History of the Liturgy: The Major Stages

By Marcel Metzger

Book Overview

How great the differences between the Last Supper celebrated by Jesus and a pontifical High Mass at St. Peter's in Rome And also, between the early baptisms by immersion described in the Acts of the Apostles and the baptisms of newborns in our parishes today. Why such a change in the celebration of the Christian mystery? Why the recent reforms, often misunderstood? In History of the Liturgy, Marcel Metzger answers such questions and offers an understanding of this evolution through a carefully documented historical survey.

The essential forms of the liturgy were fixed very early according to the tradition received from the apostles. But the place given to biblical readings, teaching, singing, and ritual has varied in the course of the centuries.

In History of the Liturgy, Metzger describes the most important phases of these changes. In describing the first millennium, he focuses on liturgy's essentials common to the Eastern and Western Churches. In describing the second millennium, he explains the deviations of the Western Churches which called for the effort of reform and renewal begun by Vatican II.

Metzger studies the development of the liturgical institutions and distinguishes liturgy's five main stages that correspond to the situations of the Churches in ancient, medieval, and modern societies. He begins by focusing on the apostolic period, roughly the first century of our era, until the death of the apostles. He follows by studying the period of minorities and semi-clan destiny until the beginning of the fourth century. He then focuses on the Peace of the Church," which grants public status to the churches in the Empire, fosters their growth, and organizes the collaboration between Empire and Church. The work concludes by studying the stability, rigidity, renewals, and reforms of the Roman liturgy, from the end of the Middle Ages to Vatican II.

This clear and accurate survey of the history of liturgy is designed to awaken readers' interest, on a solid yet introductory level, in the realities that have made and still make up the Church's liturgical life: assemblies, Eucharist, baptism, reconciliation, dally praise, the Church's calendar, and its architecture.

In History of the Liturgy, Metzger stresses that if history is the teacher of life, the eyes of Christian faith allow us to recognize in it as well the mysterious presence of God, who, through the Spirit, guides his people. And this happens, above all, in the liturgy.

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814624332
• ISBN13: 9780814624333
• Release Date: July 1997
• Publisher: Liturgical Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A Simple but Well Done Primer

This little volume is written by a Roman Catholic from a Roman point of view but will be of interest to anyone interested in the development of Christian liturgy. It does no go over much into a description of the conduct of the rites themselves but instead describes their context, what prompted various practices and how those practices changed over time. After a brief introduction, the author breaks his narrative into several distinct phases. These include Apostolic times, the period before Christianity was tolerated, the period when Christianity became "Official", and the later medieval period. Some information is given on the Vatican II reforms but this is not a major part of the book. Likewise, some attention is given to Eastern Orthodox practice early on but this subsides with the historical schism of the church and Easter rites are mentioned only in passing later on. Very little will be found in here on Protestant practices but that does not stop the book from being useful to Protestants with an interest in liturgy. In the first place, it is well written and in the second, most of what is examined comes from a common heritage before the Reformation. There will even be found a few snippets that would seem to favor some modern Protestant practice over current Roman practice though they are not presented in this manner. (Unction comes immediately to mind.) This volume does not presuppose a high level of training. Any person who has a basic familiarity with the practices of Christian worship should be able to follow along.