"'I love the Lord, He heard my cry, ' Deacon cries out as the newly gathered congregation, now seated in their pews, echoes his words in a plaintive tune". Thus begins the Devotional at St. John Progressive Baptist Church, one of many Afro-Baptist services that Walter Pitts observed in the dual role of anthropologist and church pianist. Based on extensive fieldwork in black Baptist churches in rural Texas, this is a major new study of the African origins of African-American forms of worship. Over a period of five years, Pitts, a scholar of anthropology and linguistics, played the piano at and recorded numerous worship services. Offering an extensive history of Afro-Baptist religion in the American South, he compares the ritual structures he observed with those of traditional African worship and other religious rituals of African origin in the New World. Through these historical comparisons, coupled with sociolinguistic analysis, Pitts uncovers striking parallels between Afro-Baptist services and the rituals of Western and Central Africa, as well as African-derived rituals in the United States Sea Islands, the Caribbean, and Brazil. Pitts demonstrates that African and African-American worship share an underlying binary structure: the somber melancholy of the first ritual frame and the joyful, ecstatic trance of the second frame, both essential to the fulfillment of that structure. Of particular interest is his discovery of the way in which the deliberate heightening and strategic suppression of "black English" contribute to this binary structure of worship. This highly original study, with a foreword by Vincent Wimbush, creates a memorable portrait of this vital, yet misunderstood aspectof African-American culture. A model for the investigation of African retentions in the diaspora, Old Ship of Zion will be of keen interest to students and scholars of cultural anthropology, religious studies, and African-American studies, as well as those concerned with the culture of the diaspora, the investigation of syncretism, folklore, and ethnomusicology.

This text represents a sort of customary or ordinal for the English court chapel in 1449, intended to govern the life of the 49 people, including choirboys, who were the staff of this peripatetic establishment. It was based on earlier drafts, and was sent to Alvaro Vaz d'Almada, a knight of the Garter, for the use of Afonso V of Portugal; it includes a copy of the English coronation rites.

This collection of essays, written to commemorate their centenary, celebrates the work of the Plainsong and Mediaeval Music Society. Founded in 1888, the Society quickly established two areas of activity: the propagation of information on medieval music and the revitalization of the Anglican liturgy with the riches of the plainchant of the Roman Rite.

Of the two sides of the Society's activities, the scholarly and the practical, this collection represents the former. The essays reflect the founders' interest in medieval music, both monophonic and polyphonic, and, particularly, their concern with chant. The contributors to this volume are among the most distinguished scholars of medieval music of recent years.

Contributors: David Hiley, Ritva Jacobsson, Michel Huglo, Susan Rankin, Wulf Arlt, Ruth Steiner, David Chadd, Andrew Hughes, John Caldwell, Frank Ll. Harrison, Nick Sandon.

Liturgics, the study of liturgies, inquires into "the totality of worship culture ... at all levels of church and social life" (Peter Cornehl) and thus has an important function of bridging between theology and cultural sciences. Accordingly, this instruction manual and textbook has been designed for Evangelical and Catholic scholars and students alike. It is also suitable as a reference work and offers theologians in service, cultural scientists, and interested laypersons the fundamental information needed for the pending interdisciplinary discourse about cultural phenomena that have arisen from Christianity's culture of worship.

This volume contains the text only of three ordines, Ordo breviarii, Ordo ad Benedicendum Mensam, Ordo Missalis Fratrum Minorum. Haymo of Faversham was an English friar minor, and rose to become the general of the whole order. He worked in Paris, Assisi and Rome from 1230 to 1244, and was employed by Gregory IX in the revision of the Breviary of the Roman Curia, which eventually became the Breviary of the whole Roman Catholic church.

The Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis was founded in honour of Dionysius, one of seven missionaries sent from Rome to Gaul around 250. It grew to be one of the most powerful monasteries in western Christendom and enjoyed a central position in French history as the first Gothic abbey, royal necropolis, and place of origin of the chronicles of the kings. This is a study of the music and ritual at Saint-Denis from the sixth to the sixteenth century. It is based on an examination of the liturgical books and archival sources relating to the abbey, in particular the surviving service-books, which tell us much about the history of the music and of the Divine Office at Saint-Denis. Anne Robertson also looks at the tropes and sequences proper to the office for Saint-Denis, provides information on the performance practices, instruments, musicians, and liturgists from the abbey, and offers an account of the history of the liturgy from the Council of Tours in 567 to the pillage of the abbey by the Huguenots in 1567, thus explicating the extant liturgical codices from Saint-Denis. For the author the ritual and history of the abbey is also inextricably linked to the reconstruction of its various buildings, the decorations of the church, even the monks' ambitions. This is a fascinating and wide-ranging study of this extraordinary institution.

This edition of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer features imitation leather binding, and is an ideal gift for celebrating special occasions.
The Gift Edition offers all of the unique supplementary features available in Oxford's prayer books - The Revised Common Lectionary, historical and theological background materials, answers to commonly asked questions about the church, and more. All of this is bound in a beautifully-constructed cover - a perfect gift at an affordable price.

One of the most common tasks undertaken by all clergy is ministry to the sick and to the bereaved. Containing the essentials for pastoral ministry in the community, Common Worship: A Pastoral Ministry Companion brings together services, prayers and readings for the most frequently encountered pastoral occasions in a portable, easy-reference volume. It includes liturgies, prayers and readings for: Emergency baptism Prayers for the sick and their families Holy Communion at home or in hospital Reconciliation services (not present in previous Pastoral Services or Ministry to the Sick volumes) Prayers with the dying and at the time of a death Prayers for use at home before and after a funeral Passages of Scripture and Psalms in both modern and Prayer Book versions This elegant and discreet volume - bound in soft-touch imitation leather with two ribbons - is the ideal size for keeping to hand in your pocket, bag or car glove compartment.

Continuing the tradition of centuries, The Divine Office is the Catholic liturgy for morning prayer, prayer during the day, and evening prayer, for every day of the year. Volume Three of the Divine Office covers all the days of the year that are not covered in Volumes One and Two, and includes all the prayers, as well as readings. This edition comes in an attractive binding with ribbon marker. The Divine Office is the official text for the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, as well as various countries across Africa and Asia.

Composed on the occasion of the poet's near-fatal bout with typhus in 1623, the Devotions contains the essential germ of John Donne's mature thought, embodied in obscurely structured verse/prose divisions. Because of its seeming digressiveness, critics have struggled to understand this most significant of Renaissance texts as a whole. Kate Gartner Frost, however, shows that the Devotions, which combines odd bits of natural history, personal life-data, quotations from scripture, and descriptions of unpleasant medical nostrums with personal religious outpourings, is a unified work belonging to the tradition of English devotional literature and spiritual autobiography from Augustine onward. Frost examines how Donne patterned his work on models and structures that allowed the blending of chronology, experience, anecdote, and insight into the fullness of extended metaphor reflecting the human condition. Donne's use of biblical typology is treated, as well as his adherence to a poetics rooted in pre-Copernican cosmology, which relies on underlying spatial structures. Finally, Frost reveals the actual numerological structures present in the Devotions and addresses the problem of discursive reading in relation to spatially organized premodern works. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

"A modern classic."--The Christian Century

Whereas most scholarship has concentrated upon the synagogue, Margaret Barker's work on the Jerusalem temple contributes to our understanding of the meaning and importance of many elements of Christian liturgy which have hitherto remained obscure. This book opens up a new field of research.;The any subjects addressed include the roots of the Eucharist in various temple rituals and offerings other than Passover, the meaning of the holy of holies and the Christian sanctuary, the cosmology of temple and church, the significance of the Veil of the Temple for understanding priesthood and Incarnation, the Holy Wisdom and the Mother of God, angels and priesthood, the concept of unity, the high priestly tradition in the early church and evidence that Christianity was a conscious continuation of the temple.

Composed on the occasion of the poet's near-fatal bout with typhus in 1623, the Devotions contains the essential germ of John Donne's mature thought, embodied in obscurely structured verse/prose divisions. Because of its seeming digressiveness, critics have struggled to understand this most significant of Renaissance texts as a whole. Kate Gartner Frost, however, shows that the Devotions, which combines odd bits of natural history, personal life-data, quotations from scripture, and descriptions of unpleasant medical nostrums with personal religious outpourings, is a unified work belonging to the tradition of English devotional literature and spiritual autobiography from Augustine onward. Frost examines how Donne patterned his work on models and structures that allowed the blending of chronology, experience, anecdote, and insight into the fullness of extended metaphor reflecting the human condition. Donne's use of biblical typology is treated, as well as his adherence to a poetics rooted in pre-Copernican cosmology, which relies on underlying spatial structures. Finally, Frost reveals the actual numerological structures present in the Devotions and addresses the problem of discursive reading in relation to spatially organized premodern works.

Originally published in 1991.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This breviary was printed by Antonius Goin at Antwerp in September 1537; the first recension appeared in 1535, but the second is the forerunner of over a hundred subsequent editions before it was suppressed in 1558 by Pope Paul IV. It influenced Cranmer's liturgical projects, for which see volume 50 in the present series.

The Henry Bradshaw Society was established in 1890 in commemoration of Henry Bradshaw, University Librarian in Cambridge and a distinguished authority on early medieval manuscripts and liturgies, who died in 1886. The Society was founded 'for the editing of rare liturgical texts'; its principal focus is on the Western (Latin) Church and its rites, and on the medieval period in particular, from the sixth century to the sixteenth (in effect, from the earliest surviving Christian books until the Reformation). Liturgy was at the heart of Christian worship, and during the medieval period the Christian Church was at the heart of Western society. Study of medieval Christianity in its manifold aspects - historical, ecclesiastical, spiritual, sociological - inevitably involves study of its rites, and for that reason Henry Bradshaw Society publications have become standard source-books for an understanding of all aspects of the middle ages. Moreover, many of the Society's publications have been facsimile editions, and these facsimiles have become cornerstones of the science of palaeography. The society was founded for the editing of rare liturgical texts; its principal focus is on the Western (Latin) Church and its rites, and on the medieval period in particular, from the sixth century to the Reformation. Study of medieval Christianity - at the heart of Western society - inevitably involves study of its rites, and the society's publications are essential to an understanding of all aspects (historical, ecclesiastical, spiritual, sociological) of the middle ages.

Found in Common Worship: Times and Seasons, The Way of the Cross is a series of scripture-based devotions for personal or group use in Lent and Holy Week. Similar in intent to the traditional Stations of the Cross, it focuses wholly on the biblical narrative of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. This seasonal companion provides the sequence of fifteen meditations appears in full, including opening and concluding prayers. Each is accompanied by three short reflections from different perspectives by three of today's very best spiritual writers: - Paula Gooder offers reflections on the scriptural narratives; - Stephen Cottrell considers the story from the perspective of personal discipleship; - Philip North explores the story's challenge to mission and witness.

The Episcopal Church is embarking on a new era of liturgical reform, giving us an opportunity to reflect on why we do what we do as a body. A Christian understanding of life sets every act of personal or communal worship as a response; we look on ourselves and everything around us with curiosity, wonder, awe, fear, love, hope, and uncertainty about what it all means for us and how we feel about it. Worship begins as a response, but reaches into the future and makes alterations to adapt to changing circumstances. This is essential reading as the General Convention approaches and these conversations continue.

An overview of the nature of Anglican worship and the inherent simplicity within the rites and rubrics gleaned from primary and secondary sources in the tradition, combined with a good dose of reason.

Thomas of Edessa flourished as a teacher at the School of Nisibis, an important Christian intellectual centre in sixth-century Persia. He accompanied the later patriarch Mar Aba on his travels around the Mediterranean and followed him to Nisibis. Thomas's only surviving writings are two lectures in Syriac ('Explanations') on the feasts of the Nativity and Epiphany. These discourses were later incorporated into a collection of Explanations of the Feasts covering the whole ecclesiastical year. This volume presents an edition of Thomas of Edessa's Syriac text of Nativity and Epiphany, accompanied by a facing-page English translation. These discourses, with the editors' introduction and notes, elucidate Thomas's place in the theological development of the Church of the East. He is the earliest author after Narsai to draw extensively upon the theology of Theodore of Mopsuestia, but earlier Syriac traditions are also reflected in his work, and his Christology is not yet the doctrine characteristic of Babai and later East Syriac authors.

The SCM Studyguide: Liturgy, 2nd Edition is an introduction to liturgy that considers the basic 'buliding blocks' needed to grasp the subject area. It outlines the essential shape and content of Christian worship and explores a range of liturgical dynamics of which both students of liturgy and leaders of liturgy need to be aware. This 2nd edition of the popular Studyguide is fully revised, updated and expanded. The book takes account of new developments in scholarship, engages with new contexts for liturgical celebration (notably, fresh expressions as part of a mixed economy of church), encompasses recent revisions in liturgy and seeks to broaden the engagement beyond the British context to consider the wider global context.

Based on the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, this second in a series of three volumes provides resources for an entire year of sermons and offers practical help for preachers and others who use the Revised Common Lectionary. Beginning with Advent, this unique and comprehensive resource deals with lectionary texts for Year C. Each of the four texts--the Old Testament, Psalter, Gospel, and Epistle--for each Sunday and important festival day, including Christmas, Ash Wednesday, and Good Friday, is treated. A brief introduction for the day indicates the general thrust of the texts and the relationships among them, emphasizing in interpretation of the texts themselves. Also included are suggestions concerning the implications of the texts for life today.

God calls humans to be creative. The human drive to represent transcendent truths witnesses to the fact that we are destined to be transfigured and to transfigure the world. It is worth asking, then, what truthful representations, whether in art, spirituality, or theology, teach us about the one who is our truth, the one who made us and the one in whose image we are made. All Things Beautiful: An Aesthetic Christology is an experimental and constructive aesthetic Christology sourced by close readings of a wide array of artistic works, canonical and popular-including poems, films, essays, novels, plays, short stories, sculptures, icons, and paintings-as well as art criticism and passages from the Christian Scriptures. From first to last, these readings engage in conversation with the deep, broad wisdom of the Christian theological tradition. The liturgical calendar guides the themes of the book, beginning with Advent and Christmas; carrying through Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Good Friday, Easter, and Ascension; and ending with Pentecost and Ordinary Time. Chris Green brings together these readings to create a mosaic-like impression of Jesus as the one through whom God graces and gives nature to all things, his life and death redeeming the whole creation, including human creativity and artistic endeavor, and transfiguring it into the full, free flourishing that God has purposed. This vision of Christ holds promise for artists and theologians, as well as preachers and teachers, revealing how our compulsions to create-and the meanings with which we endow our creations-become a site of the Spirit's presence, opening us to the goodness and wildness of God.