The orthodox liturgical year and its theological structure

The concept of ‘liturgical year’ indicates a reference to the meaning of the measuring units of civil time, and especially to the cosmic entities that determine the general rhythm of time – the sun and the moon. Interestingly, the liturgical time depends both on the structure of civil time, and, on the two discrete systems of the solar and lunar cycles, which have always been underpinnings of time measuring. The special importance and influence that the cosmical rhythms exert on the entire human life are also felt in the structure and theology of the liturgical time, where it signals the attempt to merge and reconcile the cosmical solar and lunar cycles within the liturgical year. This leads to a unique theology, expressing the powerful synthesis of the variability of the lunar cycle compared to the structure of the solar year’s fixed dates.Contribution: This research reveals the unique orthodox perspective on both civil and liturgical time, expressing their profound theological meaning, as a conscious, permanent reflection upon the mysterious, yet real, presence of Christ in the divine services of the Church.

A Phenomenology of the Liturgy of Maundy Thursday

In this article, I propose a phenomenological analysis of the liturgy of Maundy Thursday, as it is celebrated in the contemporary Anglican Church of Canada. As an example of liturgy, Maundy Thursday is particularly generative for phenomenological description because of its affective range and drama. A participant in the liturgy is given the opportunity to experience a combination of grief, lament, remorse, joy, thanksgiving, kindness and compassion, care for the body, vulnerability and humility, as well as fear and confusion. Situated on the threshold between Lent and Easter, it is a richly complex moment in the liturgical year and combines, in a creative and affective tension, celebration with mourning, order with chaos, and love and service with betrayal and repentance.

Disputed Ceremonies and the Liturgical Year

Chapter 8 extends this analysis of the conformity of the Reformed Conformists, by establishing that they found spiritual value in the distinctive liturgical provisions of the Prayer Book. The chapter shows that Morton’s defence of three controversial English liturgical provisions did not merely defend them on the grounds of obedience, but also ascribed positive religious value to them, as parts of God’s worship. Featley’s Ancilla made the same point in relation to the liturgical year and Holdsworth in relation to the Lent Fast, an institution that distinguished the Church of England from the other Protestant churches of Europe. The chapter then uses Featley and Prideaux’s polemically inspired collections of sermons to demonstrate that Reformed Conformists believed the liturgical year might be profitably used by the faithful, and so become an instrument of divine predestination and a vehicle for Christian assurance.

The Nutrition of the Kyiv Theological Academy Students (1819–1869)

The article depicts the peculiarities of Kyiv Theological Academy students’ nutrition in the years of 1834–1863. The investigation uses documents from the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kyiv. These are mainly monthly and annual economic reports which inform about the filling of the student’s menu during the year and logs of behavior, where the inspector recorded deviations from the rules by students. Archival documents help to illuminate aspects connected to the nutrition of students of Kyiv Theological Academy. The ego-documents of graduates, notes, instructions of rectors, economists, and inspectors of the educational institution are extremely important.Attention is paid to regulatory requirements on food that are in the “Statut” of the theological academies. The Nutrition of students in Kyiv Theological Academy depended on many aspects and did not remain stable during 1819–1869. The students could diversify their diet at their own expense. The student menu was considered, and an attempt was made to analyze the changes that occurred with the filling of the student menu during these years. Also the paper describes how the diet changed depending on the period of the liturgical year. The traditions of informal students’ meetings and the use of prohibited (alcohol) and permitted (tea) drinks by the students are considered.Special attention is paid to the question of the diet and nutrition value of products for students. Сalculations are approximate, but there are reasons to conclude that the food energy value was enough for the students’ nutrition in the Academy at least on ferias.

Wielkotygodniowe inspiracje w hymnografii Zaśnięcia Bogurodzicy

Dormition of the Mother of God is one of the most solemnly celebrated feasts in the Orthodox liturgical year. It has a rich hymnography, including an additional rite of the Funeral of the Mother of God. The texts of the feast are largely inspired by the hymnography of the Holy Week, and especially Holy Saturday. This paper presents, on the example of the feast of the Dormition, a general phenomenon of intertextuality in hymnography. Mutual interpenetration of hymns appears in the context of many feasts and many saints.

Mistyczne znaczenie pokarmu

The article attempts to present the mystical meaning of food. Through food, the bond between God and man is broken, through food, which is the Eucharist, this bond is restored. Moreover, during the liturgical year, the Church sanctifies the matter and the whole world in the rites of blessing the food and produce of the earth.

Preambles: Time and the Prayer Book

The “prelims” of the Book of Common Prayer include a number of tables, rules, schedules, and lists. All of these are necessary for specifying components of Divine Service that vary from day to day, most importantly the reading and recitation of passages from Christian scripture. The specification is significant in two ways, which this chapter will discuss. On the one hand, the various instructions situate Prayer Book worship in time, and more particularly within the annual sequence of holydays and seasons known as the ecclesiastical or liturgical year. On the other hand, they define the relation of the Book of Common Prayer to the still more sacred text of the Bible.