Between Memory and Hope: Readings on the Liturgical Year

by Maxwell E. Johnson (Editor)

This anthology surveys the development and theology of the liturgical year in the order of its historical From Sabbath to Sunday"; "From Passover to Pascha" (Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost); and "From Pascha to Parousia" (Epiphany, Christmas, and Advent). In addition, introductory essays on the meaning of the liturgical year and a short concluding section on the sanctoral cycle ("From Parousia to Persons") are also provided. While written as a companion to standard works in the field, beginning with graduate students in liturgy and seminarians, this book is intended for all - pastors, liturgists, catechists, religious educators - who seek to live according to the Church's theology of time as it is reflected in its calendar of feasts and seasons. Through feast and fast, through festival and preparation, the liturgical year celebrates the presence of the already crucified and risen Christ among us today. Between Memory and Hope shows that to live between past and future, between memory and hope, is to remember Christ's passion as we encounter his presence among us now and as we await his coming again in glory. Articles and their contributors are "The Liturgical Studies, Prospects, Reflections," by Robert F. Taft, SJ; "Liturgical Time in the Ancient The State of Research," by Thomas J. Talley; "Day of the Day of Mystery," by H. Boone Porter; " The Heart of the Liturgical Year," by Mark Seale; "The Frequency of the Celebration of the Eucharist Throughout History," by Robert F. Taft, SJ; "History and Eschatology in the Primitive Pascha," by Thomas J. Talley; "The Origins of Easter," by Paul F. Bradshaw; "The Three Days and the Forty Days," by Patrick Regan, OSB; "The Veneration of the Cross," by Patrick Regan, OSB; "Holy Week in the Byzantine Tradition," by Robert F. Taft, SJ; "The Origin of Lent at Alexandria," by Thomas J. Taley; "Preparation for Pascha? Lent in Christian Antiquity," by Maxwell E. Johnson; "The Fifty Days and the Fiftieth Day," by Patrick Regan, OSB; "Making the Most of Trinity Sunday," by Catherine Mowry LaCugna; "Constantine and Christmas," by Thomas J. Taley; "The Origins of The State of the Question," by Susan K. Roll; "The Appearance of the Light at the Baptism of Jesus and the Origins of the Feast of Epiphany," by Gabriele Winkler; "The Origins and Evolution of Advent," by Martin J. Connell; "On Feasting the Saints," by John F.Baldovin, SJ; "The Marian Liturgical Tradition," by Kilian McDonnell, OSB; "Forgetting and Remembering the Saints," by James F. White; "The One Mediator, the Saints, and a Lutheran Reflection," by Maxwell E. Johnson; and "The Liturgical Calendar for a Just Community," by John F. Baldovin, SJ.

480 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2000

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, along with "The Origins of Feasts, Fasts, and Seasons in Early Christianity," edited by Johnson and Bradshaw, both teachers at the University of Notre Dame (USA), flesh out the various practices and history of the liturgical/church/Christian year. There are twelve contributors in this volume in addition to the editors and twenty-three essays. After two introductory essays, there are groupings each with movement from and to--Sabbath/Sunday, Passover/Pascha, Pascha/Parousia, and Pascha/persons. Some information in the two volumes overlap in the early history essays; this one is 454 pages while my edition of "Origins" was 222 pages; and this edited volume suggests use in a graduate program.