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The Historical Functions and Goals of the Liturgy

Cited from Dr. Stephen Sauer, SJ. Theology: Practice and Theology (LMU, 2007). The Historical Functions and Goals of the Liturgy. Theology has a Sociology. The “function and goal” of liturgical activity change as a Christian community’s notions of God, world, self, and liturgy change.

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The Historical Functions and Goals of the Liturgy

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  1. Cited from Dr. Stephen Sauer, SJ. Theology: Practice and Theology (LMU, 2007) The Historical Functions and Goals of the Liturgy

  2. Theology has a Sociology The “function and goal” of liturgical activity change as a Christian community’s notions of God, world, self, and liturgy change. Liturgy as “embodied or enacted theology”

  3. The Early (Nascent) Church • Jesus perceived as “anti-ritual” or anti-establishment • Note: meals for Jews are ritual, every meal is liturgical. Even the whole life is ritual • Kingdom of Heaven is Jesus

  4. God’s Reign, here and now • Jesus IS alive and present • Secular and Sacred no longer separated • Sacrifice no longer necessary • Everyone is now equal, the old order is subverted (table fellowship) • The end is near

  5. Radical “secularism” • True worship = service of God and neighbor • Liturgy = work of the people • Cultic vocabulary is avoided

  6. Worship and Prayer • Rituals Attempt to express and celebrate the radical newness of the explosion of the sacred • Met in homes, within context of meals • Informal worship

  7. Dura Eropas = name of town

  8. Dura Europos House Syria, 3rd Century

  9. Function and Goal • g/f of ritual = g/f of liturgy = g/f of life and death of Jesus • Live out the new life and relationship with God, others and world as realized thorugh Christ (=Reign of God here on earth)

  10. The Early Church Followers of the Lord For Fraternal Meals In the domus ecclesiae (House of the Church) To do what Jesus did

  11. The Constantinian Church • 313, 319 AD – Edicts of Tolerance

  12. Major changes • Structure and organization of community • Social status of members • Ritual space • Shape and manner of worship

  13. Basilica Basilica of Maxentius (Rome 308-312)

  14. Basilica Basilica of Maxentius (Rome 308-312)

  15. Another angle

  16. Basilica (Roman to Christian) Basilica of Maxentius (Rome 308-312) Caesar’s Statue Bishop’s Chair

  17. Major Changes • Attitudes toward the present world and time shift • Conceptualization of Reign from temporal (future erupted into the present) to spatial (above and beyond) • Empire now seen as instrument to bring about the Kingdom

  18. Function and Goal • From celebrating new life in the Spirit to celebrating the sacred mysteries • Worship Christ the King (emperor) • g/f of ritual= open a door to heaven so that we might participate in the heavenly liturgy of Christ before the Father

  19. The Constantine Church Christians Gathered as Imperial Assembly Before God and the heavenly court To celebrate the Sacred Mysteries

  20. Continuing Trends • Sacred/ Divine more remote and inaccessible • Sacralization of the person of the priest begins • Reintroduction of cultic language

  21. BasilicaGreece, 5th Century

  22. BasilicaGreece, 5th Century Nave is decorated as heaven Separation of priest and laity with “iconostasis”

  23. The Middle Ages • Lave fifth Century= collapse of Roman Empire • 567AD = Tours II forbids laity to stand among clergy • Ca. 950AD – Pepin decrees Roman Liturgy • 1000 AD = Eucharistic controversies

  24. Major changes • Invasion of northern tribes • Great fear of hell; penitential focus • Church “split” into 2 spaces • A devotional space for the laity • The “holy of holies” for the preist

  25. Major Trend • Mass is increasingly clerical • Latin no longer understood • Focus narrows to consecration = Mass is whispered • Meaning reduced to sacrificed and propitiation • Multiple altars fill church to increase number of masses offered, especially for the dead • People’s participation reduces to visual communion

  26. Basilica to Cathedral Iconostasis Communion Rail

  27. Chartres, 13th Centurty

  28. Gesu ChurchRome, 16th Century

  29. Function and goal • From celebrating the sacred mysteries to offering the propitiatory sacrifice • Action of the priest alone • g/f of ritual = provide grace for the living and the dead to serve at the hour of judgment

  30. The Medieval Church The Faithful Go to church In the precinct of “the holy of holies” For devotion and Eucharistic adoration as the priest offers sacrifice

  31. The Protestant Reformation • 1521= Martin Luther excommunicated • 1545 = Council of Trent begins • 1563= Council of Trent ends • 1570= Missal of Pius V issued

  32. Major Trends • Reformers stress act of faith in response to Word proclaimed • Roman Catholic Church continues to stress efficacy of sacraments to produce grace independent of human involvement

  33. Trent • Encourages “participation” and understanding • Churches become “divine theaters” • Suppresses superstitious behavior • Encourages communion • Doesn’t catch on until the 20th Century • Treats Eucharsist as object (presence) and sacrifice without offering a comprehensive or integrated treatise

  34. The Post-Trent Church Roman Catholics Observe the Divine drama In the Divine Theater/Throne Room To dispose themselves to grace as the priest offers sacrifice

  35. The Vatican II Church The Body of Christ Gathers as Church Around the double table of Word and Sacrament To celebrate the Source and Summit of its existence

  36. Contemporary Church20th Century Communion Rail

  37. Vatican II Church

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