Liturgical Institute: Course Descriptions

This course treats the history of Christian sacramental theology by considering crucial theological issues, key theologians and major magisterial initiatives in different historical periods (patristic, medieval, Tridentine, and modern). The influence of modern biblical studies is evaluated. Students not only receive a survey of the sacramental practice of the Church in different historical periods, but are also equipped to understand the theological contributions which each period contributed to the Catholic understanding of the sacramental doctrine and practice.

Beauty is the splendor of truth, and the concept of the aesthetic refers to the experience of beauty. Theological aesthetics would then treat beauty as the manner in which God’s goodness gives itself and is understood as the truth. Special attention will be given to how this occurs in the liturgical life of the Church. After a general introduction, it considers theological aesthetics in the West (Thomas) and in the East (iconography).

The sacraments of initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist – guide a person into the life of Christ in the communion of the Church. The current Catholic rites of initiation are examined in their theological, historical, canonical, and practical aspects. In particular, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is studied in detail. Special attention is given to the patristic documents which constitute the foundation of the revised rites. The Eucharist is explored briefly as the sacrament which concludes Christian initiation.

The important juridical and pastoral aspects of the liturgy are covered in this study of book four, De ecclesiae munere sanctificandi, of the Church’s collection of laws and directives taken from the praenotanda and instructions of the various rites and liturgical actions. Principles for proper interpretation of liturgical law provide a solid pastoral foundation for the practical application of liturgical law and directives.

The place of music in human culture is examined from the perspective of a philosophy of aesthetics. The historic role of music in the elaboration of the mysteries of the Christian faith is explained. The official documents of the Church produced during the twentieth century are discussed in detail. The current musical structure of the Roman liturgy is explored, and practical principles for the advancement and management of liturgical music programs are proposed.

The Church’s liturgy has always existed in dynamic relationship with the complex currents of culture and history. The interplay between liturgy and culture is of considerable importance in Catholicism today. This course examines the Church’s liturgy in the light of social history, the humanities, and cultural theory. Attention is given to the influences of modernity and post-modernity on liturgical developments. The postconciliar agenda of inculturation in its various expressions is examined and evaluated, particularly through the writings of Anscar Chupungco.

The reforms of Vatican II called for greater consciousness of the importance of the Liturgy of the Word. The biblical concept “Word of God,” theologies of the word in patristic and modern theologians, and theological dimensions of proclamation are examined. The various means of biblical interpretation are introduced. Attention is given to the sacramental nature of the word of God. Liturgical documents dealing with the place of the lectionary and homiletics are examined in light of the relationship between word and rite in sacramental liturgy.

The Church’s theology of time is expressed and examined in this course, as context for celebrating the great mysteries of faith. The origins and developments of the major seasons and feasts of the Church year are explored. Emphasis is placed on the theology of Sunday. The development of the Liturgy of the Hours (both cathedral and monastic) is examined, as is the current shape of the Church’s rites for the Hours. The spirituality of the psalms is explored. The roles of Mary and the saints are also treated.

This study of Catholic doctrinal tradition draws upon patristic, medieval, and modern theologians to uncover the fundamental principles of sacramental theology. The nature of sacramental symbol, theories of sacramental causality and efficacy, the institution and number of the sacraments, and sacramental grace are examined in the context of an overarching Trinitarian, Christological, and ecclesial framework. Particular attention is paid to the renewed understanding of the role sacraments play in the economy of salvation.

The rites of matrimony and holy orders are examined from structural, theological, and historical perspectives. The complementary offices and duties (munera) within the Church are distinguished and described. The pastoral ministry of the ordained is seen in its ecclesiological context and purpose, with attention given to a proper understanding of hierarchy. Special attention is given to the sacramentality of marriage, a theology of sexuality, and the relationship between marriage and celibacy.

Symbol is the fundamental medium for religion and its ritual elaboration. The nature and function of symbol and ritual in liturgical worship is considered. The following are examined for their relevance to the understanding of Catholic worship: the phenomenology of religion; ritual anthropology; various theories of symbol; language theory. Particular attention is given to the manner in which modern symbolic studies provide an understanding of the scholastic maxim, “sacraments confer grace by signifying.”

As a complement to the Seven Sacraments, there are many other rituals and private devotions that build up the faith life of the Church. These include rites found in the Pontifical, the Book of Blessings, and the Book of Catholic Household Blessings. The role of devotion and popular piety in the past and the present will be examined by focusing on the example of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Students are introduced to the primary literary sources for Liturgiology and to various methods of approaching them that are found in secondary sources. The focus is on liturgical documents, although other documents pertaining to the liturgy will also be discussed. The time period under consideration extends from the first centuries of Christianity to the Second Vatican Council. Subsequent developments and contemporary liturgical documents are studied in other classes. Here students will be provided with a history of liturgical books and developments in liturgy as a means of more deeply appropriating the tradition that underlies the liturgical books in use today.

The two “sacraments of healing” – anointing of the sick and penance – are covered in this course. An examination of the origin and development of the sacrament of penance sheds light on the Church’s revised rites and their theological underpinnings. The rites of the Church’s sacramental ministry to the sick and dying, and her funeral liturgy, are placed in the context of an anthropology which expresses the paschal character and eschatological significance of a Christian’s illness and death.

The course provides a comprehensive look at the meaning of liturgy in the whole Christian life and doctrine. The sacramental celebration of the paschal mystery is the foundational source for the spiritual life and the theology of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, this class studies, from the perspective of liturgy, topics traditionally assigned to systematic theology (Trinity, Christology, ecclesiology, anthropology, creation, and eschatology), and topics traditionally associated with spirituality (the mystical tradition, classic spiritual writers, monastic and lay movements, and the lives of the saints).

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the rites and practices of non-Roman western Christian traditions (Anglican and other select Protestant groups), and to the liturgy as celebrated by eastern Christian communities (both Catholic and Orthodox). The origin and historical development of these traditions is considered. Particular attention is given both to distinctive theological themes within these rites and to the manner in which the renewal of western Catholic liturgy is occurring today as a result of contact with the theology and practice of the East.

Classic Eucharistic polemics are explored in context: among them sacrifice, communion, epiclesis, memorial, veneration outside Mass, and the foundation of liturgical ministries. Particular attention is paid to Eucharistic controversies regarding the Real Presence of Christ, and an exploration is made of the various theoretical explanations the Church has used to express this dogma of faith. The Church is considered as a Eucharistic community. Ecumenical considerations are also treated.

This course focuses on the liturgical movement as it developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Students will also study its influence upon the teachings of the magisterium and the Second Vatican Council. Finally, the vicissitudes of the movement in recent years will be studied.

This class begins with a study of the origins of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. It follows the historical development of Eucharistic worship in the patristic period and the middle ages. The revision of the Roman rite following the Council of Trent is considered, along with the transition to the 1970 missal. Finally students will study the Missale Romanum of 2002 in detail, as well as questions regarding translation of liturgical texts. Knowledge of Latin is recommended but not required.

THE HISTORY AND SPIRITUALITY OF THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM LI557
Boughton 3 credits

Pope Benedict XVI’s assurance in the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum that every Roman Rite priest may offer the Eucharist and other sacraments according to the form of the rite that was preeminent prior to 1969, provides new opportunities for people to encounter a manner of worship that represents two millennia of exegetical reflection and theological contemplation. Now designated as the “extraordinary” form of the Roman Rite, the Mass that serves as the rite’s liturgical center requires careful consideration. The constituent structures of this eucharistic liturgy’s ordo missae, the content of its ecclesiastical propers, its protocols for integrating biblical readings and antiphons, and the complex character of its multiple eucharistic prefaces and single eucharistic prayer (Roman Canon) preserve a form of liturgical celebration that was already well-established in Europe and North Africa before the 5th century. Subtle but meaningful refinements in this liturgy were implemented by Popes Gregory the Great (7th century), Innocent III (13th century), Pius V (16th century) and, at the start of the Second Vatican Council, John XXIII (1962). In a two-part course that considers the history and spirituality of the Mass of the Roman Rite in its extraordinary form, students will examine the theological foundations and tangible traditions within the Mass whose antiquity and subsequent centuries of celebration on every continent testify to the capacity of liturgy to transcend historical epochs and cultural divisions.

Practical and theological questions regarding the collaboration of the non-ordained faithful in the priests’ sacred ministry are discussed and examined. Students will study the liturgical and para-liturgical rites at which laity may preside, and the procedures and preparation required for these celebrations. Also treated are the practical matters of organizing and overseeing the liturgical life of a diocese, parish, community, or other Catholic institution, including the training and oversight of lay liturgical ministry and the organization and operation of an office of worship.

The required courses, History of Christian Thought I-IV, parallel the periods of major development in liturgical and sacramental theology and provide an indispensable basis for theology of the sacraments. In collaboration with the professor of each course and/or with the Director of the Liturgical Institute, LI students seeking an S.T.L. will structure research topics in keeping with the sacramental concentration of the program.

This course will examine Christology, Doctrine of God, and Theological Anthropology in the New Testament to see how these are in the earliest traditions of the Church. With that as a background, students will then examine the writings of the Apostolic Fathers and the Apologists to see how these developed in the second century of Christianity.

Liturgical Institute students, with a concentration in sacramental theology, will focus their research in order to examine the data of the Old and New Testaments as the biblical foundation of Christian sacraments and to explore the texts and traditional practices that provide the liturgical framework of the apostolic-era Church.

This course will explore the works of five of the most important and influential Christian theologians of the twentieth century: Barth, Tillich, von Balthasar, Rahner, and Lonergan. We will read major texts of each of these figures, concentrating on questions of theological method, the relationship between religion and culture, the knowability of God, the rapport between philosophy and faith, theological anthropology and the centrality of Christ.

This course is a close examination of the development of the Catholic Tradition in both the East and West from 200 to 800 ad. Emphasis is placed on a critical reading of texts from significant authors that highlight the major themes of Christology, Trinitarian Theology, and Theological Anthropology. The texts are set in context of the general history of the Christian Church during these centuries, including Christianity’s encounter with the rise of Islam.

Since the patristic era is considered to have exhibited the most integrated sacramental consciousness of any period in Christian history, students with a concentration in sacramental theology will be directed to study the constellation of sacramental themes in the early Greek and Latin Fathers in the context of the liturgical practice and liturgical/mystagogical preaching of the time. They may consider Fathers such as Augustine, John Chrysostom, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Maximus the Confessor. Their study may be enhanced by study of the manner in which patristic sacramental thought informed modern liturgical renewal and the work of theologians such as Jean Danielou, Odo Casel, Romano Guardini, and Louis Bouyer.

This course will study the development of Christology, Trinitarian Theology, and Christian Anthropology from 800 to 1500 through the texts of major authors, including John the Scot, Anselm, Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen, Abelard, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, Meister Eckhart, and Nicholas of Cusa. Attention will be given to the way in which the understanding of Christ shapes the interpretations of God and the human person.

Liturgical Institute students will be directed in their research to consider the development of sacramental doctrine and liturgical practice during the Middle Ages, in particular with regard to the Holy Eucharist. Key theologians to be considered include Hugh of St. Victor, Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas, and Nicholas Cabasilas. Other areas of research might focus on the appropriation of theological developments by the Council of Florence and the Fourth Lateran Council, as well as differences in sacramental theology between the East and the West.

This course will examine questions in Christian Anthropology, Christology and the Doctrine of God raised during the 16^th and 17^th centuries as they appear in the works of the Reformers (Luther and Calvin in particular), in the Catholic response at the Council of Trent, and in the confessional statements of the Reformation. It will also consider the post-Tridentine Catholic controversies regarding grace.

Students with a concentration in sacramental theology will focus their research on an area that treats, for example, the sacramental thought and liturgical practice of the most prominent Protestant founders, or on the sacramental doctrine of the Council of Trent and key figures of the Counter-Reformation, articulated in response to the Reformers.

This course will examine selected authors who have made an important contribution to Christian Theology in the present day.

A review of twentieth-century developments in sacramental theology and practice is given. The influences of Mediator Dei and Sacrosanctum Concilium are examined. The liturgical theology of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is reviewed. Particular attention is given to the transition to the 1970 Missale Romanum, and issues regarding its subsequent revision and translation into the vernacular.

A student seeking an S.T.L. with a concentration in sacramental theology must complete five 3-credit electives in addition to the required Licentiate curriculum.


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