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[German Version] like commendation of the dying, traces back to earliest Christianity. According to Just. 1 Apol. (65:5), deacons brought communion to the faithful who could not participate in the congregational celebration of the Eucharist (Communion: II) – probably primarily the elderly, sick, and dying. The Council of Nicea (canon 13) desired that no Christian should die without communion (cf. John 6:54). If possible, it was delivered in both elements (until the discontinuance of the communion cup in the 12th cent.) directly from the celebra¶ tion of the Eucharist, also by the lay persons. Since this was often not possible, communion for the sick became the oldest reason for storing the Eucharistic elements. In the West, the Carolingian Reform (Carolingians) produced regulations: only the priest should deliver communion for the sick. Until the 16th century, mass (II) was also celebrated in the sickroom, although the canon with the consecration was often omitted ( missa sicca). The orders for communion for the sick known since the early Middle Ages almost always refer to the dying and are included in the Ordo defunctorum: repentance, anointing of the sick, viaticum (communion for the sick). Since c…

[German Version] I. General Background and History – II. Practical Theology – III. Orthodox Church I. General Background and History The church year – like church art, architecture, etc. – is one of the great cultural products of the Christian faith. It attempts to give cultural form to the gospel by means of the human perception of time. It thus stands alongside other attempts to cultivate the experience and perception of time, and to structure it meaningfully. As a sign of sal…

[German Version] I. Church History In Christian usage, the term sacrament has two meanings: a broad meaning corresponding to the New Testament term μυστήριον/ mystḗrion (“mystery”), used as a term for mysteries of the faith in general, and a narrower meaning in the sense of certain liturgical actions that enable believers to share in the salvific grace effected by Christ. While medieval Scholastic theology in the West developed the narrower understanding of sacraments with increasingly precise and subtle definitions, …

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[German Version] I. Bible Praise of God is one of the basic forms of prayer together with thanksgiving (Thanks), it represents the antithesis to lament and petition. The line between praise and thanksgiving is fuzzy. In contrast to its analysis of laments, form criticism of prayers has not achieved agreement on specific subtypes of praise. There is too much variation in the forms in which the intention to praise finds expression – an urge or promise to praise, various forms of hymns, formalized framing acclama¶ tions such as “Praise the Lord” or “Give thanks to the Lord”, Halle…

[German Version] (May 26, 1916, Dortmund – Jun 18, 1986, Münster), a Catholic theologian. In 1941, he was ordained priest; in 1959, he became professor of liturgical studies at the University of Münster; from 1962 to 1965, council adviser at Vatican II. In 1964, he was consultant to the committee for carrying out the liturgical constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium and to the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship. He was also the facilitator of several study groups on the renewal of the liturgy, which, as the dialogue between God and human beings, was for him the basic accom-¶ plishment of the Christian life. He was most influential in shaping liturgical reform on the global level as well as in the German-speaking world. Klemens Richter Bibliography Works: Die Konstitution des Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzils über die heilige Liturgie, 1964, 21965 Die neue Ordnung der Eucharistiefeier, 1971, 41…

[German Version] The viaticum is the Eucharist given the sick (Communion for the sick) at the hour of death as provision for their journey. Canon 13 of the Council of Nicea already expressed the desire that no Christian should die without receiving the Eucharist (cf. John 6:54). In the early Middle Ages, the viaticum was included in the Ordo defunctorum followin…