Update on Archived Articles

St. Michael the Archangel

An observant reader notes that some of the links do not work. Thank you for your note, they are now fixed.

Once again, you can find a few recently digitized and archived files in .pdf form at the website. Scroll down the main page to find them. When you click on the page links they automatically download to your computer so you will need to check your download file on your computer to find them.

Hope this helps. Thank you for your interest.

Fr. May

Archived Articles

St. Wenceslaus
28 September

Some archived articles are now available at the website in .pdf format. Scroll down below the announcement of the annual meeting to find them. Below is a copy of what is now archived and available:

ARCHIVE of past articles, essays, etc.:
About Being Lutheran, VII: The Holy Catholic Church
(Vol. 12, No. 1)page 20
Angels: Messengers of God by the Rev. George A. Maloney, S.J.
(Vol. 14, No. 4) page 5, page 6, page 7,page 8, page 9, page 10, page 11
Holy Absolution by the Rev. Arthur Carl Piepkorn
(Vol 16, No. 2) page 5, page 6
The Sign of the Cross (Vol. 2, No. 1; Incarnate Word Tract Series, No.3)
page 30, page 31

De Ecclesiasticis Officiis

Recently I picked up a recent English translation of the Latin, De Ecclesiasticis Officiis by Isidore of Seville (c. 560 - 636). This writing would be of most interest to those interested in liturgical history and the education of clergy, which are two emphases of Isidore here. The reason for these emphases was the Visigoths had recently converted from Arianism to Orthodoxy and Isidore was responsible for moving toward ending the remaining influences of Arianism.

The Mozarabic Rite, or "the old Spanish liturgy" (Fortescue), is one of the western Rites that pre-dates the Roman Rite. Although this Rite is in limited use today the history and practice of this Rite is helpful in understanding the development of the eucharistic liturgy. Book I describes the liturgy. Book II describes the office of clerics and other offices of the Church. The translation includes notes and a selected bibliography at the end.

Isidore is writing for the Church. Those interested in the history and development of the liturgy and the offices of the Church and how both continued in difficult times should read this book.

Looking Back - Holy Absolution (1992)

The following two images are copies of an article on Holy Absolution by the Rev. Arthur Carl Piepkorn. This article was reprinted in The Bride of Christ: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgical Renewal Volume XVI, No. 2 Resurrection 1992.

As promised, copied articles, essays, etc. from previous issues of The Bride of Christ will be shared via this forum under the heading "Looking Back." The articles chosen will be taken from issues from the earliest to the latest days of the journal and will reflect a wide variety of topics that have been addressed by the journal and her authors throughout the years.

As the editor of the journal, it is my hope that these reprints will help not only to catechize and encourage you and other Lutherans toward liturgical renewal in evangelical faithfulness to the catholic tradition but also spur future publication of the same journal.

In Christ,

Fr. Tim May

The Rev. Timothy D. May, Editor
The Bride of Christ: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgical Renewal

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Holy Absolution
The Rev. Arthur Carl Piepkorn

Liturgical Piety

Within Christianity, when a different church body or denomination is raised in discussion, often similarities and differences are brought up or highlighted in terms of particular practices of piety and acts of devotion. This is also the case among those within one's own church body or denomination who differ on these matters.

When liturgical piety is attacked or undermined within church bodies that are historically liturgical it may be due to the questioning of acts of piety or a questioning of the essence of the liturgy itself. Whole movements within and outside of Christianity have arisen over the centuries in opposition to the liturgy. Charges of "ritualization" or "hyper-ritualization" are raised. The liturgy may be characterized in different ways and minimized as mere aesthetics (which implies that action is disconnected from the faith; worship is but public "show").

Is it rationalism? Is the liturgy now defined by the social sciences? The Scripture and the Church's tradition dare root the practice of liturgy in the Church's prayer. In the Christian tradition the liturgical direction is toward Christ in the Eucharist on the altar where the Lord's death is proclaimed. Even the preached Word leads to the altar.

When the liturgy and liturgical piety are attacked or undermined this may be due to a desire for new and exciting trends and fads, a desire to follow after movements or groups who do not follow the practices of the historic liturgy or a misunderstanding or rejection of the focus and spirit of the liturgy - that is the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

Liturgical piety is best practiced in the light of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church and her Tradition. The handing over of the deposit of faith takes place in the Church and is prayed in the liturgy. The Church believes, teaches and confesses what she prays and what she passes on to the faithful.

Rejection of the liturgy and acts of liturgical piety, even if we ourselves are not comfortable with such, is a conscious or unconscious rejection of the continuity of the faith. We do best to uphold the distinct nature of the liturgy and return to an appreciation of the essence of liturgical piety as is summarized in the lex orandi, lex credendi.

Lutheran Liturgical Renewal

Lutheran liturgical renewal is both evangelical and catholic. "Evangelical" here does not mean a style/substance move toward less "ritual" and toward "user friendly" and minimalistic and entertaining worship. Rather, Lutheran liturgical renewal is a move toward what is truly catholic, as is found in the historic liturgy, where the "evangel," ie, the faith, is delivered to the saints. This means that Lutheran liturgical renewal is not bound by the Reformation nor the Englightenment and that which came later, nor even that which has prevailed in the West as a result of Vatican II, but rather it demonstrates an appreciation of the catholic continuity in the liturgy that is found in Scripture and in the early church and is today also shared in greater part with the Church catholic throughout the world. Lutheran liturgical renewal upholds the lex orandi, lex credendi.

Liturgical Renewal

Liturgical Renewal . . .
- begins and ends with God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost
- is in Christ through the Word and Sacraments
- is in Christ in the ministry of the Church (ministerium Ecclesiasticum)
i.e., bishop, priest, deacon (the scriptural and traditional order)
more to come . . .