“Liturgy and Life: The Appropriation of the ‘Personalization of Cult’ in East-Slavic Orthodox Liturgiology, 1869-1996,” Studia Liturgica 28 (1998): 210-31. (original) (raw)
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Studia liturgica, 1998
The purpose of this article is twofold: to study the appropriation or, as we shall see, the relative lack of appropriation of the New Testament notion of personalization of cult in modern Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox liturgiology; and to analyze how, in the absence of this New Testament notion, liturgy and lifeare nonethelessconjoined in the writings of East-Slavicliturgists. The topic is particularly relevant within the former USSR, where churches that managed, in spite of repression, to maintain an intense liturgical life have now been allowed to transcend the confines of their church buildings to help rebuild their societies. After briefly introducing the notion of "personalization" or, as it might also be called, "existentialization" of cult, and after characterizing East-Slavic Orthodox liturgical study during the last 130 years or so, I will survey chronologically this school's liturgical handbooks and related works, as well as the scholarly journals of the Tsarist empire's four theological academies: Bogoslovskii Vestnik of the Moscow Academy, Khristianskoe chtenie of the Saint Petersburg Academy, Trudy Kievskoi Dukhovnoi Akademii of the Kievan Academy, and Pravoslavnyi sobesednik of the Kazan Academy. In addition, the more important post-revolutionaryjournals, and works on liturgy will also be reviewed. As we proceed three themes will emerge: 1) the need among East-Slavs for a bolstered theology of liturgy, and not just liturgical theology; 2) the need to bring Orthodox liturgiology into greater dialogue with biblical studies and
Worship in Spirit and in Truth Essays to mark the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Benedict XVI / Joseph Ratzinger’s The Spirit of the Liturgy, 2023
In The Spirit of the Liturgy, Joseph Ratzinger argues that the “divinization of creation and the surrender of all things to God” is the “purpose of the world” and the “essence of sacrifice and worship.”7 This thesis offers a fruitful foundation to contemplate the rapprochement between Ratzinger’s theology of liturgy and the liturgical theology of the aforementioned Eastern Orthodox theologians. First, we will highlight the similar approaches in defining a sacramental logos between Ratzinger and Zizioulas. Second, we will outline the arguments for beauty as an essential characteristic of the liturgy shared by Ratzinger and Evdokimov. Finally, we will demonstrate an affinity between Ratzinger and Schmemann in articulating the relationship between the liturgy and the world.
The Social Dimension of the Orthodox Liturgy: From Biblical Dynamism to a Doxological Liturgism
Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu, 2017
A historical and theological journey in 12 steps, from the early Biblical origin to later Patristic and contemporary expression of the Orthodox liturgy, in order to uncover the social dimension of Christian liturgy. Some of the causes are analyzed in brief: the marginalization of the Antiochene tradition, an overdose eschatology, the “modern” understanding of the Bible, the gradual loss of the prophetic character of the Church, which is more evident in the Bible, and the marginalization – until the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church – of its witnessing responsibility, have resulted in a significant legacy that hinders any real Biblical and liturgical renewal. The experiment of the Church of Greece that launched nearly 20 years ago an official, albeit unsuccessful, liturgical renewal project. The final proposal is a combination of both this neglected prophetic character and the prevailing eschatological dimension of the Orthodox faith, with all that these imply for an auth...
2022
In The Spirit of the Liturgy, Joseph Ratzinger argues that the “divinization of creation and the surrender of all things to God” is the “purpose of the world” and the “essence of sacrifice and worship.” This thesis offers a fruitful foundation to contemplate the rapprochement between Ratzinger’s theology of liturgy and the liturgical theology of the aforementioned Eastern Orthodox theologians. First, we will highlight the similar approaches in defining a sacramental logos between Ratzinger and Zizioulas. Second, we will outline the arguments for beauty as an essential characteristic of the liturgy shared by Ratzinger and Evdokimov. Finally, we will demonstrate an affinity between Ratzinger and Schmemann in articulating the relationship between the liturgy and the world.
"The Liturgy of Life: Alexander Schmemann, " Religions 7, 2016
The émigré Russian priest and theologian Alexander Schmemann (1921–1983) spent most of his career as a faculty member and dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary in Crestwood, New York, not far from New York City. For over 30 years, in lectures, teaching and numerous publications, he presented the distinctive vision of the Eastern Church, mostly unknown to Western Christians, in which the church's liturgy was the primary source not only of its theology but of all other aspects of its life. I offer an overview of his work, with analysis and criticism and an assessment of his continuing significance.
Scottish Journal of Theology, 1975
The Collected Works of Fr. Georges Florovsky will be published in English and will contain his articles in Slavic studies as well as in Church History and Theology which have previously appeared in Russian, German, French, Bulgarian, Czech, Serbian, Swedish and English. Each volume will be arranged thematically. Included in the Collected Works will be his two major works on the Church Fathers (The Eastern Fathers of the fourth Century and The Byzantine Fathers from the Fifth to the Eighth Century).