Half a century after the Second Vatican Council called for the active participation of the laity in the liturgy, a comprehensive theology of what liturgical participation actually means remains elusive. While most sacramental studies have highlighted the role and action of Christ, the conciliar reform and the theology that emanated from it call for a deeper trinitarian understanding of the liturgy and sacraments.
In this fascinating new work, Gabriel Pivarnik identifies the major theological developments in the concept of active participation of the last century, most notably in Mediator Dei and the Vatican II documents. He also considers the reception of those developments. Drawing especially on the work of Cipriano Vagaggini and Edward Kilmartin, Pivarnik offers a lucid demonstration of how liturgical participation can be viewed in metaphysical, soteriological, and ecclesiological terms through the lens of a trinitarian narrative.
O autorze
Monsignor Kevin W. Irwin has been on the faculty of The Catholic University of America for over thirty years, where he held the Walter J. Schmitz Chair of Liturgical Studies (2000–2015), served as Dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies (2005–2011), and is currently an Ordinary Research Professor. Msgr. Irwin has published eighteen books on liturgy and sacraments.