The Traditional Use of “Incensi” among the Annang People: Liturgical Opportunities and Challenges in Ikot Ekpene Catholic Diocese, Nigeria

Almost every major world religion and tribal spiritualities light plant parts in worship to seek greater connection to the divine. Incense is defined as a material that is burned to produce an odour which is also referred to as the perfume itself that is produced from the burning of plant. Many people light incense sticks in their homes just for the sweet smell and the ability it has to transform space. Others too in our world today may have a stigma connecting incense sticks and illegal drug use. Many of us who have been Catholics may have witnessed the swinging of censers, filling the Church with sweet-smelling resins. The tradition of using incense in the liturgy goes back to ancient Hebrew worship, as recorded in the Psalms: “Let my prayer be set forth in Thy sight as the incense” (Ps 141:2). Incense as often used as part of a purification ritual seems to have lost its symbolisms and proper use of it in the Church as well as the decline of its use. The real problem here is that many faithful hardly know the real reason and purpose why incense is an important part of the Catholic Mass. Do people fully understand the use and symbolism of incense during the liturgical celebrations? Do the traditional use of incense offers some opportunities or challenges in the Church liturgical rites? The purpose of this study is to investigate, stimulate and sensitize the Church and all the Christian faithful of the symbolism of incense which have become optional or none use and to take effective action in reclaiming the lost symbolism and proper use of incense. Perhaps a better understanding of the traditional use of incense may help or enhance the use and importance of the symbolism of incense in our liturgical celebrations. Maybe some elements found in the traditional use of incense, the Sacred Scripture and the Church’s practice may enrich and recover the lost symbolism of incense. And may be by organizing Liturgical Seminars/workshops to seminarians and young religious in formation houses it may address the essential elements in the way incense is use.

The Anaphora of Mar Theodore

In this article, Fr. Francis Pittappillil critically analyses the structure, content and theology of the Qudasha (Anaphora) of Mar Theodore. According to the East Syrian tradition, the Second Qudasha is celebrated from the first Sunday of the period of Annunciation to the Palm Sunday. Although the theological thoughts of Mar Theodore were viewed with suspicion in the past, the opinion of modern theologians is that they are orthodox in theology and doctrine. The Second Order Qudasha is notable for its Semitic character, biblical usages, and developed theological ideas. Since this Qudasha contains typical East Syrian theological and liturgical elements, we can conclude that Qudasha of Mar Theodore is an East Syrian in origin and content. The special characteristic of this Qudasha is its developed theological reflection and structural organization. The Christological, ecclesiological, pneumatological and Eucharistic ideas in the Qudasha of Mar Theodore are very faithful to the teachings of the Sacred Scripture. Fr. Francis Pittappillil affirms that the Second Qudasha, being a theologically well developed Eucharistic prayer, is very helpful for the proclamation of the faith.

Teaching Romans 7 after Trent: Michael Baius and his Lecture Hall on Concupiscence and Original Sin in Early Modern Louvain (1552–1589)

This article introduces a new corpus of sources relevant to the sixteenth-century Baianist controversy at the University of Louvain: student notes made during Michael Baius’ lectures on the Bible during the 1560s. The commentary on Romans 7 taught by the Royal Professor of Sacred Scripture contains a discussion on the sinfulness of concupiscence, the effect of the Fall driving humankind to sin. A contested concept between Catholics and Protestants, the nature of concupiscentia also lies at the core of debates on the orthodoxy of Baius’ justification theology, both early modern and more recent. The professor’s lecture on Romans 7 is analysed against his published treatises, the censures (1565–1567) and papal bull (1567) condemning certain propositions as heretical, and the Tridentine Decree on Original Sin (1546). While Baius’ Augustinian revaluation of humanity’s wounded nature (natura viciata) moved away from the Thomistic conception of concupiscence as innate, but disordered, he did respect the boundaries set by the Council of Trent. Indeed, Baius taught his positive theology in the interstices between the educational application of the Tridentine Decrees and the gradual assertion of dominance by a renewed Thomism in Catholic orthodoxy. I argue that such a historical reading of Baius’ ideas is the key to avoid the earlier dogmatic assessments of his theology.

Vision, Worship, and the Transmutation of the Vedas into Sacred Scripture. The Publication of Bhagavān Vedaḥ in 1970

This article discusses the first Indian compilation of the four Vedic Saṃhitās into a printed book in the year 1971 entitled “Bhagavān Vedaḥ.” This endeavor was the life’s mission of an udāsīn ascetic called Guru Gaṅgeśvarānand Mahārāj (1881–1992) who in the year 1968 founded the “Gaṅgeśvar Caturved Sansthān” in Bombay and appointed one of his main disciples, Svāmī Ānand Bhāskarānand, to oversee the publication of the book. His main motivation was to have a physical representation of the Vedas for Hindus to be able to have the darśana (auspicious sight) of the Vedas and worship them in book form. This contribution explores the institutions and individuals involved in the editorial work and its dissemination, and zooms into the processes that allowed for the transition from orality to print culture, and ultimately what it means when the Vedas are materialized into “the book of the Hindus.”

Sant Nabha Dass and His Life

Saint Nabha Dass was a great Saint and theologian. He was earlier called Narayan Das as Goswami Nabha Das He was also contemporary Goswami Tulsi Das had written epic the Ramayana. He was a hindi poet saint reformer and phiiosher from Ramandi Samperdaya. In the lineage of Ramanand Acharya renowed from his devotion to the lord Shri Rama. A composer of the several popular work, he is best known as the author of the Bhaktmal which is the history Bhakti Sahitra. Guru Nabha Das was a Saint, theologian and author of Holy Scripture, The Bhagat Maal, in this sacred Scripture, Nabha Das wrote the life history of almost every saint ranging from satyug to the Kalyug era.

“Onde está o teu irmão?” (Gn 4,9)

A narrativa bíblica nos mostra que, desde o início da história da humanidade, o pecado fez sentir, de diversas formas, a sua força destruidora. O assassinato de Abel por seu irmão Caim é um dos exemplos de como a Terra, lugar onde o homem habita e constrói suas relações, tornou-se o lugar do conflito ao invés de lugar da comunhão proposta por Deus. Vemos este mesmo cenário em nossos dias, fomentado por uma cosmovisão dialética, que cria conflitos e produz destruição. Somos chamados, como cristãos, a compreender essa realidade e, partindo de Cristo, dar uma resposta que possa incidir sobre ela, a fim de cooperar com a redenção desejada por Jesus para a humanidade. Este artigo pretende analisar as implicações morais em torno das relações fraternas, as raízes remotas e próximas dessa situação conflitiva, ver como podemos compreender esses elementos a partir da Sagrada Escritura e, por fim, como a revelação nos ajuda a responder a este mal. Abstract: The biblical narrative shows us that, since the beginning of human history, sin has made its destructive force felt in different ways. The murder of Abel by his brother Cain is one example of how the Earth, the place where man lives and builds his relationships, became the place of conflict rather than the place of communion proposed by God. We see this same scenario today, fostered by a dialectical worldview, which creates conflict and produces destruction. We are called, as Christians, to understand this reality and, starting from Christ, to give an answer that can influence it in order to cooperate with the redemption desired by Jesus for humanity. This article intends to analyse the moral implications around fraternal relationships, the remote and close roots of this conflicting situation, how we can understand these elements from Sacred Scripture and, finally, how revelation helps us to respond to this evil.

Revelation and Cosmology

Revelation takes many forms. The Book of Wisdom tells us that God reveals himself through the natural world: ‘From the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator’ (Wis. 13:5). St Paul echoes this in Rom. 1:20, where he says that God’s eternal power and divine nature, though invisible, are ‘seen through the things he has made’. This is called ‘natural revelation’. Christians believe that God has also revealed himself supernaturally, first through the prophets and definitively through the Incarnation. The Catholic Church teaches that this revelation has been given to the Church and that its content is to be found both in Sacred Scripture and in Sacred Tradition. This chapter will refer to that which has been supernaturally revealed as ‘divine revelation’. The topic of revelation and cosmology can be divided into two kinds of question, both of which will be discussed in this chapter. First, what does divine revelation teach us about the cosmos? Secondly Second, in what ways does the cosmos itself reveal something about God?