In the decades following the Second Vatican Council, Catholic liturgy became an area of considerable interest and debate, if not controversy, in the West. Mid-late 20th century liturgical scholarship, upon which the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council were predicated and implemented, no longer stands unquestioned. The liturgical and ecclesial springtime the reforms of Paul VI were expected to facilitate has failed to emerge, leaving many questions as to their wisdom and value. Quo vadis Catholic liturgy? This Companion brings together a variety of scholars who consider this question at the beginning of the 21st century in the light of advances in liturgical scholarship, decades of post-Vatican II experience and the critical re-examination in the West of the question of the liturgy promoted by Benedict XVI. The contributors, each eminent in their field, have distinct takes on how to answer this question, but each makes a significant contribution to contemporary debate, making this Companion an essential reference for the study of Western Catholic liturgy in history and in the light of contemporary scholarship and debate.

In the decades following the Second Vatican Council, Catholic liturgy became an area of considerable interest and debate, if not controversy, in the West. Mid-late 20th century liturgical scholarship, upon which the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council were predicated and implemented, no longer stands unquestioned. The liturgical and ecclesial springtime the reforms of Paul VI were expected to facilitate has failed to emerge, leaving many questions as to their wisdom and value. Quo vadis Catholic liturgy? This Companion brings together a variety of scholars who consider this question at the beginning of the 21st century in the light of advances in liturgical scholarship, decades of post-Vatican II experience and the critical re-examination in the West of the question of the liturgy promoted by Benedict XVI. The contributors, each eminent in their field, have distinct takes on how to answer this question, but each makes a significant contribution to contemporary debate, making this Companion an essential reference for the study of Western Catholic liturgy in history and in the light of contemporary scholarship and debate.

This is a unique contribution to discussions within churches about the provision of suitable words for liturgical worship and to debates among scholars about liturgical hermeneutics, as well as offering a new methodological paradigm for liturgical studies to inspire students and researchers. By combining insights from literary and linguistic studies with those from historical and contemporary liturgical studies, Juliette Day investigates the nature of a text in relation to unscripted speech; how authors and worshipers make use of genre, narrative and other texts; how the textuality of the liturgy as well as its ritual context affect the sort of language used in worship and what implicit meanings are conveyed in the way liturgical texts are printed in books. Day discusses the history of liturgical texts and their function, as well as liturgical genres and narratives. She examines the function of language in liturgical worship and emphasizes its meaning for readers, worshipers and speakers. Day applies insights from literary and linguistic studies to liturgical texts in a comprehensive fashion, making it accessible to a broad readership

"A new edition of Gregory Dix's masterpiece, still essential reading for students and scholars and in print constantly for fifty years. Dom Gregory Dix's classic account of the development of the Eucharist rite continues to be the definitive and authoritative work on the subject. He presents his massive scholarship in lively and non technical language for all who wish to understand their worship in terms of the framework from which it has evolved. He demonstrates the creative force of Christianity over the centuries through liturgy and the societies it has moulded. His great work has for nearly fifty years regularly been quoted for its devotional as well as its historical value, and has regularly attracted new readers. In this book for the first time, critical studies in the learned periodicals of many countries have been carefully sifted and the results arranged to give a clear picture of the development of the Eucharistic rite."--

The T&T Clark Companion to Atonement establishes a vision for the doctrine of the atonement as a unified yet extraordinarily rich event calling for the church's full appropriation. Most edited volumes on this doctrine focus on one aspect of the work of Christ (for example, Girard, Feminist thought, Penal Substitution or divine violence). The Companion is unique in that every essay seeks to both appropriate and stimulate the church's understanding of the manifold nature of Christ's death and resurrection. The essays are divided into four main sections: 1) dogmatic location, 2) chapters on the Old and New Testaments, 3) major theologians and 4) contemporary developments. The first set of essays explore the inter-relationship between the atonement and other Christian doctrines (for example Trinity, Christology and Pneumatology), opening up yet further avenues of inquiry. Essays on key theologians eschew reductionism, striving to bring out the nuances and breadth of the contribution. The same is true of the biblical essays. The final section explores more recent developments within the doctrine (for example the work of Rene Girard, and the ongoing reflection on "Holy Saturday"). The book is comprised of 18 major essays, and an A-Z section containing shorter dictionary-length entries on a much broader range of topics. The result is a combination of in-depth analysis and breadth of scope, making this a benchmark work for further studies in the doctrine.

This study examines how the present liturgical texts are like and unlike those used by earlier generations, and therefore how the present generation of Roman Catholics may be different on their account.The precise form that the textual examination takes in each of the proper seasons, etc., depends upon the mix of retained, replaced, and edited collects. In every case, the author works with the Latin originals and the accompanying translations are her own.The entire project has three main steps: to examine each liturgical season to see how the spiritual and theological emphases of its collects have changed; to determine what these changes mean for the year as a whole; to evaluate the effect of the changes on the way that contemporary Catholics experience and live Christian faith. The work is important not simply for a better understanding today's and tomorrow's Catholics, but also for a correct understanding of our present Liturgy and its place in the western liturgical tradition.

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