Presentation
For twenty two years the Pontifical Liturgical Institute has been engaged with the formation of future liturgy professors, researchers, directors of liturgical commissions, and liturgical animators.
To accomplish this task, the Liturgical Institute – raised to an Ecclesiastical Faculty in 1978 – programs its course of studies, in such a way that the students are given a solid formation..
This consists of an historical and theological approach to the liturgy and personal research under the supervision of the professors of the Liturgical Institute. Besides the work of formation, the Liturgical Institute also publishes books far the promotion of the liturgical sciences. These volumes appear in three series: Rerum Ecclesiasticarum Documenta, Analecta Liturgica, and Anàmnesis..
ECCLESIA ORANS, Periodica de Scientiis Liturgicis, is another expression of the Liturgical Institute’s commitment to foster the growth of the liturgical sciences on a broader and more international level. The aim of the new review is to treat of the literary (editing and study of texts), historical, theological, pastoral, and artistic aspects of the liturgy and related questions. The distinctive feature of the review is its scientific method and exposition of the subject matter under consideration. Through such an approach it hopes to contribute, on a scientific level, to contemporary discussions regarding the conciliar and postconciliar liturgical renewal. It is the conviction of the Liturgical Institute that present-day questions of pastoral liturgy and adaptation to various cultures will be answered authoritatively, only on the condition that a firm scientific foundation is laid..
ECCLESIA ORANS, like the Liturgical Institute, is international. Contributions are to come from the professors of the Liturgical Institute and the other Faculties of the Athenaeum of Sant’Anselnzo, who are themselves from different countries, from the graduates of the Liturgical Institute, from well-known liturgical scholars, and from writers who specialize in topics that are related to the liturgy. The articles will appear in the language of the writers: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The editorial, however, will be in English and Italian..
From 1985 onwards, ECCLESIA ORANS will appear three times a year, each issue consisting of about 120 pages and having the format of this inaugural number. Every issue will normally contain articles concerning historical and literary research, liturgical theology and pastoral questions, a bulletin of important liturgical events, such as congresses, and notable publications in the field of the liturgy, and book reviews. The new review will include a regular Newsletter on the life and activities of the Liturgical Institute.
ECCLESIA ORANS fulfills the Liturgical Institute’s long-felt desire to have its own review. Its experiences and resources built up aver a period of twenty two years now permit it to offer this particular contribution to the liturgical renewal envisaged by Vatican II. It is the earnest hope of the founders of ECCLESIA ORANS that the Ecclesia Orans find in this new review an instrument for the work of sanctifying men and women in Christ and glorifying God, to which all her other activities are directed as toward their end.