Wednesday 17 July 2019

Proceedings of Fota XI, and other updates


A few recent things to mention. First, the proceedings of the 11th Fota International Liturgical Conference have just been published in Psallite Sapienter: The Liturgy of the Hours. Copies can be ordered from the Smenos Publications website, or via e-mail (smenosbooks AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk); I think they are €25 (plus postage). The collection of papers is, as always with the Fota volumes, very interesting, and anyone who has a particular interest in the Breviary/Divine Office will be well-rewarded by reading them.

On a personal note, this volume marks the occasion of my very first published article, "The Proposals for Reform of the Roman Breviary in the Antepreparatory Period of Vatican II (1959-1960)" (preview here). So, I'm pretty pleased about that! As I examined almost 700 of the 2,150 vota of the future Council Fathers, writing this paper was a lot of work, but I think it turned out well. I also gave a paper entitled "A Historical Survey of the Reform of De Benedictionibus (1959-1984)" at this year's Fota conference, which will be published next year as part of the proceedings.

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Secondly, there have been some new links added under the headings at the sides of this blog, including (among other things) some of the Latin typical editions of the liturgical books for the forma ordinaria, as well as a couple of additions to the Acta Synodalia and Acta et Documenta material. Of particular note is that all sixteen volumes of the antepreparatory material of Vatican II are now freely available online. As almost all of these volumes were originally printed sub secreto, they are very scarce. If you want to know what the opinions and wishes of the bishops were before the Council, these are the primary sources to consult in the first instance.

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Thirdly, I should mention that my most recent book, The Proper of Time in the Post-Vatican II Liturgical Reforms (preview here), is currently available from Amazon (US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain). The aim of the book is to allow easy comparison of the work of the Consilium on the prayers of the Missale Romanum with those found in the 1962 and 1970/2002 Missals. 


One of the various documents of Group 18 of the Consilium, Schema 186, deals with the reform of the orations contained in the Proper of Time of the Roman Missal, and gives draft texts for each day in this section. The Proper of Time in the Post-Vatican II Liturgical Reforms makes this corpus of prayers available for the first time and arranges it in parallel with the texts of the 1962 and 1970/2002 Missals. To aid in further study and research, each prayer is also keyed into the Corpus orationum, a collection of volumes that presents (in alphabetical order) every oration found in over 200 extant Latin liturgical books, and for each one gives its sources, uses and textual variations.

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Finally, I am currently working on the second printed volume of the Lectionary Study Aids series, the Index Psalmorum. This will comprise various comparative indices of the gradual chants and responsorial psalms/canticles from the OF and EF Missals, as well the various antiphons (introit, offertory, etc.). I am hoping that it will (finally!) be ready by Advent this year.