Resources on ancient liturgical rationales
  • E_A_FulhorstE_A_Fulhorst
    Posts: 381
    Looking to read up on church practices, ancient and modern --- up to '62, anyway --- and with a particular emphasis on the whys more than the whats. Why was one species of the Eucharist largely withheld rather than that it was, for example, would be far more useful to know.

    Any good books out there with this particular emphasis on the whys rather than the whats? Anything in the Musica Sacra library? ILL won't help someone not a student.
  • Protasius
    Posts: 468
    Durandus' Rationale divinorum officiorum could be, what you are looking for.
  • E_A_FulhorstE_A_Fulhorst
    Posts: 381
    ... anything free, in English?
  • DougS
    Posts: 793
    Public libraries in larger cities typically have ILL services.
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  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    Fortescue's book The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy and Jungmann's impressive tome The Mass of the Roman Rite are quite what you're looking for. There are many others, but those two are good places to start. Also, if you're interested in the liturgy of Rome in the 8th century, try Atchley's Ordo Romanus primus.
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  • DougS
    Posts: 793
    One caveat about the Fortescue and the Jungmann is that they are quite old--and have the concomitant biases that we would expect from histories written from an earlier generation's perspective.

    I agree that they are essential reading, but they shouldn't be the end point of your research, IMO.
    Thanked by 2E_A_Fulhorst ClemensRomanus
  • E_A_FulhorstE_A_Fulhorst
    Posts: 381
    I would appreciate more suggestions for continued research, then. Here's some background:

    Goal: Restoration of a sense of worship in the Novus Ordo
    Means: Implementing this in a hermeneutic of continuity.
    Working theory: Reading the Novus Ordo with a hermeneutic of continuity these days cannot not mean merely matters of this practice or that practice from days past. Rather, it must mean awakening the underlying principles of old practices, as they have developed over the centuries.

    As folks on this forum have taught me, notably CharlesW, old liturgical documents requiring this practice or that practice no longer have force of law or custom. However, because the Holy Father determines that there is legitimate continuity between Vatican II and the rest of the history of the Church, or should be, what is left to reapproach in these documents is not altar rails as such or ad orientem as such but the principles of Christian worship and piety that back in the day prompted these once-new ideas. Once we get Christian worship and piety back off the ground, it can be trusted to safely tinker with the liturgy as has always been done.


    This, I hope, gives some background on why older works, or works which can be trusted not to be polemic about old practices and rationales, are necessarily preferable when beginning my research.
  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    DougS is right about the Fortescue and Jungmann. I believe the Jungmann went to a 5th edition, but only the 2nd is available in English. You should also check out the Archdale King "The Liturgy of the Roman Church." Paul Bradshaw has some great stuff, too. Those are just off the top of my head. I like Klaus Gamber, too, and when I get home I'll compile a list of all the scholarly works I can think of for you.
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  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    "The Reform of the Roman Liturgy: Its Problems and Background," by Klaus Gamber is an excellent source. It went out of print by the original publisher for some years, but I was able to get a copy sometime back from Roman Catholic Books. They reprinted it, but I don't know if it is still available. It is well worth reading.
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  • IanWIanW
    Posts: 756
    Try Alcuin Reid, "The Organic Development of the Liturgy: The Principles of Liturgical Reform and Their Relation to the Twentieth-Century Liturgical Movement Prior to the Second Vatican Council."
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  • jpal
    Posts: 365
    The Jungmann, as stated before, is probably unmatched in its scope but also unfortunately outdated in some of his scholarship. However, a number of other studies can bring you up to date. I don't know how deep you want to dig, so these may or may not be useful to you.

    Christian Worship in East and West (Herman Wegman)
    The Origins of the Liturgical Year (Thomas J. Talley)
    The Origins of the Eucharistic Prayer (Enrico Mazza)
    A History of Liturgical Books from the Beginning to the Thirteenth Century (Eric Palazzo)
    The Wellspring of Worship (Jean Corbon)
    The Oxford History of Christian Worship (Wainwright & Tucker, eds.)
    Bradshaw's The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship might direct you to other sources.
    Cult and Controversy: The Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass (Nathan Mitchell) [caveat: useful for history, but I do not always agree with his conclusions]

    Jon
    Thanked by 3ClemensRomanus E_A_Fulhorst Jahaza
  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    Jon, that was most of the list I was compiling, lol. I too disagree with Mitchell, and Mazza too draws conclusions too readily.

    The Bradshaw is just the one I was thinking of, and has a very thorough list of sources.
  • Protasius
    Posts: 468
    At least the first book of Rationale divinorum officiorum is translated into english: The Symbolism of churches and church ornaments : a translation of the first book of the Rationale divinorum officiorum. It is also translated completely into french, Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Rational ou manuel des divins offices de Guillaume Durand.
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  • E_A_FulhorstE_A_Fulhorst
    Posts: 381
    Payday, so bought everything but the public domain stuff, Mitchell, and Mazza. Hurrah!
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