In Catholic circles it is recognised that the Liturgy is older than the New Testament — the Letters of St Paul attained canonical status principally because they were read as part of the liturgical practice of the early Christian Church — their provenance and content was never in doubt — but more importantly, what the Apostle was saying (as later, what the Gospel scribes would say) was in accord with what was preached, what was believed, and what was entered into, in the Mystery of the Eucharist (for which the Christians were accused of child sacrifice and cannibalism).
The Letter to the Hebrews, for example, for all its spiritual lucidity and luminance, was not written by the Apostle of Tarsus, yet remains part of the Canon despite its anonymity.
The works of Dionysius the pseudoAreopagite — St Denys of the Orthdox communion — likewise remains a mysterious figure of 6th century Christendom.
In Catholic circles the Liturgy is above theology — like Scripture itself, is is considered a mode of Revelation, and the subject of theological contemplation, rather than the data of theological reflection.
Some of the liturgical ribrics (the three-fold profession of faith at baptism, for example) are as old as the Church herself.
What is also ignored is that the Catholic commissioners invited Anglican, Lutheran and other denominations to offer their comments with regard to the wording of the Liturgy, and there is some evidence to support the claim that the Catholic Liturgy was moderated to suit Lutheran tastes. (Alteration of the Rite is not undertaken lightly, and it must be admitted that the liberal modernists went at it with a vengance in the wake of Vatican II.)
Of course, such a gesture of open eccumenical communion hardly seems to fit the common image of a trenchant and reactionary dogmatic institution, after all, we Catholics are 'the worst of the worst' — so is widely ignored.
Thomas
The Letter to the Hebrews, for example, for all its spiritual lucidity and luminance, was not written by the Apostle of Tarsus, yet remains part of the Canon despite its anonymity.
The works of Dionysius the pseudoAreopagite — St Denys of the Orthdox communion — likewise remains a mysterious figure of 6th century Christendom.
In Catholic circles the Liturgy is above theology — like Scripture itself, is is considered a mode of Revelation, and the subject of theological contemplation, rather than the data of theological reflection.
Some of the liturgical ribrics (the three-fold profession of faith at baptism, for example) are as old as the Church herself.
What is also ignored is that the Catholic commissioners invited Anglican, Lutheran and other denominations to offer their comments with regard to the wording of the Liturgy, and there is some evidence to support the claim that the Catholic Liturgy was moderated to suit Lutheran tastes. (Alteration of the Rite is not undertaken lightly, and it must be admitted that the liberal modernists went at it with a vengance in the wake of Vatican II.)
Of course, such a gesture of open eccumenical communion hardly seems to fit the common image of a trenchant and reactionary dogmatic institution, after all, we Catholics are 'the worst of the worst' — so is widely ignored.
Thomas
