The Twentieth Century Liturgical Movement

As the US Bishops worked to redraft Built of Living Stones to replace the problematic 1978 Environment and Art in Catholic Worship, this timely article sought to supply the US Bishops with the proper architectural principles from which to construct an adequate and authentic Catholic theory of sacred architecture.

Conventional wisdom holds that before Vatican II, all churches were built in traditional styles and materials, while after Vatican II, churches were required to be theater-like with abstract iconography and a separate chapel for the tabernacle. However, a closer look at the Conciliar documents and the broader architectural movements of the early and mid-twentieth-century suggests that the conventional narrative does not give an accurate account of the shift from traditional to modernist sacred architecture. In this article I discuss some of the other contributing influences, such as the rise in popularity of the “theater church” among Protestants in the late 1800s, the rejection of tradition by architects in post-war Germany and America, and the push from the Liturgical Movement to return focus to the liturgy by eliminating other distractions (including architecture and art). I also discuss some of the trends in sacred architecture today. Finally, I discuss how understanding a church as more than merely a functional building for the liturgy can give a better understanding of elements of church design.

Guardini's The Spirit of the Liturgy, which has had a tremendous impact upon liturgical theology and beyond despite its modest size. This was the first book published by Guardini and the first volume in the Ecclesia Orans series published by Abbot Ildefons Herwegen of the abbey of Maria Laach, which was an influential center for liturgical study and renewal. 1 The fundamental theme in Romano Guardini's work, which has had the greatest impact upon Joseph Ratzinger's theology of liturgy, is the primacy of logos over ethos (der Primat des Logos über das Ethos). 2 1 ), 31-33. Corkery maintains, "The priority of logos over ethos, of receiving over making, of being over doing lies at the heart and center of Joseph Ratzinger's theological synthesis"

This article explores the nature of active participation , both interior and external, and the performance of the liturgy, which requires both bodily and spiritual dimensions. These concepts are then related to the notion of baptismal priesthood , with particular reliance upon the writings of Romano Guardini. Guardini's contributions are subsequently placed within the context of the wider liturgical movement and compared with the thought of Joseph Ratzinger. The shared vision of Guardini and Ratzinger sees active participation as the spiritual union of the faithful in the central action of the eucharistic liturgy. a deep understanding among the faithful of the baptismal priesthood and its spiritual exercise is characterized as the greatest as-yet-unrealized goal of the liturgical movement.

Christianity is a religion of memory. We look to the future — indeed to beyond the future — and so we live today in such a way as to build that future, but we do so while recalling our past. Our past is significant because it identifies us, affirms that we are a community in a covenant with God, and provides us with a key to that is significant in that relationship. It is with this perspective we should approach Eucharistic praxis and theology

was one of the leading figures of the liturgical movement in the United States. 1 When re searchers consider the work of the liturgical movement, their focus is usually limited to the movement's efforts related to the celebration of the liturgy. Oftentimes, what is overlooked is that one of the ma jor concerns of the liturgical movement is the relationship between the liturgy and social action. This relationship is also generally over looked by contemporary theology, which tends to focus either on liturgy or social action (more commonly known today as social jus tice). As a result of this separation, the social end of the liturgy is ne glected and at the same time, the liturgical roots of authentic social action are ignored. At the extreme end of the spectrum, the study of the liturgy alone is reduced to mere aestheticism or rubricism, while the exclusive focus on social justice can become influenced solely by ideology instead of authentic charity. The Church advocates an inclu sive and comprehensive understanding. Michel's thought offers a balanced view that represents the litur gical movement's concern for the unity between liturgy and social action. 2 This harmony is expressed by Michel's famous syllogism:

The chapter offers a comparison of an Orthodox and a Roman Catholic approach to the foundations of sacramental theology. With each theologian the author analyses an underlying epistemology, a type of relational and symbolic understanding of God, and then asks how these influence preference either for the church or for the world as a starting point for sacramental theology. In her conclusion she suggests how both approaches could complement each other.

Rudolf Schwarz was a significant figure in the mid century German Liturgical Movement due to his close association with Fr. Romano Guardini. While he was virtually unknown in the United States until the end of his life, Fr. H.A. Reinhold championed both his architectural theory and style, and Schwarz did have a demonstrable impact on Catholic church architecture among liturgical progressives and Catholic church architects from the 1950s onward.

An historiographical critique of the presuppositions of the mid 20th century Liturgical Movement's concerns of pre Constantinian Christian architecture, with a survey of textual counterevidence from ante-Nicene patristic sources, to suggest that the preference for residential scaled churches is an appeal to a false sense of archeologism.

The Catholic understanding of the church building as a "sacramental" is intended to assist us in our participation of the heavenly reality of the Mass. The historical expressions of this -- the various "styles" of architecture -- are founded on primary human experiences which also form the basis for the scriptural metaphors of the Church. Today as we seek to recover authentically Catholic architecture, these ideas can continue both to inspire contemporary architects and to move the hearts and minds of the faithful, responding to the growing desire to once again build churches that move beyond the functional, beyond the stylistic, to a truly sacramental architecture.