#Liturgy

[upennmanuscripts]

Ms. Oversize 33 is featured in the video loop for THE MOVEMENT OF BOOKS, an exhibit about all the ways that books move. Ms. Oversize 33 is notable because of its... wait for it... large size! It's a section (5 gatherings) from the middle of a choir psalter, in order for liturgical use. Originally the manuscript would have been held upright in front of a group of singers, so they could all read it at the same time. You can watch the whole loop on YouTube!

Ms. Oversize 33 🔗:

The Movement of Books Video Loop 🔗:

The Movement of Books exhibit information 🔗:

[noughtlux]

The Homage to the Sun Drawings 19 x 13 cm 2024

[seraphim-eternal]

Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but just say the word and my soul shall be healed

[commissarred]

Midnight Office followed by Liturgy at 1 am

[eelhound]

"Rituals are architectures of time, structuring and stabilising life, and they are on the wane. The pandemic has accelerated the disappearance of rituals. Work also has ritual aspects. We go to work at set times. Work takes place in a community. In the home office, the ritual of work is completely lost. The day loses its rhythm and structure. This somehow makes us tired and depressed.

In The Little Prince [1943], by [Antoine de] Saint-Exupéry, the little prince asks the fox to always visit at the exact same time, so that the visit becomes a ritual. The little prince explains to the fox what a ritual is. Rituals are to time as rooms are to an apartment. They make time accessible like a house. They organise time, arrange it. In this way you make time appear meaningful.

Time today lacks a solid structure. It is not a house, but a capricious river. The disappearance of rituals does not simply mean that we have more freedom. The total flexibilisation of life brings loss, too. Rituals may restrict freedom, but they structure and stabilise life. They anchor values and symbolic systems in the body, reinforcing community. In rituals we experience community, communal closeness, physically.

Digitalisation strips away the physicality of the world. Then comes the pandemic. It aggravates the loss of the physical experience of community. You’re asking: can’t we do this by ourselves? Today we reject all rituals as something external, formal and therefore inauthentic. Neoliberalism produces a culture of authenticity, which places the ego at its centre. The culture of authenticity develops a suspicion of ritualised forms of interaction. Only spontaneous emotions, subjective states, are authentic. Modelled behaviour, for example courtesy, is written off as inauthentic or superficial. The narcissistic cult of authenticity is partly responsible for the increasing brutality of society.

In my book I argue the case against the cult of authenticity, for an ethic of beautiful forms. Gestures of courtesy are not just superficial. The French philosopher Alain says that gestures of courtesy hold a great power on our thoughts. That if you mime kindness, goodwill and joy, and go through motions such as bowing, they help against foul moods as well as stomach ache. Often the external has a stronger hold than the internal.

Blaise Pascal once said that instead of despairing over a loss of faith, one should simply go to mass and join in rituals such as prayer and song, in other words mime, since it is precisely this that will bring back faith. The external transforms the internal, brings about new conditions. Therein lies the power of rituals. And our consciousness today is no longer rooted in objects. These external things can be very effective in stabilising consciousness. It is very difficult with information, since it is really volatile and holds a very narrow range of relevance."

- Byung-Chul Han being interviewed by Gesine Borcherdt, from "Byung-Chul Han: 'I Practise Philosophy as Art.'" Art Review, 2 December 2021.

[opencommunion]

Catholic Washing of the Feet ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, Palestine, 28 March 2024.

"As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Easter, Palestinians in the land that birthed the religion are facing severe restrictions on entering Jerusalem’s Old City to mark the occasion. While at least 200 leaders from the occupied West Bank have been given permits to enter the area, their congregations are not being allowed access to participate in the services." (x)

[apenitentialprayer]

Our liturgy is not just about remembering, but participating in, the life of Christ.

Fr. Michael Hilbert, S.J.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Reference saved in our archive

A covid study for those interested in religion or having a covid-related talking point for the next time they see their rabbi.

Abstract During the COVID-19 pandemic, synagogues faced closure, and many non-Orthodox communities transitioned their prayer services to online platforms. This presented a significant challenge for community leaders and rabbis who were faced with a profound community crisis. An innovative response emerged including new prayers and the adaptation of existing ones to better address the pandemic’s unique realities, integrating aspects of health, divinity, community, and the environment. This study engages in a textual analysis of these prayers, exploring how these mirror cultural and social attitudes toward the body and embodiment. While the body was seen during the COVID-19 period as problematic, an object of contagion and spreader of disease (e.g., by not keeping proper distance or masking), in these particular texts it is no longer slandered, but revealed as an obedient and disciplined agent. The prayers seek to overcome the disruption in the individual’s relationship with their body and with other bodies. The prayer authors propose to the worshipper, while also conceptually changing traditional ideas and practices, to view the body as an object that must be cleaned, vaccinated, purified, and allowed to continue its function. The concern for both the well-being of the living body and the dignity of the deceased extends to care for society and humanity as a whole. Therefore, this liturgy can be seen as a pragmatic means to promote a “theology of humanistic responsibility.”

[godsavetheanimalz]

my (personal) favorite albums of 2023!!! 1. Jeff Rosenstock - HELLMODE 2. Sufjan Stevens - Javelin 3. Liturgy - 93696 4. Anohni - My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross 5. Geese - 3D Country 6. Snõõper - Super Snõõper 7. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal - Maps 8. Lonnie Holley - Oh Me Oh My 9. Sprain - The Lamb as Effigy 10. Sampha - Lahai 11. Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter - SAVED! 12. JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - SCARING THE HOES 13. Squid - O Monolith 14. Wednesday - Rat Saw God 15. Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We 16. Kara Jackson - Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love? 17. Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You 18. Genesis Owusu - STRUGGLER 19. Indigo De Souza - All of This Will End 20. Underscores - Wallsocket 21. 100 gecs - 10,000 gecs 22. Paramore - This Is Why 23. King Krule - sPacE hEavy 24. Joanna Sternberg - I've Got Me 25. grouptherapy. - i was mature for my age, but i was still a child 26. Parannoul - After the Magic 27. Spiritual Cramp - Spiritual Cramp 28. The Armed - Perfect Saviors 29. Screaming Females - Desire Pathway 30. Jeromes Dream - The Gray In Between 31. Alice Longyu Gao - Let's Hope Heteros Fail, Learn and Retire 32. Zach Bryan - Zach Bryan 33. amaarae - Fountain Baby 34. feeble little horse - Girl With Fish 35. Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS 36. Foo Fighters - But Here We Are 37. squirrel flower - Tomorrow's Fire 38. Frost Children - Hearth Room 39. Hotline TNT - Cartwheel 40. Snow Strippers - April Mixtape 3

[hiddurmitzvah]

[many-sparrows]

I'm thinking about the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water, which we read this past Sunday (Matthew 14). Growing up I learned it as a cautionary tale. I don't know if I was actually taught this or if it's just how I read it but. Don't be like Peter; don't start wavering once you've made your declaration of faith, or else you will begin to sink. Looking at this story now, it has so much more hope. First of all, he is the only one to get out of the boat. The others can't even move against their fear, and eventually Peter will be rewarded for this boldness. And once he is out on the water, amidst impossible circumstances, he begins to doubt. But Christ pulls him up again. Before he chides Peter, he pulls him to the surface. Then I imagine him chuckling and saying, "Oh Peter. You have no reason to fear, for I am always here." This story does not say "strangle your doubts unless you want to drown." It says that when we find ourselves in situations that we can't believe and naturally begin to doubt, Christ will be there to catch us. It is not your job, or indeed within your ability, to control your faith. Instead, as it changes, know that Christ is there with you, to scoop you back up. Lean not on your own understanding, do not make the sturdiness of your faith an idol. Instead, remember how much a small, mustard sized faith can do, and keep walking.

[upennmanuscripts]

Ms. Codex 1233 is a pretty amazing manuscript. Originally written in the early-to-mid 15th century, it was used continuously through the end of the 18th century. Written in Cologne and probably used by the canons in the Cologne Cathedral, this notated breviary (a liturgical book containing the canonical hours - daily prayers - with musical notation) includes notes and additions made up to 1794. It also includes splatters of candle wax and one page that got a little too close to a candle!

🔗:

[noughtlux]

Ode to the Sacred Fire Drawings 9 x 6 cm 2024

[seraphim-eternal]

Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the lamb

[commissarred]

[eelhound]

"IN SOLEMN CONTEMPLATION, WE CLEARLY SEE THAT LIFE AND DEATH DO INTERPENETRATE, AND THAT SPRING AND AUTUMN SHIFT POSITIONS THROUGH THE YEAR; WHEN IT COMES IT COMES LIKE THUNDER, ECHOING ACROSS THE BOUNDLESS SKY — WHEN IT LEAVES, IT LEAVES THE WAVES, AMIDST THE VASTNESS OF THE EMPTY SEA."

- my favorite piece of liturgy that my order of Zen Buddhism uses during memorial services.