Recent scholarship has shown that ‘liturgical theology’ is distinct from a ‘theology of liturgy’ even though the terms are often used interchangeably. In a theology of the liturgy the liturgy remains an object of theology whereas with liturgical theology the liturgy itself is the source of theology; it is the elucidation of the theological meaning of worship.
With due reference to the ancient maxim Lex orandi, lex credendi, (the law for prayer is the law for faith) and to the notion of human symbolic ritual activity, this unit will explore, by examining some of the Catholic Church’s liturgical and sacramental rites, how liturgical theology is an independent theological discipline with its own special subject – the liturgical tradition of the Catholic Church – distinct from other methods and theological disciplines. In short, the unit will attempt to demonstrate that the liturgy, of its very nature, is always expressive of the faith of the Catholic Church.

Prerequisites:

CD101 and CD102

Requirements:

intensive mode

Assessment:

one 1,500 word essay - 50%
one 1,000 word seminar paper - 25%
one 1,000 word evaluation of a liturgical celebration - 25%

Bibliography:

• Empereur, James L. Models of Liturgical Theology. Bramcote, Nottingham: Grove, 1987.
• Fagerberg, David W. Theologia Prima: What is Liturgical Theology? 2nd ed. Chicago: Hillenbrand, 2007.
• Irwin, Kevin W. Context and Text: Method in Liturgical Theology. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1994
• ———. Liturgical Theology: A Primer. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1990.
• Kavanagh, Aidan. On Liturgical Theology: The Hale Memorial Lectures of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, 1981. New York: Pueblo, 1984.
• Lathrop, Gordon W. Holy Things: A Liturgical Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993.
• The Rites of the Catholic Church. 2 vols. New York: Pueblo 1976, 1983.
• Saliers, Don. Worship as Theology: Foretaste of Glory Divine. Nashville: Abingdon, 1994.
• Schmemann, Alexander. Introduction to Liturgical Theology. Translated by Asheleigh E. Moorhouse. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003.
• Vatican Council II. Sacrosanctum concilium. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. 4 December 1963. In The Liturgy Documents: A Parish Resource, 4th ed. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2004.
• Vogel, Dwight W., ed. Primary Sources of Liturgical Theology: A Reader. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2000.