The "Handbook for Liturgical Studies" provides a complete course of liturgical studies in five volumes. It is offered as a model, source, and reference for students of liturgy and liturgical ministry. Through the study of these five volumes, readers are led to an active and spiritually fruitful participation in the ecclesial celebration of Christ's mystery desired by the Second Vatican Council.

Volume I consists of three parts: Preliminary Notions," "Historical Overview of the Liturgy," and "Liturgical Sources." Articles and their contributors include "A Definition of Liturgy," by Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB; "Liturgical Families in the East," by Ephrem Carr, OSB; "Liturgical Families in the West," by Gabriel Ramis; "Bible and Liturgy," by Renato De Zan; "Liturgy and the Fathers," by Basil Studer, OSB; "Liturgy and Ecumenism," by Patrick Lyons, OSB; "History of the Liturgy Until the Fourth Century," by Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB; "History of the Eastern Liturgies," by Manel Nin, OSB; "History of the Roman Liturgy Until the Fifteenth Century," by Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB; "History of the Roman Liturgy from the Sixteenth Until the Twentieth Centuries," by Keith F. Pecklers, SJ; "History of the Liturgies in the Non-Roman West," by Jordi Pinell I Pons, OSB; "Liturgical Documents of the First Four Centuries," by Basil Studer, OSB; "Byzantine Liturgical Books," by Elena Velkova Velkovska; "Other Liturgical Books in the East," by Manel Nin, OSB; "Liturgical Books of the Roman Rite," by Cassian Folsom, OSB; "Liturgical Books of the Non-Roman West," by Gabriel Ramis; "Liturgical Textual Criticism," by Renato De Zan; "Criticism and Interpretation of Liturgical Texts," by Renato De Zan; "Translation of Liturgical Texts," by Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB; and "Liturgical Law," by Frederick R. McManus. More than forty authors from Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Eastern and Western Europe have contributed to the Handbook. Many are professors and graduates of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome. Each author, while drawing material from liturgical tradition and from ancient, medieval, and modern sources, writes also from a particular research and personal interest in a subject. Although diverse in style, the authors collectively express a spirit of fidelity to the Church, to its doctrine and tradition, and to its mission. The result is a cohesive view of the meaning, purpose, and celebration of Christian worship.

What concepts must one have in order to understand and explain the nature and purpose, the plan and actualization, and the relational character of the liturgy? Volume 2: Fundamental Liturgy addresses this question in three parts - epistemology, celebration, and human sciences - which develop the foundational concepts of the liturgy. It leads the reader to a deeper understanding of the liturgy by examining the basic concepts that belong to its definition. Articles and their contributors are Theology of the Liturgy," by Alceste Catella;"Liturgical Symbolism," by Crispino Valenziano; "Liturgy and Spirituality," by Jesus Castellano Cervera, OCD; "Pastoral Liturgical Ministry," by Domenico Sartore, CSJ; "Catechesis and Liturgy," by Domenico Sartore, CSJ; "Liturgy and Ecclesiology," by Nathan Mitchell; "The Liturgical Assembly," by Mark Francis, CSV; "Participation in the Liturgy," by Anna Kai-Yung Chan; "Liturgical Ministries," by Thomas A. Krosnicki, SVD; "The Psychosociological Aspect of the Liturgy," by Lucio Maria Pinkus, OSM; "Liturgy and Anthropology: The Meaning and the Method of the Question," by Crispino Valenziano; "The Language of Liturgy," by Silvano Maggiani, OSM; "Liturgy and Aesthetic," by Silvano Maggiani, OSM; "Liturgy and Music," by Jan Michael Joncas; "Liturgy and Iconology," by Crispino Valenziano; and "Liturgy and Inculturation," by Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB and Silvano Maggiani, OSM "

What concepts must one have in order to understand and explain the nature and purpose, the plan and actualization, and the relational character of the liturgy? Volume 2: Fundamental Liturgy addresses this question in three parts - epistemology, celebration, and human sciences - which develop the foundational concepts of the liturgy. It leads the reader to a deeper understanding of the liturgy by examining the basic concepts that belong to its definition. Articles and their contributors are Theology of the Liturgy," by Alceste Catella;"Liturgical Symbolism," by Crispino Valenziano; "Liturgy and Spirituality," by Jesus Castellano Cervera, OCD; "Pastoral Liturgical Ministry," by Domenico Sartore, CSJ; "Catechesis and Liturgy," by Domenico Sartore, CSJ; "Liturgy and Ecclesiology," by Nathan Mitchell; "The Liturgical Assembly," by Mark Francis, CSV; "Participation in the Liturgy," by Anna Kai-Yung Chan; "Liturgical Ministries," by Thomas A. Krosnicki, SVD; "The Psychosociological Aspect of the Liturgy," by Lucio Maria Pinkus, OSM; "Liturgy and Anthropology: The Meaning and the Method of the Question," by Crispino Valenziano; "The Language of Liturgy," by Silvano Maggiani, OSM; "Liturgy and Aesthetic," by Silvano Maggiani, OSM; "Liturgy and Music," by Jan Michael Joncas; "Liturgy and Iconology," by Crispino Valenziano; and "Liturgy and Inculturation," by Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB and Silvano Maggiani, OSM "

Written by liturgists – pastoral and academic – who make up the Liturgical Formation Sub-Committee of the Department for Christian Life and Worship of the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, this studyguide offers an introduction to Catholic Liturgy.

Bad worship produces bad theology, and bad theology produces an unhealthy church. In Liturgical Theology, Simon Chan issues a call to evangelicals to develop a mature theology of the church--an ecclesiology that is grounded in the church's identity as a worshiping community. Evangelicals, he argues, are confused about the meaning and purpose of the church in part because they have an inadequate understanding of Christian worship. As a remedy for this ailment, Chan presents a coherent theology of the church that pays particular attention to the liturgical practices that have constituted Christian worship throughout the centuries. With a seasoned eye and steady hand, he guides the reader through these practices and unpacks their significance for theology, spirituality and the renewal of evangelicalism in the postmodern era. Chan's proposal advances the conversation among evangelicals regarding the relationship between theology and worship. In contrast to some theologians who have tended to emphasize a sociological analysis, Chan argues that we need to consider what is essential to the church's theological identity. Drawing on the larger Christian tradition, Chan argues that we discover that identity primarily in the structure and significance of Christian worship.

One of the most influential works in the debate over the concept and definitions of liturgical theology, Context and Text by Monsignor Kevin W. Irwin is now available in a completely rewritten, new edition. In light of the historical, theological, and pastoral mandates of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Context and Text is both a proposal for and an example of an investigation of the Church's liturgical praxis from a liturgical-theological perspective. This second edition, which includes an expanded introduction, covers: · new liturgical and ecclesial contexts resulting from newly promulgated liturgies · further research in methodfor liturgical studies · consideration for changes in the cultural contexts in which people celebrate the liturgy. Besides brand-new chapters on time and sacramentality, and additions to the chapter on the arts, this edition also considers the “ongoing ‘texts and contexts’ of the liturgy as always a new event in the life and ongoing discussion of liturgical theology within Christianity.

In July 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued Summorum Pontificum, designating two "uses" or "forms" of the Roman Rite, declaring the Missal of Paul VI to be the "ordinary form" and the 1962 Missal of John XXIII to be its "extraordinary form." On the same day, the pope also published a letter to bishops, Con Grande Fiducia, to accompany and offer commentary on this motu proprio. In Care for the Church and Its Liturgy, William H. Johnston offers analysis and commentary on both documents, exploring their meaning, context, purposes, implementation, and implications. Johnston carefully attends to the multiple purposes of the documents themselves and to the various questions related to their implementation, as well as to the complex postconciliar dynamics in the Catholic Church. His approach throughout is appreciative, critical, and constructive. Johnston’s study embodies respect for dialogue, unity, and charity. It will provide much food for thought and discussion among both academics and pastoral leaders in the years ahead as the church discerns its liturgical way forward, and all those with educational or pastoral responsibility for the liturgy will find it an informative resource and valuable guide for understanding and assessing this still constitutive feature of the Roman Rite.

Introducing readers to the contemporary field of sacramental theology, this volume covers the biblical and historical foundations, a survey of the state of the discipline, and a collection of constructive essays representing major themes, practices and approaches to sacraments and sacramentality in the contemporary world. The volume starts with a set of foundational essays that offer broad introduction to the field of sacramental theology from contemporary scholars, analysing a number of historical figures in order to illumine and inform contemporary sacramental theology. The second part of the volume is dedicated to a series of essays on sacramentality, and includes attention to elements of space, time, ritual action, music, and word, all as aspects of what Christians have termed “sacramental” reality. The third set of essays includes attention to each of the seven practices that have most commonly been termed “sacraments” in Christian traditions: baptism; eucharist/Lord's Supper; confirmation; confession, forgiveness and reconciliation; marriage; ordination; and anointing. The final part of this volume features scholars who are working on sacraments in conversation with contemporary academic disciplines: critical race theory, queer theory, comparative theology, and disability studies.