Zion, Mother of the Churches of Christ

Just before Christmas I noted here the receipt of two new books in an on-going series, "Semaines d'études liturgiques Saint-Serge." I have just received the latest volume, edited in part by my good friend Daniel Galadza of the University of Vienna: Michael Daniel Findikyan, Daniel Galadza, and André Lossky, eds., Sion, mère des Églises: Mélanges liturgiques offerts au Père Charles Athanase Renoux (Aschendorff Verlag, 2016), 314pp.

Here is the publisher's description of the book, but for those who do not understand French I will give a summary of the contents below:

L’éminent chercheur Charles-Athanase Renoux travaille depuis de longues années à mettre au jour des documents dont la valeur est inestimable pour la connaissance des usages liturgiques anciens de Jérusalem. Sa générosité et son rayonnement ont suscité beaucoup de publications dans des domaines liturgiques dont l’étendue reflète la richesse de leur initiateur.

En reconnaissance au Père Renoux pour le service ainsi rendu, ses collègues et ses disciples ont pris l’initiative d’offrir ce volume rassemblant des études dans des domaines diversifiés, mais dont la source et le point commun reste la région des lieux saints, terrain d’élaboration d’une liturgie riche dont se réclament la plupart des traditions locales postérieures. Puissent ces pages susciter la poursuite de travaux scientifiques en faveur d’une connaissance accrue de traditions inspirées qu’il est indispensable d’arracher à l’oubli.

Notwithstanding the French title and description, much of the book--which is a Festschrift dedicated to the Benedictine and liturgical scholar Charles Athanase Renoux--is in English. Of the 16 articles included here by some of the leading liturgical scholars of our time, nine are in English, six are in French, and one in German.

At least three treat aspects of Armenian liturgical history and theology, including the German article by the well-known scholar Gabrielle Winkler. The majority of articles treat various aspects of the Jerusalem liturgical tradition and its influence on other traditions, or the influence of other traditions on it.

In sum, this is just the sort of diverse, interesting, smartly edited collection that everyone interested in liturgical history and theology will want to have in their library.