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[German Version] is the beginning of the pre-Easter penitential season (Lent). Ash Wednesday owes its name to the institution of public penitence: the penitent receives penitential clothing and is sprinkled with ashes. According to the missal of 1970, blessing and application of the ashes – in the form of a cross on the forehead – are performed following the Gospel and the homily. In Protestant congregations, Ash Wednesday is considered the beginning of the passion season; it is recommended that it be performed in a penitential service or the celebration of congregational confession. Ka…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Sacred times are ritually observed periods of time of varying duration that serve to modulate life within a community through reference to an exceptional shared experience. Someone who prays at an appointed hour knows that he or she is united with like-minded others even when alone. When people live close to nature, the necessary cooperation requires adaptation to the environment’s seasonal changes. There the ritual organization of temporal caesuras addresses both social and economic aspects and often uses solar, lunar, or other astral phenomena as signals (Time). The beginning and end of a hunting or harvest season may be celebrated, for example, or – where calendrical principles have emerged – the solstice, new moon, or certain days of the week (Feasts and festivals, Calendar). Lifetime transition…

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[German Version] To commemorate Luther’s posting of his theses on the eve of All Saints’ Day in 1517, the continental churches of the Reformation and the Lutheran churches in the United States observe Oct 31 (or the following Sunday) as Reformation Day (officially Gedenktag der Reformation, “Commemoration Day of the Reformation”). The choice of this date goes back to the sesquicentennial celebration of the theses in 1667 as decreed by John George II of Saxony. Previously the Reformation had often been commemorated on the anniversary of its introduction in the various territories (as in the church orders of J. Bugenhagen), on Jun 25 (the day the Augsburg Confession was presented to the emperor), on Nov 11 (“Martinmas,” the feast of Saint Martin of Tours and also Luther’s baptismal anniversary, occasionally also on Feb 18, the anniversary of his death), or on the anniversary of a church’s dedication (Dedication of churches). The centennial jubilees of the Reformation in 1617, 1717, and 1817 contributed substantially to the general adoption of Oct 31. The selection of scriptural reading in the newer orders of worship (Matt 5:1–10 [11f.] instead of John 2:13–22; Rom 3:21–28, formerly also Rev 14:6f.; Gal 5:1–6) reveals a “substantial redefinition of the observance”: “nostalgic remembrance,” usually tinged with “anti-Catholic…

[German Version] Initially liturgical commemoration of the apostles, like that of the martyrs, was only local. The earliest commemorations at Rome were on Jun 29 (Peter and Paul) and Feb 22 (death of Peter?). Because these feasts were biblical, the Lutheran churches continued to observe most of them; when one fell on a workday, it was often observed as a “semi-holiday.” The new Roman Calendar of 1969 lists the following feasts of…

[German Version] The annual r…

[German Version] I. History and Programs The modern missionary movement generated a growing concern for church cooperation and unity, for which the term “ecumenical” (Ecumene) began to be used in the 19th century. The World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh (1910) gave expression to these concerns and spawned the initiatives that have coalesced in the course of the 20th century as the “Ecumenical movement” (II). Both the Faith and Order and the Life and Work movements established patterns of ecumenical conversation and cooperation tha…

[German Version] 1. In the early period of the church, participation in worship was an obvious sign of the Christian life (but see Heb 10:25). It is not attested, however, that the Lord's Day was understood in analogy to the Jewish Sabbath as a work-free day of rest. Tertullian seems to be the first to advise deferring business on Sunday and during …

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[German Version] I. On Nov 17, 1816 Frederick William III of Prussia issued a cabinet order specifying that the last Sunday of the church year was to be set aside as a nationwide church feast in memory of the deceased (Memorials to the dead). This had been preceded, on Jul 4, 1816, by a “ceremony in memory of the soldiers who fell on the battlefield.” In addition to commemorating those who had lost their lives in the wars of liberation, the decision in favor of the new feast was influenced by mour…

[German Version] I. History – II. Liturgical Studies Today I. History The German term Liturgik (“liturgics”) was first used by the 16th-century Catholic mediation theologian G. Cassander; in the 19th century, Catholics began to use it for the historical, critical, systematic, and practical theory of Christian worship. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of liturgics in this sense to the mid-19th century. The term Liturgiewissenschaft (“liturgical studies”) was introduced by C.A. Baumstark in 1919 and R. Guardini in 1921, modeled on W. Dilthey's term Geisteswissenschaften (“the arts, humanities”). L. Fendt understood liturgics as a subdivision of practical theology, with liturgical studies as “an aspect of church history and historical theology” playing a supportive role for liturgics (Fendt, 1). Now the two terms have come to be used synonymously. The prehistory of academic liturgical studies has its roots in reflective and controversial texts on the liturgy in the Early Church (e.g. the T…

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[German Version] 1 As generally understood, holidays are characterized by the fact that they interrupt everyday (work) life and open up a space for self-determined activity or leisure beyond vocational and other duties. As a rule, they are implemented to mark special occasions or are celebrated in a regular sequence. It is common to distinguish holidays terminologically from the weekly recurring days of rest, although this is questionable with regard to the ¶ Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sunday and their clear (salvation) historical references. It is important to…

[German Version] Probably under Eastern influence (longer Lent because of different fasting [III] practice), in the mid-6th century Lent (Quadragesima) came to be preceded in Rome by a season of Pre-Lent, with the Sundays of Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima…

[German Version] unified feast for all saints of a specific …

[German Version] I. History 1. Sunday (Lat. dies solis, Ger. …

[German Version] The Christian calendar of feast days can be understood as a series of overlapping cycles of time. A first cycle consists of the Sundays recurring in the rhythm of the seven-day week. They provide the foundation stones for the Christian feast day calendar and determine its basic form. The second cycle begins with Easter, the oldest Christian annual feast (Feasts and festivals). Like the Passover (Pesach; Feasts and festivals) feast it is linked to the lunar cycle and today stretches from the pre-…

[German Version] I. History – II. Christian Liturgy – III. Practical Theology – IV. Art History – V. Music…