Is Christianity exclusively a religious phenomenon, which must separate itself from all things political, or do its concepts actually underpin secular politics? To this question, which animated the twentieth-century debate on political theology, Liturgical Power advances a third alternative. Christian anti-politics, Heron contends, entails its own distinct conception of politics. Yet this politics, he argues, assumes the form of what today we call “administration,” but which the ancients termed “economics.” The book’s principal aim is thus genealogical: it seeks to understand our current conception of government in light of an important but rarely acknowledged transformation in the idea of politics brought about by Christianity. This transformation in the idea of politics precipitates in turn a concurrent shift in the organization of power; an organization whose determining principle, Heron contends, is liturgy—understood in the broad sense as “public service.” Whereas until now only liturgy’s acclamatory dimension has made the concept available for political theory, Heron positions it more broadly as a technique of governance. What Christianity has bequeathed to political thought and forms, he argues, is thus a paradoxical technology of power that is grounded uniquely in service.

Christian worship emerges from and speaks back into human relationships that are necessarily shaped by power and authority. Free Churches structure and negotiate power in relation to worship in ways that reflect the decentralization, local diversity, and personal agency that characterize many aspects of Free Church theology and practice. This volume models how dialogue among scholars and practitioners of Free Church worship, as well as dialogue with the wider church, can be mutually enriching as Christians strive together to worship in ways that are faithful and just.

This reference work incorporates the insights and expertise of leading liturgists and scholars of liturgy at work today, comprising 200 entries on important topics in the field, from vestments and offertories to ordination and divine unction. It is systematically organized and alphabetically arranged for ease of use. It also includes comprehensive bibliographies and reading lists, to bring the work fully up to date and to encourage further reading and research

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 "

This critical edition makes available for the first time Thomas Merton's novitiate conferences on liturgy. Though dating from the period just before the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, Merton's commentaries remain pertinent for their insights on his own commitment to this central dimension of Christian life, on his work introducing students to the patterns that would mark their lives as monks, and on the perennial meaning of the key events of the liturgical year. The thoroughly annotated text is preceded by an extensive introduction situating this material in the context of Merton's lifelong writing on liturgy. As Merton's former student Br. Paul Quenon writes in his foreword: "Nowhere in all of Merton's writings can one find such an extended demonstration of the hermeneutical approach he took in commenting on Scripture. This was focused intensely on finding the meaning Scripture had for our life in God . . . These notes . . . take us into one man's lifetime of reflection and seasoned experience of the Church Year."

Mapping uncharted territory in the study of liturgy's past, this book offers a history to contemporary questions around gender and liturgical life. Teresa Berger looks at liturgy's past through the lens of gender history, understood as attending not only to the historically prominent binary of "men" and "women" but to all gender identities, including inter-sexed persons, ascetic virgins, eunuchs, and priestly men. Demonstrating what a gender-attentive inquiry is able to achieve, Berger explores both traditional fundamentals such as liturgical space and eucharistic practice and also new ways of studying the past, for example by asking about the developing link between liturgical presiding and priestly masculinity. Drawing on historical case studies and focusing particularly on the early centuries of Christian worship, this book ultimately aims at the present by lifting a veil on liturgy's past to allow for a richly diverse notion of gender differences as these continue to shape liturgical life.

Living Liturgy™ 2022 provides practical, sound, and inspiring content from expert authors to enrich your parish liturgy and ministry. A robust formation program, Living Liturgy™ offers the readings, plus insightful reflections and contextual background information for Sundays, Solemnities, and additional feasts of liturgical and national importance. This best-selling annual resource is ideal for parish ministers, liturgists, pastors, planning committees, and RCIA programs. An entirely new resource prepared for each liturgical year, Living Liturgy™ gives your team the spiritual preparation they need to serve in their ministries, integrating daily living, prayer, and study in an inviting and easy-to-use format. Engaging art by Ruberval Monteiro da Silva, OSB, complements the text and invites further reflection on the Gospel of the day. This indispensable guide deepens a liturgical spirituality and strengthens the worship experience for the whole parish.

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.