Sanctification of Time

Orthodox Liturgy of the Hours and Liturgical Year

Required Course Readings

Required readings – liturgical texts, articles and book extracts – will be provided via the course portal, which students can choose to view online or download and print.

Prepublication Book

We will be making use during the course of this soon-to-be-published book.

Recommended Books

The following books are recommended for this course, both to supplement in-class / online discussion and for the preparation of the short essay / presentation and seminar discussion.

  • George Barrois, Scripture Readings in Orthodox Worship (SVS Press)
  • Paul Bradshaw, Daily Prayer in the Early Church: A Study of the Origin and Early Development of the Divine Office (Wipf & Stock)
  • Paul Bradshaw and Maxwell Johnson, The Origins of Feasts, Fasts and Seasons in Early Christianity (SPCK)
  • Alkiviadis Calivas, Great Week and Pascha in the Greek Orthodox Churchand Come Before God (both Holy Cross Press)
  • Job Getcha, The Typikon Decoded: An Explanation of Byzantine Liturgical Practice (SVS Press)
  • Lev Gillet (A Monk of the Eastern Church), The Year of Grace of the Lord (SVS Press)
  • George Guiver, Company of Voices: Daily Prayer and the People of God (SPCK)
  • Thomas Hopko, The Lenten Springand The Winter Pascha (both SVS Press)
  • William Mills, Feasts of Faith: Reflections on the Major Feast Days (Holy Transfiguration Monastery)
  • Alexander Schmemann, Liturgy and Life; Great Lent; Introduction to Liturgical Theology (all SVS Press)
  • James K.A. Smith, How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now (Brazos Press)
  • Robert Taft, The Byzantine Rite: A Short History (Liturgical Press)
  • Robert Taft, Beyond East and West: Problems in Liturgical Understanding (Pontifical Oriental Institute)
  • Robert Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West, 2nd edition (Liturgical Press)
  • Thomas Talley, The Origins of the Liturgical Year (Liturgical Press)
  • Nicholas Uspensky, Evening Worship in the Orthodox Church (SVS Press)
  • Gregory Woolfenden, Daily Liturgical Prayer: Origins and Theology (Ashgate)

Week 1: Introduction to the Course

Topics

  • course overview, syllabus, reading list, expectations
  • glossary and resources
  • the worshipping church
  • time and the ‘sanctification of time’

Readings

Supplementary Readings

Week 2: The Liturgy of the Hours in the ‘Byzantine’ rite today

Topics

  • the five ‘cycles’ and overview of the main service books
  • the purpose of the Liturgy of the Hours
  • the structure of Vespers and Mattins (in the ‘All-Night Vigil’)

Readings

Alternative Readings

  • Bradshaw, Daily Prayer in the Early Church: A Study of the Origin and Early Development of the Divine Office, pp 1-46

Supplementary Readings

Service Books

The following service books will be discussed in class. 

  • Biblical books:
    • Psalter (book of Psalms, divided into kathismata and stases, and Biblical odes)
    • Evangelion (book of gospels)
    • Apostolos (book of Acts and all the epistles)
    • Prophetologion (book of all the appointed Old Testament readings)
  • Fixed parts of the services:
  • Changing parts of the services:
    • Menaion (books of the months, services appointed for celebrations on every date of the calendar)
    • Lenten Triodion (services of the pre-Lenten and Lenten periods, and holy week)
    • Pentecostarion (services of Pascha through to Pentecost and All Saints)
    • Octoechos (books of the eight tones, cycle of 56 days)
  • Instructions:

Week 3: Formation of the tradition and emergence of the ‘Byzantine’ rite

Topics

  • prayer in the New Testament and its Jewish background
  • daily prayer in the first three centuries of the church
  • cathedral office from the fourth century
  • monastic office from the fourth century
  • monastic versus cathedral structures
  • development and synthesis of the ‘Byzantine’ rite daily offices

Readings

Alternative Readings

Week 4: Theology of the Liturgy of the Hours

Topics

  • review and further consideration of the development and synthesis of the ‘Byzantine rite’ liturgy of the hours
  • toward a theology of the liturgy of the hours
  • the liturgy of the hours as the church’s school of prayer
  • contemporary issues and liturgical renewal
  • psalm/canticle presentations

Readings

Theology of the Liturgy of the Hours

Renewal of the Liturgy of the Hours

Extending the Liturgy of the Hours to the Home

Supplementary Readings

Week 5: The Liturgy of the Hours in Other Eastern Rites

Topics

  • review and further consideration of Liturgy of the Hours theology and contemporary issues
  • guest lecture on Liturgy of the Hours in other eastern traditions (eg Armenian, Assyro-Chaldean, West-Syrian and Maronite, Coptic and Ethiopian)
  • psalm/canticle presentations

Reading

Sources for the Oriental Orthodox Liturgy of the Hours

    Coptic Horlogion (Agpeya)

     Assyrian (Book of the Hours) [Monastic/Cathedral Form]

    Assyrian (Common book) [Simplified Pastoral Form]

Week 6: The Church Year

Topics

  • theology of the liturgical year: sacramentality of time, Christ as salvation history, and eschatology and history
  • historical development of the liturgical year
  • the development of the lectionary and main service books
  • calendar reforms and controversies

Reading – Theology of the Church Year

Reading – Lectionary

Reading – Church Calendar Reforms and Controversies

Supplementary Readings

Week 7: Lent and Holy Week

Topics

  • overview of services and themes (including seminar presentations):
    • pre-Lent and Lenten period
    • the feast of the Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday)
    • holy week
    • great and holy Friday
    • great and holy Saturday

Readings

Supplementary Readings

Presentations

  • Arjun Arulampalam: Lazarus Saturday

Week 8: Pascha, Bright Week, Pentecost, and Beyond

Topics

  • Pascha
  • pastoral and liturgical problematics of Holy Week and Pascha
  • overview of services and themes (including seminar presentations):
    • the period of Pentecost (Bright Week, Sundays of Pentecost, Mid-Pentecost)
    • the feast of Ascension
    • the feast of Pentecost
    • the feast of All Saints
    • the Sundays after Pentecost

Readings

Supplementary Readings

Anti-Jewish Liturgical Texts

This is a subject discussed at length in the Salvation is from the Jews: Christianity and Judaism in Theological Perspective and Dialogue course. It will only be discussed in passing during this week’s class. For those who were not in that course, the following video may be helpful:

Week 9: The Feasts of the Lord: Nativity, Theophany, Transfiguration, Exaltation of the Cross

Topics

  • overview of services and themes (including seminar presentations):
    • Advent fast
    • the feast of the Nativity (Christmas)
    • the feast of Theophany
    • the feast of the Transfiguration
    • the feast of the Elevation of the Cross

Readings

Week 10: The Feasts of the Lord: Nativity, Theophany, Transfiguration, Exaltation of the Cross

Topics

  • overview of services and themes (including seminar presentations):
    • the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos
    • the feast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple
    • the feast of the Meeting of the Lord (the Purification of the Theotokos) also known as Candlemas
    • the feast of Annunciation to the Theotokos
    • the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos

Readings

Week 11: The Commemoration of Saints

Topics

  • communion of the saints
  • services and themes of principal saints’ commemorations throughout the year (including seminar presentations)

Readings

Presentation

  • Cornelius Swart: St John of the Ladder

Week 12: Course Review

Topics

  • review of course themes and preparation for the final exam
  • further reflection on renewal of the celebration of the cycles of Orthodox services today

Case Study of Liturgical Renewal

  • Recording of online seminar:

Readings

Further Reading