Thesis advisor: John F. Baldovin / This dissertation argues that the eucharistic theology found in Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae is not a Christocentric, static, hierarchical economy of grace production. Rather, it is a deeply Trinitarian, dynamic, communal drama of graced participation. Based on Aquinas's insistence that grace is a participation in the Divine Nature that is signified by the sacraments, I turn to the Secunda Pars in order to explicate the relationship between grace and human action that is presupposed in the sacramentology of the Tertia Pars. Insofar as the res tantum of the Eucharist is the unity of the mystical body of Christ, special attention is given to the relationship between grace, theological virtue, and moral virtue. Through close examination of the process through which charity is said to increase in the subject, the unity of the mystical body is seen, not as a mystical state, but as a graced action that is simultaneously God's action (insofar as grace formally moves us through charity) and the Church's action (insofar as the moral virtues dispose us to receive the presence of God as the extrinsic principle of our actions). The unity of the mystical body of Christ is, then, rightly called the grace of the Eucharist because the spiritual life affected by the Eucharist is the active presence of charity in the Church. The result of the Eucharist is the Church's participation in the Divine Nature. This project aims at providing a grammar that allows for fruitful dialogue in modern sacramental theology. Within Catholic Eucharistic theology, the scholastic language of metaphysics is regularly given place of privilege to such an extent as to view other grammars of the Eucharist with suspicion. This dissertation provides a Thomistic grammar of the Eucharist that largely avoids the traditional scholastic grammars. It is the hope that such retrieval is a catalyst for constructive dialogue between modern grammars (of all denominations) and traditional scholastic grammars. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Thesis advisor: Frederick G. Lawrence / This dissertation offers a critical response to the fundamental sacramental theology of Louis-Marie Chauvet drawing on the works of Bernard Lonergan. Chauvet has articulated a significant critique of the western theological tradition's use of metaphysics, especially in interpreting doctrines relating to the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, liturgical sacrifice, and sacramental causality. Chauvet's criticisms raise questions about what philosophical tools allow theologians to develop a fruitful analogical understanding of the mysteries communicated in the sacraments. This dissertation responds to Chauvet's challenge to theology to adopt a new foundation in the symbolic by turning to the derived, critical metaphysics of Bernard Lonergan. The dissertation argues that Lonergan's critical metaphysics can help theologians to develop fruitful understandings of doctrines relating to Eucharistic presence, liturgical sacrifice, and sacramental causality. In addition Lonergan's categories of meaning offer resources for interpreting sacramental doctrines on the level of the time, while maintaining the genuine achievements of the past. Chapter one presents a survey of some recent Catholic Eucharistic theologies in order to provide a context for our investigation. Here we identify existentialist-phenomenological, postmodern, and neo-traditionalist approaches to Eucharistic doctrines. Chapters two, three, and four present a dialectical comparison of Chauvet and Lonergan on metaphysics as it pertains to Eucharistic theology specifically. Chapter two examines Chauvet's postmodern critique of metaphysical foundations of scholastic Eucharistic theology. Our particular concern will be with Chauvet's methods, especially whether his appropriation of the Heideggerian critique of scholastic theology offers an accurate account of Thomas Aquinas, and whether it offers a fruitful way forward in Eucharistic theology. Chapter three explores Lonergan's foundations for metaphysics in cognitional theory and epistemology. Lonergan's critical groundwork in cognitional theory attends to the problems of bias and the polymorphism of human consciousness that lead to a heuristic metaphysics rather than a tidy conceptual system. Chapter four explicates Lonergan's heuristic metaphysics and articulates the elements of metaphysics that enable an understanding of the general category of causality in critical realist metaphysics. Chapter five explores Lonergan's foundations for theological reflection paying particular attention to the importance of intellectual conversion before going on to survey Lonergan's categories of meaning. Chapter six engages the task of systematic theology and proposes an understanding of Eucharistic doctrines grounded in Lonergan's critical realist philosophy and transposed into categories of meaning. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Fourth-century Cappadocia was a pivotal time and place for the Christian church. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the development of the daily office of prayer within that context. The comparative methodology of Anton Baumstark is examined in some detail, as is the proposal by Paul Bradshaw that liturgical scholars should adopt the hermeneutics of suspicion. Based on the latter, a methodology for the analysis of texts is derived from the socio-rhetorical exegesis of Vernon K. Robbins. The idea, formerly current, that the daily office derived from synagogue wor-ship, is examined in the light of modern scholarship and shown to be falla-cious. Other influences from Judaism and paganism are, however, found but these are seen to be at a fundamental level. A major movement in fourth-century Christianity was the development of mo-nasticism in which the Cappadocian Fathers, particularly Basil of Caesarea, played an important part. The out-dated belief that monasticism originated in the Egyptian desert, from where Basil adopted it, is examined in the light of re-cent scholarship and rejected. Instead, existing Anatolian monastic practice, and the influence of Basil’s sister Macrina must be acknowledged, with the consequence that the daily office of Cappadocian monastics is seen to have developed from domestic prayer. Two major texts from Basil are examined. His so called ‘Longer Rule’ provides a scheme of daily prayer times which has had major influence. His letter num-ber 207 has been seen as a description of an all-night vigil for a Cathedral congregation, but in-depth analysis shows that this is a monastic dawn service. Evening prayer, and in particular the lamp-lighting hymn known as Phōs Hilaron, is considered. Two distinct Christian lamp-lighting ceremonies are identified. Various proposed origins are examined with the conclusion that in the case of the Phōs Hilaron, a domestic origin is most likely. Finally, particular aspects of the Cappadocian Fathers’ theology of worship are examined, demonstrating a strong eschatological theme.

King Henry VIII (1487-1547) famously severed ties with Roman Catholocism and nationalized the church in England in order to secure an annulment from his wife. His decision instigated the Henrician Reformation (1527-1547), a subset of the English Reformation. The king assumed the title 'Supreme Head of the English Church' and vested himself with the power to reform his country's church/ Occasional liturgies - the formal religious ceremonies surrounding birth, marriage, and death - were prime opportunities to publicly display new doctrines and procedures. Instead, these rituals changed surprisingly little and largely mirrored the pageantry performed by his parents. Two conclusions are drawn from the results. First, the modern perception of Henry VIII as an all-powerful rebel is challenged due to his careful observance of the liturgy in order to achieve a desired outcome, whether it be a proper christening, wedding, or state funeral. Second, these royal rituals are shown to not only demonstrate religious beliefs, but also social and political realities as well. These two principles add complexity to understanding the course of the Henrician Reformation.

Thesis (S.T.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-175).

Thesis (M.A.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [33-34]).

By comparison with its secular counterpart, the liturgy of English medieval monasteries has received little attention. This thesis explores one aspect of the liturgy of some of the wealthiest and most influential foundations in England - the Benedictine houses. It covers the formation and proliferation of 'votive' observances, recited as additions to or replacements for the major calendar observances. Evidence is drawn from over fifty manuscripts, dating from the Benedictine reform of the tenth century to the eve of the Dissolution in the sixteenth century. Some thirty monasteries are represented, with particular reference to the practices of Winchester, St Albans, Worcester and St Mary's, York. Part One examines the precedent for appended observances in The Rule of St Benedict (c.540), and the interpretation of this document by the Carolingian reformer Benedict of Aniane (c.750-821). Votive practices in the first English monastic customary, Regularis Concordia (c.970), and other devotional sources of a similar date are analysed. Part Two deals with the proliferation of three major observances after the Conquest - the daily votive office, recited as an appendage to the regular hours, the weekly commemorative office, which served as a replacement for the ferial office, and the independent antiphon (in particular Salve regina), recited or sung after Compline. The structure, adoption and devotional characteristics of each observance are examined, with particular reference to the predominantly Marian bias of much of the repertory. The second volume contains liturgical texts and related analytical tables, a descriptive catalogue of sources, transcriptions of Marian antiphons from the Worcester Antiphoner (c. 1230) and a comparison of eight versions of Salve regina.

This thesis explores the absence of the chalice in the Christian ritual of the Eucharisti n the thirteenth century. The absence of the chalice in the ritual indicates the absence of wine. In an interdisciplinary approach, this study integrates the historiographies of viticulture as well as of the Christian liturgy to answer the question: why did wine disappear from the Eucharist in the high Middle Ages? It is specifically focused on the northern regions of France, as this region is understudied in terms of viticulture. An exploration of the historiographies of viticulture and liturgy shows that they are segregated. Liturgical scholarship is largely theological in character. Any explanation for the absence of the chalice offered only refers to sacred trends. The historiography of viticulture is either strictly geographic and economic in character, or strictly cultural. Both strands of historiography are teleological in that they work towards the modern cultural, economic, or geographic importance of wine. By problematizing and integrating these distinct historiographies, is it possible to paint a fuller picture of the change in the Eucharist. Closely tied to the rise of towns and town culture, wine grew in expense and status. Also in this urban setting, wine became an important part of drinking culture, with a close connection to secular life. At the same time, concern for the spiritual purity of the ritual was growing. The belief in the real presence of Christ in the elements of the Eucharist was part of this growing spirituality. Wine was not only closely connected with impious lay practices, but its biblical symbolism was also ambivalent. These factors pushed the laity and the Church away from using wine in the Eucharist. At the same time, the principle of concomitance and the veneration of the host pulled people towards the use of bread in the ritual. By explaining more completely the absence of the chalice in the thirteenth century, this thesis aims to show the broader implications of this narrow doctrinal issue as well as to underscore the value of an approach that brings together separate historiographical traditions.

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