This is the first in a series of posts I intend to write. I noticed a lot of people come to my blog searching for information on Lutheran Service Book. I intend to offer a commentary. Maybe sometimes it will be useful, but don't get your hopes up. Tonight I'm starting with the Liturgical Calendar.
The current LCMS liturgical calendar is found on pages x to xxiii, under the labels Church Year and Lectionaries. An attempt is made to include both the Historic One-Year lectionary and the Vatican II era Three-Year lectionary under the banner of a unified outline of liturgical seasons. The sections are divided into three separate times: of Christmas, of Easter, and of the Church. Each section of time, except the last, contains sub-sections. It is neat and orderly.
It should be noted that the normal rules governing the precedence of days and observances have been totally tossed out the window in this hymnal. Visit my friend Dcn. Muehlenbruch's site Lex Orandi for the traditional Lutheran method of ranking and organizing liturgical observances among Lutherans at the time of the Reformation and beyond. Sadly, LSB continues down the innovative path of Lutheran Worship in this regard. While it has been claimed that much that was old and lost has been restored with this hymnal, that seems only to be a reference to hymns from the past 50 years or so, and not solid Lutheran liturgical practices.
The Time of Christmas
Advent
This season has traditionally been a season of preparation for celebrating the coming of Christ in the flesh on Christmas. Much is as it should be here, and for that I am thankful. Some things are amiss, though. First of all, without the traditional rules of precedence in place, Advent I is no longer a privileged Sunday. This means, as just one example, that in 2008 one could choose not to observe Advent I, and instead observe St. Andrew's day. Also, LSB continues to allow blue as a possible color for the season, which many marketers of liturgical goods try to bill as the color of hope.
What's the big deal? you might ask. Advent exists to be a season of preparation for the twelve-day celebration of Christmas (Christ's Mass). Scripture, teaching by example, shows that the Church prepares to receive and worship Christ by marked repentance. The entire ministry of St. John the Baptist reveals this. Advent, while not as heavy as Lent, is still to have priority as a time of repentance. The joy of special feasts is to be eclipsed or transferred in favor of marked repentance. Thus the liturgical color has been violet - the color both of royalty and repentance - and the Sundays in Advent have had a semi-privileged status. The exception is the First Sunday in Advent, which begins the all-important season, and thus should be considered privileged above all other celebrations. The subtle change in color and the lack of traditional rules of precedence/observance serves to undergird a change in theology from Lutheran to the whims of generic Protestantism. It is now solely up to our pastors and congregations to remember how to soundly and properly practice this aspect of our theology.
Christmas
LSB, following in the steps of LW, has almost completely eroded the traditional practice of observing vigils. There is not supposed to be a "Christmas Eve" service as part of the celebration of Christ's Mass. This used to be the Vigil of Christmas, which would have bearing upon the daily praying of Matins and Vespers more than at the Divine Service among Lutherans (though observing the Divine Service frequently or even daily among Lutherans is not unheard of). The color was violet (marking repentance), as was the case for almost all vigils, since these days were in place so that the coming feast would be met with all due faith and godly joy. LSB modifies the practice of observing vigils by absorbing them into the feast they precede. In this case the Vigil of Christmas becomes the first Communion Liturgy of Christmas. The color is that of Christmas itself. The result is that the Christmas celebration is expanded beyond Midnight, Dawn, and Day celebrations to include the evening before - the time of a vigil.
It has become common and convenient among Protestants to worship on Christmas Eve so as to skip Christmas Day. LSB seems to choose to mimic the practice of non-historical, non-liturgical, non-sacramental churches, most likely because as a hymnal it seeks to reflect what people are doing now more than what we should be doing in conformity with our confession. There's no harm in gathering for worship on Christmas Eve, but there is great harm in following the pied piper of Protestantism and losing our identity as preserved in our liturgical practices.
Any mention of the Twelve Days of Christmas are missing. Christian celebration of Christmas is reduced to Dec 24-25 and one or two Sundays. It's as if we in the LCMS don't believe that we have a liturgical God, or that liturgical interaction with God is only occasional instead of regular and normal.
Epiphany
In the Three-Year series Epiphany undergoes a bad facelift. The readings are mostly about missions now, rather than the manifestation of the Man who is God the Lord through preaching and miracles. The Baptism of Christ is moved to a Sunday, which I like, but which signals the sad reality that our congregations operate liturgically only once-per-week, with the other six days left to other things. This is not the example we learn from the Scriptures, which depict God worshiped liturgically day and night without ceasing.
Kept is the wonderful Lutheran practice of ending the season of Epiphany with the celebration of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. This day used to be a second class feast, under the old rules.
The Time of Easter
Pre-Lent (1-yr only)
Thank goodness they restored the Gesima Sundays! I remember in seminary one professor - noted for his liturgical scholarship - expressed such joy that those dreary Gesima Sundays were gone. I for one disagree. They do not unneccesarily prolong the season of Lent. If used correctly they are very appropriate. Basically, they ease the worshiper into Lent - if Lent is observed as it was designed to be observed. They are similar to Advent in their weight.
Lent
When the Gesima Sundays are observed, we find that Lent is not the beginning of a season of repentance, but the beginning of a more intense repentance. The chief characteristic of Lent is the 40 Day fast - which few Lutheran parishes observe anymore, usually citing fears of being Roman Catholic, though I think it's more because Lutherans anymore think fasting is not part of being a Christian and that they would rather not have to go to such lengths. The next characteristic is the observance of midweek Vespers or the Divine Service. All of this serves to focus our slothful hearts and minds more keenly on our need for Easter, and to train our minds, hearts, and bodies to hunger for the kingdom of heaven first and foremost - the kingdom that comes to us in joy with the Easter Communion.
The Sundays in Lent used to be privileged, admitting no other feast or commemoration, such is their importance. Now, though, it is possible to displace a Sunday in Lent for the Annunciation. As much as I love to celebrate the Annunciation, I'm afraid we are reinforcing the idea that worship is only for Sundays. There is plenty of room in the week for both deep repentance (Lent) and joy (Feast of the Annunciation). No wonder people don't want to make time for church things - pastors and parishes don't want to make time for church things, either. I'm amazed at what a struggle it is to change people's thinking on this.
Note that the color is violet because the Sundays are still days of repentance, but they simply are not part of the 40 day Lenten fast. The Gesimas serve to remind us that our repentance in preparation for Easter is longer than 40 days, but that Lent doubles our repentance, just as our joy on Easter is exponentially greater than at other times of the year.
Holy Week
LSB has sadly removed this week from within the confines of the 40 day fast (or rather, LSB knows nothing of the fast). Or, rather, it removes the title of Lent from over both Lent and Holy Week (previously passiontide). Thus it is its own sub-season. Luckily LSB has retained propers for the traditional daily celebration of the Divine Service during this week. Much, much more should be said about this season, but will have to be saved for a separate post.
Easter
In keeping with the Three-Year lectionary, Easter has been converted into an entire season - something imposed even upon the historic One-Year lectionary. Otherwise, there is not much to note in this brief space.
The Time of the Church ~ Season after Pentecost
There is some loose recognition that this season breaks down into five parts in the Three Year series: Trinitytide, Apostlestide, Martyrstide (or St. Lawrence-tide, though St. Lawrence is not normally observed when his day falls on a Sunday according to LSB), Angelstide (or St. Michaeltide), and All-Saints-tide. These names seemed to be abandoned by the time of LSB's final printing, but their arrangement can still be noticed in the grouping of Gradual propers during this season.
Sanctoral Calendar
Feasts and commemorations are divided into three groups: Feasts and Festivals, Occasions, and Commemorations. Under commemorations a nice explanation is given that teaches why we maintain such a list when so many Protestants do not. Again, the old system of ranking and observing commemorations is rejected, and a new system is given that reflects our congregations lack of interest in gathering for the Divine Service apart from Sundays.
The system breaks down as follows: Principal feasts of Christ, festivals, and commemorations. Principle feasts are noted in bold and are recommended to be observed on a Sunday when they fall on that day (though in practice All Saints and Reformation [not a principle feast] are transferred to a Sunday so they may be observed). Festivals and Occasions are left open to local custom and preference. No instruction or even propers are given for the Commemorations. People listed under Feasts and Festivals are respectfully called Saint, while no such prefix is afforded those on the Commemorations list - not even St. Patrick. While there is much to work with here, the lack of directions for the Commemoration section leaves one to wonder how this is to be used in the congregation.
Lectionaries
The Three-Year readings are listed in the pew edition, but the accompanying propers are not. The Sundays after Pentecost, if there are not enough Sundays to harbor all the appointed days, are elided from the beginning of the season rather than the end. To help with this, date ranges are given for each such proper, so the user always knows when it should be used.
The One-Year lectionary features some adjustments to the Old Testament lessons, which are not actually part of the traditional lectionary, and the retention of the term Sundays after Trinity. Much that is familiar is to be found here.
Conclusion
Much that is familiar is retained, but there seems to have been a dulling in the area of liturgical wisdom and nuance that should be at work to shape and lead us onward in Christ. It's as if our appreciation and grasp on the fundamental Christian reality - the ever-present movement from death to life - is slipping away from us or decaying among us. If you have not been exposed to traditional Lutheran sanctoral practices, then this calendar will be easy to use and a wonderful addition to your congregation. If you were expecting something devotedly, richly, and traditionally Lutheran, then you will either find yourself frustrated, supplying much that is missing, or just replacing the calendar altogether for something like what is preserved on Lex Orandi.
The current LCMS liturgical calendar is found on pages x to xxiii, under the labels Church Year and Lectionaries. An attempt is made to include both the Historic One-Year lectionary and the Vatican II era Three-Year lectionary under the banner of a unified outline of liturgical seasons. The sections are divided into three separate times: of Christmas, of Easter, and of the Church. Each section of time, except the last, contains sub-sections. It is neat and orderly.
It should be noted that the normal rules governing the precedence of days and observances have been totally tossed out the window in this hymnal. Visit my friend Dcn. Muehlenbruch's site Lex Orandi for the traditional Lutheran method of ranking and organizing liturgical observances among Lutherans at the time of the Reformation and beyond. Sadly, LSB continues down the innovative path of Lutheran Worship in this regard. While it has been claimed that much that was old and lost has been restored with this hymnal, that seems only to be a reference to hymns from the past 50 years or so, and not solid Lutheran liturgical practices.
The Time of Christmas
Advent
This season has traditionally been a season of preparation for celebrating the coming of Christ in the flesh on Christmas. Much is as it should be here, and for that I am thankful. Some things are amiss, though. First of all, without the traditional rules of precedence in place, Advent I is no longer a privileged Sunday. This means, as just one example, that in 2008 one could choose not to observe Advent I, and instead observe St. Andrew's day. Also, LSB continues to allow blue as a possible color for the season, which many marketers of liturgical goods try to bill as the color of hope.
What's the big deal? you might ask. Advent exists to be a season of preparation for the twelve-day celebration of Christmas (Christ's Mass). Scripture, teaching by example, shows that the Church prepares to receive and worship Christ by marked repentance. The entire ministry of St. John the Baptist reveals this. Advent, while not as heavy as Lent, is still to have priority as a time of repentance. The joy of special feasts is to be eclipsed or transferred in favor of marked repentance. Thus the liturgical color has been violet - the color both of royalty and repentance - and the Sundays in Advent have had a semi-privileged status. The exception is the First Sunday in Advent, which begins the all-important season, and thus should be considered privileged above all other celebrations. The subtle change in color and the lack of traditional rules of precedence/observance serves to undergird a change in theology from Lutheran to the whims of generic Protestantism. It is now solely up to our pastors and congregations to remember how to soundly and properly practice this aspect of our theology.
Christmas
LSB, following in the steps of LW, has almost completely eroded the traditional practice of observing vigils. There is not supposed to be a "Christmas Eve" service as part of the celebration of Christ's Mass. This used to be the Vigil of Christmas, which would have bearing upon the daily praying of Matins and Vespers more than at the Divine Service among Lutherans (though observing the Divine Service frequently or even daily among Lutherans is not unheard of). The color was violet (marking repentance), as was the case for almost all vigils, since these days were in place so that the coming feast would be met with all due faith and godly joy. LSB modifies the practice of observing vigils by absorbing them into the feast they precede. In this case the Vigil of Christmas becomes the first Communion Liturgy of Christmas. The color is that of Christmas itself. The result is that the Christmas celebration is expanded beyond Midnight, Dawn, and Day celebrations to include the evening before - the time of a vigil.
It has become common and convenient among Protestants to worship on Christmas Eve so as to skip Christmas Day. LSB seems to choose to mimic the practice of non-historical, non-liturgical, non-sacramental churches, most likely because as a hymnal it seeks to reflect what people are doing now more than what we should be doing in conformity with our confession. There's no harm in gathering for worship on Christmas Eve, but there is great harm in following the pied piper of Protestantism and losing our identity as preserved in our liturgical practices.
Any mention of the Twelve Days of Christmas are missing. Christian celebration of Christmas is reduced to Dec 24-25 and one or two Sundays. It's as if we in the LCMS don't believe that we have a liturgical God, or that liturgical interaction with God is only occasional instead of regular and normal.
Epiphany
In the Three-Year series Epiphany undergoes a bad facelift. The readings are mostly about missions now, rather than the manifestation of the Man who is God the Lord through preaching and miracles. The Baptism of Christ is moved to a Sunday, which I like, but which signals the sad reality that our congregations operate liturgically only once-per-week, with the other six days left to other things. This is not the example we learn from the Scriptures, which depict God worshiped liturgically day and night without ceasing.
Kept is the wonderful Lutheran practice of ending the season of Epiphany with the celebration of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. This day used to be a second class feast, under the old rules.
The Time of Easter
Pre-Lent (1-yr only)
Thank goodness they restored the Gesima Sundays! I remember in seminary one professor - noted for his liturgical scholarship - expressed such joy that those dreary Gesima Sundays were gone. I for one disagree. They do not unneccesarily prolong the season of Lent. If used correctly they are very appropriate. Basically, they ease the worshiper into Lent - if Lent is observed as it was designed to be observed. They are similar to Advent in their weight.
Lent
When the Gesima Sundays are observed, we find that Lent is not the beginning of a season of repentance, but the beginning of a more intense repentance. The chief characteristic of Lent is the 40 Day fast - which few Lutheran parishes observe anymore, usually citing fears of being Roman Catholic, though I think it's more because Lutherans anymore think fasting is not part of being a Christian and that they would rather not have to go to such lengths. The next characteristic is the observance of midweek Vespers or the Divine Service. All of this serves to focus our slothful hearts and minds more keenly on our need for Easter, and to train our minds, hearts, and bodies to hunger for the kingdom of heaven first and foremost - the kingdom that comes to us in joy with the Easter Communion.
The Sundays in Lent used to be privileged, admitting no other feast or commemoration, such is their importance. Now, though, it is possible to displace a Sunday in Lent for the Annunciation. As much as I love to celebrate the Annunciation, I'm afraid we are reinforcing the idea that worship is only for Sundays. There is plenty of room in the week for both deep repentance (Lent) and joy (Feast of the Annunciation). No wonder people don't want to make time for church things - pastors and parishes don't want to make time for church things, either. I'm amazed at what a struggle it is to change people's thinking on this.
Note that the color is violet because the Sundays are still days of repentance, but they simply are not part of the 40 day Lenten fast. The Gesimas serve to remind us that our repentance in preparation for Easter is longer than 40 days, but that Lent doubles our repentance, just as our joy on Easter is exponentially greater than at other times of the year.
Holy Week
LSB has sadly removed this week from within the confines of the 40 day fast (or rather, LSB knows nothing of the fast). Or, rather, it removes the title of Lent from over both Lent and Holy Week (previously passiontide). Thus it is its own sub-season. Luckily LSB has retained propers for the traditional daily celebration of the Divine Service during this week. Much, much more should be said about this season, but will have to be saved for a separate post.
Easter
In keeping with the Three-Year lectionary, Easter has been converted into an entire season - something imposed even upon the historic One-Year lectionary. Otherwise, there is not much to note in this brief space.
The Time of the Church ~ Season after Pentecost
There is some loose recognition that this season breaks down into five parts in the Three Year series: Trinitytide, Apostlestide, Martyrstide (or St. Lawrence-tide, though St. Lawrence is not normally observed when his day falls on a Sunday according to LSB), Angelstide (or St. Michaeltide), and All-Saints-tide. These names seemed to be abandoned by the time of LSB's final printing, but their arrangement can still be noticed in the grouping of Gradual propers during this season.
Sanctoral Calendar
Feasts and commemorations are divided into three groups: Feasts and Festivals, Occasions, and Commemorations. Under commemorations a nice explanation is given that teaches why we maintain such a list when so many Protestants do not. Again, the old system of ranking and observing commemorations is rejected, and a new system is given that reflects our congregations lack of interest in gathering for the Divine Service apart from Sundays.
The system breaks down as follows: Principal feasts of Christ, festivals, and commemorations. Principle feasts are noted in bold and are recommended to be observed on a Sunday when they fall on that day (though in practice All Saints and Reformation [not a principle feast] are transferred to a Sunday so they may be observed). Festivals and Occasions are left open to local custom and preference. No instruction or even propers are given for the Commemorations. People listed under Feasts and Festivals are respectfully called Saint, while no such prefix is afforded those on the Commemorations list - not even St. Patrick. While there is much to work with here, the lack of directions for the Commemoration section leaves one to wonder how this is to be used in the congregation.
Lectionaries
The Three-Year readings are listed in the pew edition, but the accompanying propers are not. The Sundays after Pentecost, if there are not enough Sundays to harbor all the appointed days, are elided from the beginning of the season rather than the end. To help with this, date ranges are given for each such proper, so the user always knows when it should be used.
The One-Year lectionary features some adjustments to the Old Testament lessons, which are not actually part of the traditional lectionary, and the retention of the term Sundays after Trinity. Much that is familiar is to be found here.
Conclusion
Much that is familiar is retained, but there seems to have been a dulling in the area of liturgical wisdom and nuance that should be at work to shape and lead us onward in Christ. It's as if our appreciation and grasp on the fundamental Christian reality - the ever-present movement from death to life - is slipping away from us or decaying among us. If you have not been exposed to traditional Lutheran sanctoral practices, then this calendar will be easy to use and a wonderful addition to your congregation. If you were expecting something devotedly, richly, and traditionally Lutheran, then you will either find yourself frustrated, supplying much that is missing, or just replacing the calendar altogether for something like what is preserved on Lex Orandi.
6 comments:
That was excellent, Pastor. Thank you. I look forward to the next in the series.
I too found much that was good there; but I think you have a picture of Lutheran liturgical history that does not actually fit the practices. For example, the observance of Annunciation was allowed to replace even Palm Sunday should March 25 fall on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, or Easter in the traditional practice of Saxony (see Stiller's book, p. 56). Lutherans tended not to operate with hard and fast rules about ranking feasts - there are incidental comments in the Church Orders, but nothing complete and considered. Additionally, the idea of the fixed colors of the seasons was largely unknown. Historically blue was a color that marked Advent in Swedish use (and in Sarum use); so it has historical precedent. Finally, note the colors in Leipzig:
Reformation festival - BLUE
Purification of Mary - GREEN
Lent - BLACK
Palm Sunday/Maundy Thursday - BRIGHT (??); the celebrant wears a green chasuble
Good Friday - BLACK
Easter Eve - BRIGHT
Advent - RED AND GREEN (wouldn't THAT be popular today!)
So it's not as though one could look at what Trent standardized and postulate that as the early Lutheran use - far from it. And as Piepkorn notes, at numerous points the Lutheran Liturgy preserves OLDER traditions than were codified at Trent. FWIW.
One more thing, the Almanac or the Sanctoral Calendar of Loehe that the good deacon has on his site should not be taken as though there were liturgical celebration in the Lutheran Churches on all those days; rather, they were observed devotionally at home. The liturgical celebrations observed typically were rather like the Calendar in the front of TLH. There were some places where other feasts came in (the beheading of the Baptist, for example), but by and large that was it. And in this calendar stress was typically laid on Purification, Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity of St. John, and St. Michael's as being FULL feasts, while most of the apostles' days were only half feasts - i.e., rather than the full round of liturgies (Vespers of the Eve, Matins of the Day, Mass, and Second Vespers) the half feasts had only the Vespers of the Eve and the Mass.
Pastor Weedon,
Thank you for fleshing out my quick dash through LSB's calendar. I knew dropping this bait would be too irresistible for some :-)
It is well known that during the Reformation there were a variety of parament/vestment colors in play. However, what has come down to us is a standardized color scheme that often interweaves with the theology of the season. Obviously one is free to change liturgical color assignments. The problem is that doing so in the 20th century (and beyond) has also resulted in a change in theology. One might say that was the goal all along; or one might say that we became corporately ignorant of our own theology and practice, and the vacuum was filled by a new interpretation.
It is also worth mentioning, going along with your comments, that for some time in some places Lutherans really stripped down their calendar and observances in order to get away from Roman error and superstitions. There are many who use this, along with biblical verses about Christian freedom, to justify throwing everything out and reinventing the wheel, the cart, and the horse, too. But my point is not to suggest total uniformity, but a continuity in theology that passes through the Book of Concord, but becomes disrupted in the 20th century by the spirit of Vatican II-like ideas.
Also, I admit a particular bias towards the way I view these things, which bias is based on the Symbol's claim that we continue what was received with only some abuses fixed. There are other biases out there, too: some who think Eucharistic prayers are un-Lutheran, some who think Pietism is a valid part of our tradition, etc. Without a bias toward some form of authenticity, Lutheranism would be nothing more than another degenerating form of Protestantism. (That is, something must be true, which naturally labels contradicting things as less than true.)
As for the Sarum use, I'm aware of its precedent, but again my point is that the color change actually effects a theology change, or at least is part of one. If blue was suggested in some connection with the Sarum Rite, then we'd be talking about something else.
Pastor Weedon, your second response gives me an opportunity to explain my bias a bit. It's rather simple. Because we pledge ourselves to Symbols that say we haven't changed our liturgical practices - except to fix some abuses, which are described in the Symbols - but continue them, then that establishes the starting point for me when it comes to traditional Lutheran liturgical practices. The variety of things that came later in a variety of times and locales do not all rest on equal footing - the pietist movement is a good example of that. Consensus begins and flows from the Confessions. Otherwise there is no such thing as traditional Lutheran practice or consensus, only one's favorite part of Lutheran history.
Please forgive me if I have manhandled any of the details. Thank you for your insightful remarks. Feel free to correct me as needed.
Ben wrote: "Any mention of the Twelve Days of Christmas are missing. Christian celebration of Christmas is reduced to Dec 24-25 and one or two Sundays. It's as if we in the LCMS don't believe that we have a liturgical God, or that liturgical interaction with God is only occasional instead of regular and normal."
By Golly, you're right! I never noticed that we don't have Sundays of Christmas, but "after" now. How'd that happen?
Good post!
I'm with you. The Confessions clearly state the intention to keep what we have, pruned of excesses and abuses, not come up with something new that has no excesses and abuses.
Yes it is true that the Tridentine Rite was in the future at the time of the AC. It is also true that our Fathers were not of a mind to wait for Rome to shape up then jump on board with a revised version of whatever they produce.
For that matter, when, where, ever, did any one or committee ever present a rite that is several rites in one? Did St John Chrysostom provide four canons (or "settings"), two lectionaries, two calendars usw? Any of the other guys? No, or to quote the great theologian Chris Rock, hell no!
Before there was Vatican II For Lutherans, there was Vatican II. I remember the whole bleeding mess being intoroduced, piece by piece, then in 1970 as a whole. The whole thing was justified in just the way you mention, argument from historical precedent here, there, or somewhere else, with special kudos to the Eastern Rites (who remain spectacularly unimpressed with the Western reult).
But just as you say, history was not the real story, theological change was. I often use communion in the hand as an example of this. There's plenty of historical precedent for communion in the hand. But, the real idea, when it was introduced, was theological change: here we break out of this mediaeval passive me-and-Jesus thing and take communion in a manner appropriate to what faith is, an action of God meeting an action of Man, his action in extending the host to me and my action in extending my hand to take, as faith itself is an active dynamic between two parties, with the practice thereby getting back to the theology too read into the "early" and presumably more pure Church. Thus does, without anyone actually saying so, communion become tainted by works righteousness and further lose the sense of service of God to his people.
That something was done in the past is an entirely different matter than why it is re-introduced in the present. Likewise, the novus ordo is completely unprecedented in the entire history of the church, as much "contemporary worship" as the praise band crowd.
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