Turning Toward the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical PrayerIntroduction by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) Turning towards the Lord presents an historical and theological argument for the traditional, common direction of liturgical prayer, known as "facing east", and is meant as a contribution to the contemporary debate about the Catholic liturgy. Lang, a member of the London Oratory, studies the direction of liturgical prayer from an historical, theological, and pastoral point of view. At a propitious moment, this book resumes a debate that, despite appearances to the contrary, has never really gone away, not even after the Second Vatican Council. Historical research has made the controversy less partisan, and among the faithful there is an increasing sense of the problems inherent in an arrangement that hardly shows the liturgy to be open to the things that are above and to the world to come. In this situation, Lang's delightfully objective and wholly unpolemical book is a valuable guide. Without claiming to offer major new insights, Lang carefully presents the results of recent research and provides the material necessary for making an informed judgment. It is from such historical evidence that the author elicits the theological answers that he proposes. |
From inside the book
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... Theological and Spiritual Contents 95 1. The Relevance of Liturgical Practice in the Early Church 95 2. Turning to the Lord—The Theological Dimension of Liturgical Practice 106 a. The cosmic symbolism of sacramental worship 106 b. The ...
... theological, and pastoral point of view. At a propitious moment, as it seems to me, this book resumes a debate that, despite appearances to the contrary, has never really gone away, not even after the Second Vatican Council. The ...
... theological answers that he proposes, and I hope that the book, the work of a young scholar, will help the struggle—necessary in every generation—for the right un- derstanding and worthy celebration of the sacred liturgy. I wish the ...
... theological debate. This seems a good occasion to publish a revised and substantially extended version of my essay 'Conversi ad Dominum:Zu Gebetsostung, Stellung des Litur- gen am Altar und Kirchenbau'.1 The intellectual and spiritual ...
... theological, part of my work I attempted to show the enduring significance of the common direction of liturgical prayer in the modern world. Häußling's chief objection is this: Against the intention of the Council, the author does not ...