its liturgical function.
2. The time of the liturgical action:
. The liturgical year
. The liturgical division of the day.
B. The vestments and sacred vessels
C. People.
D. The liturgical texts
1. Forethought: liturgical languages (understanding and liturgical symbolism of the word). Universal characteristics of the liturgical language.
• Greek, the mother-tongue of liturgical worship.
• Latin, the liturgical language of the West. Latin in the recent Magisterium. Features of liturgical Latin. Dictionary of liturgical Latin.
• Languages of the Eastern Churches. Aramaic. Armenian. Coptic. Ge'ez.
2. Production of liturgical texts: oral culture; memory and ancient culture; improvisation in ancient culture.
3. Conservation and transmission: Manuscripts. Printing -- its influence in the liturgy.
4. The different liturgical texts
a) Revealed texts - The various versions of Scripture used in the liturgy
- The Septuagint as scriptural text of the liturgy.
- The Vulgate
- The Slavic version of Scripture (The Psalterion)
- Other versions of Scripture.
b) The ecclesiastical texts.
E. The liturgical music, an integral part of the liturgy.
- General characteristics of sacred music.
- History of liturgical music.
- Music Manuscripts Project
VI. The Mass and the Divine Office
A) the Mass: classification: Conventual Mass and private ('low') Mass. Sung Mass and
Said Mass. Parts of the Missal.
B) The Divine Office. Structure of the Office. The Hymns.
A liturgical cycle of the twelfth century: Liturgical Texts from the Codex Calixtinus (twelfth century) (Project).
THE LITURGY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT
Continuity as the key to liturgical development.
The dual aspects of continuity:
I. Diachronic continuity: Christian liturgy through the centuries.
Catalogue of printed editions of the Missale Romanum.
a. Liturgy in the Patristic era.
b. Liturgy in the Middle Ages. Missal of the twelfth century (text). Comparative Table
of the manuscript versions of the Missale Curiae.
c. The liturgy in the era of printing. Development of the Roman Missal up
to the Tridentine edition:
• The Editio Princeps. Text of the Ordo Missae of Varisco (1474).
• The Missal of Mathias Moravus (1477).
• Overview of the printed editions of the Missale Curiae up to 1570.
• The Missal of 1570, critical edition.
• Overview of the evolution of the Missale Romanum from 1474 to 1962.
d. The Latin liturgy after Trent.
e. Status of the liturgy in the West in the eighteenth century.
f. The liturgical movement.
g. The liturgy in the twentieth century; the liturgical reform.
h. The twenty-first century, sociological study of current trends. Statistical study.
II. Synchronic continuity of the liturgy. Liturgy and theology:
Diversity of rites and unity of faith (Doc).
A) The different liturgical traditions of the West.
Introduction.
Texts and descriptions of the various rites.
Dom Cabrol: Mass in the Western Rites (in English).
1. Ancient rites.
2. The English rites: comparative table of the Ordo Missae of the Sarum Rite (text of the Ordo Missae).
3. Rite of Aquileia.
4. Ancient rites that continued to be used after Quo primum.
a) Missal: Synopsis rituum Latinorum (Doc)
• Mozarabic Rite (Ordo Missae text)
• Carthusian Rite (Ordo Missae text)
• Dominican Rite (Ordo Missae text)
• Ambrosian Rite (Ordo Missae text)
• Carmelite Rite (Ordo Missae text)
• Rite of Braga (Ordo Missae text)
• Rite of Lyon (Ordo Missae text)
• Missal of Cologne (Ordo Missae text)
b) the Divine Office.
The Psalter.
The Hymns (Text of the Latin Hymnnal).
(B) Families of Eastern Liturgical Rites
a. General appearance:
Schematic overview of the various Eastern rites
b. Particular aspects:
The Anaphora: - comparative overview.
Comparative study between the Armenian and Byzantine liturgies.
c. The various Eastern Rites.
a) Byzantine tradition
1. Divine Liturgy:
• Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Original text version and
translation Slavic and Romanian, Latin and Spanish project)
• Liturgy of St. Basil the Great (Original text and translation project)
• Greek Liturgy of St. James (Original text and translation project)
• Liturgy of St. Peter (Greek text and translation project)
• Liturgy of the Presanctified (Greek text and translation project)
2. The Divine Office: Byzantine hymnology (project).
• Text of the Office: - Ordinary. (Greek text and translation project)
b) Syriac Tradition
• Eastern:
Chaldean Rite (Liturgy Translation Project)
Malabar Rite (Liturgy Translation Project)
• Western:
Syriac Rite (Liturgy Translation Project)
- Malankara Rite.
- Maronite Rite (Liturgy Translation Project)
c) Alexandrian Tradition.
a. Coptic Rite (Liturgy Translation Project)
b. Ethiopian Rite (Liturgy Translation Project)
d) Armenian Tradition (Translation of the Liturgy Project)
COMMENTARIES ON THE LITURGY:
a) Western Commentaries on the Liturgy:
- The 'Sense of the liturgy' by Amalarius Metz.
- The 'Rationale' of Durandus of Mende (Project).
b) Eastern Commentaries on the Liturgy:
- Greek Liturgy: Cabasilas
- Russian Liturgy: N. Gogol (Project)
- Armenian Liturgy: Khosrov