Proclaiming Holy Scriptures (Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies) [1 ed.] 9780367356484, 9780429340932, 0367356481

Citation preview

PROCLAIMING HOLY SCRIPTURES

David Pereyra

Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies

PROCLAIMING HOLY SCRIPTURES A STUDY OF PLACE AND RITUAL David Pereyra

ISBN 978-0-367-35648-4

www.routledge.com Routledge titles are available as eBook editions in a range of digital formats

9780367356484_cover.indd All Pages

9

780367 356484

26/11/20 4:28 PM

Proclaiming Holy Scriptures

This book provides a comprehensive study on the proclamation of Holy Scriptures as an enacted celebration, as well as its function as a performance within sacralized theatrical spaces. Scripture is integral to religious life within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and these traditions have venerated the reading of texts from an appointed place as a sacred act. Thus, the study of how these readings are conducted illuminates some vitally important aspects of this widespread act of worship. Contributing to an underexplored area of scholarship, the book offers an overview of scripture reading in the three Abrahamic faiths and then focuses on where and how the “Word of God” is presented within the Christian tradition. It gathers and summarizes research on the origins of a defined place for the proclamation of holy writings, giving a thorough architectural analysis and interpretation of the various uses and symbols related to these spaces over time. Finally, the listener is considered with a phenomenological description of the place for reading and its hermeneutical interpretation. The material in this book uncovers the contemporary impact of a rich history of publicly reading out scriptures. It will, therefore, be of great interest to scholars of liturgical theology, religious studies, and ritual studies. David H. Pereyra teaches at the University of St. Michael’s College and ­coordinates the Liturgy Seminar at the Toronto School of Theology at the University of Toronto. He holds degrees in architecture from Universidad de Buenos Aires, theology from the University of St. Michael’s College, and a postdoctoral fellowship in community engagement studies at the Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University in Toronto. To find out more about David H. Pereyra, visit davidhpereyra.com.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 1

03/12/20 9:29 AM

Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies

The Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies series brings high-quality research monograph publishing back into focus for authors, international libraries, and student, academic, and research readers. This open-ended monograph series presents cutting-edge research from both established and new authors in the field. With specialist focus yet clear contextual presentation of contemporary research, books in the series take research into important new directions and open the field to new critical debate within the discipline, in areas of related study, and in key areas for contemporary society. Sustainable Development Goals and the Catholic Church Catholic Social Teaching and the UN’s Agenda 2030 Edited by Katarzyna Cichos, Jarosław A. Sobkowiak, Radosław Zenderowski, Ryszard F. Sadowski, Beata Zbarachewicz, and Stanisław Dziekoński The Use and Abuse of Spirit in Pentecostalism A South African Perspective Edited by Mookgo S. Kgatle and Allan H. Anderson Active Hermeneutics Seeking Understanding in an Age of Objectivism Stanley E. Porter and Jason C. Robinson Proclaiming Holy Scriptures A Study of Place and Ritual David Pereyra Reactions to the Law by Minority Religions Edited by James T. Richardson and Eileen Barker For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge. com/religion/series/RCRITREL

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 2

03/12/20 9:29 AM

Proclaiming Holy Scriptures A Study of Place and Ritual

David Pereyra

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 3

03/12/20 9:29 AM

First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 David Pereyra The right of David Pereyra to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with Sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved: No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalogue record has been requested for this book ISBN: 9780367356484 (hbk) ISBN: 9780429340932 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 4

03/12/20 9:29 AM

Table of contents

List of figuresvi Foreword by Alberto Manguelix Acknowledgements xiii Introduction

1

1. Ritual practices and places of proclamation

7

2. The formal and legal structure of proclamation

75

3. The theology of proclamation

122

4. The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation

161

Conclusions Index

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 5

210 214

08/12/20 12:56 PM

List of figures

1.1 Plan of the Dura Europos Synagogue (third century), Syria. © Yale University Art Gallery Carl. Plate: Kraeling, 1956. 1.2 Plan House Church Dura Europos (third century), Syria. © Yale University Art Gallery. Plate: Carl Kraeling, 1956. 1.3 Floor plan diagram of Ancient Syrian Church. © David Pereyra. Designer: David Pereyra. 1.4 Ambo of the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos (fifth century), Kalampaka, Meteora. © George Kourelis. Photographer: Marc Dozier. 1.5 Interior digital reconstruction of Hagia Sophia (sixth century), Constantinople. © Andreas Noback, Lars Grobe, Oliver Hauck, Rudolf H.W. Stichel and Helge Svenshon. Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany (2010). 1.6 Floor plan approximation of Basilica St Maria Maggiore with fictional ambo (seventh century), Rome. © Cotta’schen Buchhandlung. Plate: Georg Dehio and Gustav von Bezold. From Kirchliche Baukunst des Abendlandes, (1887–1901). 1.7 Choir with ambos surrounded by screen. Basilica of St Maria in Cosmedin (eighth century), Rome. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra. 1.8 Ambo by Giovanni Pisano (1277–84), Santa Maria Assunta, Cathedral of Pisa Pisa. See the detail of a lectern to hold the Scriptures, and element that you cannot find in a pulpit. © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: photooiasson (Álvaro Germán). 1.9 Pulpit in the middle of the nave. Cardinal Newman’s Church (1270–nave rebuilt in 1510), Oxford. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra. 1.10 Sanctuary surrounded by a rood screen to separate it from the nave. St Davids Cathedral (consecrated in 1131), Wales. © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: Daniel Gauthier.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 6

13 19 22 26

28

30 33

35 36 37

08/12/20 12:56 PM

List of Figures vii 1.11 Jubé carved by Father Biard (1545). The new ambo to the left. St Etienne du Mont, Paris. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra. 1.12 Mihrab and mimbar. Rustem Pasha Mosque, Istanbul (1563). Design by Mimar Sinan, Istanbul. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra. 1.13 Dikka in Blue Mosque. Design by Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, (1609–16), Istanbul. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra. 1.14 Young man studying the Qur’an in a historic Ottoman mosque on the hills of Bursa, Turkey (2014). © iStock.com. Photographer: BERKO85. 1.15 Pulpit-altar of the Røros Church, Norway (1868). © DigitalMuseum.0rg. Photographer: Iver Olsen. 1.16 Two ambos following the Instructions of Cardinal Borromeo. Cathedral of Milan. Consecrated in 1549, Milan. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra. 1.17 Portable ambo in the interior of Holy Apostle and Gospel Luke. Serbian Orthodox Church, Belgrade. © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: nedomacki. 3.1 Torah reading. Synagogue in Auckland, New Zealand (2018). © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: chameleonseye (Rafael Ben-Ari). 3.2 Lector during the Liturgy of the Word. Ambo design by David Pereyra. University of St Mary. Calgary. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra. 3.3 Central bimah and Torah Ark. Orthodox Ashkenazi synagogue, built in 1762, Plymouth, Devon. © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: Roger Mechan. 3.4 Front bimah and Torah ark. Temple Emanu-El, established in 1845. New York City. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra. 4.1 Imam leading afternoon prayer, (Salat), Zagreb Mosque completed in 1987, Croatia (2012). © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: paulprescott72 (Paul Prescott). 4.2 Ambo in a remarkable position. St Françoise de Molitor, Paris (2005). © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra. 4.3 Portable ambo. Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Nicholas completed in 1762, Sremski Karlovci. © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: Marko Rupena. 4.4 Sculptural ambo. Artist: Giuliano Vangi. Chiesa di Padre Pio, San Giovanni Rotondo, Apulia (2008). Architect: Renzo Piano. Photographer: Francesco Di Capua. 4.5 Central bimah surrounded by benches on the same level. © Kol Emeth synagogue in Palo Alto, California. 2019

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 7

38 43 45 46 54 57 59 127 139 150 151 174 180 183 192

03/12/20 9:29 AM

viii  List of figures

4.6

(in construction). Congregation Kol Emeth, Palo Alto, California. Design by Field Architecture. Kateri Tekakwitha’s chapel, St Joseph College at University of Calgary, Edmonton. Design by David Pereyra. © Marc Neal. Photographer: Marc Neal.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 8

195 195

08/12/20 12:56 PM

Foreword

Sometime towards the end of World War II, in a frozen forest close to Krakow, the Polish Yiddish writer Yehuda Elberg was huddling in a hollow trunk, trying to avoid detection by the Nazi patrols. Elberg had become involved in smuggling people through safe houses. He had also taken part in the Warsaw ghetto uprising. And now, waiting for night to fall in order to reach a possible contact that might help him escape into freedom, Elberg remembered that it was Hanukkah and that, in his days as a rabbinical student (he descended from a long line of rabbis that claimed blood ties to Rashi), he had learned by heart the passages in the First and Second Maccabees (though not in the canonical Jewish Bible) that told the story of the miraculous lights. In a whisper, he recited to himself passages that his father had recited during Elberg’s childhood. As he fumbled in his pockets for some warmth, he found a box of matches. Elberg had a revelation: he would perform the traditional lighting of the candles by striking the matches, one by one, over the next eight nights, as if he were home, in his community, reading together and performing the Hanukkah ritual. He struck the first match and recited the old prayer: Praised are You, Our God, Ruler of the universe, Who made us holy through Your commandments and commanded us to kindle the Hanukkah lights. For a religious person (or even for a lapsed believer such as Elberg), the necessity of following prescribed rituals overcomes, often in extreme conditions, the adversities that stand in the way of their compliance. But why do we follow rituals in the first place? The philosopher John Dewey argued that human beings are active centres of impulse rather than passive vessels, and that learning occurs in action rather than in contemplation or observation. If this is true, then the ritual actions demanded in religious observance are, in a profound sense, pedagogical. What Dewey called “experiential education” is then effected by

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 9

03/12/20 9:29 AM

x  Foreword means of the various proceedings of the religious act, including the actions demanded by the reading, privately and out loud, the sacred texts. Books, the scriptural books not excepted, are instruments, and every instrument entails a ritual. Scripture (in the words of Karen Armstrong quoted by David Pereyra) “is essentially a performative art.” The controversial classicist Florence Dupont insists on the fact that the relationship we have established ever since the Middle Ages with the texts of Greece and Rome is faulty and misguided, because it ignores that these texts were not meant to be read separately, but as part of ritualized performances that included the positioning of participants, of performers and audience, and music, dance, and visual components. The same can be said of the sacred texts in respect to liturgical acts, as David Pereyra so lucidly explains in his book, Proclaiming Holy Scriptures. According to Pereyra, these ritual performances, mainly in the so-called three Abrahamic religions, each of which “has different bonds to its book,” have “important connections to the oral and sensory dimension of their scriptures.” Pereyra explains that the aim of his investigation “is to explore and advocate for the consideration of both old and new ideas regarding ways in which congregations of faithful can proclaim holy scriptures during a worship service, such that we are encouraged to bring this level of passion to our expressions of devotion.” To attain this “level of passion,” the performer (reader, suppliant, worshipper) must attempt to seek enlightenment in the interpretation and consequent compliance of the sacred text. To achieve this, a liturgy must be established based on dogmatic scripture, the accepted foundation texts of any religious community. In the twelfth century, Maimonides distinguished between the liturgy composed by the poets (‘m’shorerim) and that taken from scripture. Maimonides acknowledged that a prayer composed by the Men of the Great Assembly who had compiled much of standard liturgy should be distinguished from the poetic compositions by other, lesser faithful, and the earliest biblical and rabbinical prayers. He observed that people could tell the difference, and that during the chanting of the poetic prayers (piyyutim), the congregation behaved differently from that of the performance of traditional liturgy. According to Maimonides, the piyyutim detracted from the holiness of the service, and he consequently prohibited its recital. The rituals established by the Jewish communities since the days of Moses were not discontinued with the advent of Christ, rather, as Acts 2:46 has it, “continuing daily with one accord in the temple.” Communion, purification rites, public readings, and prayers were conducted by Christians long after the “tearing of the veil” during the Crucifixion (Mark 15:38 and Luke 23:45) which for some theologians meant that the Temple rites had now been ordered to come to an end. Inarguably, there has been in recent times a decline in the quality of the rite of liturgical reading and Pereyra notes that unfortunately “there is little discussion or proposals for ways to reverse the decline.” His book will remedy this failing to a great extent.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 10

03/12/20 9:29 AM

Foreword xi Pereyra wisely notes that the “reciting of the scriptures leads to greater intimacy with God than mere silent reading.” If the recitation of scripture is a strategy for coming into living contact with the divinity, it must be effected with all the efforts and skills of the best of performances. Saint Teresa of Ávila agreed. She noted that the mere recitation of prayer was not enough and insisted on allotting a certain time for prayer and recitation “until the end of the striking of the clock,” concentrating “with heart and soul” on the sacred words. In the Interior Castle she wrote, “If a person does not think [of] Whom he is addressing, and what he is asking for, and who it is that is asking and of Whom he is asking it, I do not consider that he is praying at all even though he be constantly moving his lips.” And in her Life she added, “I would advise all those who pray, especially at first, to establish links of friendship and acquaintance with others who are engaged in the same activity. This is of the utmost importance, even if it is only to help one another in their orisons. And even more so for the immense gains that they will thus reap!” According to Islamic practice, prayer, supplication, purification, and several other religious practices are acts of worship (ʽibadat) that entail precise performative rituals. Salah is perhaps the essential ritualized form of prayer that consists of washing before prayer, specific recitations, and physical movements, such as placing oneself facing Meccah, at certain times of the day. While several Jewish, Christian, and Zoroastrian traditional liturgical practices established to communicate with the divinity to praise or thank, or demand help or pardon, might have configured the rituals of Islamic prayer, it is certain that the consolidation of these rituals in the first centuries after Mohammed became both an instrument of individual instruction and a chart for establishing a communal identity. The ninth-century Muslim convert Abu Tammam wrote of the Islamic community: “Blood relationships we may lack But the written word is our adopted father.” Pereyra concludes his book with an exploration of how liturgical reading practices encompass all manner of human action and are defined not only by the action itself but also by the location, and, in some important cases, “by the presence of the physical role or holy book, together with the choreography needed for proclamation and the morphology of ritual and worship space.” This is true of every act of reading. As is the case in most of our common acts, reading follows a ritual that enables the performer to make use of the instrument of the book and all its attendant actions, a holy trinity that encompasses (according to Pereyra) “the act of reading, the act of listening, and the performance that brings them together.” The reading that St Augustine demanded “with the whole body”—the eyes scanning the lines, the hands touching the pages, the ears hearing the deciphered sounds,

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 11

03/12/20 9:29 AM

xii  Foreword the tongue “savouring” the words, the nostrils capturing the scent of ink and dust and paper, or even the subtle scent of the electronic screen—all demand ritualistic relationships with time and space—the time of the text and of the reader’s own, the space of the page and of where the reading takes place. Reading silently or out loud entails different rituals as well and creates in its performance communities of one or many, and inwards and outwards relationships of possession and obsession (sitting within and sitting without). Francisco de Quevedo called reading a “conversation with the dead.” Whether that conversation takes place between one reader and one author, or between one or many readers at once and the Author Who is One and Many, it entails an epistemological difference but not a functional one. Reading is the genus, reading scripture the species. It is written in the Hadith: “Beneath the throne of God lie treasures the keys to which are the tongue of the poets.” Alberto Manguel July 9, 2020

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 12

03/12/20 9:29 AM

Acknowledgements

This book owes its realization to the confidence, insistence, and dedication of my doctoral dissertation director, Professor Pablo Argárate. His perseverance and commitment influenced the manuscript’s development, drawing out its insight from beginning to end. I most want to recognize the generous and expert suggestions made by Anne Perdue, who has been an inspiration for more than two decades. I would especially like to thank Rachel Spence for reading multiple versions of this work, making many editing recommendations, and generously offering the necessary guidance to bring this book to press. I am deeply indebted to Alberto Manguel for his kind foreword, and of being an inspiration for my work. I would like to thank the Kelly Library staff at the University of Toronto for their unwavering support. Nevin Reda, professor of Muslim Studies at Emmanuel College, and Stephanie Brenzel, postdoctoral fellow in Jewish– Christian Relations at the University of Toronto, generously agreed to read the Islamic and Jewish sections, along with Marcos Ramos, OP, Robert Girvain, and Andrew Dade. I am also grateful to the fellowship of my colleagues William Kervin, Darren Dias, and Noel McFerran. I also wish to express my deeply felt gratitude to Joshua Wells and Yuga Harini at Routledge for showing confidence in my work and also for their patience and assistance. Finally, I acknowledge the interest and encouragement of my family and friends throughout these years of researching and writing.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-FM.indd 13

03/12/20 9:29 AM

BK-TandF-BIGO_9781138589919-200144-FM.indd 14

16/10/20 6:36 PM

Introduction

Picture the moment: the hall is full, the audience is chatting with anticipation, and suddenly the lights dim. The response of those gathered is profound silence. The conductor appears and all clap in appreciation for her presence and that of the orchestra. The moment we have been waiting for is about to start. The conductor stands on the rostrum, glances at the score, and takes a couple of slow breaths while the audience does the same. Then the baton is raised, music fills the hall, and art transports everyone to another dimension. Every time I go to a symphony concert and watch the conductor and members of the orchestra, I see the audience openly expressing love for what they do: conducting and playing music as a celebration of sounds, ideas, history, humanity, melody, and emotions and sharing the experience with an audience. It is faith in a physical form and an act of extraordinary passion. The aim of this book is to explore and advocate for the consideration of both old and new ideas regarding the ways in which congregations of the faithful can proclaim Holy Scriptures during a worship service, such that we are encouraged to bring this level of passion to our expressions of devotion.

The challenge During the last twenty-five years, as a liturgical consultant and an architect, I have observed many communities of worshippers who act mostly as a passive audience rather than as active participants. This is contrary to the desire expressed by many congregations to have a vivid and meaningful service that revives the central role of scripture in their lives. As an area of study, both the design of the place and rituals for proclaiming the scriptures have been relatively neglected. This omission reflects a lack of attention being paid to the significance and meaning of a profoundly rooted rite and its place within a worship space. At this point in the twenty-first century, it is encouraging to see that the contemporary renewal of liturgical movements has burgeoned within each of the Abrahamic traditions. The focus is typically on participation,

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Intro.indd 1

16/11/20 1:58 PM

2  Introduction liturgical text, and the search for roots of meaning. Unfortunately, relatively little attention is being paid to questions of performance and setting, perhaps because these are seen as highly subjective and open to disparate opinions that can lead to disagreement. As a result, to a great extent, contemporary culture overlooks the psychological and theological necessity for the Holy Scriptures to be proclaimed. As Karen Armstrong describes in The Lost Art of Scripture, scripture has always been “essentially a performative art, and until the modern period, it was nearly always acted out in the drama of ritual and belonged to the world of myth.”1 Until we revive this dimension and revitalize the proclamation of the word of God, worshippers are missing out on the powerful binding factors that result from the reading, reciting, and the hearing of scriptures in worship. Thanks to my expertise in Christianity, I use it as an opportunity to find points of shared interests between the three Abrahamic religions. Rituals of proclamation and the emotional impact and efficacy they carry is an under-explored area of scholarship. The immense importance of the aspects of the ritual of liturgical practices is contradictory to the contemporary diminishment of the dramatic character of the Torah service, Liturgy of the Word, and Holy Qur’an recitations. What we risk is a dilution of both the appreciation of the symbolism and the depth of spiritual experience itself, which is the primary concern of this book.

Viva voce For the three religions of Abraham—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—the Holy Scriptures are integral to the lives of their followers. Though each religion has different bonds with their holy books, all have an important connection to the oral and sensory dimension of their scriptures. When the faithful listen to the proclamations or recite the scriptures, they open themselves to experiencing new and deeper meanings. The preservation, transmission, reading, and reciting of the scriptures lead to greater intimacy with God than mere silent reading. This is one of the very few areas of modern life that offers us this opportunity, as reading in almost all other forms has become a silent and individual activity. William Graham, in Beyond the Written Word, explains how “the evidence is substantial that it is only in relatively recent history, and specifically in the modern West, that the book has become a silent object, the written word a silent sign, and the reader a silent spectator.”2 Accordingly, Alberto Manguel writes of how, from the days of the first Sumerian tablets, words were meant to be read aloud, “since the signs carried implicit, as if it were their soul, a particular sound.”3 Manguel is describing the power of proclamation; how when one reads not only with the eyes, but with one’s mouth, voice, and breath, it stirs something deep inside us. When read aloud, words contain not only meaning that we intellectually understand but a rhythm and a cadence that can be embodied, echoed back into our

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Intro.indd 2

16/11/20 1:58 PM

Introduction 3 own ears, and understood with a deep intimacy. Whether reading aloud or attentively listening, such experience with the scriptures can elicit in the believer responses to feelings of belonging, consolation, joy, and sorrow. Embracing these responses is what it means to proclaim Holy Scriptures.

Place and ritual Reading Holy Scriptures involves not only the reading of the words of God, but human gestures, the involvement of worshippers, and the site or place for the proclamation. The Sacred texts of the Abrahamic faiths contain the word of God, and the one who reads or recites the Holy Scriptures gives life to the divine; reading of sacred texts is a metaphor of the voice of God. The most critical action for the faithful, however, is not to simply read or recite text aloud but, as Kim Butts explains, to listen attentively and attach “meaning to what we have heard. It is also intentionally acting upon what is heard by responding appropriately.”4 Scriptures a viva voce is an intimate spiritual–physical relationship in which all senses play a part. Abrahamic sacred texts were meant to be proclaimed or recited publicly and usually in the midst of a community of believers. These traditions have venerated both the public reading of texts and the appointed place in which they occur to be sacred. Indeed, places to proclaim scriptures have been specially constructed within the worship space: in synagogues, the bimah; in Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, the ambo; and in Reformation churches, the lectern. Islam does not have a designated place; the entire mosque is the dedicated locus for Qur’anic recitation. Still, we can find two elements that are similar in some ways to the bimah and the ambo, which are the mimbar and the kursi. Sermons are delivered from the m ­ inbar, where the Imam includes Qur’anic verses. The kursi is a portable stand dedicated to the recitation of the Qur’an during the prayers. So much so that Qur’anic inscription often appears as an embellishment and decoration throughout the prayer hall and on both interior and exterior surfaces. The mosque itself is an extension of the Sacred Book. Perhaps nowhere has this been more magnificently represented in contemporary time than in Zaha Hadid’s innovative, though unbuilt, mosque designs. Hadid’s fresh approach includes women having a hall for their prayer area, rather than a more traditional, mere secondary gallery space. Her entry into the Strasbourg competition for a Grand Mosque in 2000 used fluid, challenging forms, and natural light to poetically evoke nuances of the act of prayer. Graceful, undulating shapes translate and echo the sound waves of the muezzin chanting the call to prayer. Today’s bimot, ambos, mimbars, and kursis are generally well designed and are often beautiful works of art. Still, many simply fail to impart their real significance within the liturgical environment. Renewing the ritual aspects of scripture reading in the liturgy and rediscovering the importance of the place where this activity occurs can have deep inspirational results.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Intro.indd 3

16/11/20 1:58 PM

4  Introduction Those who design religious spaces have the opportunity and the responsibility, through their informed creativity, to enable worshippers to experience the transformative power of the word of God. Over the millennia, places of proclamation have attained and maintained powerful significance. They have varied considerably from a simple desk or a portable stand to furnishing of such importance that, in the Christian tradition, it became the place the Constantinople patriarch crowned emperors. Many scholars, including Albert Damblon, James Levine, Cosma Capomaccio, Crispino Valenziano, Lee Weissbach, and Ruth Langer, have examined different aspects of the bimah or the ambo, but there has not yet been an integrated study of these vital structures. Also, there is little discussion or proposals for ways to reverse the decline in the quality of the rite of reading. At the 2005 International Liturgical Symposium at the monastery of Bose, Italy, there was a reawakening of scholarly interest in the ambo. At that conference, scholars such as Frédéric Debuyst, Albert Gerhards, Benedikt Kranemann, and Josef Wohlmuth addressed historical, liturgical, and theological aspects of both the rite of reading sacred texts and the ambo. More recently, Mauricio Bergamo, Arnold Caleffi, Anne Da Rocha Carneiro, Richard Giles, Mattia Del Prete, Pedro Scherer, and Richard Vosko, all experts in sacred spaces, have done work on the ambo. However, no one has addressed the phenomenological aspect of the e­xperiential drama of the rite of reading sacred texts, nor the phenomenological architectural experience of the place of proclamation as a physical space and its sensory properties. There is no recent integrated hermeneutical analysis of the function, experience, and design of places of proclamation. This book has been written as an interdisciplinary study of the place of proclamation at the intersections of sacred architecture, liturgical theology, phenomenology, hermeneutics, and dramaturgical dimensions. The function of a place of proclamation and recitation has always been to facilitate the public reading of scriptures, which, throughout history, has often occurred from a privileged place that makes God’s presence apparent amidst a group of worshippers. Chapter 1 summarizes the historical origins of proclamations of the word of God. The section contains a reassessment of early historical development of sacred architecture and the purpose-built structures from which scripture was initially proclaimed and an appraisal of the liturgical practices and architectonic strategies of the Abrahamic traditions. A significant section in this chapter will describe reading in the synagogue from the bimah and its mutual influence on early Christian tradition, including the ambo’s emergence and its magnificent splendour in the Byzantine liturgy. We will delve into the birth of Islam, including the revelations the Prophet received, and how the Muslim community fostered practices and institutions and drew inspiration for new forms of worship. Chapter 2 outlines the historical development of how the word of God became formulated as a series of authorized readings to be proclaimed

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Intro.indd 4

16/11/20 1:58 PM

Introduction 5 publicly and liturgically within Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. Just as these readings were collected and assembled in very specific ways, the places where they would be proclaimed were also subject to regulation. These assigned places have changed over time based on a variety of liturgical and theological needs, such as the need for a congregation of people to be able to see and hear, and a desire to unify words, gestures, and ceremonies to create a vibrant and dynamic liturgical setting for proclamation. All three religions have undergone an extensive progression of development in regard to the laws, traditions, customs, and rules for their respective forms of worship. Chapter 3 focuses on theological interpretations of the proclamation of the word of God and the concept of revelation in the three faiths. The understandings of the word of God and the sacred text are not precisely the same in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is not an ontological but a thematic question. Two essential notions are clarified: how the divine word is and has been transmitted, preserved, and proclaimed in the form of scripture and the significance of the sacred text in worship spaces. The act of public proclamation of a scripture always interacts with the congregation who is there to listen and to hear. Critical sections in this chapter describe the reenactment action of the proclamation, the theological role of the reader from the place of proclamation, and the liturgical performance. Chapter 4 charts new ground, presenting the proclamation of scriptures as a complex process that encompasses human action, location, and, in some cases, the presence of the physical role or holy book, together with the choreography needed for proclamation and the morphology of ritual and worship space. It presents research on how the ritual reading of scripture not only poses an aesthetic challenge but also requires a renewed appreciation of the relationship between the act of proclamation and the very space within which it occurs. At this point in time, as we physically distance and isolate in response to COVID-19, there is no shortage of those who, provocatively, are considering new opportunities through virtual celebrations, replacing the human voice with the voice of artificial intelligence and supplanting paper texts with electronic and digital technologies. There have also been attempts to make touchscreen ambos. At the bottom of these initiatives, coming from different environments and sensitivities, certain efforts can be detected towards understanding the singular power of the ritual action. This is why it is also a time to be inspired by the opportunity to preserve various elements of the traditional ritual and place of proclaiming Holy Scriptures and, more specifically, to find new ways to enhance the symbolic value of reading and reciting scriptures specifically intended for the liturgy. Reenacting the word of God during worship has the power, as Karen Armstrong writes, for men and women to “discover the divine within themselves and the world in which they live.”5 And it is a way to repeat the experience of many of our ancestors, as happened to St Augustine when he

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Intro.indd 5

16/11/20 1:58 PM

6  Introduction wrote, “You called and cried out loud and broke through my deafness. You flamed and shone and banished my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me: and I drew in my breath and I pant for you. I have tasted you: and now I hunger and thirst for more.”6 Proclaiming and reciting Holy Scriptures is a transcendental experience.

Notes 1 Karen Armstrong, The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing the Sacred Texts, Introduction. 2 William A. Graham, Beyond the Written Word, 45. 3 Alberto Manguel, A History of Reading, 45. 4 Kim Butts, “SQUIRREL!” 5 Armstrong, Introduction. 6 St Augustine, Confessions, Book 10 chapter XXVII.

Bibliography Armstrong, Karen. The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing the Sacred Texts. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2019. Kindle. Butts, Kim. “Squirrel! (the Difference between Hearing God and Listening to God).” Harvest Prayer Ministries, 2017, https://www.harvestprayer.com/squirrel-the-­ difference-between-hearing-god-and-listening-to-god/ (accessed May 23, 2020). Graham, William A. Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Manguel, Alberto. A History of Reading. Toronto, ON: Vintage Canada, 1998.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Intro.indd 6

16/11/20 1:58 PM

1

Ritual practices and places of proclamation

Throughout the history of sacred architecture in the Abrahamic religions, one can see the development of worship, tracing its changing patterns in their rituals. These Semitic-originated religious communities rely on bodies of scripture considered to be the word of God and are viewed as sacred. In Judaism, the holy scriptures are the Tanakh, comprising the Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim; in Christianity, the Bible, divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament; and in Islam, the Qur’an. The changing locus of the proclamation of their scriptures has founded expression on rituals and places throughout history. Pope Pius XII made an enlightening observation about the creation of meaningful rituals and spaces for the proclamation of holy scriptures for contemporary worship: “It is a wise and most laudable thing to return in spirit and affection to the sources of the sacred ritual. For research in this field of study, by tracing it back to its origins, contributes valuable assistance towards a more thorough and careful investigation of the significance of feastdays, and of the meaning of the texts and sacred ceremonies employed on their occasion.”1 The analysis of the earliest endeavours to worship God in Abrahamic faiths help to perceive the intended meaning of ritual proclamation and to recognize the full worth of the significance of its place. 2 The three faith communities believe that the word of God, contained in their holy books, leads them to their salvation. The act of reading sacred text is a ritual, which also came to be considered sacred. By reading and listening to sacred text, members of the Abrahamic religions detach themselves from the present and return to the primordial time, thereby bringing themselves closer to the divine. Rituals of proclamation allow us to understand and recognize the level of importance that these communities have given to their place of reading in the assembly and the physical location of these sacred scriptures. The roots of these rituals can be found in Jewish worship and its connections with the ritual forms of the Jerusalem Temple and the synagogue. Jewish liturgical traditions have left many marks on the earliest forms of Christian and Muslim worship.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 7

02/12/20 1:46 PM

8  Ritual practices and places of proclamation

Jewish origins The public reading of scriptures in the cult of ancient Israel dates from pre-exilic to post-Babylonian times. Biblical sources demonstrate the first traces of divine announcement of an epochal event to the people of God, in which psalms and hymns were sung at mountaintop shrines, such as Shiloh, Bethel, Dan, Beersheba, Hebron, Gibeon, Ebal, and especially at the Temple of Jerusalem. The Torah widely attests to the tradition of public reading in sacred places as a religious ritual, and it is always connected to the location of the sacrificial altar. The first testimony can be found in the book of Deuteronomy (Devarim) when Moses and the elders of Israel give instructions to the people on how to raise a stone altar. They also asked the people to write “the Law” on the stones clearly: “You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very clearly” (Deut. 27:8). The command suggests that the place to write and read the word of God is at a holy ground surrounded by Israel’s assembly. In Chapter 31, Moses instructs the priests and elders of Israel to read the Law at the Feast of Booths: “Every seventh year, in the scheduled year of remission, during the festival of booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing” (Deut. 31:10–11).3 In Joshua’s book, the prophet reiterates the same action, building an altar to the God of Israel on Mount Ebal and writing a copy of the Law on the stones (Josh. 8:30–35). Writing the words on the altar is a means of validating it, connecting both sacredness of the altar and the words, to maintain the sense of their interconnectedness. Afterward, Joshua proclaimed all the words of the Law before the assembly of Israel. He does the same again after assembling all the tribes at Shechem, but this time, it is a covenant ceremony between the Lord and Israel (Josh. 24). The proclamation is always on holy ground and under the assembly, both important elements. Later, the mitzvah of gathering the people and reading them the Torah under Hakhel was performed by the king and in the Temple. When Israel emerged as a kingdom by the tenth century BCE, the Ark of the Covenant containing the Table of the Law did not have a fixed location. After King David’s conquering of Jerusalem, the Ark was moved there, but it was King Solomon who erected the First Temple (completed in 957 BCE). Compared to other pagan temples, it was not the factual residence of the God of the Israelites and God’s presence was intangible for them. King Solomon built a platform in the inner courtyard between the altar and the porch. From that elevated temporary structure, where the king gave his first public address and his dedication prayer. The king pled for God to pay particular heed to their prayers: “Thus all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and revere You, as does Your people Israel; and they will recognize that Your name is attached to this House that I have built” (I Kings 8:43). This elevated structure became an antecedent for the future of proclamation.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 8

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 9 The essential element of the daily First Temple service was the offerings: the sacrifice of two lambs, one in the morning, with which the service began, and one in the afternoon, with which the service concluded. From as far back as sources allow, reading of the Law and hymns were part of the Temple ritual. In the early hours of the day, the priests cast lots for who would be assigned to execute the rites of sacrifice. Then the lambs, which were screened for defects and blemishes, would be sacrificed as ninety-three priests stood around the altar blessing the devotees in the ineffable name of the Lord. One priest poured libations while another raised the banner and gave to Ben Arza, the head of the priestly band, the order to play the cymbals while yet other priests blew the silver trumpets. The Levites read the prescribed psalm for the day, as well as sections of the Law, to the accompaniment of these musical instruments. As each verse finished, the priests would sound their horns and those gathered would kneel in prayer.4 In the seventh century BCE, a scroll of the Torah was discovered during restoration work of the Jerusalem Temple that featured a new method of public proclamation, according to the narrative of 2 Kings 22:3–23:24 (ca. 621 BCE). This book of the Law, so fortuitously recovered by the reformer king Josiah, becomes the basis for a new liturgical covenant that establishes the public reading of the Torah: Then the king directed that all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem should be gathered to him. The king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him went all the people of Judah, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, keeping his commandments, his decrees, and his statues, with all this heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All the people joined in the covenant. (2 Kings 23:1–3) This renewal of the cultic traditions of Israel is in turn understood as a renewal of its more general covenant with the Lord. Scripture reading, now endorsed by holy writ both in public and private, becomes a vehicle for the promotion of learning and a spur for religious reform. The second temple of Jerusalem There was more to the Second Temple than just ritual sacrifices, Torah reading, teaching, and the priests who upheld the Law. Lester Grabbe says, “The priests were the custodians of the law and were responsible for teaching it to the people. How they did this is not clear in our sources. There may have been public expositions.”5 The earliest scriptural evidence of such a designated activity is in the book of Nehemiah. After the exile, according

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 9

02/12/20 1:46 PM

10  Ritual practices and places of proclamation to Nehemiah, the returning community was gathered around and Ezra brought before the people the books of the Law and proclaimed it. The grand celebration that inaugurates the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls and the reconstitution of the community extends over several weeks; the reconstruction culminates in the community summoning Ezra with the Torah. In that moment, people spontaneously assemble in what has the appearance of ancient synagogue liturgy.6 From this point on, the public reading of the Torah becomes a regular feature of Jewish worship. The listening to the word of God contained in the scriptures is a full and essential symbol of faith and the covenant. For Israel, proclaiming and listening to the book of the Law of Moses is a sacred act and represents the very presence of God among them. The chosen people live His word as a sacred presence to the world, an enduring sign of holiness that goes beyond a specific time and place. In Chapter 8 of Nehemiah, the reading of the Law parallels the giving of the Law at Sinai in its impact upon the people who are transformed into “the people of the Book”:7 The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose.… And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground… So they read the book, from the Law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense so that the people understood the reading. (Neh. 8:4–6, 8) Under Ezra, the reading of the Torah became a common practice and a spiritual focal point of the congregation. What was now an indisputably sacred action required a physical location. According to Carvalho, “For ancient Israel, sacred space was primarily a metaphor of the experience of God’s presence with the worshiping community.”8 Moreover, because this reading was now central to people’s worship, the place of the ritual proclamation could not be haphazardly assigned from one assembly to the next—the reading of the Holy Scriptures has acquired a topos. In terms of Jewish liturgy, this place was a wooden platform, the migdâl (in Hebrew, tower), “that had been made for the purpose” at Jerusalem’s Water Gate for Ezra to stand upon it and read the Law.9 Ezra’s public reading is our oldest reference in the Tanakh for a specific place for the proclamation of scripture (ca. 457 BCE). This single event changes the way of proclaiming sacred scriptures in Jewish tradition.10 The use of a podium for ritual proclamation has become not only a necessity for more attentive listening from the assembly but also for maintaining the predominance of the sacred act. In his research, James Levine records that a wooden platform was placed in the courtyard of Jerusalem’s Second Temple to read the Torah on certain occasions.11 So it

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 10

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 11 is no surprise that elevation within the physical context of an assembly of worshippers gathered on a flat space (a field, a city square, the area before a city gate) signifies importance and sacredness. From practical arrangements to facilitating the effective proclamation of the scriptures emerges what will have cross-cultural significance with future theological interpretation.12 Given this continued reverence towards the scriptures, provision of a higher position for the word of God will affect the design of new spaces created by the ancient Jewish community. These new spaces would not only be places of prayer but reflect the religious reformation’s emphasis upon an appreciation of the sacred texts. While oriented towards Jerusalem, a different building will be born, featuring a space organized around the sacred word: the synagogue. The synagogue Jews firmly believed that the Temple, run by a hereditary caste of priests, was the only dwelling place of the Lord. The Second Temple continues the tradition of being the centre of Israelite life. It was not only the focus of religious ritual but also the repository of the Holy Scriptures and other national literature and the meeting place of the Sanhedrin, the highest court of Jewish law during the Roman period. The destruction of the Herodian Temple by the Romans in 70 CE was the end of sacrificial worship, and, as Ruth Langer stresses, an existential crisis for the chosen people,13 which the Talmud describes as “locking the gates of prayer”14 for the entire nation. However, the synagogue, a revolutionary institution in Jewish history, which mitigated the tragedy: “To alleviate this situation, the rabbis constructed a verbal worship of the heart. This became the ritual of their synagogue and, eventually, Jewish liturgy, universally.”15 The exact origins of this institution are not known, but it likely emerged during the sixth century BCE in Babylonia during the exile. The ancient synagogue started an informal process of decentralizing the worship, providing a gathering place in the diaspora.16 As Hoppe observes, its significance was considerable: “The synagogue brought liturgical worship to every Jewish village in Palestine.”17 For Harold A. Meek, the synagogue “led to the development of a type of building that would house an interactive body of worshipers, as opposed to a remote temple in which mysteries were performed.”18 Now, the divinity was symbolically present in the assembly of Jews who followed in their worship a ritual that did not involve sacrifice.19 Gutmann and Fine observe that the first synagogue buildings were simply rooms within a residential structure, as demonstrated by the earliest archaeological evidence found in the diaspora, mostly in Egypt. 20 Networks of synagogues started to emerge after the destruction of the Temple, consolidating during the Hellenistic period. 21 The synagogue was not just a liturgical space. From its origins, it was also a place where the community gathered to discuss community problems

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 11

02/12/20 1:46 PM

12  Ritual practices and places of proclamation and came to be used as hostels for travellers and as a temporary shelter. Nevertheless, over time, its primary function became to be the Sabbath reading of the Torah, the centrepiece of Jewish synagogal liturgy.22 According to Levine, “By the first century, a weekly ceremony featuring the communal reading and study of holy texts had become a universal Jewish practice. It was a unique liturgical feature in the ancient world; no such form of worship was known in paganism.”23 The synagogue never replaced the Temple, but after its destruction, the Jewish community continued to gather to pray, read, and study the Torah at their local synagogues. Levine explains, “No other institution was more affected by the events of 70 than the synagogue. In a religious vein, the synagogue had come to play an important, though limited, role on the local level; now, in the post-70 era, it would begin to acquire an increased centrality in Jewish religious life.”24 Slowly, the synagogue came to replace the fallen Temple as the new worship space of the Jewish faith. Several scholars agree, “many of the customs and rituals of the Temple were deliberately and consciously transferred to the synagogue, and on the other hand, some of these rituals were forbidden just for the reason that they belonged to the Temple and the Temple.”25 Moreover, Meyers says, “The synagogue as both a social and religious institution, a gathering-place for like-minded people who come together to acknowledge their God and read God’s word in scripture, and as an architectural reality, ranks as one of the signal achievements of the Jewish people.”26 Specialists agree that by the third century, the distinctive features of rabbinic liturgy emerged, where the reading and teaching of the Torah was the centre of their ritual, a task that encompassed the entire life of the people, a genuine encounter with the true God of the covenant. As Bouyer says, The synagogal worship was included and has never ceased to be included in a ritual celebration, closely connected with the acknowledgment and the cult of a unique Presence of God with His own. And this was the Presence which for the Jews, has always been connected with the Temple or the place where it stood, more especially the Holy of holies where the God that the heavens cannot house has nevertheless condescended to dwell in the midst of His own. 27 Levine explains that the archaeological data from several synagogue buildings across the Roman-Byzantine world gives us sufficient information on the primary internal configuration. As an example, the synagogue complex at Dura Europos was built in two stages. The first stage dates from the late second or early third century CE, and the second was built in 244–45 CE and destroyed in 256 CE (see Figure. 1.1). According to Levine, “In each stage, the focus of the building was the sanctuary (house of the assembly), with an aedicula serving as a Torah shrine located in its western wall.”28 This configuration helps us to conclude, together with documented synagogue activity from the mid-Second Temple period, that in all halls of

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 12

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 13

Figure 1.1 Plan of the Dura Europos Synagogue (third century), Syria. © Yale University Art Gallery Carl. Plate: Kraeling, 1956.

the assembly, the main event was communal reading and exposition of the Torah and the other holy scriptures. In order for the Torah to be read in such a way that all the faithful would listen to it with dignity, and without losing the level of importance that this liturgical act deserved, it was necessary to have a platform and fixture that allowed the reader to unroll the scrolls for reading—the bimah.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 13

02/12/20 1:46 PM

14  Ritual practices and places of proclamation The bimah The bimah—in Hebrew, “elevated Place,” coming from the Greek bema, “a raised platform”—is an elevated platform with a reading desk from which the Torah is read during services and is a focal point in the hall. The public reading of the Torah in the synagogue is only done from the bimah. Originally, the bema was the tribunal platform of political and judicial meetings in ancient Athens and came to be referred to as the judge’s seat at a legal proceeding. The synagogue adapted its use for the Torah. Eric Meyers explains, “by elevating the place used for the reading and interpretation of scripture the Jewish community proclaimed and emphasized yet again the authority of scripture in their lives.”29 This feature, together with the Torah shrine, is found in almost every synagogue in Israel and the diaspora. In one of the oldest synagogues in Nabratein, Galilee (Roman period 135–250 CE), two stone platforms were found near the south wall, one of which is assumed to be the bimah. The other platform was presumably for the Ark that held the sacred Torah scrolls. The original location of the bimah—if it was centrally located or placed at the end of the hall—is difficult to ascertain because there is no archaeological data. Regardless of the lack of evidence, the bimah was likely a prominent element in the halls of synagogues in the Middle East and in the Diaspora. Reading the Torah Synagogue services from the first century mainly occurred on the Sabbath and during holidays. This form of public worship—a difference from the Temple—involved the congregation on a more direct level. The prayers and Torah readings were the central part of the service. The Babylonian Talmud records that Ezra was the one who established the practice of reading the Torah on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat afternoons (as well as holidays, the first of the month Rosh Chodesh).30 Two ancient sources reinforce the contents of the Talmud. Philo, a Greek-speaking Jewish philosopher, mentions, “they have houses of prayer and meet together in them, particularly sacred sabbaths when they receive as a body training in their ancestral philosophy.”31 Jewish historian Josephus notes, “He [Moses] appointed the Law to be the most excellent and necessary form of instruction, ordaining … that every week men should desert their other occupations and assemble to listen to the Law and to obtain a thorough and accurate knowledge of it.”32 The centrality of the Torah-reading ceremony in the service is also described by Philo on the Sabbath: They use these laws [of the Torah] to learn from at all times, but especially each seventh day, since the seventh day is regarded as sacred. On that day they abstain from other work and betake themselves to the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 14

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 15 sacred places which are called synagogues. They are seated according to age in fixed places, the young below the old, holding themselves ready to listen with the proper good manners. Then one of them takes the book and reads. Another, from among those with most experience, come forward and explains anything that is not easy to understand. 33 In the services, the sacred scrolls were read in public by both the local rabbi and a community member, perhaps someone who was seated in one of the fixed places mentioned before. A cantor or any member of the community acting as the sheliah sibbur—the emissary of the congregation or a prayer leader—recited the prayers. All of these ritual actions were done from the bimah. The weekly ceremonial reading was the core of the service by the first century CE and a universal Jewish practice by the third century CE. The earliest reference to a fixed cycle of readings is in the Babylonian Talmud. The Torah reading as a ritual is discussed in the Mishnah and Talmud in Tractate Megillah Chapters 3 and 4. Louis Jacobs, in discussing the history of the reading of Torah, explains, The Mishnah rules that three persons read the Torah on Sabbath afternoons, on Mondays, and Thursdays; four on ḥol ha-mo’ed of the festivals and on the new moon; five on a festival; six on the Day of Atonement; and seven on a Sabbath morning (Meg. 4:1–2). The privilege of reading the first portion of the day was given to a priest, the second to a Levite, and the others to Israelites (Git. 5:8). Originally, each person read his own portion. In time, with the deterioration of Torah learning among the laypeople, a special official of the synagogue read the portion while the person called to the reading recited the benedictions. 34 These Jewish practices, both in terms of community ritual and in the design of their sacred spaces, might provide something of a template for early Christian communities in the planning of their liturgy and the creation of their places of worship.

Christian origins The origin of Christian rituals lies in Jewish practices, and its connections with scriptures are crucial. Liturgical scholars discovered that, at its roots, Christian worship was diverse with regard to liturgical practices, church structure, and theological orientations. During the fourth and fifth centuries, the composition of the distinct liturgical rites of East and West took place. The evolution of those liturgical practices reflects the development of the place where sacred scriptures were read. Due to the scarcity of evidence from the first Christian communities, liturgical texts, prayers, and scriptures will be used to provide a more coherent picture of the early traditions.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 15

02/12/20 1:46 PM

16  Ritual practices and places of proclamation The church house From the very beginning, the assembly of believers was the central feature of the Christian faith, requiring a gathering place. Early Christian communities had few economic resources to provide their own specific space for liturgical meetings. The first assemblies met in the homes of its members, and the central event of the meeting was the meal.35 Edward Foley considers the homes of wealthy Christians to be the centre of the gatherings. House types varied across the Roman Empire, but they featured similar rooms for public gatherings, such as the dining room for the celebration of the readings and the Eucharist and the pool in the atrium for baptism. The first mention of a house church is in the letter to the Romans 16:3–5, in which Paul greets Prisca and Aquila and the community in their house. The size of a dining room usually was around 5 m by 7 m, allowing the important community members to gather there, while the rest were likely relegated to the open area of the atrium. These earliest Christian communities were of Jewish origin, who previously worshiped in the Temple and were accustomed to the synagogue services, including the reading and interpretation of the Torah as well as prayer.36 These synagogal practices, the regular rhythm of scripture reading and discussion, were naturally incorporated into Christian gatherings, in addition to having a centralized place for reading holy scriptures.37 The emergence of a distinctively Christian community from Judaism was a gradual process. This accounts for the substantial presence of Jewish architectural elements and liturgical furnishings in the first Christian buildings. This is further evidence that Christian worship and Christian places of worship had their antecedents in the synagogue liturgy and the synagogue as a gathering place.38 Meyers, in agreement, also sees the ancient synagogue as the principal inspiration in the design of Christian meeting places, particularly in terms of interior design and liturgy. This includes having the proclamation of the scriptures in the house church in specific locations and elevated so that the readings could be proclaimed and heard in an authoritative way, as it was in the synagogue.39 However, for Marica Cassis, the sharp deterioration of relations between Jewish and Christian communities, is also indicated in early church buildings where there seems to be a desire to make the source of their design ideas less explicit, such as including a table for the agape.40 The detailed account of Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth provides us with a hint as to the influence of the synagogue upon early Christians in terms of how scripture was read and preached in the first communities: When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 16

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 17 Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight for the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Lk. 4:16–21) In this passage, certain stages of early synagogue liturgy become apparent. Jesus is asked by one of the officials to read and comment on the prophets. He was handed the book of Isaiah to read and after reading, he returned the scroll to the synagogue official. Jesus sits and begins to proclaim—in this sense, going beyond preaching—that the predictions of the prophet have now come to fulfilment in him. The passage intimates many of the key themes that we find in early Christian liturgies. The figure of Jesus—standing before the assembly with the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in his hands and reading the word of God in the context of the synagogue liturgy—illuminates Himself as a ministry and as a place for the proclaiming of the word of God in liturgical celebrations. This ritual action of Jesus becomes a sacrament. On that day, Jesus explains not just the Old Testament writings but announces the good news of the kingdom as part of the ritual, as indicated by all four of the Evangelists.41 This gospel pericope describing Jesus planting a seed within existing Jewish ritual from which would grow the early Church’s Liturgy of the Word explains the privileged place given to the proclamation of the word of God in Christian worship space, leading to the conclusion that reading sacred texts from a privileged location is an element of early Christian church architecture likely borrowed from the synagogue. L. Michael White, in The Social Origins of Christian Architecture, suggests there are three periods to take into account before the Christian liturgy develops its language of worship that reflects the use of customized space.42 The first period, between 50 and 150 CE, sees assembly gathering in the homes of wealthier members. This period starts with the apostolic mission in synagogues: “For several days he [Paul] was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’” (Acts 9:19b–20). Adolf von Harnack alleges that it was the extensive network of synagogues that gave Christians an effective means of spreading their propaganda.43 White agrees, explaining, “Synagogues served as the primary setting for missionary preaching, while worship proper was set in private homes.”44 During the time of the apostolic fathers, there is no evidence of specific places for the proclamation of the scriptures, likely because private homes would not have had a podium, even a small one set in the large room used by the gathering.45 This tradition of celebrating the liturgy in the different homes of the church’s wealthier members continued throughout the second century.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 17

02/12/20 1:46 PM

18  Ritual practices and places of proclamation The separation of the Eucharist from the agape meal marks the beginning of the second period (ca. 150–250 CE), a new era in Christian worship. White explains, “This separation of Eucharist from agape, whether for pragmatic or theological reasons, had a correlative impact on the arrangements and settings for assembly.”46 At this time a change from the use of scrolls and letters to that of bound books can be seen. These two significant developments, in terms of community practice (the Eucharist as a standalone rite) and information technology (the widespread use of books), had a substantial impact upon the social aspects and religious practices of the Christian faith. New liturgical patterns appear in this second period following the universal grant of citizenship under the Constitutio Antoniniana which allowed Christians new freedoms in their expressions of faith. As a result, a more distinctive Christian architecture begins to emerge.47 The arranging of space includes an assembly hall, a portable altar table, a platform from which to read the scriptures (Greek: bema > Hebrew: bimah), and a seat for the bishop. This standard gathering space was located mainly in the Hellenistic domestic buildings, thus the emergence of the term domus ecclesiae, or “house church.” The domus ecclesia discovered at Dura-Europos in 1946 (ca. 240–256 CE) is a perfect example, featuring a large hall for assembly gatherings opposite to the entrance vestibule (see Figure 1.2). Allan Doig hypothesizes that the place could accommodate a congregation of fifty to sixty members.48 The plastered room had only one permanent fixture: a podium with masonry foundations at the eastern end. Doig highlights a similar structure in the same city at the Palace of the Dux. In both settings, the podium helps to place the speaker in a position of authority. We know that readings were already part of the gathering, likely occurring from the podium. In this period, the role of the liturgical reader during the liturgy is well known. The first mention of a liturgical reader is by Justin Martyr (died ca. 165) in I Apol., lxvii, 3, 4. The third period (ca. 250–313 CE) began when Christian communities started to collectively own a property in order to provide a meeting place for the assembly.49 This movement stemmed from the Roman tolerance of the Church, the growing number of Christians and the legal ability to hold common property. This period sees a continuation of the domus ecclesiae as the most common setting for Christian community liturgy but allows a gradual introduction of more significant buildings, such as the first church of San Crisogono in Rome. This church was not of the scale and grandeur of other Roman basilicas: its dimensions were roughly 35 m in length and over 19 m at its broadest.50 Richard Krautheimer hypothesizes the probable existence of a raised area, like a podium, in the middle of the nave. 51 The podium would indicate a hierarchical arrangement and the use of liturgical performances that feature the reading and proclamation of the scriptures. In this period, the reader was instituted as the office of the Lector. The Apostolic Constitutions indicates the ritual of “lay hands on” in order to appoint a reader as a lector. Cyprian gives testimony about the ordination

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 18

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 19

Figure 1.2  Plan House Church Dura Europos (third century), Syria. © Yale University Art Gallery. Plate: Carl Kraeling, 1956.

of the confessor Celerimus to the office of reader in 250 CE. Cyprian speaks of placing him upon the pulpitum, the tribunal of the church, where he was elevated before the entire congregation. 52 White sees this arrangement as functioning to give dominance to individual members of the community during the liturgy. 53 Doig concurs, remarking, “the liturgical focus in the hall was on the worship and reading conducted from the pulpitum, which gave authority both to the clergy and their teaching, without images around the dais which might suggest idolatrous practices.”54 From the midthird century, a podium where the scriptures were proclaimed became a common feature of Christian worship space. The imperial church In the fourth century, Christians emerge as a robust community under the protection of Emperor Constantine. The Church of the Martyrs evolved into the Church of the Roman Empire. Christian worship shifted to a

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 19

02/12/20 1:46 PM

20  Ritual practices and places of proclamation more public and official celebration. A new architecture corresponding to its status emerged. The Roman Empire and the Church established new relations that changed the everyday life of the early Christian community. The domestic life of the Church did not suit the new official character of the Church, with its new large public buildings. Christian communities began to reorganize their liturgical life and to adapt to new places of worship. Constantine led this new endeavour, building new churches in Rome, Jerusalem, and the new Christian city of Constantinople. Entirely against the use of pagan temples, the basilica was the preferred building to replace the domus ecclesiae. Emma Loosley explains, The “church” as a building was a new concept that emerged at the time of the establishment of a church hierarchy and a ritualised and codified form of worship, rather than the informal gatherings that had occurred in pre-Constantinian times. The building where these services were held was also altered to serve the needs of this new codification of rites. As the agape, the community shared meal, was replaced with the ritual reenactment of the sacrifice in the form of the eucharist, the space where these events took place began to be deemed ‘holy’ in and of itself. Instead of being merely the shelter and subsidiary to the events within it, the church itself became sanctified by the ritual and evolved into an integral part of this ritual.55 A hierarchical arrangement of the space is developed; at the end of the open hall was an apse for the clergy, while the nave prevailed for the lay community. 56 The peripatetic liturgy had three focal areas: the bishop’s chair, the place for the readings, and the altar for the Eucharist celebration. The Apostolic Constitutions describes these areas in the following manner: The building should be oblong, directed toward the rising sun, which sacristies on each side toward the east, so that it resembles a ship. Let the throne of the bishop be placed in the middle, the presbytery to sit on either side of him, and the deacons to stand nearby dressed in their full garments, resembling the sailors and officers of a ship. Relative to them, the laymen are to sit toward the order end in complete quiet and good other, and the women are to sit alone, and they too are to maintain silence. In the middle, the reader is to stand upon something high and read the books of Moses. (AC II, lvcc, 3–7) Bishops and presbyters were quickly gaining prestige in the whole empire. The official status of the Church brings a novel theology of ordained priesthood, clearly distinct from the nonordained, 57 in which the assembly started to perceive the clergy as a direct representative of Christ. In this context, the figure of the lector acquired an increasingly important

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 20

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 21 role, to the point that by the fourth century, the lector is an established ministry. The liturgy and the spatial organization evolved in three distinct traditions that emerged in Rome, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. Edward Foley explains, “Architectural developments underscore the importance of proclaiming the Word in worship and provide supporting evidence about the importance of lectors in the liturgy. The earliest permanent worship spaces allowed for a cleared space in the midst of the assembly that could have been employed for the proclamation of the Word.”58 Two structures appear for this purpose: the bema and the ambo. The Syrian liturgy and the bema The oldest liturgical traditions, the Alexandrian Rite in Egypt and the Antiochene Rite in Syria, developed from the practices of the early Church. The Antiochene Rite includes the Apostolic Constitutions and the liturgy of St. James in Greek and Syriac. According to Robert Taft, it is necessary to speak of two different liturgical traditions in Syria: East and West Syriac.59 The rituals that took place in both areas were unique. Emma Loosley reconstructs the rituals through the use of multiple sources, including early Syriac liturgical texts in parallel with the archaeological data. She comments, “During the ritual the church structure becomes a microcosm in which the life and Passion of Christ is re-enacted with the interior of the building representing the creation in its entirety.”60 This complex symbolism was found in both the Syrian traditions. The East Syrian tradition includes in its liturgy the commemoration of the teaching, passion, and death of Jesus Christ. The critical point of Loosley’s theory is the assumption that Christians outside of the Holy Land worked in a new sacred topography inside of their churches that evolved from a gathering place for the faithful to a holy place. She says, “For those who could not undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the clergy enacted a weekly ceremony that symbolically drew a map of the world for the faithful. The bema played a central part in this evolution.”61 The liturgical enactment influenced the design, giving the bema a strong symbolic and sacred character, that Hickley sees as representing “a church inside a church.”62 (See Figure 1.3). The bema was the most significant development for the proclamation of Christian scriptures in the region of Syria from the fourth to sixth century. It was a horseshoe-shaped monumental stone structure, elevated above the level of the church floor. There are different theories about the origin and development of the Christian bema, but Jean Lassus and George Tchalenko were the first to contribute a theory in their 1951 essay “Ambons syriens.”63 These scholars were followed by Taft, Renhart, Rouwhorst, and Loosley. They all sustain that the notion of the bema is something shared by Jews, Manicheans, and Christians. Today, the archaeological remains of bemas show that there is no uniform size.64 The most common bemas were built to allow for the seating

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 21

02/12/20 1:46 PM

22  Ritual practices and places of proclamation

Figure 1.3  Floor plan diagram of Ancient Syrian Church. © David Pereyra. Designer: David Pereyra.

of a dozen or so clergy, the throne for the Gospel, and two lecterns—one for the Old Testament and one for the New Testament readings. The bema, located in the centre of the nave, was a few steps higher than the assembly and situated in front of the sanctuary. Its position and location acquired a preponderous presence in the space. The sanctuary and the bema were connected by a narrow pathway called the bēt-sqāqōnā.65 But what was the purpose or intention of this pathway? According to Loosley, the arrangement of the liturgical furnishings and the peripatetic liturgy gives us an answer.66 A reconstruction of the East Syrian Liturgy of the Word gives us a clear explanation of her theory in The Exposition of Church Offices (Expositio officiorum ecclesiae), which is attributed to George of Arbela: When it was time for the Gospel reading the clergy would leave the sanctuary, which symbolized the heavenly Jerusalem, and carry the Word, that is Christ represented by his Gospel, along the bēt-sqāqōnā to the bema. At the bema the book would be placed on the lectern, which was, and is still, known as the Golgotha. It would then denote Christ crucified in the earthly Jerusalem.… The homily would be conducted from the bema and hymns sung before the clergy would take the Bible and solemnly process back along the bēt-sqāqōnā to the sanctuary to show Christ returning to the heavenly Jerusalem.67 The East Syrian Liturgy of the Word is unprecedented, and the explicit representation of Christ’s life and Passion is exceptional. The supremacy of the bema in the nave shows the centrality and the sacramentality of the word of God in the life of the community. S.Y.H. Jammo illustrates this peripatetic ritual, rich in symbols, with moments for the clergy and for the whole assembly.68 The direction of the reading is different to the one in the synagogue, as the assembly would be looking in the direction of the Torah shrine during formal readings of the scriptures, which also oriented them towards the Holy of Holies in

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 22

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 23 Jerusalem. This changes in Syrian liturgy, where the orientation was eastward instead, towards the rising sun, which was a symbol of the Parousia. The Book of the Gospels replaces the Torah scrolls and is enthroned facing towards the assembly of the faithful. Hickley has some suggestions about the functions of this throne: A curious feature – found especially in those Bemas where the superstructure is most complete – is a large stone shaped like a throne in the centre of the synthronon. It has a high back and arms, but has a sloping face ending in a narrow ridge at the bottom which would make it practically impossible to sit in. A number of suggestions have been made about the function of this throne-like object, such as a stand for holding the Gospels. This seems very likely, especially in view of the popularity of the theme of the enthroned Gospels in early Christian art.69 Emma Loosley links the origin of the bema throne to the synagogue, explaining, “In the Christian tradition these ‘thrones’ were lecterns to hold the scriptures and in the case of the synagogues bema this lectern was referred to as ‘the seat of Moses’ and represented the ceremonial seat from with the Word was received.”70 All West Syrian bemata have the bema throne. The East Syrian liturgy also have two lecterns, one for the Old Testament and one for the New Testament. Loosley mentions, “the two lecterns also highlight the difference between the two liturgies [West and East] by underlining the fact that ritual was enacted that was entirely specific to each reading at a particular lectern, rather that the apparent combination of the three elements that took place at the bema throne in the western liturgy.”71 These differences also indicate that the physical position of the readers were not the same in each tradition. The bema throne in West Syrian liturgy was at the western side of the bema, indicating the reader was facing west, addressing the section of the church populated by women. On the other hand, in the East tradition the lecterns were facing east, and after the readings, according to the Exposition, the Book of the Gospels was placed on the altar on the bema. The bema was a substantial structure in Syrian churches, occupying most of the area of the nave. In smaller basilicas, this often made the participation of the faithful difficult when the ritual took place at the altar within the western apse.72 In some instances, to solve this problem, the bema is projected into the apse, as can be seen in the basilica of St. Sergius in Resafa in northeast Syria. This provision within church architecture has remained in the Syrian Christian tradition: the bishop sits on the western edge of the bema amid his clergy. The clergy and assembly are then seen to be worshipping as an organic whole, a collective action in which all take part, rather than praying, as it were, in divisions. The bema, however, fell into disuse in the East Syriac liturgy under the Mongols’ invasion in the fourteenth century.73

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 23

02/12/20 1:46 PM

24  Ritual practices and places of proclamation Regardless, the bema in late antiquity Syrian Christianity had an excellent place in worship, in which the catechumens could also participate. The rank of the bemas and the related liturgical actions may be read in the monumentality of its form and its central location in the church space.74 Taft supports the idea that adoption of the bema in early Church interior design moved from west to east,75 and Loosley suggests that it was the West Syrian bema that evolved into the Byzantine ambo.76 The Byzantine liturgy and the ambo When Byzantium became the new capital of the Roman Empire in 324 CE and then renamed Constantinople in 330 CE, notable changes in the organization of the life of the Church happened. The First Council of Constantinople (318 CE) recognized that the bishop of Constantinople, “being now the New Rome,” had rights equal to those of the bishop of Rome.77 The Council of Chalcedon (451 CE) ratified the equal rights and assigned to this jurisdiction a large area in the Balkans and Asia Minor. The Constantinopolitan Rite gradually came to be the standard usage in every church under the jurisdiction of the patriarchate. The Byzantine Church, with its liturgy, became tied to the official culture. The Roman Empire and the Church worked together to integrate their respective aesthetic natures concerning the decorative arts, public ritual, and architecture. In art, the Christus magister (Christ the teacher) developed into the heavenly Christus basileus (Christ the Emperor), surrounded by his apostles, imitating the emperor surrounded by his dignitaries. In worship, the ceremony performed by the bishop adhered to the ceremony performed by the emperor. In architecture, the large basilicas with only one apse for the bishop and his clergy replaced the aula ecclesiae (hall church).78 The monumental Christian basilicas did not draw from any specific type, such as the imperial audience hall, the funerary, and the civic basilica, which served as a court of justice, money exchange, and meeting place for merchants and businessmen. On the contrary, the Christian basilica had a new design and function that stayed within the accustomed framework. In this new design, there was a clear distance between the faithful and the clergy during community worship: the chair of the bishop, which had a throne-like shape similar to those provided for senior officials of the empire, was located in the apse; high podiums for proclamation of the scriptures were placed in the nave; and the altar was set back into the westernmost area of the building, with a chancel separating the holy table from the nave. The focus of the entire design was the nave and the chancel, assigned to the clergy, with the congregation relegated to the surrounding aisles and galleries.79 The hierarchical architectural structure of the basilicas was the expression of imperial power structures, deeply rooted in the Roman aesthetic sense of form, beauty, and harmony together with theological interpretations. As

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 24

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 25 Doig says, “Orthodoxy and theological allegiance were declared visually, and authority was established within the hierarchical architectural structure as visual equivalent of ecclesial and imperial structure. Architecture was a powerful tool; after all, it shaped the spaces where heaven and earth met.”80 The basilica as a symbol of authority and social order was deeply rooted in the consciousness of the Romans. When a subject entered a massive basilica, they felt tiny in comparison to the state yet connected to the power of the empire because each individual and meeting hall was defined by harmony and symmetry. The Christian basilica was a completely new experience in terms of physical setting because, until this time, ancient cultic worship was mainly an outdoor activity, but now the sacred ritual had a dedicated interior space.81 The Apostolic Constitutions provides a metaphorical description of a basilica including the place for the Liturgy of the Word and to the elevated status of both the reader and the scriptures: Let the building be long, with its head to the east, with its vestries on both sides at the east end; and so it will be like a ship. In the middle let the Bishop’s throne be placed; and on each side of him let the Presbytery sit down; and let the Deacons stand near at hand, in close and small girt garments; for they are like the mariners and managers of the ship. Through the care of these, let the laity sit in the other part, with all quietness and good order; and let the women sit by themselves, keeping silence. In the middle let the Reader stand upon some high place. Let him read the book of Moses… and afterwards let a Deacon or a Presbyter read the Gospel…. And while the Gospel is read, let all the presbyters and deacons, and all the people, stand up in great silence. (AC II, vii, 58). Metzger adds that Christian liturgical furniture was simple: a seating area, a marble table on four columns, and a device for the readings. He also mentions that the literary and archaeological documentation is insufficient for gaining a detailed picture of the liturgical arrangements of the time.82 From the second century on, the Holy Scriptures and its public proclamation were intrinsic to Christian identity. Constantine, as part of his public support, commissioned fifty lavish copies of the Bible that contained the canon from Eusebius of Caesarea for the new churches of Constantinople. Later, collections of readings were made, called lectionaries or evangeliaries, which were intended to be used on Sundays and Feast Days.83 These books came to be venerated by Christians and were kept in special book chests. David Stancliffe explains that these books were written on parchment and featured “illustrations or illumination from at least the beginning of the sixth century, and frequently with rich bindings incorporating metalwork, jewels and carved ivory panels. The Gospel Book embodied what they proclaimed: they were a treasury of the words of life.”84 The importance given to the lectionaries and the Gospel Book denotes a change in

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 25

02/12/20 1:46 PM

26  Ritual practices and places of proclamation how the scriptures were read during the official celebrations. Reading scriptures before Constantine’s time was an important role, but not particularly prestigious.85 By the fourth century, the office of lector grew in importance and prestige. To be a lector was a distinct office for which suitable candidates were selected and trained.86 The designated place for the lector was the ambo. The word ambo comes from the Greek word άναβαίνειν, meaning “to ascend,” which reflects its architectural form.87 Other terms have been used to indicate the place to read the scriptures in the church, such as gradus, pulpitum, analogium, and pyrgus.88 Foley highlights, “architectural developments underscore the importance of proclaiming the God’s words in worship and provide supporting evidence about the importance of lectors in liturgy.”89 As such, it is only natural that the organization of space for liturgical celebrations reflects the privileged status of the proclamation of the word of God. The ambo’s position was now one of particular importance and was given a conspicuous place before the assembly. J.G. Davies’ archaeological investigations of ambos revealed that the ambo passed through three stages of development in terms of its design and position. The first stage consisted of a monolithic pedestal with three or four steps leading up to a rounded platform. In its second stage, the ambo became a semicircular structure with two short steps leading up from the same side to a low platform, occasionally surmounted by a baldachin, such as the church of the Dormition of Theotokos (see Figure 1.4). Then, at last, it took the form of a high

Figure 1.4  Ambo of the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos (fifth century), Kalampaka, Meteora. © George Kourelis. Photographer: Marc Dozier.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 26

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 27 platform, sometimes with baldachin, that has two flights of stairs, one to the east and one to the west.90 The sixth-century reign of Emperor Justinian was a turning point in church architecture. In the West, the Roman basilica remained the appropriate form of a church building while Christian architecture in the East developed in a different direction, and a centralized plan began to emerge. Krautheimer explains, “a centrally planned building was ideally suited to the requirements of a service in which the performance of the Divine Liturgy occupied the central area both liturgically and architecturally.”91 The model was Hagia Sophia, the most magnificent architectural project of the empire under Justinian, built by Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus. The whole Byzantine rite, to a great extent, is beholden to the exceptional setting of Hagia Sophia. As Stancliffe describes it, the design was revolutionary in terms of how the church had developed over the preceding centuries: Instead of a linear processional route to the apse with a mosaic of Christ in the conch, the Eastern pattern was to develop a vertical dimension, placing the icon of Christ in the centre of the dome. Against a background of gold tesserae, the figures seem to float in the timeless space between heaven and earth. The Virgin Mary, the Theotokos or Godbearer, is set in the semi-dome of the apse, the evangelist in the four curved, V-shaped surfaces known as pendentives, which support the dome—supporting quite literally the edifice of faith—then the apostles, until on the vaults and semi-domes over the apse and transepts the worshipper is surrounded by events of Jesus’ incarnate life: his birth and baptism, his miracles and acts of power, and the events of his passion, death and resurrection.92 Behind this whole effect of heaven on earth—the eternal present of the events of the past—was the ambo (see Figure 1.5). Doig remarks, “By this point, it was a commonplace that the church building was seen as an allegory, even a sacrament, of the union of the people of God and of the Kingdom of God, but the potency of the image created here was truly astonishing in both size and richness.”93 As Taft says in The Liturgy of the Great Church, “In no liturgical tradition is liturgical space such an integral part of the liturgy as in the Byzantine, and in no tradition has one edifice played such a decisive role as Justinian’s Hagia Sophia.”94 The novelty in this building lies in its marvellous interior. Hagia Sophia is the first genuinely original church building designed for Christian worship, with its monumental interior space and brilliance achieved by lighting and its mosaics, which recreated a place beyond this earth. The ambo was part of this re-imagining of what a Byzantine church ought to be. According to Xydis, the ambo was located in the centre of the church, just east of the main axis of the building. The monumental structure was a raised elliptical platform supported by eight pillars arranged in four pairs, each

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 27

02/12/20 1:46 PM

28  Ritual practices and places of proclamation

Figure 1.5 Interior digital reconstruction of Hagia Sophia (sixth century), Constantinople. © Andreas Noback, Lars Grobe, Oliver Hauck, Rudolf H.W. Stichel and Helge Svenshon. Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany (2010).

aligned with one of the cardinal points. There were two staircases that allowed the ordained minister to reach the top of the ambo and descend without retracing his steps, allowing the act of reading to be done as a halt in a dignified procession. The Gospel Book was bound inside gold covers and was the object of veneration by onlookers who pressed up against the stair railings to touch the holy book as it was carried both to and from the altar. Paul the Silentiary gives an account of how the liturgy unfolded in terms of the use of the church’s space and describes the general effect of Hagia Sophia’s ambo in detail: The ambo was like a beautiful island…. Thus, in the middle of the vast palace appears the towering ambo stone, cunningly built with multicolour marbles and artful skill…. Such is this space; starting from the last eastern step [of the ambo] a long defile begins, until it reaches the silver folding doors, striking against the barrier of the sacred rites with its lengthy plinth, and the passage is warded on both sides by walls. Now on these barrier walls, they have placed lofty slabs but they are as high up as the belt of a man standing by them. Through these the priest with the good message passes by, holding the golden Bible; and when the crowd surges in mystical honour of the Immaculate God in order to touch the sacred book with their lips and hands, countless moving waves of people break around.95 The liturgical and architectonic apogee of the ambo is achieved during this period. The theatrical space and the liturgical movement, together with the interior dimensions of the Byzantine liturgical space, framed the ambo as

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 28

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 29 a unique monument. The height of this experience was the reading of the Gospel. Grzelidze says, The threshold of the Liturgy, according to the Mystagogia, was the Gospel reading, which marked the passage from πρα´ξις to θεωρíα and the acquiring by man of the knowledge of the λóγοι of beings. For the Divine Liturgy, the inauguration of the Kingdom starts within the Gospel reading; at this time, humankind becomes deified, the Word comes down from heaven and leads the faithful like a hierarch.96 The whole procession to and from the ambo, the readings and the proclamation of the Gospel marked a mattering transition for the assembly at worship towards the Eucharist celebration. To summarize, the Byzantine liturgy did not sacrifice the location of the ambo in the manner of the Roman liturgy, which favoured a spatial arrangement of church furnishings towards a singular focus: that of the altar where the sacrifice was offered. Byzantine Christianity, as Hickley explains, “kept its sense of assembly intact by retaining the role of the deacon and by keeping the congregation bunched together in a squarish form.”97 The Byzantine space was not a simple adaptation of interior spaces. These Eastern churches were designed according to liturgical principles, and the remarkable development of the ambo was the result of this process. The roman liturgy and the ambo During the fourth and fifth centuries, three basilicas were the centre of the public liturgy in Rome:98 Lateran Basilica, Saint Peter’s Basilica, and the Basilica Saint Mary Major.99 From the sixth century on, the liturgical gathering of Western Christians was referred to as the missa. At this point, the Roman ordo had developed a very solemn liturgy presided over by the Pope. As in the Byzantine Liturgy, the Book of the Gospel in procession initiated the celebration. Once the introit finished, the Pope kissed the Gospel book and the altar and proceeded to his throne. After the Kyrie and the Gloria, the Pope greeted the assembly with the pax vobis and then continued with the praying of the collect. The Liturgy of the Word then started, and the sub-deacon read the Epistle from the ambo. At the time, to read the Gospel, a procession was accompanied by alleluias and a gradual psalm was sung responsively by a deacon from the steps of the ambo. The deacon kissed the feet of the Pope and received his blessing and then went to the altar to take up the Gospel book after giving it a reverent kiss. Then, preceded by two acolytes with candles and two deacons with a thurifer with incense, the deacon headed to the ambo. He sang the Gospel, and afterward, a sub-deacon took the book to all the clergy in succession that each might kiss it. Finally, the assembly received a benediction, and the Gospel book was placed in a special box, at which point the Liturgy of the Eucharist started.100

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 29

02/12/20 1:46 PM

30  Ritual practices and places of proclamation

Figure 1.6 Floor plan approximation of Basilica St Maria Maggiore with fictional ambo (seventh century), Rome. © Cotta’schen Buchhandlung. Plate: Georg Dehio and Gustav von Bezold. From Kirchliche Baukunst des Abendlandes, (1887–1901).

Judging from contemporary descriptions and the few surviving descriptions from that time, many scholars agree that it is first necessary to clarify whether all the Western churches from the same period had an ambo (see Figure 1.6). However, in many instances there are no references to one in surviving records, and as many were wooden constructions (modelled after those of the churches of Jerusalem), they did not survive through the centuries.101 Licciardo mentions various testimonies about the ambo during in this period. One given by the poet Prudentius at the end of the fourth century mentions the ambo in the Roman basilica of St. Hyppolite. Prudentius says the ambo of that church was similar to a tribunal from which the bishop lectured the faithful.102 Again, the ambo was a crucial feature in the proclamation, as it was the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the ceremony is unimaginable without it. According to Doig, based on archaeological data, the ambo may have been introduced in Rome through Byzantine influence in the sixth century.103 This may have been as a result of Pope Gregory the Great’s liturgical innovations following his election in 590 CE. Given that he was a former papal diplomat to the court at Constantinople for seven years, he had indeed participated in the imperial liturgy at Hagia Sophia. Pope Gregory the Great

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 30

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 31 marks an epoch in the history of the Mass, having given the liturgy as the level of importance as is still found in the Roman Catholic tradition today. Differences between east and west The solemn proclamation of holy scriptures from the ambo or the bema in the Early Church in both the East and the West created a robust hermeneutic imprint beyond its impact on the liturgy in purely functional terms. The ambo and the bema expressed the reality and meaning with which worshipers could connect their lives to the divine through ritual. Most of the sources confirmed that the primary purpose of the ambo was for the proclamation of holy scriptures during religious celebrations. Indeed, Cyprian of Carthage (200–58 CE) and the Apostolic Constitutions (375–80 CE) described the ambo as the place for reading the Epistle by a lector or a subdeacon and the Gospel by a deacon. The Councils of Antioch (269 CE), Sardica (344 AD), Laodicea (371 CE), and the Second Ecumenical Council (381 CE) described the ambo as the place for singing the psalms.104 Another tradition that was confirmed by the Third Council of Braga (572 CE) was that the ambo was the location for singing the Exultet.105 Regardless, bishops, including Ambrose of Milan and John Chrysostom, freely used the ambo to address the congregation. Leclercq mentions that the liturgies of St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom have a final prayer called “The prayer behind the ambo.”106 On special occasions, the ambo has been available for uses unrelated to the proclamation of the word of God, such as when anathemas were pronounced from the ambo by John Chrysostom against Severus in 536 CE.107 Other examples of this use include the proclamation of the pontifical election of Pope Stephen III in 768 CE from the ambo in St. Peter’s Basilica; when Heraclius was crowned and acclaimed as emperor from the ambo in 610 CE in St. Stephen’s; and the official announcement of the final victory over the Persians from the ambo of Hagia Sophia.108 The location of the ambo in the church is one of the most remarkable differences between East and West. In the East, the basilica style stressed the axial space, and this emphasis is evident in the solemn processional entrance. In the West, liturgy—the reading of scripture, the celebration of the Eucharist, and the cult of the martyrs—was centralized into the singular focal point of the altar, which was the end of all liturgical flexibility within the church building. The fall of the Western Roman Empire The birth of the Carolingian Renaissance At the end of the fifth century, the Western Roman Empire collapsed in the wake of several invasions from the north. However, the ecclesiastical structure continued more or less intact, but with diminished contact with

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 31

02/12/20 1:46 PM

32  Ritual practices and places of proclamation the East as a result of the breakdown of the imperial system of communication. The expansion of Islam was another factor. When Muslim armies were turned back by the Franks at the battle at Tours in 732 CE, the church found to some extent its new secular ally. A direct consequence of its shifting political protectors from the Roman emperors to the Frankish kings was the “Germanization” of Roman Christianity. The coronation of Charlemagne as emperor in 800 CE by Pope Leo III marks the beginning of the Carolingian era and made his court a centre of learning (the “Carolingian Renaissance”). Under Charlemagne, the empire covered modern-day France, part of Spain, Germany to the River Elbe, and much of Italy. Carolingians reigned in Germany until 911 CE and in France until 987 CE, and they left behind a prestige which later kings of the Middle Ages tried to emulate. Charlemagne prompted a comprehensive reform program. His reform included strengthening the Church’s power structure, improving the skill and morale of the clergy, and regulating liturgical practices. His authority was over the Church and the State; he could discipline clerics, control ecclesiastical property, and define orthodox doctrine. Doig appends, The Carolingian renovation was also a radically new and all-­embracing vision for the structure of society. All the relationships between the individual, the Church and the state were embodied and enacted in the liturgy and frozen in the architecture, making them not just the object, but the instrument, of education and reform.… For Charlemagne, military success also depended on prayer and the liturgy. Carolingian reform was all-encompassing, and what follows will show that two of their most effective instruments for education and reform were liturgy and architecture.109 This reform, based on the Roman liturgy, was significant in its reconciliation of Roman and Frankish temperament in terms of worship. This new type of worship combined the Roman style with new dramatic elements. The church building underwent a hermeneutical change through the performance of an elaborate consecration ritual, which powerfully established church space as sacred. The Carolingian legislation reinforced this change by developing specific respectful behaviours within the church.110 The basilica worship space was still preferred, despite changes to its internal arrangement, some of which had a profound effect on the Liturgy of the Word. The most notable changes were the decision to move the altar from a central position in the church to the easternmost apse against the wall and to enclose the sanctuary area, isolating it from the assembly. These changes, according to Russell, matched the idiosyncrasies of the people north of the Alps: they did not understand the Latin language used in the liturgy, which meant there already was a linguistic barrier, and their magic-religious

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 32

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 33

Figure 1.7  Choir with ambos surrounded by screen. Basilica of St Maria in Cosmedin (eighth century), Rome. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra.

experience of Christianity suggests a more mysterious ritual.111 Both reasons can help explain the physical and spiritual distance between the assembly and the clergy, who were now completely in charge of performing the sacred liturgy. The liturgy, once so elaborate in terms of public spectacle, was diminished with the enclosing of interior space into sacred inner precincts that were screened from the eyes of the common folk. One barrier constructed to enclose the sanctuary area included the altar, another for the choir, and the ambos. A front screen demarcated the division of space reserved solely for the clergy and forbidden to the laity (see Figure 1.7). In early Christian worship, the first part of the liturgy was open to all, including non-Christians, and the second part, the Lord’s Supper, was only open to the baptized, adding a mysterious quality to the religion for the unbaptized. In the Carolingian Empire, the experience of a mystery religion was for all the participants. Jungmann says, “A new kind of discipline of the secret had developed, concealment of things holy not from the heathen—there were none—but from the Christian people themselves.”112 The celebration was confined to this enclosed area, and the result was a drastic change in the liturgical experience of the silent majority—the laity.113 The appearance of the screen enclosing the sanctuary and choir area made it necessary to raise the ambo for the reading of the Gospel, where

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 33

02/12/20 1:46 PM

34  Ritual practices and places of proclamation the deacon travelled to perform the proclamation. Aventin mentions that the ambo for medieval liturgists is an excellentior locus (eminent position). He quotes Honorius of Autun who wrote, “The Gospel is read from a high place, because Christ is said to have preached from the mountain. The Gospel is read on high therefore because the evangelic precepts through which the heights of Heaven are reached are sublime.”114 This thought was translated into liturgical interior design where the ambo was one of the richest elements that might be viewed within the churches of Western Europe. They were often commissioned by local notables as gifts to the Church, and they served to symbolize the power of the local aristocracies as much as the authority of the word of God.115 These monumental structures began to be signed by their makers, such as the Pisano pulpits that were built between 1250 and 1300 (see Figure 1.8). Raised about 2 m from the floor level on square, rectangular, or octagonal columns, what was initially meant to function as elevated lecterns to increase the audibility of scripture readers were transformed into magnificent sculptures of great artistic value that have since become part of the cultural heritage of the Church. The decline of the liturgy of the word The fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire at the end of the ninth century gave birth to the Kingdom of France, where Gothic architecture originated. The Gothic space provided a new frame of reference for the ambo. As Scott describes it, Gothic church architecture “was intended as a space where people could get a taste of heaven.”116 The question that immediately emerged is: How can a place on earth built with ordinary materials come to be almost magically transformed into a heavenly enclave? According to Scott, the answer is provided by the medieval theologians who believed that every visible object contained in it the potential to reveal the divine, and “that through the contemplation of material objects, we can gain a direct experience of God.”117 These objects include the ambo and the pulpit. The twofold term ambo-pulpitum is used by medieval Latin authors to designate a raised platform in the church that had two different uses. The ambo, used for the readings during Mass, is now linked more directly to the sanctuary, while the pulpit is reserved for preaching and, subsequently, for oratory not necessarily related to the rituals. The pulpit would find its new home in the nave (see Figure 1.9). By the thirteenth century, the standardization of the liturgy had occurred throughout Western Christianity, which was the result of mendicant priests traveling across Europe. The liturgy was understood as a public action by which the Church hoped to elicit from God a benevolent attitude towards all those who participated in it. God was imagined as an omnipresent force by most people. A widespread conviction grew that God was only present and available in certain churches, which made the veneration of holy places normative. Thus, the divine was in the church, and all objects found within

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 34

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 35

Figure 1.8  Ambo by Giovanni Pisano (1277–84), Santa Maria Assunta, Cathedral of Pisa Pisa. See the detail of a lectern to hold the Scriptures, and element that you cannot find in a pulpit. © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: photooiasson (Álvaro Germán).

it, such as relics, images, altars, ambos, and pulpits. Gothic cathedrals became the quintessential sacred space, and everything contained within it was also worthy of veneration. As in Byzantine churches, there were different levels of sacredness within the Gothic church. The least sacred areas were the narthex, the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 35

02/12/20 1:46 PM

36  Ritual practices and places of proclamation

Figure 1.9  Pulpit in the middle of the nave. Cardinal Newman’s Church (1270–nave rebuilt in 1510), Oxford. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra.

nave, and ambulatories. The most sacred areas were located inside the sanctuary and were the choir and the high altar, the latter of which is considered the most sacred place in the church. The choir formed the heart of a church building, with a large lectern big enough to hold one of the liturgical books intended for use in the choir, the antiphonary, located in the centre. The whole area was shielded by a screen that acted

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 36

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 37

Figure 1.10  Sanctuary surrounded by a rood screen to separate it from the nave. St Davids Cathedral (consecrated in 1131), Wales. © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: Daniel Gauthier.

as a threshold between the sanctuary and congregational space (see Figure 1.10). Seasoltz writes, The chancel [screen] was usually elevated above the level of the nave and rested on piers above a vaulted crypt. This marked division between the chancel and the nave had been prompted by the fourth canon of the Second Council of Tours in 567, which forbade laypeople to stand among the clergy during the celebration of the liturgy and which reserved the chancel for the clergy.118 The screen was not only a division but, in some cases, acquired another function. Jung says, “Some [screens] arose from its liturgical function as a platform for the reading of Scriptures, thus the Germans, adapting the Latin term lectorium, called it a Lettner, and the French, citing the benediction that opened the Gospel reading (Iube domine benedicere), called it a jubé.”119 These screens, rising over the assembly like a bridge, enhanced the act of proclamation (see Figure 1.11). The impression of listening from above raised its sacred character. However, the jubé was not a functional place for the preacher, since it was too far from the congregation to be heard clearly. A new element was necessary: the pulpit. The choir, the jubé, and the pulpit became the new “theatrical drama” of the Liturgy of the Word. In this liturgical arrangement, favoured by cathedral colleges and religious orders, the pulpit acquired a new dimension. The emerging demand for a space that allowed listeners to both hear and see who was declaiming

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 37

02/12/20 1:46 PM

38  Ritual practices and places of proclamation

Figure 1.11  Jubé carved by Father Biard (1545). The new ambo to the left. St Etienne du Mont, Paris. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra.

upon the sacred texts brought the pulpit to new prominence.120 From the pulpit, repetition in the vernacular of the readings along with a homily became common practice.121 Some scholars believe that it was during this period that the pulpit replaced the ambo, but it was actually the Tridentine Rite that reduced the function of the ambo.122 The mendicant orders and their practice of preaching as a new form of evangelization made the pulpit a vital element of the nave, while the ambo disappeared as an independent feature, becoming integrated into the screened-off choir.123 Still, Aventin asserts that specific texts from cathedrals at Pisa and Sienna indicate the existence of both: the pergamo of Pisano (see Figure 1.9) was devoted strictly to the Liturgy of the Word in which the Gospel and the Epistle was sung rather than used for preaching, while a pulpitum or ommuni of marble or wood was provided for preachers. There are several examples of this kind of arrangement: the cathedral of Siena, the cathedral of Perugia, and the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. Morselli, with his speculations concerning a project to construct an ambo designed by none other than Michelangelo in Florence, proves that ambos continued to be built during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.124 The ambo had yet to be fully displaced, as the importance of the Liturgy of the Word continued to be upheld.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 38

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 39

Muslim origins In the early decades of the seventh century, in the same region where Judaism and Christianity were born, Islam emerged as the third Abrahamic monotheistic religion. The messenger who communicated God’s word to the people, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, began a prophetic vocation, preaching faith in the one God (Allah), in opposition to established polytheistic practices, which ascribed partners to Allah.125 The stories of Muhammad come from his revelations collected in the Qur’an (the surahs) and the hadiths, the records of Muhammad’s words and actions by his followers. At the age of forty, when the Prophet was praying in a cave at Mount Hira, where he received his first revelation with the command of Iqra (recite). In Arabic, Iqra comes from the same root as the verbal noun Qur’an, derived from the Arabic root Q-r-’ which can be translated as “to recite, read aloud.”126 The earliest biography of the Prophet, compiled by Muhammad ibn Ishaq of Medina, says that the Prophet asked “What shall I recite?” and the voice replied: Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created— Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,— He Who taught (the use of) the Pen,— Taught man that which he knew not. (Surah 96, 1–5)127 These are the first verses revealed to the Prophet. As more verses were revealed to him, the opening verses of Surah Al-Muddaththir (Surah 74) explained his duties following his appointment to prophethood. In Islam: Faith and History, Mahmoud M. Ayoub describes his perspective on the revelations the Prophet received, saying, Revelation was given to the Prophet Muhammad over a period of twenty-two years. Both the Qur’an and tradition assert that the angel Gabriel repeatedly appeared to the Prophet, often in human guise, and transmitted the words that came to constitute the verses and surahs (chapters) of the Qur’an. During the moment of revelation the Prophet would fall into a heightened state of consciousness, the effects of which were visibly manifest in his physical appearance and behavior. It is said that at times he sensed in his ears sounds like the ringing of a bell. These sounds were then apprehended by him as direct revelations from God, which he then conveyed to the people in human words.128 According to Ayoub, Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the direct spoken word of God (Allah), revealed in Arabic to the Prophet Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel (Jibril). He also notes that in comparison to Judaism and

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 39

02/12/20 1:46 PM

40  Ritual practices and places of proclamation Christianity, the Qur’an was originally an aural/oral scripture that was intended to be recited, listened to, and experienced, because the recitation of the Qur’an echoes its actual revelation. After twenty years of revelations, the surahs were collected and incorporated into the Qur’an. However, who merged the verses to create the chapters of the Qur’an and when this occurred is unknown. There are two historical positions: one holds that it was accomplished by the Prophet himself and the other after his death. One of the definitive studies on the early history of the scripture, completed by Behnam Sadeghi and Mohsen Goudarzi and based on extensive research of the lower text of San’a’ 1 (ca. 646–61 CE), supports the first position, revealing that the surahs were formed earlier than 650 CE. This palimpsest is the only manuscript currently known that disagrees with the standard position (Uthmanic tradition). Sadeghi and Gourdzi argue, Until recently, no Qur’an manuscript was known outside the Uthmanic tradition. Non-Uthmanic Qur’ans were known only through descriptions of them in the literary sources. According to these accounts, some Companions of the Prophet had compiled complete Qur’an codices of their own… However, because the sources quoting these variants were written a long time after the Prophet Muhammad, scholars such as John Wansbrough and John Burton took the position that the Companion codices never actually existed… The one reason that is most relevant for our purposes, however, is that Ṣan’a’ 1 constitutes direct documentary evidence for the reality of the non-’Uthmanic text types that are usually referred to as “Companion codices.”129 These sources suggest that the writing and collection process started relatively early, demonstrating the community’s level of belief and devotion to preserving a written account of the Prophet’s revelations and the origins of Islam.130 Immediately after the Prophet’s death in 632 CE, a dispute about who was the rightful successor arose between two factions. No clear provisions had been left for a successor by Muhammad and nothing was mentioned in the Qur’an. The debate over successorship was between those who believed that leadership should stay within the Prophet’s family (the proto-Shiites) and those who believed that leadership should fall to the person who was considered by the elite of the community to be the best able to lead it (the proto-Sunnis). Over the centuries, the historical events and conflicts split the community into two main branches that still exist today. In the process of settlement as a religion, Islam took form through a means of dialogue with other faith groups—Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and Manicheans. Islam’s cornerstone was the revelations of God to the Prophet and his teaching and guidance. An important distinction from the other religions was the absence of clergy, of which there is no established

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 40

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 41 institution in Islam. After the Prophet’s death, the community continued to look to the Prophet as the one figure who could provide guidance in all circumstances.131 In Islam, the Qur’an is considered to be the final word of God and a message to all human beings: “(Here is) a Book which We have sent down Unto thee, full of blessings, that they may meditate on its Signs, and that men of understanding may receive admonition” (Surah 38:29). The divine revelations Muhammad received and were written in the Qur’an are the heart of Islam. The revelations were received in Arabic, and the recitation is in Arabic and not in the vernacular. While it is commonly thought that theological debates in the eighth to twelfth centuries on whether the Qur’an can be or ought to be translated, practices of doing so in Persian describe a process of vernacularization. Travis Zadeh, in The Vernacular Qur’an: Translation and the Rise of Persian Exegesis, argues that Persian translations were not “design to be autonomous or independent. They succeeded in conveying the meaning of the Qur’an while guarding the sacredness of the Arabic.”132 Zadeh’s discussion on Persian versions shows that the debate on the translatability of the Qur’an in medieval times, in practice, was bypassed entirely, including for its ritual use. Since the beginning, Muslims have believed that the Qur’an is the eternal, literal word of God in its content, form, and language. Nevertheless, as Zadeh remarks, in the translations, Persians usually found ways to protect the original Arabic’s unique status. He observes that in the work of translating the scriptures, the intention is not to replace the Arabic, “but rather serves to enwrap the Arabic of the Qur’an in the melodious cadence of the Persian language.”133 The Qur’an consists of 114 surahs (chapters). Each surah has several verses, known as ayat, which means a “sign sent by God.” The arrangement of the surahs is not in line with the sequence of revelations. In its structure, the verses seem to be contradictory. During the eighth and ninth centuries, when the community started to assign its best talents to the task of understanding and interpreting the Qur’an, those involved had to determine which sections are spoken by God and which are spoken by the Prophet delivering His message.134 The uses of the first-person plural “we” indicate God addressing directly: “We said: ‘O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden; and eat of the bountiful things therein as (where and when) ye will; but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression’” (Surah 2:35). In sections preceded by the word “say,” God is still delivering a message but through Muhammad or the early Prophets: “Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; / Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; / He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; / And there is none like unto Him” (Surah 112:1–4). The Qur’an is the source of knowledge of God for Muslims. As illustrated in surahs 82, 47:24, and 38:29, God urges Muslims to ponder its verses in order to discern its divine authorship and essential unity. The content of the Qur’an emphasizes teaching over narrative and is an invitation to believe in Him. For believers, God enlightens and guides whom He will.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 41

02/12/20 1:46 PM

42  Ritual practices and places of proclamation The mosque The new Muslim community fostered ideas, practices, and institutions inspired by those from Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and Manicheans. One unique and straightforward inspiration was the mosque, or masjid in Arabic (a place of prostration). This architectural genius of Islam expresses beauty through a uniquely vast and empty space with a simple design. The house of the Prophet in Medina was the first mosque. The Prophet’s mosque was originally a rectangular enclosed place with an open courtyard where people gathered to hear him and to pray towards Jerusalem, as Jews do, but in 634 CE Revelation decreed that prayer be directed towards the ancient sanctuary in Mecca, which according to the Qur’an and pre-Islamic Arabian tradition was constructed by Abraham and Ishmael to be the first house of worship built for humankind (Surah 2:124–50). He commanded that a shaded prayer enclosure, or musalla, be built near the wall facing Mecca (the qibla wall). The musalla was supported by columns that were spaced at regular intervals to hold up the roof. The simple structure would become the model for mosques built during the expansion of Islam in the first one hundred years and after. The ancient mosque contained an incipient mihrab set into the qibla wall to guide the direction of prayer, and the mimbar, a raised pulpit for the Prophet, where he addressed his followers. Although the mosque has experienced many architectural changes since it was first built, the building remains an open space, usually sheltered, with at least one formal entrance to the compound where shoes are to be taken off and left outside. Inside the enclosure, there is a fountain for ablutions (wudu), the required ritual in preparation for formal prayer and reading of the Qur’an; a mihrab, the marker that indicates the direction of Mecca; and a mimbar indoors or outdoors for sermons. The mosque may also have a minaret, a tall tower to call to prayer. In the musalla, carpets cover the floor to help the faithful perform the Salat by rows of men who bow and prostrate themselves under the imam’s leadership. The Islamic tradition does not allow life-like statues of human beings or pictures should be placed in the mosque, and that the only decorations permitted are ones that do not recall idols, such as inscriptions of Qur’anic verses, names of God, the names of Muhammad and his Companions, vines and plant motifs and geometric designs. The mihrab The prayer hall has one wall facing Mecca called the qibla wall, and the mid-point of this wall has the mihrab, a niche or element that indicates the direction of prayer. The mihrab is the most decorated element of a mosque, formally introduced under the reign of al-Walid from the Umayyad dynasty (705–15 CE). The word mihrab, from Iranian mythology, had a secular

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 42

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 43 meaning, used to designate the throne room in a palace.135 Nevin Reda shows me how the word mihrab appears in the Qur’an in the story of Mary, Jesus’s mother, in her article says, In later Islamic times, the mihrab came to mean a recess in a mosque indicating the prayer direction. However, this is not the Qur’anic meaning, since the mihrab is connected there only with ancient Israelites: Mary, David, Solomon, and Zachariah (3:37, 39; 19:11, 38:21-22; and 34:13). In place of the mosque’s mihrab, Solomon’s temple had the Holy of Holies, which housed the ark of the covenant.136 The mihrab is not a sacred element like the altar in a church; instead, the direction of prayer that its presence symbolizes is what is sacred (see Figure 1.12). The mimbar The mimbar is the pulpit where the prayer leader preaches. The word comes from the Arabic root “n-b-r” which means “to raise, elevate.” This element originated from the judge’s seat in pre-Islamic Arabia. The

Figure 1.12  Mihrab and mimbar. Rustem Pasha Mosque, Istanbul (1563). Design by Mimar Sinan, Istanbul. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 43

02/12/20 1:46 PM

44  Ritual practices and places of proclamation tradition recounts that the Prophet first delivered his thoughts leaning on a palm tree trunk in the mosque at Medina. During the eighth year after hijra, when the number of followers increased and it was difficult for the assembled crowd to see and hear Muhammad, a platform was built and placed in the mosque. From the Sahih al-Bukhari, a collection of sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad, also known as hadiths, there is a report of the Prophet’s sayings on the mimbar, as narrated by Abu Hazim:137 Some men came to Sahl bin Sa’d to ask him about the pulpit. He replied, ‘Allah’s Messenger sent for a woman (Sahl named her) (this message): Order your slave carpenter to make pieces of wood (i.e., a pulpit) for me so that I may sit on it while addressing the people.’ So, she ordered him to make it from the tamarisk of the forest. He brought it to her and she sent it to Allah’s Messenger. Allah’s Messenger ordered it to be placed in the mosque: so, it was put and he sat on it.138 Certainly, this was the first mimbar in Islam (ca. 628–31 CE) and was reported to have been made in wood with three steps. This mimbar was ordered for the mosque of Medina by the Prophet, from which he preached and led prayers. In the eighth century, the caliphs (successors of the Prophet) used the Prophet’s mimbar as a symbol of their authority. This symbol was extended to mimbars in main mosques by the Umayyad caliphs (r. 661–750 CE) and their governors. They were used as pulpits from which to made appeals and hear petitions, primarily in their capacity as rulers. Occasionally, there was also a maqsurah, a box or wooden screen near the mihrab, which was initially intended to shield a worshiping ruler from assassins. Ultimately, a mimbar was installed in every mosque in which Friday prayers were performed, but there is no tradition of reading the Qur’an from it, other than during sermons. With time, when sermons were more religious than political, the mimbar became a more permanent religious object and the number of steps increased, commonly executed in stone or brick (see Figure 1.12). During the subsequent development of Islamic art and architecture, mimbars were more commonly located at the right-hand side of the mihrab. Amr ibn al-As, the conqueror and first Islamic governor of Egypt, introduced high mimbars with more steps. There are two other elements to consider that are located near the mimbar: the dikka and the kursi. The dikka, a wooden platform of single storey height, is in line with the mihrab. From the dikka, the respondents (qadi) of the mosque repeat the postures of the imam and speak the responses for the large congregation (see Figure 1.13). In contrast, the kursi is a portable lectern on which the Qur’an is placed and from which the respondent reads and recites. The kursi is usually located next to the dikka.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 44

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 45

Figure 1.13  Dikka in Blue Mosque. Design by Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, (1609–16), Istanbul. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra.

Religious life Muslim ritual practices are built upon five pillars. These “pillars” were established in the Prophet’s practice in his day and age. They were continued and preserved within Muslim tradition, although some changes occurred after his death, e.g., the communal tarawih prayers. The struggle for Islam’s first followers was to gather Muhammad’s practice of the various rituals and to ascertain the intended meaning of the Pillars. Their fundamental tenets were already in place, taking the shape of the life and beliefs of the Prophet Muhammad. Some passages of the Qur’an allude to the Five Pillars, while some are explicit. The origins of these practices can be found in the collection compiled by al-Bukhari (d. 870 CE), one of the earliest known sources of the written prophetic tradition. These basic spiritual practices are incumbent on all Muslims and define what it means to be a member of the community of believers. The Five Pillars are distinct and deal with different aspects of the Muslim belief. The First Pillar is the shahadah, a declaration of faith central to the Islamic doctrine, that consists of witnessing and declaring the belief that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. The shahadah refers to the admission of the believer into the ummah of Muslims, an Islam requirement for conversion. The other four belong to ritual practices: Salat, the canonical

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 45

02/12/20 1:46 PM

46  Ritual practices and places of proclamation

Figure 1.14  Young man studying the Qur’an in a historic Ottoman mosque on the hills of Bursa, Turkey (2014). © iStock.com. Photographer: BERKO85.

prayer; Zakat, almsgiving or charity; Sawm, the fasting that takes place during Ramadan; and Hajj, pilgrimage to Mecca. Both Sunnis and Shias agree on the essential details for the ritual performance of the Five Pillars, but there is not an absolute consensus.139 A difference from the other Abrahamic religions is that there is no ritual reading of the Holy Scripture but a recitation of some verses in the Second Pillar, the ritual prayer (see Figure 1.14). Nevertheless, Muslims recite the Qur’an entirety during the tarawih prayers in Ramadan. The salat The Muslim ritual prayer (salat) is the means whereby, five times a day, Muslims face Mecca and hold communion with God—at sunrise, noon, midafternoon, sunset, and evening. These prayers must be executed in a state of ritual purity and the intention to worship Him alone. They consist of the recitation of Qur’anic passages in Arabic, divine praise, and a

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 46

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 47 series of positions, some of which are pre-Islamic in origin, according to Esposito.140 According to Imam al-Bukhari (810–70 CE), in the section “The Book of Salat,” the ritual of prayer was decreed on the Night Journey (Surah 17:1–21).141 Examining the information provided in the Qur’an and the hadiths, Muhammad’s precise ritual of salat appears to be a result of his ideas and practice. The daily rituals combine meditation, devotion, moral elevation, and movement. The performance of daily prayers consists of the recitation of the first surah, which consists of seven verses: In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds; Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek. Show us the straight way, The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray. The Fatihah (The Opening) is the first surah in the Qur’an and is also the opening surah of the ritual Salat. It provides a summary of the main elements of the Islamic faith tradition and affirms those previously established rubrics. The spirit of this surah is that of prayer, beginning with the recognition of the One to whom the faithful addresses their prayer. After the recitation of an additional Qur’anic verse comes the culminating position, called sujud, which is when the worshipper drops to his knees and places his hands and forehead to the prayer carpet, supplicating God or praising Him. They may be performed individually or in assembly. The dawn prayer may be performed any time between the first light of dawn and right before sunrise. The noon prayer is performed after the sun has reached its zenith in the sky and before it begins its steep descent, at which point the time range for the afternoon prayer begins. The sunset prayer may be performed any time after the sun sets and when the last light of sunset disappears. Finally, the evening prayer begins when there is no sign of the sun’s light. The length of each prayer may range from approximately five to ten minutes. The time it takes for prayer and ritual ablutions is about fifteen minutes. Most Muslims will perform additional prayers, called supererogatory prayers (nawafil), and remembrances of God, extending the length of time to about half an hour. In the mosque, prayer is performed by bows and prostrations with no chairs or seats, although a few chairs are generally available for those too frail or otherwise unable to physically perform the movements. As al-Baghawi explains, Jabir ibn Samura said: the Messenger of God came out to us… and said, ‘Why do you not draw your selves up in rows (for prayer) as the angels do in the presence of the Lord?’ We asked, ‘Messenger of God,

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 47

02/12/20 1:46 PM

48  Ritual practices and places of proclamation how do the angels draw themselves up in rows in the presence of the Lord? He replied, ‘They make the first rows complete and keep close together in the row.’ Muslim transmitted this report.142 The text emphasizes that to pray in rows is the divine origin and how prayer must be done. The excerpt also indicates that this is an obligation and not a recommendation. Men stand in rows, barefooted, behind the imam and follow his movements. Rich and poor, prominent and ordinary people all stand and bow together in the same rows. In most mosques, women may participate in the prayers, but they must occupy a separate space or chamber in the mosque, although women have begun to dispute this secondary location, citing the Prophet’s example. In Mecca, women can pray wherever they like. Reda says, “It is interesting to note that no hadith seems to try to explain why the situation in Makkah was so very different.”143 An essential part of the ritual is the direction of prayer. As mentioned before, Muhammad initially chose to pray towards Jerusalem before praying facing Mecca. Which direction to pray generates a broad debate between early scholars to justify the Prophet’s decision. This act of changing the direction of prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca signalled the separation of the early Muslim community from the Jewish community. Muslims became a distinct nation with a separate religious identity. Prior to this change, Muslims and Jews could pray together facing Jerusalem, and it was not clear who followed the new Prophet and who did not (Cf. Surah 2:143). In any event, Suliman Bashear thinks that only after the seventh century is it possible to speak of only one direction of prayer in Islam. At this time, more mosques had been built and religious concepts and institutions had solidified.144 Muslims prepare themselves to address God conducting a ritual cleansing, to safeguard a state of spiritual and physical pureness. The ritual act of ablution, called wudu before prayer, is also done before handling and reading the Qur’an. It is so important that the absence of the state of purity makes the act of prayer invalid. In Islam, purity of the soul is a blessing, as is the cleanliness of the body. Muslims believe that God’s favour to human beings can only be completed when they have received overall direction in respect of both spiritual purity and physical cleanliness. Jumu’ah mubarak: Blessed Friday In Islam, there is no Sabbath or Sunday as a day of rest as is practiced in Judaism and Christianity, but it has a day of assembly gathering on Friday called the al-Jumu’ah (from the verb ijta’ama, which means “the gathering together of people”).145 Jumu’ah is the noon prayer on Fridays where the Muslim community gathers in the local mosque to hear a distinctive liturgical element from the times of the Prophet: the sermon (khutba), which is preached by a religious leader, such as imam, muftis, qadis, or alims. The origins of this practice started in the time of the Prophet, during which the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 48

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 49 congregation gathered each Friday in the courtyard of his house in Medina and Muhammad gave the lesson with tones of moral exhortation and activism.146 The tradition states that Jumu’ah was revealed to Muhammad during the first years after the migration to Medina, as described in Surah 62: O ye who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic): That is best for you if ye but knew! (Surah 62:9) The verse specifies that the call to such a prayer was to be performed only on Fridays. Different Prophetic traditions give an account of the subject, such as when “Abu Hurayra reported the Messenger of God, may peace be upon him, as saying: The best day on which the sun has risen is Friday: on it Adam was created, on it he was made to enter Paradise, on it he was expelled from it. And the Last Hour will take place on no other day but Friday” (Muslim, Sahih 4.302.1857, 1860). The tradition also emphasizes why Islam adopted Friday as the day of congregational worship, as opposed to Saturday or Sunday, in order to distinguish its community from both Jewish and Christian communities: Abu Hurayra reported God’s Messenger, may peace be upon him, as saying: We are the last (religious community) but we would be the first on the day of Resurrection and we would be the first to enter Paradise except that they [that is, the Jews and Christians] were given the Book before us and we were given it after them. They disagreed regarding the truth. And it was this day of theirs about which they disagreed, but God guided us to it, and that is Friday for us; the next day is for the Jews and the day following for the Christians.147 The Blessed Friday prayer replaces the noon salat on that day. The Salat starts with the call to prayer, followed by two short sermons given by the imam from the mimbar. The sermon praises God and the Prophet and quotes verses from the Qur’an. Topics vary, but they are focused on the religious, moral, and contemporary concerns of the congregation. After the sermon, the imam sits and there is a moment of silence, and then he gives the second sermon. Then, the imam leads the ending prayer. Afterward, there is a moment where people spend time greeting each other. The Jumu’ah is a day of joy and community spirit and is viewed as a holy day. Reciting the qur’an There is no liturgical reading at the mosque as Jews and Christians have, and there is no fixed element or assigned place. The worship performance that involves the Holy Book is the recitation of some verses by the whole assembly during the communal prayer on Friday. Reciting verses of the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 49

02/12/20 1:46 PM

50  Ritual practices and places of proclamation Qur’an is an act of worship, like Jews reading the Torah and Christians reading the Bible, and it is done during the performance of ritual prayers. Several ancient sources give testimony to these practices. In the Treatise on the Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence by Imam al-Shafi’i, an Egyptian legal scholar (ca. 820 CE), al-Shafi’i, explains, He (the Messenger) decreed that in all (the prayers) there should be recitals (from the Quran), audible at the sunset, evening and dawn prayers, and silent recitals at the noon and afternoon prayers. He specified that at the beginning of each prayer there shall be the declaration “God is great” and at the ending salutations on the Prophet and his house, and that each prayer consists of the “God is great,” the recital (from the Quran), the bowing and two prostrations after each inclination, but that beyond these nothing is obligatory… However, all prayers must be (performed) in the direction of Mecca, whether one is in town or on a journey.148 Shafi’i recounts the Prophet’s decrees from traditions or reports transmitted by Muhammad’s contemporaries.149 The text gives instructions for the Salat, and reciting verses from the Qur’an is the core of the ritual. There are also indications that communal prayers were led: “Abu Sa’id reported the Messenger of God as saying, ‘When there are three people (praying together), one of them should lead them. The one among them most worthy to act as prayer leader (imam) is the one most versed in the Quran.’ Muslim transmitted this report.”150 Finally, professional chanters may chant the Qur’an according to rigidly prescribed systems taught in the madrasa, but music or singing was, and still is, not allowed. Reading the Qur’an ritually and collectively during a community service is not prescribed in Islam, and there is no mention in the Qur’an or the Sunnah. Reciting the Qur’an together in unison, pausing and stopping at the same time, is also not prescribed and is considered to be makruh (a disliked or offensive act). There is no evidence that the Prophet or his companions liturgically proclaimed the Qur’an as Christians do with the Bible. Common sense and practice show that if the recitation is done in a loud voice that disturbs those who are praying, then it is even more disliked, as is demonstrated by the Prophet saying: “When one of you stands in prayer, he is conversing with his Lord, so let one of you know what he is saying to his Lord and do not raise your voices above one another in reciting when praying.”151 However, the tradition allows the practice of reading aloud in the mosque if the purpose is teaching. When community members gather to read the Qur’an in order to memorize it or learn it, and one of them reads while the others listen, or each of them reads to himself without raising his voice or reading in unison with others, then that is prescribed: Allah would make that path easy, leading to Paradise for him and those persons who assemble in the house among the houses of Allah

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 50

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 51 (mosques) and recite the Book of Allah and they learn and teach the Qur’an (among themselves) there would descend upon them tranquillity and mercy would cover them and the angels would surround them and Allah mentions them in the presence of those near Him, and he who is slow-paced in doing good deeds, his (high) lineage does not make him go ahead.152 Qur’an reciters, particularly those who memorize its words and live by its precepts, are seen by Muslims as heirs of the Prophet. Muslims sincerely believe that the Qur’an sanctifies their heart and home, making them partakers of Divine revelation. As mentioned previously, ritual worship in the mosque, particularly on Friday, does not include the proclamation of the Holy Book as it does with Judaism and Christianity. Islam has developed the presence of the word of God in a different way. The communal recitation during the service only includes some passages from the Qur’an. The main feature of Friday prayer is a sermon followed by two short prayer cycles. Therefore, the recitation has replaced the public proclamation: “Muslim scholars define the Glorious Qur’an as the Book whose recitation is an act of worship in itself.”153 Its recitation has a reward in the afterlife and is encouraged by the Sunnah: “Whoever recites the Qur’an and masters it by heart, will be with the noble righteous scribes (in Heaven). And, whoever exerts himself to learn the Qur’an by heart, and recites it with great difficulty, will have a double reward.”154 Another record by Abu Dawud, a report from Abdullah ibn ‘Amr, says, “(On the Day of Judgment,) it will be said to the reciter of the Qur’an, Read (the Qur’an) and occupy higher degrees. Recite (the Qur’an) as you used to recite it in the world, for your position will be at the end of the last Qur’anic verse you read.”155 The Sunnah is flexible about the place to recite and the time to recite the Qur’an, and it is more concerned about the approach and implementation. Muslims believe that the proper recitation of the Qur’an is a source of great blessing. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, following the tradition, says, “Amongst the good manners of reciting the Glorious Qur’an is to read it with a sweet voice and good tone. As the Glorious Qur’an is good in itself, reading it with a sweet voice maintains its beauty, attracts the hearts, and influences the feelings.”156 There are also different points of view on reciting verses loudly or quietly. Hadiths giving preference to reciting in a low voice say, “All does not listen to anything, (more approvingly) as He listens to a Prophet reciting loudly the Qur’an in a sweet voice.”157 A hadith supporting those who recite loudly says, “The similitude of a man who recites the Qur’an loudly is that of a man who gives charity overtly, while the similitude of a man who recites the Qur’an in a low voice is that of a man who gives charity covertly.”158 Yusuf integrates both points of view, saying that it depends on the situation. If the volume of the recitation interrupts the concentration of other worshipers, it is better to do so in a low voice, but it can

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 51

02/12/20 1:46 PM

52  Ritual practices and places of proclamation be useful when it awakes the heart of the listeners. The tradition remarks that the Prophet used to read the Qur’an at night, sometimes in a loud voice and at other times in a low voice. Together with these, the tradition advises reading slowly as the proper way for contemplation: “The Glorious Qur’an is full of signs, wisdom, rules, proofs, instructions, and miracles. Therefore, deep thinking and contemplation in reading the Qur’an is the only way to realize these contents.”159 This thought is based on the custom of Muhammad and the early followers, in a similar way to what Christian monks in the desert and rabbis in synagogues do. For faithful Muslims of all generations, reading and reciting the Qur’an strengthens their hearts and guides their lives. Moreover, they believe that Allah addresses them personally in that action. The tradition also remarks that listening to a Qur’anic verse when it is recited is an act of worship. This notion will be expanded in Chapter 4.

Evolution and reformation Among the three Abrahamic traditions, Christianity is the one that has the highest number of adaptations of the ritual forms to read Holy Scriptures, along with consequent changes in the place for their proclamation. The successive Christianity reforms in the West developed the visual aspects of the liturgy and church architecture, with the tendency to reduce the role of the assembly to that of spectators. Similarly, Foley argues, “Both Gothic and Renaissance buildings were designed less for the hearing and responding of the assembly and more for their viewing.”160 The clergy was at the ceremonial centre of action, and the laity was kept at a distance. There is a strong possibility that the growing phenomenon of the private Mass was another indication of declining participation in the Liturgy of the Word. Metzger states, About the ninth century, a certain practice became general, a practice that would have momentous repercussions on the understanding of the liturgy and on the way theologies would approach problems. We are speaking of the private Mass, said by a lone priest without the presence of an assembly. What took place there was not a modification of the rites of the Mass, but their application to a practice at odds with the very soul of the liturgy: the Eucharist, summit and center of the life of the Church, was celebrated without an ecclesial community.161 The practice of private Masses became extensive over time. Priests were bound by canon law to celebrate the Mass daily (their stipends often depended upon it), and officiate jointly (celebrate together) was possible only when a bishop presided. This practice had its most profound effect within church buildings, as aisles began to be filled with side altars to facilitate concurrent Masses for the assembled faithful, as well as the many private Masses. These side altars had only a minimal altarpiece and altar.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 52

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 53 There was no lectern or pulpit since the latter was only intended for the nave. Metzger makes a critical observation of the liturgical chaos that ensued “As a consequence of the juxtaposition of offices and devotions, the appointments were duplicated, the spaces within a single church multiplied: sanctuary, chapels, side altars. Several Masses could take place at the same time.”162 Despite its essential character, the Liturgy of the Word was intended only for celebrations at the main altar; therefore, ambos and pulpits could be found only in the nave. Returning to the word of God The Reformation of the sixteenth century marks the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern times. The abuses of private Masses and indulgences and the doctrinal controversies concerning the Eucharist eventually erupted in the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. The Holy Scriptures were also at the centre of the scene. The Reform’s leader, Martin Luther, believed that the Bible was the source of authority for the Church, more authoritative even than the Magisterium, and should be accessible to the faithful. Phillip Schaff highlights, The Bible ceased to be a foreign book in a foreign tongue, and became naturalized, and hence far more clear and dear to the common people. Hereafter the Reformation depended no longer on the works of the Reformers, but on the book of God, which everybody could read for himself as his daily guide in spiritual life. This inestimable blessing of an open Bible for all, without the permission or intervention of pope and priest, marks an immense advance in church history, and can never be lost.163 Undoubtedly, the proclamation of the Bible in Latin during Mass was foreign to the congregation that spoke the vernacular. The Holy Scripture was now not a book in a foreign language, but in the everyday language: homely, bright, and beloved to the faithful. The emphasis the reformers put on the Liturgy of the Word—proclamation and preaching—impacted their church buildings. Lutheran countries maintained the medieval arrangements, including medieval altarpieces, but removed unnecessary side altars. The Calvinists were more extreme in emptying the churches of their elaborate furnishings, such that they even removed the stained-glass windows. The Protestant renovations placed the pulpit in the middle of the nave, giving a focus to the reading of and commentary on the Holy Scriptures. As the Reformation progressed and became more extreme, the altar often disappeared and the pulpit’s location in the centre of the nave with surrounding seating took on heightened importance. There was also the curious instance of the “pulpit-altar” in Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Norway. This baroque structure placed the pulpit above the altar and on top of the organ, comprising the following form:

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 53

02/12/20 1:46 PM

54  Ritual practices and places of proclamation

Figure 1.15  Pulpit-altar of the Røros Church, Norway (1868). © DigitalMuseum.0rg. Photographer: Iver Olsen.

the altar, the pulpit above, and the organ at the top (see Figure 1.15). This bizarre compromise survived until the mid-eighteenth century when it began to slowly disappear as churches renovated their interiors, often as the result of the need to replace their organs.164 After the first stage of adaptation of former Catholic churches, Protestant communities started building new churches, mainly in the Americas. In these new churches, the focal point of attention for the assembly was the pulpit. It was centred, elevated, and placed at one end of main worship space, and, in most cases, the organ and the choir were placed behind it. Aspects of this design would also be taken up by the Catholic liturgical reformers in the twentieth century.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 54

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 55 The Counter-Reformation The Roman Catholic forces acted quickly against the Protestant Reformation and towards internal renewal. The Council of Trent sought to stabilize the chaotic situation and suppressed some of the abuses. The Council reaffirmed the doctrines and regulated the liturgy and sacraments. A significant contribution was the Missale Romanum, promulgated by Pope Pius V in the Apostolic Constitution Quo primum in 1570. A striking novelty was the inclusion of the readings in the missal, with instruction to read from the altar and not facing the assembly, making the ambo an obsolete element in the church. The Council of Trent brought order back to the Mass, as well as the other liturgies of the Roman Catholic tradition. However, it did not give any significant consideration to the issue of the assembly’s participation in worship. As Metzger notes, the Tridentine liturgy likely completed an unfortunate transformation of the Roman Catholic liturgy that had begun in the Medieval Period: The function of the liturgy was twofold: to render the worship due God and to insure the sanctification of Christians. Now, these two functions are inextricable linked by the mysterious presence of Christ to his Church in the liturgical celebration: Jesus leads us by his Spirit in the praise of the Father, and the presence of the Spirit in Christ’s ecclesial body is precisely the source of holiness. But from the Middle Ages on, the two functions were distinguished and this distinction supplied an explanation for the practices then current: the clergy rendered worship to God, which could be done without the people, and it insured the believers’ sanctification through rites, including the sacraments. Thus, worship was for God and, in a certain measure, for the benefit of Christians. The vocabulary testifies to this evolution; the point was not so much to “celebrate” the sacraments with the faithful as to “administer” the sacraments to them.165 Not all scholars are as critical. Foley sees the post-Tridentine Church as emerging from the challenges of the Reformation with new optimism and a sense of vitality, such as the unique energetic architectural style that arose, symbolizing triumphalism. In any event, the Liturgy of the Word and its privileged place, the ambo, suffered the consequences. Tridentine liturgy did require significant changes in liturgical space, and it was Cardinal Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan, with his Instructions on the Architecture and Furnishings of Churches (1577),166 who had the most influence. If the churches of the previous period were too compartmentalized by the choir and side altars, churches of the CounterReformation saw the nave dramatically expanded, screens removed, and the now quite visible altar becoming the focus of the entire space. The first

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 55

02/12/20 1:46 PM

56  Ritual practices and places of proclamation church built according to these new design parameters was the Jesuit church Il Gesù in Rome. Vignola designed the Jesuit church between the years 1568 and 1575, and it was the prototype for churches built throughout Catholic Europe and the Americas between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The congregation was encouraged to partake in common liturgical life. The Tridentine renovation promoted the removal of the secluded choir, allowing for an enlarged sanctuary facing the nave. The Mass celebrated at the main altar was more than just a liturgy for the clergy, and the congregation could now see the whole performance, but their participation was limited to well-known prayers or responses. The pulpit in the middle of the nave acquired substantial importance for communicating the principles of the Roman Catholic faith through the sermon, enhanced by the improved acoustics of the new buildings. The Tridentine rite kept a high Liturgy of the Word only for solemn occasions, in which the ambo had a role. Borromeo provided specifications concerning the construction and placement of ambos in his instructions: The most noteworthy churches and all Cathedrals must have ambos decorated with marbles and rich ornaments in the same manner of those which once existed in antiquity, and that still can be seen in Rome.… If the church is large it is possible to have two ambos. On solemn occasions the Gospel Hill be read from the higher of the two. The other, which will serve for the reading of the Epistle and for the recitation of the Holy Scriptures, should be lower.… It is permitted to build a single ambo like those which may be seen in many churches.… The ambos must be built of marble or stone and must be decorated in relief with religious subjects. Brick construction is also permitted, provided that the surface is covered by marble slabs or with elegantly sculptured stone or kilt-bronze, as may be seen today in many churches.167 According to Aventin, Cardinal Borromeo had in mind the ceremonial of Innocent III, which gives specific instructions, such as how the deacon was to ascend and descend with the Book of the Gospels.168 Nevertheless, the pulpit overshadowed the ambo. Borromeo, seeing that the ambo was disappearing, directed that when no ambo was present, the pulpit was to be located on the Gospel side and the Gospel could be read from it: “Where an ambo cannot be had for the reading of the Gospel or for the sacred sermons, a pulpit should be erected on the Gospel side to serve for the purpose of reading the Gospel and for religious preaching.”169 This section of the instructions draws attention to the previous text. The cardinal was not insistent upon ambos being put where they had hitherto been absent (see Figure 1.16). However, during the fifteenth century, through the influence of the papal liturgy, the presence of two ambos was quite common in Roman churches. As mentioned before, one ambo was for the reading of

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 56

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 57

Figure 1.16  Two ambos following the Instructions of Cardinal Borromeo. Cathedral of Milan. Consecrated in 1549, Milan. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra.

the Epistle and the other for the Gospel’s proclamation. The two ambos seemed to be the adoption of an unwritten tradition, as there are no norms from the period requiring it.170 The proclamation of Sacred Scriptures and liturgical design for churches from the Baroque to the Neoclassical until about the mid-1950s in the Roman Catholic tradition did not see any significant variations. The Reform kept its spirit, giving preponderance to the proclamation and the Bible’s place in their churches and communities. The fall of the Byzantine Empire and the rise of Russia In May 1453, the Ottoman army conquered Constantinople, marking the end of the Roman Empire. The worship centre of Eastern Christianity, Hagia Sophia, was converted into a mosque, but the Orthodox Church was allowed to continue under the guidance of the newly appointed patriarch Gennadius Scholarius. Until then, the Byzantine Church had celebrated their services with two rituals: the cathedral Rite and the monastic Rite. The fall of the Byzantine empire has a lasting impact on both cathedral and monastic liturgies. Byzantine rites continued in monasteries several monasteries, such as at the Mont Athos, Meteora in Greece and St Catherine’s in Mount Sinai. The fall of Constantinople impacted four of the five ancient Patriarchates because of the presence of Islam: Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople. In this process, the centre of authority migrated to Eastern Europe. The new political reality began a late post-Byzantine period without a geographical liturgical centre.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 57

02/12/20 1:46 PM

58  Ritual practices and places of proclamation Further north, the Russian Orthodox Church emerged with the purpose of consolidating and codifying the Orthodox Rite. In the seventeenth century, the Muscovite patriarch Nikon commanded the work based on Greek-speaking churches, intending to return to the source. Nikon’s intention had its opponents, who defended an older liturgical tradition. None of those groups were conscious of the development of the Byzantine rite and the diversity of its practices in previous years. The post-Byzantine Rite kept the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom and the Liturgy of Saint Basil—used only 10 times a year. Both liturgies seemingly held their structure after the ninth century; however, the eucharistic prayers came as early as the fourth and fifth centuries during the time of the saints. Both liturgies, rich in metaphors and symbols, provided the faithful with a portrayal of Christ’s saving Passion. Alexander Rentel explains, “The Orthodox Church has developed a liturgy that proclaims the Gospel by means of an intricate, complex liturgical system that speaks in many different voices. Unquestionably though, the power of these events is direct and is transmitted to the faithful in the liturgy: Christ’s death and Resurrection offer believers a passage from life to life and union with him.”171 Accordingly, Orthodox Church communities experience the Divine Liturgy as a transcendental time. The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom comprised scriptural readings, hymns, and prayers that were chanted by the priest and sung by the assembly, the latter of which was replaced by the cantor or the choir in some communities. The central part of the liturgy was read inaudibly by the priest, a custom which still prevails. The Holy Scriptures form the mainstay of the ritual, being present in every service. Rentel also states, “the particular context within the services where the scriptures are read provides the all-important hermeneutic tool for understanding how and why the scriptures are used in the liturgy.”172 The Divine Liturgy is considered to be one of the ancient Christian rituals. Orthodox Christians believe that the Divine Liturgy allows for a real communion with God, rather than just a prayer offered to Him. During its development, the Orthodox Church has allowed the translation of the Divine Liturgy and the Bible into vernacular languages. One of the consequences of the fall of the Byzantine Empire was the loss of the ambo in the space of the church, as a portable ambo replaced the monumental one (see Figure 1.17). The ancient bema was transformed into a solid wall of icons that divided the sanctuary from the nave. Jewish reform in nineteenth century In the eighteenth century, a group of German Jews began demanding change in Jewish doctrine and practices. In 1780, Moses Mendelssohn and his disciples began translating Hebrew Bible into German to give Jews a better grasp of the Hebrew language and the moral values of Judaism.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 58

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 59

Figure 1.17 Portable ambo in the interior of Holy Apostle and Gospel Luke. Serbian Orthodox Church, Belgrade. © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: nedomacki.

In 1810, Israel Jacobson introduced the reform into the worship services, incorporating German hymns, the use of organ and mixed choir, and a homily in the vernacular. Jacobson also changed the name of the synagogue to the temple. The same process commenced in the United States in the second half of the nineteenth century with Isaac M. Wise, one of the founders of the Reform seminary Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. The institution recognized the divine nature of the Torah and its connection to the rabbinic tradition. However, they made radical changes to the services, such as the abolition of the separation of men and women in the synagogue. Today, Jewish Reform promotes the public role of women in the services,

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 59

02/12/20 1:46 PM

60  Ritual practices and places of proclamation including counting them for a quorum and the Torah reading. Women were also allowed to lead the service and to be ordained as rabbis. In the second half of the nineteenth century, a post-emancipation period began with the Conservative Judaism movement. The view of this faction was that moderate reforms were necessary but should preserve the Jewish spirit of the past without the influence of modernity, against the idea that emancipation necessarily had to entail assimilation. The centre of this movement was the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau. They were more moderate than the Reform, seeking to conserve traditional Jewish laws and practices, but used modern ways of historical scholarship and critical studies of Jewish texts from all periods. In America, the movement took shape in the liturgy and practice. There, they worked to preserve the centrality of Hebrew in the liturgy, the keeping of the Shabbat, and kashrut observances. In the twentieth century, Conservative synagogues introduced mixed seating and brought English into the services. The Modern Orthodox movement (or Neo-Orthodoxy) began as a reaction to Reform Judaism. Though maintaining traditional practices and observances, Modern Orthodox Jews do not neglect the trappings of the outside world. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsh (1808–88 CE), the founder of the movement, held it was possible to take part in a secular society without compromising the Jewish law. In one of his early writings, The Nineteen Letters of Ben Uziel, Hirsch observes that it would have been better for the Jews not to have been emancipated if the price they had to pay was assimilation. Onward, Hirsch articulates the archetypical Jew as the “Israelman”—the Jew who is proudly Jewish—a believer in the Torah’s values and laws as revealed and is, at the same time, a cultured Jew immersed into the modern world.173 The Jews who were not involved in the emancipation of the Reform or Conservative movements continued with their eighteenth-century version of Jewish Traditionalism. This group is called Ultra-Orthodox. They believe that the Torah is the revealed word of God to Moises. Their services are conducted in Hebrew and led by male rabbis, and men and women are separated. Liturgical movement—twentieth century A new liturgical reform started at the end of the nineteenth century as a reaction to the breakdown of traditional patterns of worship. Beginning with Dom Prosper Guéranger’s re-founding of the Abbey of Solesmes in 1837 and culminating in the work and promulgations of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, this period consisted of intense study of liturgy aimed at the genuine reform of existing practices. The central concept of the liturgical reform movement was that of the liturgy as the communal celebration of the church’s sacraments. With the Second Vatican Council came a new form Christian architecture and a rebirth of art for the liturgy. The Council

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 60

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 61 outlined the new worship space as part of the more complex task of finding the true meaning of the liturgy. The challenge for architects, together with liturgists, was to design a new space that aided in the participation of the congregation in the liturgy and would transform them into a true ecclesia, as opposed to a congregation consisting of individuals at prayer. The process involved uncovering the origins of Christian worship to give people an experience of its power, and searching for new church designs, like during the Council of Trent. One area in urgent need of attention was the Liturgy of the Word. Various factors weakened its place in church worship during the second millennium and up to the last century. Many liturgists agree that the rite, and the place of the Word generally, had fallen into a state of shameful neglect: The place of the Word in the church and in prayer has been an object of embarrassing concealment, hidden away in a marginal space and veiled by a proclamation reserved and incomprehensible. The eclipse of the ambo, which is configured in this manner, has left the field open for hegemony of the pulpit, in which the internal drama of the Word was absorbed by an urgent need for a clear explanation.174 The complex process of reinvigorating the proclamation of Sacred Scriptures demanded an efficacious revival of the liturgical drama of the word and a push to restore its place in the Mass celebration. Among the first and simplest reforms was the celebrant’s facing the congregation when reading scripture. This was a direct contrast to the Tridentine Rite, in which the priest’s orientation during the reading the Epistle and the Gospel was relative to the altar and not to those trying to hear him. Allowing the use of vernacular language was another crucial point, making plain the message that God speaks to all and not only to Latin-trained clergy. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal gave more specific direction for the Liturgy of the Word: When the Sacred Scriptures are read in the Church, God himself speaks to his people, and Christ, present in his own word, proclaims the Gospel. Therefore, all must listen with reverence to the readings from God’s word, for they make up an element of greatest importance in the Liturgy. Although in the readings from Sacred Scripture God’s word is addressed to all people of every era and is understandable to them, nevertheless, a fuller understanding and a greater effectiveness of the word is fostered by a living commentary on the word, that is, the homily, as part of the liturgical action. (GIRM 10) The General Instruction reinforced the Council’s intentions of ensuring the dignity of the word of God, identifying the need for the kind of place in the church that favours the proclamation of this Word. The reappearance of

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 61

02/12/20 1:46 PM

62  Ritual practices and places of proclamation the ambo certainly facilitates a rediscovery of the centrality of scripture to the development of Christian life.175 Islam One Tradition The standard Qur’anic text that Muslim Qur’an specialists and scholars agree on is called the Uthmanic codex (al-mushaf al-’Uthmani), which dates to the time of the caliph “Uthman,” who was incidentally the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law. The conjoined sciences of recitation and cantillation, together with the exegesis, are considered, according to Graham, to be “the guardians and normative mediators of the qur’anic text as living scripture in the Muslim community.”176 A difference with Biblical studies, which is usually a specialist niche, the sciences of recitation and cantillation are open to all Muslims. The Salat, a space for Islamic practice, from early times until today, set believers apart from everyday activities. The ritual has changed neither in its content nor in its form. The Salat is, by definition, invalid if it is not performed as it is intended. The richness of the Salat lies in its central message and not in complex symbolism. This seminal ritual practice maintains its rigid universal format that transcends any culture or region, keeping the fundamental concepts of the Islamic tradition—the existence of God and the truth of the Qur’anic revelations, dramatically reaffirmed five times each day.

Synthesis and conclusion This chapter has outlined the historical development of ritual proclamation and recitation in Abrahamic faiths and the significance of its place from earliest endeavours to present times in order to perceive its intent and meaning. There was also a discussion of the tradition of reading the Jewish scriptures aloud that dates back to the time of Moses. After the Babylonian exile, Ezra established the formal practice. The destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE was meaningful because Jewish people no longer had a primary place to worship. Instead, they shifted their focus to worshipping in local synagogues, where the study and reading of the Torah and other scriptures formed the core. The sacred scroll is stored in the holy ark and is usually found on the front of the sanctuary. When the Torah was read, the member of the community leading the service removed the Torah from the ark in a solemn manner and carried it to the bimah. The study of Hebrew and Christian origins of their practices of proclaiming scriptures as well the place to perform gave us a clear perspective of how interwoven both traditions are. Since Apostolic times, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist have been regarded as a single celebration,177 and no liturgy was complete without the reading of the Sacred Scriptures. From ancient times,

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 62

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 63 for Jews and Christians, the assembled people of God was the privileged place for the proclamation of His word, and they have faithfully carried on this tradition as an essential part of their liturgies. The Church Fathers consistently emphasized the importance of scripture, and the early Church gave the word of God a prominent place for its proclamation within their worship spaces. The architectural solution was to elevate this place above all, from which the word could be carried to all parts of the church building. This place acquired the name “ambo,” coming from the verb anabein, which means “to mount up.” Seasoltz reminds us “the admonition which the bishop addresses to candidates for the lectorate also alludes to the fact that the Word should be proclaimed from a high place so that it may be heard by all.”178 Notwithstanding this acoustical reason, the importance of the Word has always emphasized the dignity of the ministers who proclaim the word of God. The location of the ambo has varied in the course of the Church’s history and has adopted different forms, such as the appearance of two ambos after the first millennium. The Ordo Romanus II instructs the subdeacon to read the Epistle from the ambo but not from the highest step when there is only one ambo, as this is reserved for the Gospel proclamation. From the twelfth century, it was common for large churches to keep an ambo for the Gospel reading only. In the Middle Ages, with the enclosure of the choir, a monumental structure was developed, called the jubé, which was elevated well overhead and from where the Epistle and the Gospel were read. During this era, the pulpit was also developed—a large and often imposing structure located in the middle of the nave for preaching. This new element introduced after the decline of the ambo. In the Orthodox Tradition, the post-Byzantine Rite brought a symbiosis of ritual celebration, liturgical setting, and liturgical interpretation.179 The monumental ambo disappeared with the Fall of the Byzantine Empire but not the dramatic experience of the proclamation of the Word in its liturgy. The liturgical renewal movement in the Western Tradition that began in the late nineteenth century and the creation of the Vatican II council brought new life to the Liturgy of the Word and restored its physical place, providing meaningful criteria for the construction and use of ambos within worship space. In our discussion of Islam, both proclamation and recitation were reviewed. In Islam, reading the Qur’an during a religious service is not prescribed and the Sunnah does not mention it. The exception to this is the Jumu’ah prayer on Fridays, when the congregation gathers in the local mosque for the noon prayer. There are two calls to prayer for Jumu’ah: the first call is recited when the sun begins to decline, and the second is recited just before the Imam stands up before the congregation to deliver his sermon. The call recites “God is greater,” followed by the shahada from the Qur’an. The centre of the service is the sermon delivered by the imam. After the address, the imam recites Surah Al-Fatihah and some verses of the Holy Qur’an in a loud voice during the service.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 63

02/12/20 1:46 PM

64  Ritual practices and places of proclamation Finally, we have been speaking about how the three Abrahamic faiths rely on a body of scriptures, which some consider to be the verbatim word of God, sacred and unquestionable, while others consider them to be the work of religious men divinely inspired, if not dictated by the divine being. Worship, rituals, and traditions differ substantially between these three religions. Amid the few similarities is a seven-day cycle in which one day is for worship, prayer, or other core religious activities—the Sabbath in Judaism and Sundays in Christianity, but for Islam, Friday, a day for congregational prayers, does not conform to the resting day concept. All three faiths grounded their worship practices on their holy scriptures with different modalities. Jews and Christians ritually read and proclaim the sacred text, while Muslims recite them. The goal of this chapter was to explore how the historical development of ritual practices in public proclaiming of scripture (the Tanakh, the Christian Bible, the Qur’an) helped to more actively engage each faith in the drama of proclaiming with their congregants. A second aspect considered was the ritual associated with space and place, which draws our attention to a similar perception of sacredness in each religion. An initial finding lies in the movement of ancient sacrificial practices in the Second Temple to a new Rabbinic Jewish Liturgy, the domestic church gatherings to the Imperial liturgies, and the Prophet’s community to the Caliphate. Each group was settling its rituals under different circumstances: some were the result of a divine command (Muslims), others were the theological and liturgical interpretations of its meaning (Christians), and some were a total recreation of an ancient ritual (Jews). We have encountered a variety of rituals for reading and reciting scriptures that are associated with different regions, rites, and cultures. For instance, qur’anic recitation is a form of reading aimed at encouraging a way of devotion marked by specific kinds of actions. Recitation dominates the Islamic world, making it one of its more ancient traditions. Recitation does not exclude the reading of the Qur’an per se, but outside the communal prayer, reading for knowledge acquisition is placed within the perspective of a virtuous life, as it is in the study of the Torah in synagogues. Within Judaism, three groups have arisen in modern times: Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism. Variations in celebrations and debates over whether emancipation should necessarily include assimilation formed the basis of the division. Movement for reform started in eighteenth-­century Germany, focusing on the need for changes in traditional Jewish practices. However, some Jews preferred staying with the tradition of keeping the interpretation of sacred texts literal rather than symbolic. Differences within these movements can also be found for observances of the laws of the Torah and Talmud (or what Dr Stephanie Brenzel calls, the relationship between the written law and the oral law), the services in Hebrew versus the vernacular, and women’s role in the community. In modern times, leaders from all three Abrahamic faiths have started to acknowledge their shared spiritual riches to help overcome the pains and

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 64

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 65 prejudices of past eras and move forward to building a world of religious understanding. Hopefully, this task will lead us towards the recovery of the centrality of the proclamation of Holy Scriptures in the life of a congregation has been one of the most important efforts and contributions of all Abrahamic faiths. In the next chapter, we will delve into a theological re-evaluation of the place of the Word in the liturgy.

Notes 1 Pope Pius XII, “Mediator Dei: Encyclical on the Sacred Liturgy,” no. 62. 2 James F. White, Protestant Worship and Church Architecture: Theological and Historical Considerations, 128–34. 3 The septennial reading of the Law is attested only in this book. Watts highlights, “In Deut. xxxi 9, Moses writes ‘this law’ and then commands the Levites to read it to ‘all Israel’ every seventh year during the festival of booths (v. 11), thus portraying a legal document written to serve as a script for oral presentation. Instructions for the preservation of treaties and their public recitation at regular intervals are also found in some ancient Near Eastern treaties.” James W. Watts, “Public Readings and Pentateuchal Law,” 540–1. 4 Mishnah, Tamiz 7.13. 5 Lester L. Grabbe, An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism: History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, 41. 6 L. Pacomio, “Sagrada Escritura,” in Diccionario Teológico Interdisciplinar, 226. 7 Lawrence Boadt, Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction, 211. 8 Corrine L. Carvalho, “Finding a Treasure Map: Sacred Space in the Old Testament,” in Touching the Altar: The Old Testament for Christian Worship, 138. 9 “The assembly gathered in a square opposite the Water Gate (v. 1; cf. 3:26; 8:3, 16; 12:37), located on the east side of the city, perhaps outside the wall built by Nehemiah. The Water Gate may have been in the vicinity of the spring of Gihon. This nonsacral area permitted participation by laypeople as well as clergy... A similarly inclusive congregation is reported for other readings of the law and covenantal occasions (10:28; Deut. 31:10–3; 2 Chr. 20:13).” The New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 3, 800. 10 James Levine argues, “Given the centrality of the Torah-reading and its concomitant exposition in a later synagogue context, some have viewed the public reading of the Torah by Ezra in the month of Tishri, 444 B.C.E., as the catalyst in the emergence of the synagogue.” Lee I. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue, 23. 11 Levine, 320. 12 Crispino Valenziano, “L’ambone: Aspetti storici,” in L’Ambone: Tavola della parola di Dio, 90. 13 Ruth Langer, “Jewish Liturgy,” ed. J. Barton, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, 2. 14 Talmud Bavli, Berakhot 32b. 15 Langer, 2. 16 Joseph Gutmann and Steven Fine, “Synagogue,” in Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. Lindsay Jones. 17 Leslie J. Hoppe, The Synagogues and Churches of Ancient Palestine, 7. 18 Harold. A. Meek, The synagogue, 62. 19 Hoppe, 7.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 65

02/12/20 1:46 PM

66  Ritual practices and places of proclamation 20 Louis Isaac Rabinowitz et al., “Synagogue,” in Encyclopaedia Judaica, ed. M. Berenbaum, 354. 21 Levine, 41. 22 Levine, 128–34. 23 Levine, 139. 24 Levine, 161. 25 Rabinowitz et al., 355. 26 Eric M. Meyers, “The Torah Shrine in the Ancient Synagogue: Another Look at the Evidence,” in Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue, 190. 27 Louis Bouyer, Liturgy and Architecture, 10. 28 Levine, 235. 29 Meyers, 178. 30 Talmud Bavli, Bava Kamma 82a. 31 Philo Judaeus, Embassy to Gaius 156. 32 Josephus, Against Apion 2, 175. 33 Suetonius (Tiberius 32:2) notes one Diogenes who lectured every Sabbath in Rhodes, “Every Good Man Is Free,” in The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years, 137. 34 Louis Jacobs, “Torah, Reading of,” in Encyclopaedia Judaica, ed. M. Berenbaum. 35 Camille Focant, “Dal tempio alla casa: lo spazio del culto in spirito e verità,” in Spazio liturgico e orientamento, 101. 36 John A. Lamb, “The Place of the Bible in the Liturgy,” in The Cambridge History of the Bible, 564. 37 Margaret Baker, Temple Themes in Christian Worship, 19–44. 38 Denis Hickley, “The Ambo in Early Liturgical Planning,” 407. 39 Meyers, 190–1. 40 Marica Cassis, “The Bema in the East Syriac Church.” 41 Lk. 4:16-21; Mt. 4:23; Mk .1:39; Jn. 18:19–20. 42 L. Michael White, The Social Origins of Christian Architecture: Building God’s House in the Roman World, 19. 43 Adolf von Harnack, The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries, 1. 44 White, 15. 45 Cosma Capomaccio, Monumentum resurrectionis, 10. 46 White, 120. 47 White, 118. 48 Allan Doig, Liturgy and Architecture from the Early Church to the Middle Ages, 12. 49 Noël. Duval, “L’espace liturgique paléochrétien.” 50 Doig, 10. 51 Richard Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture, 37. 52 Cyprian, Ep. 39.4.1. 53 White, 124. 54 Doig, 13. 55 Emma Loosley, The Architecture and Liturgy of the Bema in Fourth- to Sixth-Century Syrian Churches, 4. 56 R. Kevin Seasoltz, A Sense of the Sacred, 94. 57 Seasoltz, 96. 58 Edward Foley, From Age to Age, 94. 59 Robert F. Taft, “Some Notes on the Bema in the East and West Syrian Traditions,” in Liturgy in Byzantium and Beyond, 341. 60 Loosley, 88.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 66

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 67 61 Emma Loosley, “The Early Syriac Liturgical Drama and its Architectural Setting,” in Case Studies in Archaeology and World Religion, 19. 62 Hickley, 410. 63 Jean Lassus and George Tchalenko, “Ambons Syriens.” 64 Loosley, The Architecture and Liturgy of the Bema in Fourth- to Sixth-­Century Syrian Churches, 113. 65 Robert Taft describes the connection saying “before the sanctuary doors, a platform, the qestromā, extended out into the nave. From the center of this platform, opposite the central door, a narrow pathway, the bēt-sqāqōnā, extended down the center of the nave to connect the qestromā to the bema.” Taft, “Some Notes on the Bema in the East and West Syrian Traditions,” 333. 66 Cassis, 15–8. 67 Loosley, “The Early Syriac Liturgical Drama and its Architectural Setting,” 19. 68 Sarhad Y. Hermiz Jammo, “La structure de la messe chaldéenne du début jusqu’a l’anaphore.” 69 Hickley, 412. 70 Loosley, The Architecture and Liturgy of the Bema in Fourth- to Sixth-­Century Syrian Churches, 25. 71 Loosley. 72 Sebastià Janeras, “Le bêma syrien, icône de réalités superieures,” in Les enjeux spirituels et théologiques de l’espace liturgique, 124–5. 73 Taft, “Some Notes on the Bema in the East and West Syrian Traditions,” 337. 74 Erich Renhart, Das Syrische Bema: Liturgisch-Archäoologische Untersuchungen, 183. 75 Taft, “Some Notes on the Bema in the East and West Syrian Traditions,” 358–9. 76 Loosley, “The Early Syriac Liturgical Drama and its Architectural Setting,” 18–9. 77 First Council of Constantinople, Canon III. 78 Krautheimer explains, “given her [the Church] new official standing under Constantine and her new concept of Christ the King, the Christian Church in search of an architecture was bound to turn to the realm of public, official architecture: the Basilicas.” Krautheimer, 19. 79 Krautheimer describes, “the nave became a westward elongation of the sanctuary: not quite as sacred as the chancel proper, where on the altar Christ revealed himself in the flesh, yet sacred enough as the place where Christ revealed himself in the word read and preached from the ambo.” Krautheimer, 91. 80 Doig, 30. 81 Worship in Ancient times was mainly an exterior activity like in Jerusalem Temple or Greek temples. Christian worship changed the concept and the experience. We have recorded this experience through Eusebius of Caesarea, a nameless pilgrim from Bordeaux, and by the pilgrim Egeria who travelled from Gaul via Constantinople to the Holy Land between 381 and 384. 82 Marcel Metzger, “La maison de chrétiens,” in Les enjeux spirituels et théologiques de l’espace liturgique, 28. 83 Theodore C. Skeat, “The Codex Sinaiticus, the Codex Vaticanus, and Constantine,” JTS n.s. 50 (1999): 583–625 (see Eusebius, Vita Constantini, 436–7). 84 David Stancliffe, The Lion Companion to Church Architecture, 39. 85 Dan Nässelqvist, Public Reading in Early Christianity: Lectors, Manuscripts, and Sound in the Oral Delivery of John 1-4, 110–6. 86 Josep Urdeix, “El lector en la historia de la Iglesia,” 12–3.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 67

02/12/20 1:46 PM

68  Ritual practices and places of proclamation 87 Henri Leclercq, “Ambon,” in Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, 1330. 88 Capomaccio believes its roots may lie in the Greek word omphalos, “navel” in English, and the ambo was placed in the middle of the nave for acoustical consideration. Capomaccio, Monumentum resurrectionis, 15. Although, when we look to the preeminent example of Byzantine church architecture, Hagia Sophia of Constantinople, the location of the ambo was not for acoustic reasons. The location there was close to the omphalos stone. In ancient times, the omphalos was a religious stone artefact used to indicate the “navel” of the world. It was common to believe that omphalos allowed direct communication with the gods. 89 Foley, 94. 90 J. G. Davies, The Origin and Development of Early Christian Church Architecture, 95. 91 Krautheimer, 152. 92 Stancliffe, 42. 93 Doig, 68. 94 Robert F. Taft, “The Liturgy of the Great Church,” 47. 95 Stephen G. Xydis, “The Chancel Barrier, Solea, and Ambo of Hagia Sophia,” 14. 96 Tamara Grdzelidze, “Liturgical Space in the Writings of Maximus the Confessor,” 502–3. 97 Hickley, 425. 98 Sible De Blaaw, Cultus et decor, 71. 99 Sanctae Mariae Maioris is the only one of the four patriarchal basilicas to have retained its paleo-Christian structures. The present Basilica dates back to the fifth century C.E. Its construction was tied to the Council of Ephesus of 431 A.D., which proclaimed Maria Theotokos, Mother of God. Sixtus III, as Bishop of Rome, commissioned and financed the project. It had assigned the feast of Easter Sunday and the Christmas Night mass. 100 Josef A. Jungmann, Public Worship: a Survey, 112–7. 101 Alexander Nesbitt, “Ambo,” in A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities: Being a continuation of the ‘Dictionary of the Bible’, ed. W. Smith, 73. 102 Prudentius, “Peristephanoni,” in Giovanni Liccardo, Architettura e liturgia nella chiesa antica, 163. 103 Doig, 92. 104 “Non licere, praeter cononicos psaltes, id est, qui regulariter cantors existunt, quique pulpitum ascendunt et de codice legunt, alium quempiam in ecclesia psallere.” Histoires des Conciles d’après les documents originaux, t. 1, par. 2, Paris 1907, 995. 105 Concilium Bracarense III, Anno Christi 572, in Giovan Domenico Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, vol. 9 (Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1960), 875. 106 Leclercq, “Ambon,” 1337. 107 Capomaccio, 30–1. 108 Michael McCormick, Eternal Victory, 70–1. 109 Doig, 119. 110 Dana M. Polanichka, “‘My Temple Should Be a House of Prayer,’” 373. 111 A Russell’s theory of Germanization. James C. Russell, The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity, 191. 112 Josef A. Jungmann, The Mass of the Roman Rite, 62. 113 To learn more about the full Carolingian Liturgical Experience see Donald Bullough, “The Carolingian Liturgical Experience.” 114 Honorius Augustodunensis, “Gemma animae,” in Laurence Aventin, “L’ambon,” 142.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 68

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 69 115 Antonio Milone and Roberto Novello, “Il corpus italico degli amboni medievali,” in L’Ambone: Tavola della parola di Dio, 109. 116 Robert A. Scott, The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral, 121. 117 Scott, 122. 118 Seasoltz, A Sense of the Sacred, 121. 119 Jacqueline E. Jung, “Seeing Thruough Screens: The Gothic Choir Enclosure as Frame,” in Thresholds of the Sacred, ed. Gerstel, 185. 120 Giuliano Zanchi, La forma della chiesa, 22–3. 121 Bouyer, Liturgy and Architecture, 75. 122 De Blaaw, Cultus et decor, 90. Peter Frederick Anson, et al., Churches: Their Plan and Furnishing, 242. Bouyer, Liturgy and Architecture, 77. 123 Piero Morselli, “A Project by Michelangelo for the Ambo(s) of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence,” 123–4. 124 Morselli, 125. 125 The word “Allah” is the Arabic word for “God” and is used by Arabic-­speaking Jews, Christians, and Muslims, similar to the English word “God” in the English language. It has the same consonantal spelling as the Hebrew word “Eloah,” e.g., in Habakkuk 3. The Hebrew word “Elohim” also has a parallel in the Arabic language and in the Qur’an, Allahumma, which is also very close in terms of consonantal spelling, except that in the Arabic language the “m” is not added to “Allah” except in the second person singular, i.e., when addressing God. It is for dignity and means something along the lines of “O great God.” 126 Scholars makes some connection with the Syrian qeryā n ā , “reading,” used for the recitation of scriptural readings during church services. 127 Qur’an. English translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali. 128 Mahmoud Ayoub, Islam: Faith and History, 40. 129 Behnam Sadeghi and Mohsen Goudarzi, “Ṣan‘ā’ 1 and the Origins of the Qur’ān,” Der Islam 87, 18–9. 130 Cf. ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz Dūrī, The Rise of Hiistorical Writing Among the Arabs. 131 Ghada Osman, “Identity and Community in a New Generation: The Muslim Community in the Early Seventh Century and Today,” in In Passing on the Faith: Transforming Traditions for the Next Generation of Jews, Christians, and Muslims, ed. Heft, 193. 132 Travis E Zadeh, The Vernacular Qur’an: Translation and the Rise of Persian Exegesis, 20. 133 Zadeh, 293. 134 “Qur’an,” in The Islamic World: Past and Present. 135 Doğan Kuban, Muslim Religious Architecture, 13. 136 Nevin Reda, “Women in the Mosque: Historical Perspectives on Segregation,” 83. 137 Abu Abdullah, Muhammad al-Bukhari (d. 870 CE) lived a couple of centuries after the Prophet’s death and worked to collect his hadiths. Bukhari’s collection is recognized by the majority of the Sunni Muslim throughout the world to be one of the most authentic collections of the Sunnah of the Prophet. 138 Sahih Bukhari, vol. 3, book 34, no. 307. 139 Gerald Hawting, The Development of Islamic Ritual, 66. 140 John L. Esposito and F. E. Peters, The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, 66. 141 Muhammad ibn Ismaʻil Bukahari, Sahih al-Bukahari: The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih al-Bukahari, 213. 142 F. E. Peters, A Reader on Classical Islam, 267. 143 Reda, “Women in the Mosque,” 93.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 69

02/12/20 1:46 PM

70  Ritual practices and places of proclamation 144 Suliman Bashear, “Qibla Mushariqa and Early Muslim Prayer in Churches,” 268. 145 Ayoub, Islam: Faith and History, 58–59. 146 Esposito and Peters, The Children of Abraham, 67. 147 Sahih Muslim, 4: 302, 1857, 1860, in A Reader on Classical Islam, 274. 148 Shafi’i, Treatise, 1961:158–9, in A Reader on Classical Islam, 265. 149 Peters, A Reader on Classical Islam, 265. 150 Baghawi, Mishkat al-Masabih 4.27.1, in A Reader on Classical Islam, 267. 151 Narrated by Ahmad (4928) and classed as saheeh by Shu’ayb al-Arna’oot in Tahqeeq al-Musnad. 152 Sahih Muslim, 48, Chapter: The Virtue of Gathering to Read Qur’an and to Remember Allah. 153 Yusuf Al-Quradawi, How to Approach the Qur’an, 33. 154 Al-Quradawi, 36. 155 Al-Quradawi, 38. 156 Al-Quradawi, 43. 157 Sahih Muslim, 6, The Book of Prayer, Chapter: It is recommended to make one’s voice beautiful when reciting Qur’an. 158 Al-Quradawi, 47. 159 Al-Quradawi, 51. 160 Foley, 201. 161 Marcel Metzger, History of the Liturgy, 126. 162 Metzger, 137 163 Philip Schaff, “German Reformation,” vol. 7. 164 Nigel Yates, Liturgical Space: Christian Worship and Church Buildings in Western Europe, 1500–2000, 34–8. 165 Metzger, 129. 166 Saint Charles Borromeo, Instructionum fabricae: Supellectilis ecclesiasticae. 167 Borromeo, 292–3. 168 Laurence Aventin, “L’ambon,” 142–3. 169 Borromeo, 293. 170 Aventin, 144–9. 171 Alexander Rentel, “Byzantine and Slavic Orthodoxy,” in The Oxford History of Christian Worship, ed. G.Wainwright and Westerfield Tucker, 276. 172 Rentel, 276. 173 Louis Jacobs, “Hirsch, Samson Raphael,” in A Concise Companion to the Jewish Religion. 174 Giuliano Zanchi, “L’ambone nella drammaturgia liturgica,” in L’Ambone: Tavola della parola di Dio, 203. 175 Zanchi, La forma della chiesa, 71. 176 Graham, 101. 177 Jungmann, The Mass of the Roman Rite, 391–3. 178 R. Kevin Seasoltz, The House of God, 190. 179 Hans-Joachim Schulz, The Byzantine Liturgy, 183.

Bibliography Abingdon Press. The New Interpreter’s Bible. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994. Al-Quradawi, Yusuf. How to Approach the Qur’an. Cairo: Al-Falah Foundation for Translation, 2001. Anson, Peter Frederick, Thomas Fraser Croft-Fraser, and Hans Ansgar Reinhold. Churches: Their Plan and Furnishing. Milwaukee, WI: Bruce Pub. Co., 1948.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 70

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 71 Aventin, Laurence. “L’ambon, lieu liturgique de la proclamation de la parole dans L’italie du XIIE et XIIIE siècles.” In Prédication et liturgie au Moyen Âge, 127. Turnhout: Brepols, 2008. Ayoub, Mahmoud. Islam: Faith and History. Oxford, UK: Oneworld, 2004. Baker, Margaret. Temple Themes in Christian Worship. London, UK: T&T Clark International, 2007. Barton, John, ed. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2016. Bashear, Suliman. “Qibla Mushariqa and Early Muslim Prayer in Churches.” Muslim World 8, no. 3-4 (1991). Bechtel Carol M., ed. Touching the Altar: The Old Testament for Christian Worship. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2008. Berenbaum, Michael and Fred Skolnik, eds. Encyclopaedia Judaica. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. Berkey, Jonathan Porter. The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the near East, 600-1800. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Boadt, Lawrence. Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction. New York, NY: Paulist Press, 1984. Borromeo, Saint Charles. Instructionum fabricae: Supellectilis ecclesiasticae, 1577. Translated by Evelyn Carol Voelker. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University, 1997. Boselli, Goffredo, ed. L’ambone tavola della parola di Dio. Magnano, IT: Edizioni Qiqajon, 2006. Bouyer, Louis. Liturgy and Architecture. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1967. Braca, Carlo, ed. Les enjeux spirituels et théologiques de l’espace liturgique. Roma: CLV-Edizioni Liturgiche, 2005. Bukahari, Muhammad ibn Ismaʻil. Sahih Al-Bukahari: The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih Al-Bukahari. Translated by Muhammad Khan. 3d rev. ed. Chicago, IL: Kazi Publications, 1976. Bullough, Donald. “The Carolingian Liturgical Experience.” Studies in Church History 35 (1999): 29–64. Cabrol, Fernand, ed. Dictionnaire d’archéologie Chrétienne et de liturgie. Paris: Letouzey et Ane, 1907–1953. Capomaccio, Cosma. Monumentum Resurrectionis: Ambone e candelabro per il cero pasquale. Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2002. Cassis, Marica. “The Bema in the East Syriac Church: In Light of New Archaeological Evidence.” Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies 5, no. 2. (2002) 195–211. Catholic Church, and International Committee on English in the Liturgy. General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2003. Davies, J. G. The Origin and Development of Early Christian Church Architecture. New York, NY: Philosophical Library, 1953. De Blaaw, Sible. Cultus et Decor: Liturgia e architettura nella Roma tardoantica e Medievale: Basilica Salvatoris, Sanctae Mariae, Sancti Petri. Studi e testi. 2 vols. Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1994. De Clerck Paul. Spazio liturgico e orientamento. Magnano, IT: Edizioni Qiqajon, 2007. Doig, Allan. Liturgy and Architecture from the Early Church to the Middle Ages. Aldershot, UK; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2008.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 71

02/12/20 1:46 PM

72  Ritual practices and places of proclamation Dūrī, ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz. The Rise of Historical Writing among the Arabs. Translated by Lawrence I. Conrad. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983. Duval, Noël. “L’espace liturgique paléochrétien.” La Maison-Dieu, no. 193 (1993): 7–29. Esposito, John L., and F. E. Peters. The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010. Esposito, John L., ed. The Islamic World: Past and Present. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2004. Fine, Stever, ed. Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue. New York, NY: Routledge, 1999. Foley, Edward. From Age to Age: How Christians Have Celebrated the Eucharist. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2008. Gerstel, Sharon E. J., ed. Thresholds of the Sacred, edited by Sharon E. J. Gerstel. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2006. Grabbe, Lester L. An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism: History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, Hillel and Jesus. New York, NY: T & T Clark, 2010. Graham, William A. Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Grdzelidze, Tamara. “Liturgical Space in the Writings of Maximus the Confessor.” In Studia Patristica Xxxvii, Cappadocian Writers, Other Greek Writers, 499–504. Louvain: Peeters, 2001. Harnack, Adolf von. The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries. Gloucester, MA: P. Smith, 1972. Hawting, Gerald. The Development of Islamic Ritual. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2006. Heff, James L., ed. Passing on the Faith: Transforming Traditions for the Next Generation of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. New York, NY: Fordham University Press, 2007. Hickley, Denis. “The Ambo in Early Liturgical Planning: A Study with Special Reference to the Significance of the Syrian ‘Bema’.” Heythrop Journal VII, no. 4 (1966): 407–27. Hoppe, Leslie J. The Synagogues and Churches of Ancient Palestine. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1994. Jacobs, Louis. “Hirsch, Samson Raphael.” In A Concise Companion to the Jewish Religion. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1999. Jammo, Sarhad Y. Hermiz “La structure de la Messe Chaldéenne du début jusqu’a l’anaphore.” Orientalia Christiana Analecta 207 (1979). Jones, Lindsay, ed. Encyclopedia of Religion. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Josephus, LCL, 9 vols. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958–65. Jungmann, Josef A. Public Worship: A Survey. Translated by Clifford Howell. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1957. Jungmann, Josef A.. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development. Translated by F.A. Brunner. Vol. I, New York, NY: Benziger Brothers, 1951. Krautheimer, Richard. Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture. Pelican History of Art. 3rd ed. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1981. Kuban, Doğan. Muslim Religious Architecture. Leiden: Brill, 1974. Lamb, John A. “The Place of the Bible in the Liturgy.” In The Cambridge History of the Bible. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Universtity Press, 1975.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 72

02/12/20 1:46 PM

Ritual practices and places of proclamation 73 Lassus, Jean, and George Tchalenko. “Ambons syriens.” Cahiers archéologiques fin de l’antiquité et moyen âge 5 (1951): 75–122. Levine, Lee I. The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. Liccirdo, Giovanni. Architettura e liturgia nella Chiesa antica. Milano: Skira, 2005. Loosley, Emma. “The Early Syriac Liturgical Drama and Its Architectural Setting.” In Case Studies in Archaeology and World Religion, 18–25. Oxford, UK: Archaeopress, 1999. Loosley, Emma. The Architecture and Liturgy of the Bema in Fourth- to SixthCentury Syrian Churches. New ed. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2012. Mansi, Giovan Domenico. Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio. Vol. 9. Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1960. McCormick, Michael. Eternal Victory: Triumphal Rulership in Late Antiquity, Byzantium, and the Early Medieval West. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1986. Meek, Harold A. The Synagogue. London: Phaidon Press, 1995. Metzger, Marcel. History of the Liturgy: The Major Stages. Translated by Madeleine M. Beaumont. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1997. Morselli, Piero. “A Project by Michelangelo for the Ambo(S) of Santa Maria Del Fiore, Florence.” The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 40, no. 2 (July 25, 2008 1981): 122–9. Nässelqvist, Dan. Public Reading in Early Christianity: Lectors, Manuscripts, and Sound in the Oral Delivery of John 1-4. Supplements to Novum Testamentum. Vol. 163, Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2016. Pacomio, Luciano, et al., eds. Diccionario Teológico Interdisciplinar. III vols. Salamanca: Ediciones Sígueme, 1985. Peters, Francis E. A Reader on Classical Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993. Philo, LCL. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, no. X (1962): 1949–62. Polanichka, Dana M. “‘My Temple Should Be a House of Prayer’: The Use and Misuse of Carolingian Churches.” Church History 87, no. 2 (2018): 371–98. Pope Pius XII, “Mediator Dei: Encyclical on the Sacred Liturgy.” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1947. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/­documents/ hf_p-xii_enc_20111947_mediator-dei_en.html (accessed May 15, 2020). Reda, Nevin. “Women in the Mosque: Historical Perspectives on Segregation.” The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 21, no. 2 (04, 2004): 77–97. Renhart, Erich. Das Syrische Bema: Liturgisch-Archäoologische Untersuchungen. Graz: Institut für Ökumenische Theologie und Patrologie, 1995. Roberts, Alexander, and James Donaldson, eds. Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A. D. 325. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1873. Russell, James C. The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity: A Sociohistorical Approach to Religious Transformation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1994. Sadeghi, Behnam, and Mohsen Goudarzi. “Ṣan’ā’ 1 and the Origins of the Qur’ān.” Der Islam 87, no. 1-2 (Feb. 2012): 1–129. Sahih Bukhari. N/A: Hadith Books, 2009. http://hadithcollection.com/sahihbukhari. html (accessed May 15, 2020). Sahih Muslim. N/A: Hadith Books, 2009. http://hadithcollection.com/about-hadithbooks/sahih-muslim.html (accessed May 15, 2020).

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 73

02/12/20 1:46 PM

74  Ritual practices and places of proclamation Schaff, Philip. “German Reformation.” In History of the Christian Church. Kindle, ed. 1996. Schulz, Hans-Joachim. The Byzantine Liturgy: Symbolic Structure and Faith Expression. New York, NY: Pueblo Publishing Company, 1986. Scott, Robert A. The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003. Seasoltz, R. Kevin. A Sense of the Sacred: Theological Foundations of Christian Architecture and Art. New York, NY: Continuum, 2005. Seasoltz, R. Kevin. The House of God: Sacred Art and Church Architecture. New York, NY: Herder and Herder, 1963. Mishnah. New York, NY: Sefaria, 2014. https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Mishnah (accessed May 15, 2020). Smith, William and Samuel Cheetham, eds. A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities. Hartford: J.B. Burr Pub. Co., 1880. Stancliffe, David. The Lion Companion to Church Architecture. London: Lion UK, 2009. Taft, Robert F. Liturgy in Byzantium and Beyond. Aldershot, UK; Brookfield, VT, USA: Variorum, 1995. Taft, Robert. “The Liturgy of the Great Church: An Initial Synthesis of Structure and Interpretation on the Eve of Iconoclasm.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 34 (1980): 45–75. Talmud Bavli. New York, NY: Sefaria, 2014. https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Talmud/ Bavli. (accessed May 15, 2020). Urdeix, Josep. “El lector en la historia de la Iglesia.” Cuadernos Phase 81 (1999): 3–16. Wainwright, Geoffrey, and Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, eds. The Oxford History of Christian Worship. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006. Watts, James W. “Public Readings and Pentateuchal Law.” Vetus testamentum 45, no. 4 (Oct. 1995): 540–57. White, James F. Protestant Worship and Church Architecture: Theological and Historical Considerations. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1964. White, L. Michael. The Social Origins of Christian Architecture: Building God’s House in the Roman World. 2 vols. Vol. 1, Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press, 1996. Williams, John A., ed. Islam. VI vols. Vol. V, Library of World Religions. Old Saybrook, CT: Konecky & Konecky, 1961. Xydis, Stephen G. “The Chancel Barrier, Solea, and Ambo of Hagia Sophia.” The Art Bulletin 29, no. 1 (July 19, 2008 1947): 1–24. Yates, Nigel. Liturgical Space: Christian Worship and Church Buildings in Western Europe, 1500-2000. Aldershot, Hants, UK; Burlington, VT, USA: Ashgate, 2008. Zadeh, Travis E. The Vernacular Qur’an: Translation and the Rise of Persian Exegesis. Oxford; New York; London: Oxford University Press; In association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2012. Zanchi, Giuliano. La forma della Chiesa. Magnano, IT: Edizioni Qiqajon, 2005.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp01.indd 74

02/12/20 1:46 PM

2

The formal and legal structure of proclamation

From the earliest times in Abrahamic religions, there was a custom of gathering sacred canons to consolidate their knowledge and make religious observance easier to avoid misunderstandings. In fact, compendia of rules and regulations appeared throughout history and were mostly created by individuals, containing practices and traditions. Over time, each religion normalized those practices in the form of a multiplicity of ethical–legal rulings and opinions. Norman Doe in his comparative study says, “The laws of Jews, Christians and Muslims on communal worship seek to strike a balance between fidelity to historic patterns of worship and freedom of expression in worship, including the need to adapt to changing times, uses and needs.”1 However, liturgical laws are not a static monolithic structure. Instead, these laws are concerned and are continuously adapting to the circumstances of the times. Alexander Schmemann affirms that the ordo (the collection of rules and prescriptions which regulate the Church’s worship) is defined by what he calls the shape or structure of worship. 2 Worship spaces, including the objects therein, are built in accordance with regulations, which helps to create a proper liturgical environment. Synagogues, churches, and mosques are designed based on those norms in order to facilitate all the rituals that take place within them. Aidan Kavanagh reminds us that “liturgy, like nature, is never abstract in the real order but always conditioned by era, culture, language, and its human agents’ perception of God’s presence in their midst.”3 Accordingly, all norms, especially the ceremonial rubrics around the proclamation of Holy Scriptures in liturgical texts, are an expression of the belief of the “local” communities because they are a manifestation of the spirituality of a living faith. In every age of the Abrahamic faith history, the proclamation of Scriptures as the source of faith’s life and mission shines forth in their group of liturgical laws. Above all, the ordo orients the liturgy as an expression of holiness. The ordo plays such an important role that Schmemann sees it as an essential part of the Church. The same can be said for Jewish and Muslim communities. When considering the liturgy, we may be tempted to only think of images and ideas revolving around order and structure; however, worship

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 75

16/11/20 2:42 PM

76  The formal and legal structure of proclamation laws do not require blind submission. As David Nekrutman suggests, “The purpose of liturgy [and its rules] is to help people who feel speechless before God with texts that can jump-start the emotion to commune with Him.”4 As such, the rules and worship practices should not be viewed as isolated from one another. On the contrary, “the meaning of the Church’s liturgical life must be contained within the ordo, insofar as it defines the general structure or ‘rite’ of her worship.”5 The Christian ordo is the result of lex orandi, lex credendi (est)—“the law of prayer is the law of belief.” This ancient principle has provided the measure for developing matters of belief, the canon of scriptures, and the living norms of worship for the Church; as in the Jewish prayer book, the Siddur, we see the responsive result of more than forty centuries of God’s hand in the Jewish life. This principle is also valid for Muslims. Scripture proclamation: legal structure Sacred Scriptures, namely, the Tanakh, the Bible, and the Qur’an, were organized as a series of authorized readings—the canon—to be read and cantillated by Jews, liturgically proclaimed by Christians, and recited by Muslims. The different scriptural canons have established the books which Jews, Christians, and Muslims regard as authoritative scriptures. The selection of the books differs depending on each particular community. Canonical books are considered to be inspired by God, a faith expression of His relationship with His people in history. The declaration of a text as canonical follows a specific process. First, the transformation of the oral and written text into scriptures continues with an authoritative process of recognition. The term canon was used first by the early Church Fathers in the Council of Laodicea (363–4 CE) to declare which books should be read in a church. However, “canon” is not a proper term to use for describing the historical formation of the Tanakh. Ancient Jewish sources (400 BCE) use the term “torah” to refer to laws and narratives: “They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses” (Neh. 8:1), “And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the book of the law of God” (Neh. 8:18), and “Then they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses” (Ezra 6:18). In Chronicles, verses are also referred to as the Law of Moses (2 Chr. 35:4– 12). When we move to Rabbinic literature (70–200 CE), according to Lim and Collins, “scripture is designated commonly by ‘what is read,’ ‘what is written,’ ‘the writings,’ ‘the holy writings,’ ‘the book or scrolls,’ ‘the law,’ and ‘the law and prophets.’”6 Lim and Collins agree that “authoritative scripture” was not a term uses by ancient Jews, but they were aware of the concept. For Shnayer Leiman, this concept of being a canonical book is “a book accepted by Jews as authoritative for religious practice and/or doctrine, and whose authority is binding upon the Jewish people for all

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 76

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 77 generations. Furthermore, such books are to be studied and expounded in private and in public.”7 Rabbinic Judaism defined the authoritative books of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) for the services using two principles, which Alan Unterman explains, “The first was whether or not a certain work was considered to be written under the influence of divine inspirations, and the second was whether such an inspired work should be allowed to circulate or be withdrawn lest it be misunderstood.”8 The result was not a fixed list of books imposed by an official body. Instead, there was community recognition of the divinely inspired nature of their scriptures. The writings were first gathered in collections as “the books of Moses,” “the books of the Prophets,” and “the Ketuvim” (the book of Writings). The motto in the Christian tradition of Lex orandi, Lex credendi shows the authoritative acceptance of and use within the faithful for worship, study, teaching, and moral guidance. Based on these criteria, the Hebrew canon was developed in stages and closed by the end of the second century in its current form. The Jewish community in the diaspora, not familiar with the Hebrew language, started to translate the Torah into Greek around the mid–third century BCE, producing alternative translations. The oldest translation is the Septuagint (LXX), there are other versions or revisions: one by Theodotion (mid–first century), another attributed to Aquila of Pontus (beginning of the second century) which is more rabbinic with a great fidelity to the Hebrew text, and the third by Symmachus (end of the second century). Early Christians used this Septuagint version during their worship gatherings, together with the gospels, letters, and other writings. By the end of the fourth century, there was a general agreement among the Christian communities about which of these books had scriptural status. For Muslims, the Qur’an is not an inspired provenance text alone, but the direct spoken word of God revealed in Arabic to the Prophet. The early composition of the collection is the Uthmanic codex (644 CE). The Umayyads, the first Muslim dynasty established in 661 CE in Damascus, were the promoters of the standardization of the Qur’anic text based on several codices that become the Uthmanic vulgate. The compilation— of oral as well as written materials—of Qur’anic fragments of various lengths and descriptions was developed between 644–50 and 699 CE. The standardization and sealing of the canon were a movement parallel to the grammatization of the Arabic language. As Aziz Al-Azmeh explains, “The variant readings of the Uthmanic vulgate were eventually brought into the system of ‘seven readings’ by Ibn Mujaahid (936 CE), according to several internal and external, formal, and historical criteria, under the patronage of the Abbasid wazir Ibn Muqla (940 CE).”9 It was one of the seven canonical readings—the Asim b. Bahdala al-Asadi (745 CE)—adopted by the Cairo Vulgate of 1923 (the Ottoman Empire’s preference, according to Al-Azmeh), which were established as the canon.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 77

16/11/20 2:42 PM

78  The formal and legal structure of proclamation

Judaism: rabbinic laws and customs Jewish liturgy, with all its diversity, has the most ancient tradition for proclaiming sacred scriptures. Sacred texts in Judaism embody the historical, cultural, and social life of this community, as well as its religious precepts. Congregational liturgy is the product of much regulation in Judaism and a focus on historical continuity that is attributable to both the Torah and the tradition, as well as reflecting the imminence and holiness of the divine. At its core are the blessings, the Shema—the reading of the Torah and the reading from the prophets. After the destruction of the Temple, the Pharisees were one of the most influential remaining religious groups. Their vision of Jewish law and practices—as a means by which the vast majority of Jews could engage with the sacred text in their daily lives—helped them to respond to the challenge of keeping the religion alive. Around 200 CE, most of the Jewish population were in exile. One of the community’s critical leaders during the Roman occupation of Judea, Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, started to edit and codify the Mishnah—the Jewish oral traditions—also given to Moses on Mount Sinai according to the tradition.10 The traditional law formulated in the Mishnah was commented by teachers from Palestine and Babylonia developing interpretations and applications of the law. This work was called Talmud. There are two versions of the Talmud, the Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud, composed in Babylonia) and the Talmud Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud), collected in what is now northern Israel. The Yerushalmi is more concise than the Bavli. Both consist of two layers, the Mishnah and the Gemara. Through the study of the law based on the Scriptures and the discussions of generations of scholars, it defined its forms of worship. This event marks the transformation of Pharisaic Judaism into Rabbinic Judaism. The destruction of the Second Temple intensified the need for reading the Torah publicly. In the Talmudic era beginning around the sixth century, Rabbinic Jewish communities in Israel organized public readings of the entire Torah in the synagogues and held a list of readings for different celebrations.11 The reading of the five books originally took about three and a half years to complete a cycle, called the Palestinian triennial, beginning the first year with the Genesis and finishing, and at the end of the third year, with the Deuteronomy. However, the Jewish community of Babylon started a new tradition by the beginning of the seventh century, completing the entire cycle each year and dividing the Torah into fifty-four weekly portions. Rabbis, as spiritual and religious leaders, developed the centre of Jewish worship around the study and reading of the Torah, which started to evolve into a complete worship service that included prayers and ritual actions. Ruth Langer asserts that the rabbis from Babylon stood firm on having more detailed texts for the prayers for the Torah service, but it was not until around 875 CE when Jews from Spain sent queries on how to pray in the synagogue around the world.12 Rabbi Natronai from Babylonia

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 78

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 79 responded with a list of one hundred blessings, which became the basis for the first liturgical text (Siddur). Sadly, there are no surviving manuscripts. Natronai’s successor Amram Gaon was the one who wrote the first formal prayer book—Siddur Rav Amram Gaon. Jewish scholars trace Babylonian influences in medieval Jewish liturgy, which became the universal Jewish practice and the foundation for future regional rites. Since that time, there have been three daily services, Shacharit (morning), Minhah (afternoon), and Maariv (evening), with each built on biblical texts that were transformed into blessings that expressed different theological themes.13 The blessings are the basic liturgical formulas (singular bracha, plural: b’rakhot) upon which Jewish prayer is based. Contemporary Jewish liturgy has classified three medieval regional rites. The first is the Minhag Sefarad—rite or custom of the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula. Expelled in 1492 from Spain and 1497 from Portugal, exiles carried this rite with them, primarily around the Mediterranean basin and east to Persia and beyond. The second is the Minhag Ashkenaz—rite or custom of central European Jews. Three versions of the Minhag Ashkenaz exist: the western Ashkenazi rite of the Rhineland; the eastern “Polish” rite that is dominant today; and the eighteenth-century Hasidic adaptation of the latter, known as Nusah S’fard because of its Sephardic elements, following the customs of the great mystic Rabbi Isaac Luria. The third rite is the Minhag Italia, or Minhag Roma—derived from the thirteenth-­ century rite of Roman Jews.14 The European Jewish community brought adaptations and changes of the rites in the nineteenth century during the Enlightenment. The Torah is now divided into fifty-four sections, with one read each Sabbath, unless two sections need to be read to complete the  annual cycle. For holidays, there are individual sections. The annual cycle begins and ends on Simchat Torah. The Torah service For the Torah reading, the traditional liturgy from Rabbinic Judaism prescribes a minimum quorum of ten adult men (minyan). When the congregation is ready to start, the first action is to open the ark and chant, “Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, ‘Arise, O Lord, let your enemies be scattered, and your foes flee before you’” (Num. 10:35). The next line chanted is “The Torah shall come from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (variation of Isaiah 2:3). Then, a designated person takes the Torah scroll from the ark and carries it in procession around the synagogue; meanwhile, the congregation stands and kisses it as it passes.15 This tradition follows Leviticus 19:32: “You shall rise before the aged, and defer to the old, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.” The Torah is then carried to the bimah— the platform from which it will be read—and congregants recite the prayers. An authorized member of the synagogue (gabbai) calls up several congregants in turn (men in Orthodox and Conservative congregations, and

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 79

16/11/20 2:42 PM

80  The formal and legal structure of proclamation men and women in Reform congregations) to be honoured with an Aliyah (ascent), where the designated reader recites a blessing over the Torah between each verse, with each reading a part of the day’s Torah sections. Any skilled member of the quorum can make the proclamation, since the Torah is written by hand in Hebrew on a single parchment scroll, with no vowels or punctuation. The reader ascends to the bimah, recites special benedictions, and starts the ritual chanting of the readings, following the rules of cantillation. For each Torah proclamation, some members of the congregation recite blessing prayers (aliyyot) before and after each portion that makes up the readings. According to Langer, “[t]hese blessings are a key element marking this reading as a ritual act as opposed to study of the text.”16 On Sabbath, there are seven blessings; the tradition reserves the first to a Kohen, the second to a Levite, and five to Israelites. At the end of the readings, the Torah is raised and the congregation chants, “This is the Torah that Moses set before the people Israel; the Torah, given by God, through Moses.” The Torah returns to the ark with a final blessing after it is paraded around the congregation again. Before the doors of the ark are closed, the congregation chants, “Whenever the ark was set down, Moses would say: Lord, may you dwell among the myriad families of the people of Israel” (variation of Numbers 10:36). Rabbinic Judaism transformed the biblical language of the ark of the covenant to the ark of the Torah, strengthening the image that the Torah and the synagogue are a continuous fulfilment of the revelation at Sinai. The proclamation of the Torah creates a sense of the history of the chosen people in the present. The synagogue To be recognized as an emerging nation in the ancient Near East, the nation needed to have land, traditions, a leader, a god(s), and a house for the god(s). Unlike other nations, the Jewish people were ordered by the Lord to build His house. The Lord said to Moses, “Build a Sanctuary for me, and I will dwell amongst them” (Ex. 25.8), and the Lord designed for them a house that ensured His presence in their midst. Future Jewish generations would use this verse to build the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, at which point they prayed, “O Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generation” (Ps. 90.1). After the destruction of the Temple, Rabbis interpreted the verse as saying that the dwelling place of the Lord refers to synagogues.17 Classical texts offer few hints about what is required to build a synagogue. The vast Jewish tradition finds that some of the characteristics of the Temple should apply to how they must respect to a synagogue.18 Nevertheless, the first architectural model structure was the basilica.19 The Code of Jewish Law (Shulhan Arukh), 20 the Talmud, and the Mishnah Berurah state general rules for the building of a synagogue, such as how to get the funding (from the community), pick the location (the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 80

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 81 tallest building in the city), determine the orientation (facing Jerusalem), and deciding its interior arrangement. Rabbis developed the centre of Jewish worship around the study and reading of the Torah. Naturally, Jewish tradition establishes that the holy place par excellence in a synagogue should be the ark that contains the Torah scrolls, and it should be elevated and positioned towards where people pray. 21 Over time, the place for reading the Torah was developed: the bimah. This elevated platform was conceived to show the importance of the ritual and to make it easier to hear the reading of the Holy Scripture. The bimah became a standard feature in synagogues. Ancient tradition states that the bimah should be in the centre of the sanctuary, 22 as the altar was in the centre of the courtyard’s Temple. 23 The Mishnah asks for steps but no more than six, since the number six corresponds to six of the ten sefirot—crown, wisdom, understanding, kindness, discipline, and beauty. All synagogues have a lectern for the cantor to lead the prayer (the Amud), which faces the Torah ark but should not be directly in front of it. 24 In the Sephardic tradition, the cantor leads from the bimah. In the Orthodox tradition, synagogues have a partition between men and women. They believe that separation allows concentration in prayer without distraction; it should be high enough to prevent men from viewing women, at least the height of a person.25 The partition echoes the Temple, in which there were separate sections for men and women. 26 Synagogues became the centre of Jewish life, particularly during the Middle Ages, where Jews sought to live as close to one as possible to keep the eruv intact, which is a large private domain where items may be carried during Shabbat. The Torah proclamation rules everything; the bimah, at the centre of the synagogue, took on more considerable significance and, together with the Torah ark on the wall facing Jerusalem, constituted the architectural and artistic focus. The Kehillah In the early twentieth century, local Jewish communities acquired national independence in some European countries, using the secular version of the ancient qahal (community). The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism adopted the concept of “sacred communities” (kehillot), fully committed to a dynamic Judaism, with the aim of empowering Jews to seek the presence of God in the Torah and connect all kehillot to build a world sense of community. Norman points out, “It does so by emphasizing the study of Torah, in the fullest sense, and the transmission of its principles from generation to generation, the unity of the Jewish people and centrality of the synagogue in their lives and the importance of maintaining a centrist, dynamic Jewish practice.”27 The Torah service is the heart of the communities that care for religious and spiritual growth.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 81

16/11/20 2:42 PM

82  The formal and legal structure of proclamation

Christianity: ordo and liturgical regulations The teaching of the Church places the beginning and foundation of the Eucharist Christian liturgical in the Last Supper of Jesus. The earliest account of a Eucharist celebration is on the First Epistle to the Corinthians. Despite the simplicity of that scene, the Last Supper was the inspiration for all the early Christian communities for the variety that subsequently enhanced its celebration. The active participation of faithful in the Christian liturgy has given and gives the means to their sanctification through worship in community. The development of norms concerning the liturgical proclamation and physical place of the Holy Scriptures in churches started with the solidification of local rules and customs in the second century. Even though the practice of reading scriptures occurred early in Christianity, directives concerning the organization of worship space, as well as more explicitly liturgical elements, were not initially included in the ordos because the place for proclamation was a continuation of the synagogue tradition. As Schmemann puts it, there is undoubtedly an “acceptance of a genetical link between this [Christian] cult and the liturgical tradition of Judaism as it existed in that period,”28 and that, as Dugmore says, “we can and must conclude that from the days of the Apostles the synagogue worship was the norm for Christian worship.”29 At the same time, together with the reading of the sacred books, a new kind of relationship to the old traditional cult was established. This new ritual element was the Eucharistic celebration. For early Christian communities, the scriptures and the letters were the first and only liturgical norms to follow. For the readings, there was no selection of texts; they followed the Lectio continua, 30 like in the synagogue. At the opening of the gathering, they read parts of the Torah and the Prophets, then a reading of the Gospel, followed by a homily that enriched the meaning of the Old Testament, reliving what Jesus had done and said in the Synagogue of Nazareth (Lk. 4.21). The fourth century brought an expanded liturgical practice. The increase of faithful in the Christian communities after Constantine’s rule required additional organization, prompting a trend towards regularity and standardizing forms of worship. Metropolitan bishop’s sees became centres of particular liturgical rites, and this, in turn, intensified the preference towards gathering together the texts used. The end of persecution facilitated the growth of the community, making it necessary to acquire more significant places of worship and to adapt customs and create norms to suit them in the form of basilicas. The worship service in the basilicas conveyed elements from the profane Roman world, especially the sense of hierarchy led by the bishop. This evolution had different liturgical forms, depending on the various regions of the Roman Empire that generated the liturgical families. Oral expressions and prayers began to be written down in the different Libri sacramentorum. Ordos, regulations and norms, appeared

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 82

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 83 later to be used as guides to describe and explain ceremonial details. 31 The primary division of liturgical families is the same as the central geopolitical division of the ancient Roman Empire: East and West. The Byzantine rite The consolidation of rituals and norms in the East started during the fourth century. The Constantinople Church developed the Byzantine rite, adopting liturgical practices from Antioch, Cappadocia, and Jerusalem. The rite uses an alternative form of two liturgies by St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom. St. Basil reformed the Divine Liturgy in his home city of Caesarea using a shortened version of the Antiochene rite (d. 379 CE). Then, St. John Chrysostom created a newly reformed liturgy when he was the patriarch of Constantinople from 397 to 404 CE, shorten that the Liturgy of St. Basil. The Chrysostom liturgy spread throughout the Orthodox world, as Constantinople became recognized as the head of Eastern Christendom. The oldest known manuscripts of both liturgies are in the Barberini Library and date from approximately the year 800 (manuscript, III, 55, reprinted in Brightman, 309–44). The mid–ninth century denoted the beginning of a period of unification and regulation of the Byzantine rite throughout the Empire. Two critical historical events marked its advancements: the Slavs convert, which brought the translation of the rite into Slavonic by Saints Cyril and Methodius, and a century later, the Baptism of the prince of Kiev, which enlarged its use by annexing his territories, eventually forming the future Empire of Russia. The Byzantine rite became the most fully developed liturgy of the East, bearing an evolution of ten centuries. Its formation took elements from many sides and developed new supporting texts—the most relevant is the Typikon. Published around the first millennium, the Typikon is the codex that regulates the liturgical life in the Byzantine liturgical tradition, containing all kinds of instructions. Patriarch Alexis wrote the first complete Typikon for a monastery he established near Constantinople in 1034 CE. This Typikon was later introduced into the Rus’ lands by Saint Theodosius (d. 1074 CE). In Orthodox monasteries, the Typikon also includes the rule of the community and the rule of prayer. Another important book is the Euchologion—chief liturgical book of Orthodox Churches. This book includes the portion said by the priest and deacon for the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil. The first printed edition was published in Venice in 1526. Rome and the Gallican rite The diversity of rites seen in the East was also in the West. Rome was the prominent centre of the West, but other cities competed for attention. During the third and fourth centuries, Latin became the sole liturgical

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 83

16/11/20 2:42 PM

84  The formal and legal structure of proclamation language of the West, in contrast to the East that kept using Greek. The ordo from the sixth century throughout western and central Europe was mostly a variety of adaptations of the Roman ordo in the different regions. One of the oldest is the Gallican rite—so named because it was used in the Frankish realm—of which the earliest known manuscript dates from the latter part of the seventh century. However, there are descriptions of the rite in the letters of St. Germanus of Paris (555–76 CE), as well as descriptions of the Mozarabic Rite given by St. Isidore of Seville. These texts illustrate the solemn proclamation of the Word from the ambo. The variety of Latin liturgies in the West was greater than is usually alleged. Only a few survived the unification that followed the Council of Trent, when Pius V made the Missale Romanum mandatory throughout the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church. The Missale Romanum and the first norms for church buildings The publication of an Ordo Missae in 1570, also known as the Pius V Missal, marks a conclusion to the period of medieval development. The Missale Romanum is evidence of a qualitative leap in the Roman rite. According to Manlio Sodi and Achille Maria Triacca, this was possible because of the twin aims of the unification and standardization of the Mass. The Missale Romanum had several editions, the principal ones dating from 1604 (Clement VII), 1634 (Urban VII), 1884 (Leo XIII), 1920 (Benedict XV), and 1962 (John XXIII). The ordo of these missals contains detailed descriptions for each part of the Mass. The Liturgy of the Word was carried out entirely in Latin, beginning with the reading of the Epistle from one of the lecterns. The Evangelium, the second reading, was read from the north side. The homily, which became important during medieval times, was often separated from the whole liturgy. The Pius V Missal was the fruit of the Council of Trent. One of the cardinals involved in the process of reorganizing and reforming the liturgy was Cardinal Charles Borromeo, who developed the norms for church buildings and their furniture. These norms were universally accepted in the Roman Catholic Church and were in advance of the different episcopal norms regarding church buildings in the twentieth century. The first edition of Instructiones, or Instructions, appeared in Milan in 1577, titled Intructiones fabricae et supellectilis ecclesiasticae (Instructions on the Erection and Furnishings of Churches). The work was reprinted a dozen times and in different languages. The impetus behind Cardinal Borromeo’s reforms was the general liturgical confusion found inside the Catholic Church, which included its church buildings. The proliferation of altars, devotional chapels, monuments, and images of saints caused misunderstandings and ambiguity in the faith of the people. Cardinal Borromeo initiated the relocation of the tabernacle as a start to putting the arrangement of worship space in good

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 84

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 85 order. For the first time, each part of the building, including the furnishings, was precisely defined. Borromeo’s goals are outlined in the opening letter of Instructions: In these Instructions we have set forth those prescriptions which we consider most appropriate and suitable for the normal use and decoration of the churches in our province, concerning not only the sacred building, chapels, altars, oratories, baptisteries, sacraria, and similar constructions. But also the sacred vestments, ornaments, vessels, another ecclesiastical items… we take assiduous care that our provincial constitutions and decrees on this subject be applied in the execution of their use; with these things in mind we gave advanced thought to the splendor and future use of all our churches and in particular the parochial ones… the erection of altars, baptisteries and other parts of the church as well as the providing of furnishings ought to be done in accordance with and aided by those very decrees with a view toward the form prescribed in our Instructions. 32 The cardinal organized Instructions in thirty-three chapters, notes, and two appendices. However, we will limit our focus on Chapter 22, “Ambos and Pulpit.” Through the organization of these instructions, we can see that the significant liturgical concerns revolved around the sacrament of the Eucharist. Borromeo was a sensible man who worked with architects and artists, and their influence is evident. Chapter 22 of Instructions connects the ambo to the pulpit. Instead of providing a liturgical theological reflection about the ambo and the pulpit, the chapter contains a practical indication of how they are to be constructed, located, and decorated. However, it is essential to mention some hermeneutical aspects, as the ambo is considered a place for the reading of the scriptures, not a place for their veneration: “Two ambos may be constructed, one a little higher from which the Gospel should be read; the other from which the Epistle or Scriptural Lesson is read on the greater solemnities.” When there is only one ambo, another “ambo may also be erected for the reading of both the Gospel and the Epistle.” The chapter provides additional details about the ambo: “Where two flights of steps should be built for the ambo, one to ascend on the east side, the other to descend on the west.” The ambos at the Cathedral of Milan are a perfect example of what Borromeo describes in the Instructions (see Figure 1.16). The cardinal also gives instructions regarding the material to be used in the ambo’s construction: “These ambos should be made of marble or of some other stone. They should also be decorated with devotional sculptures. They may also be constructed in brick; however, they should then be adorned with marble, decorative and polished stone, or gilded bronze pieces, as is still seen today.” The level of detail is a strong indicator of its importance in the place of worship.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 85

16/11/20 2:42 PM

86  The formal and legal structure of proclamation Although Borromeo makes no theological distinction between the ambo and pulpit, he indicates a preference for the ambo. Though, when it is not possible to build an ambo, he indicates that a pulpit should be erected close to the assembly “in a prominent place where either the preacher or the reader can be seen and heard by all.” Even though Borromeo’s norms were not in the form of a theological reflection, the instructions stress the importance of the proclamation of Holy Scriptures in a time when the Eucharist was being strongly emphasized, before Calvin’s and Zwingli’s denial of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Borromeo’s contribution to the Counter-Reformation has not had a lasting impact on the Liturgy of the Word, to the point that the rubrics of the Pius V Missal do not include Borromeo’s work. It was not the only missing material in the missal, as Johannes H. Emminghaus explains, We would say today that what was not achieved by the missal of 1570 was the long overdue restructuring of the whole service of the Mass according to the needs of a gathering of the whole people of God for worship.… The celebrating priest and his actions at the altar, where, practically speaking, the entire Mass including the service of the word was concentrated, was the sole object of primary interest. The community aspect of the action remained very minor. 33 As a consequence, the participation of the faithful in the Liturgy of the Word was a mere act of devotion rather than liturgical. The reading of the scriptures in Latin (a foreign language for the assembly) was not experienced as a proclamation, since the priest was not facing the people. The fact that the readings were done from the altar made the ambo useless, so much so that the last edition of the missal, published after the Canon Law Code of 1917, does not include a proclamation from the ambo. The missal indicated that the priest should read the Epistle from the middle of the altar, say “Deo gratias” (Thanks be to God) at the end, and transfer the missal to the right side of the altar. At this point, the priest moves to the centre of the altar and, in a low voice, says, “Munda cor meum ac labia mea, omnipotens Deus, qui labia Isaiae Prophetae calculo mundasti ignito: ita me tua grata miseratione dignare mundare, ut sanctum Evangelium tuum digne valeam nuntiare. Per Christum Dominun nostrum. Amen” (Cleanse my heart and my lips, O almighty God, who didst cleanse the lips of the prophet Isaias with a burning coal, and vouchsafe, through Thy gracious mercy, so to purify me, that I may worthily announce Thy holy Gospel. Through Christ our Lord. Amen). He then announces the proclamation from the centre of the altar before moving to the right side of the altar as the assistant transfers the missal. The priest then reads the Gospel. After the proclamation, he kisses the missal (as if it was the Book of the Gospel) and returns to the middle of the altar to recite the Creed. It is necessary to highlight that there is no

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 86

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 87 lectionary in the Ordo Missae from 1570; the missal included the readings and the altar was the focal point. An appendix with instructions for Easter Vigil Mass requests two stands (possible portable lecterns): one for the proclamation of the Gospel, from which the deacon sings the Exultet, and other for the Epistle. In the Tridentine Rite (Ordo Missae, 1570), the place for the proclamation of Holy Scriptures is not relevant. Not having, or using, the ambo impoverished the whole experience. A desire to make a liturgical and physical distinction between the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist came later with the Fathers of Vatican II.

Islam: ibadah instructions The behavioural outlines of Muslim life started to be shaped during the Prophet’s lifetime. Soon after the Prophet’s demise in 632, Muslims started to gather reports of his sayings, doings, and tacit approvals and to critic the authenticity of those reports, called “hadiths.” Al-Bukhari, a Muslim scholar (d. 870 CE), accumulated 600,000 reports, of which only 7275 were included in his anthology and were later reduced to 2765. Abu Dawud, from his collection of 500,000 Prophetic traditions, used only 4800. In Islam, there is a difference, coming from Arabic, between “a tradition” (hadith) and “the tradition” (Sunnah). Hadith are the reports transmitted by the companions of the Prophet. Sunnah is a collective term that refers to the tradition of the Prophet—his customary behaviour, his teachings, and example, which functions a source of emulation, since the Prophet is an exemplar for Muslims. Although it is not generally considered as authoritative as the Qur’an, the Sunnah is an important source of ethical–legal reasoning, second only to the Qur’an. Jonathan Brown describes six hadith collections in the Sunni tradition and four in the Shia tradition that became the authority in Islam. 34 The leading tradition is the result of the work of Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari (d. 870 CE). In his Musnad al-Sahih (a listing of hadiths), he widened the area of tradition and published the Orthodox traditions according to each subject. Then came Imam Muslim (d. 875 CE), whose work is considered almost as meticulous as Bukhari’s work and is similarly arranged into juridical categories. The other three collections were created by Abu Dawud (d. 888 CE), al-Tirmidhi (d. 892 CE), and al-Nasa’i (d. 915 CE). These collections included all traditions that adequately fulfilled the requirements of performative traditions. 35 These inspired sources, which represent the main textual sources for the proper ordering of Muslim life, were used by scholars to develop a system of ethical–legal reasoning known as Shariah, or rather fiqh, the human interpretation of Shariah. Where the meaning of the Qur’an was unclear, Muslims looked for interpretation from the hadith. The reason is also an important source of ethical–legal thinking, particularly reasoning by

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 87

16/11/20 2:42 PM

88  The formal and legal structure of proclamation analogy, known as qiyas. Muslim scholars, searching for a collective agreement, established the principle of Ijma, or consensus of the community of believers. When the community reached an agreement on a particular topic, any future development or innovation on that topic was forbidden. When there was no consensus on a particular topic, individual interpretation was allowed, but by the tenth century, the development of new ideas on those subjects was gradually restricted. The interpretation and jurisprudence of the law can be found in the fiqh. Sunni and Shia Muslims follow different schools of thought in interpreting Shariah laws, but all Muslims are required to live according to the law. Any new practice introduced after that is considered bid’ah, an act of innovation in religious matters, which is not permitted if it runs contrary to the values of Islam. However, the introduction of new good practices that do not contradict the Qur’an or hadith is permissible. The jurisprudence identifies two main categories: the ibadat (rituals) and the mu’amalat (social relations). All the rules governing worship and religious duties in Islam are in the ibadat. According to Oxford Islamic Studies, “Because they are of central importance to the Muslim community, the ibadat form the first subject matter of Islamic jurisprudence and most collections of prophetic traditions (hadith).”36 Ibadat include all the regulations for the five pillars, with precepts concerning precisely how to carry out acts of worship. The rules of ibadat regulate the performance of Salat; there we find ancillary rules such as those for the recitation of the Qur’an and setting forth the requirements for the ablutions necessary to achieve a state of ritual purity, as well as the selection of a prayer leader in a given congregation. While some specific provisions of ibadat rules vary according to school divisions, there is agreement on the fundamental points of the Shariah in this area. The rules of ibadat have generally remained nearly unchanged over the centuries. Recitation of the Qur’an In Islam, to recite the Qur’an is considered an act of worship, as it is to proclaim the Torah and the Bible for the other Abrahamic traditions. Muslims do not proclaim but recite their Holy Scripture: “Recite! In the name of your Lord who created, created humanity from a clot” (Surah 96:1–3). This divine mandate acquires the finest expression of Muslim creativity, producing what is known as tajweed—the art of recitation. Tajweed is the science of the rules of recitation of the Quran. Graham says, For Muslims tajweed is the attempt to preserve the living word of God in the full beauty and full range of meaning with which it was given to and faithfully transmitted by the Prophet. Chanting the Qur’an is a reenactment of the revelatory act itself, and how the Qur’an is vocally rendered not only matters, but matters ultimately. 37

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 88

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 89 However, the word tajweed is not in the Qur’an; instead, the term tarteel is used, which means reading as the Prophet used to recite and as he was ordered to by God. For the recitation of the Qur’an, ibadat points to the Qur’an’s directives, which contain instructions for proper recitation, such as the use of tarteel in Surah 73:4: “Recite/read the Qur’an with tarteel.” Tarteel is the action of chanting distinctly and, in Arabic, is translated as reciting in “slow, measured, rhythmic tones.” The jurisprudence of this surah by Ibn Kathir is to “recite the Quran slowly, making the letters clear, for this is an assistance in understanding and pondering the meaning of the Quran.”38 The fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad (601–61 CE), said that tarteel means delivering words according to their outlets for intonations. There are also more specific instructions in the Qur’an, such as “Do not move your tongue concerning it in order to make haste with it; it is for us to collect it and to read it (qur ʿanahu); when we recite it (qara ʿ nahu), follow then its recitation (qur ʿanahu)” (Surah 75:16–8). The ideal recitation of the Qur’an includes saying the words clearly and slowly, reciting with understanding, and uttering the contents correctly (Surah 10:61). In addition to the Qur’an, rules for recitation can be found in the hadiths. They provide detailed information on particular surahs that the Prophet preferred to recite, and which parts of the Qur’an the Prophet would repeat, as well as his recitation practice and habits. Variations on reciting and norms The qira’at is the study and practice of variant recitations of the Holy Book, developed with the Uthmanic Canon. The earliest written copies of the Qur’an in the Uthmanic codex had a rudimentary orthography that did not include some of the vowel markers. Eventually, several possibilities of reading developed, until the invention of the vowel markers and more sophisticated orthography narrowed down the range of options and made new readings difficult. There are seven systems or variations of qira’at, and each one has its guidelines for the vocalization of the Uthmanic text, called tajweed. As Anna Gade explains, In a straightforward example of “variation” among the readings, a word in the fourth verse from the opening chapter, Surat al-Fati ḥa (Surah 1:4), may be rendered either as m ā liki or maliki but both convey the same sense, which is God’s dominion over the day of judgment. In another example, Surah 5:6, which has generated differences of legal opinion on the ritual law for ablution, may carry two meanings depending on its vocalization. The vocalization and the nuances in the meaning depend on the decision to read a verb with or without a related preposition. If the phrase “your legs” (arjulakum) is read in the accusative, as according to Nafi’ and Hafs, it is understood as the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 89

16/11/20 2:42 PM

90  The formal and legal structure of proclamation object of the verbal imperative “amsahu” (yielding the meaning “wash your legs”). If it is read in the genitive (arjulikum), as according to Ibn Kathir and Abu’Amr, “your legs” are like the preceding “ru’usikum” (“your heads”), the object of the verb (amsahu) with the preposition bi- and the phrase is glossed as “wipe your legs.”39 These readings are permitted in Islam. The seven variations are based on a hadith in which the Prophet is reported to have said, “This Qur’an has been revealed to be recited in seven different modes (a ḥ ruf), so recite of it whichever is easiest for you” (cf. Melchert, Ibn Mujahid). Al-Bukhari also reports that the Prophet stated that the angel Gabriel would recite the Qur’an in different ways for him.40 The seven recitation variations, standardized in Ibn Mujahid’s time, came from leading schools of recitation in the early Islamic period in Mecca, Medina, Damascus, Basra, and Kufa. Ibn Mujahid’s selection comprises the following seven readers: Ibn Kathir al-Makki (Mecca, d. 738 CE), Nafiʿ al-Madani (Medina, d. 785 CE), Ibn ʿAmir (Damascus, d. 736 CE), Abu ʿAmr (Baṣra, d. 770 CE), ʿA ṣim (Kufa, d. 745 CE), Hamza (Kufa, d. 773 CE), and Al-Kisaʿi (Kufa, d. 804 CE). The practice of recitation following the seven variations is central to Islamic devotion. The recitation and reading of the Qur’an is a matter of study with certain levels of complexity. For Muslims, the Qur’an is not an inspired book but the direct communication of God—a miraculous revelation—and its recitation is consequently the vocalization of divine words. To recite its verses is to transmit the power of the Qur’an. In Al-Ghazali’s rules for recitation, he wrote that the reciter has to subordinate to the divine presence and includes helpful techniques for purifying sensibilities and wrong intentions. The techniques of reading and reciting are not canonical but may help to fulfil this ideal. The mosque Islam does not differentiate between sacred and profane in the same way that the other Abrahamic religions do, since all things are subject to the will of God. In Islam, the sacred and the secular are fused. Martin Frishman comments, “Removing one’s shoes before entering a mosque and performing ritual ablutions before prayers are acts of self-purification and do not represent a cross-over from the secular to the sacred domain.”41 This social–religious welding represents a unified society. Mosques have been the heart of Muslim life since the time of the Prophet. For Muslims, the building of a mosque is a pious act; yet, a mosque is not a sacred or consecrated place, as it is for Christians. However, the Qur’an calls the construction of mosques a sign of faith. In a hadith reported by Uthman Ibn Affan, the Prophet encouraged the construction of mosques: “He who builds a mosque for the sake of Allah, seeking the pleasure of Allah, will be rewarded by Allah with a dwelling in Heaven.”42 This has encouraged faithful patrons all around the Islamic world.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 90

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 91 The development of its architecture and style depends on the region and is the result of local building materials, climatic conditions, and builders’ skills. The origin of synagogues and the churches are associated with domestic buildings. Both communities were adapting their worship places based on new and complex liturgical needs. In Islam, this process was different. The Prophet was the one who designed and built the first house of worship in Medina in 622 CE, which was basically the courtyard of his home. This mosque became the basis for the standard mosque model. This model includes all the elements that a mosque must have, such as orientation that is explicit in the Qur’an, but is flexible in its design, incorporating local traditions of construction and decoration. Martin Frishman mentions two factors that can affect mosque design: opposition to innovation and the use of regional architecture versus standardized international style. It seems that the main rule is to follow the design of the first mosque. Therefore, in all mosques, there are a qibla wall with a mihrab, a mimbar, a place for ablutions, and a minaret. The creativity has been applied to the building and its internal space, particularly in its decoration, which is a characteristic element in mosques. The decoration uses the art of calligraphy and geometrical figures. The monotheistic nature of the religion is emphasized with the prohibition of any animate beings’ representation, undoubtedly, to avoid situations of devotion. In the tradition, Qur’anic text decorates the external and internal walls of the mosque, but quotations from the hadith can also be found. Those inscriptions help the faithful focus on the Qur’an message—an act of devotion in itself. Islamic ritual practices, and the space to follow them, are based on the fact that the Qur’an is an orally transmitted scripture, designed, since Muhammad’s time, to be performed through the recitation by verses but not necessarily sequentially. Also, the recitation during the Salat was designed to be repetitive. Karen Armstrong says, “[Qur’an’s] ideas, imagery and stories are bound together by internal echoes, which reinforce its central teachings with instructive emphasis. Verbal repetitions link disparate passages in the listener’s mind and integrate the different strands of the texts, as one verse delicately qualifies or supplements others.”43 These slow repetitions of Qur’anic verses allow worshippers to engage gradually not only with its teachings but also with the experience of God. The open space of the mosque works as a soundboard for the recitations, increasing the ritual experience because of its communitarian dimension. The music of the prayers integrates with the space, echoing the verses, and even has a visual element, when the verses decorate the mosque.

Reforms from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Rituals, liturgies, devotions, and other faith expressions in the three Abrahamic religions may broadly be said to have undergone a gradual development throughout the millennia, enriched by the introduction of new customs and the loss of others over time.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 91

16/11/20 2:42 PM

92  The formal and legal structure of proclamation The role of different traditions and movements in the three faiths meant that local communities gave particular attention to their liturgical forms. Communities around the world benefited from the insights and contributions of specific groups—Jews with the Palestinian, Babylonian, and Sephardic Rabbis; Christians with the ecumenical councils, Eastern traditions, and the Protestant Reform; and Muslim with scholars from the Middle East, the al-Andalous, and North Africa. For Western Christians and Jewish communities, a new wave of reforms came alive during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries based on historical liturgical research, which is of extreme importance for this study. The liturgical movement: a deeply Christian reform The Christian Ecumene does not have an ordo that is applicable to all their institutional churches; instead, each tradition has its own. Nevertheless, there are common liturgical principles for the Early Christian tradition, where the Liturgy of the Word has contributed fruitfully for ecumenical dialogue, showing a testimony of unity between churches. The Liturgical Movement was the promoter and inspiration of reforms, beginning with the monastic communities of Europe, particularly the Abbey of Solesmes in France (1833), and their goal of recuperating the Church’s liturgical tradition. The preeminent figures at Solesmes, who initiated the twentieth-­ century phase of the movement, were Abbot Dom Prosper Guéranger and Dom Lambert Beauduin. Beauduin’s motto was “the liturgy must be democratized,” which can be further translated as “active participation.”44 The Liturgical Movement’s renewed emphasis on the sacramental nature of the word of God necessitated the recovery of an old sacred space: the ambo. Perhaps one of the most important factors influencing this reconception of the Liturgy of the Word was the petition for the use of vernacular language at the First International Liturgy Meeting in Maria Laach (Germany, 1951): “Since the readings of Scriptures is designed to aid in the instruction of the faithful, all the members strongly advocate that the vernacular be allowed.” At this point, there had already been some limited use of vernacular language allowed on a trial basis.45 Pope Pius XII, knowing the value of the Liturgical Movement in his encyclical letter Mediator Dei (MD, 1947), recognized the worth of the vernacular language, saying, “The use of the mother tongue in connection with several of the rites may be of much advantage to the people” (MD 60). The exclusive use of Latin in the liturgy did not allow the faithful, as Metzger says, “to express themselves consciously in prayer; they were obliged to say words they did not understand.”46 The use of the vernacular allowed the language of the liturgy to be apprehended and penetrated by the faithful, nurturing their body and spirit. The Liturgical Movement coincided with the emergence of modernist architecture. Liturgists and architects started to work together to adapt

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 92

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 93 churches, in terms of both their exterior and interior space. Gerald Ellard, in his book The Mass in Transition, examines the pre–Vatican II directives concerning church design. The first directives originated from the Guidelines for the Design of Churches in the Spirit of the Roman Liturgy, which was authored chiefly by Theodor Klauser and based on Mediator Dei. Published in 1949 and recommended by the Liturgical Commission of the German Bishops’ Conference, we can gauge how enthusiastically it was received from its speedy translation into English in the same year.47 The directives are divided into two parts: principles and conclusions. Despite the Liturgy of the Word’s reemergence and the ambo’s rediscovery, the emphasis was very much still on the altar. Interestingly, the document starts with a definition of what a church is and reflects on the influence of the Liturgical Movement: “The Christian church, a house of God, is a sacred place filled with the divine presence (even apart from the holy Eucharist), a place where the people of God assemble.”48 The directives establish five purposes for a church building: 1 To celebrate the re-presentation of the redeeming Sacrifice of our Lord. 2 To partake of the fruits of Christ’s redeeming Sacrifice in the Holy Sacraments. 3 To hear the preaching of the Word of God. 4 To render homage and adoration to the presence of our Lord in the Eucharistic bread. 5 To engage in various nonliturgical devotions.49 The third purpose, which is apparently for the Liturgy of the Word, is actually for the homily, and the place to preach is the pulpit. The Liturgy of the Word is performed at the altar, without the need for an ambo, since a proclamation facing the people is not mentioned. The principles are tied to the altar as the locus of the Sacrifice of the Mass. With twenty-one directives in total, the document maintains a clear purpose, which is expressed in the sixth directive: “The Christian church building is intended primarily for the celebration of the eucharist sacrifice.”50 The preaching is also connected to Eucharist and not to the Liturgy of the Word. Of the twenty-one directives, eight are for the altar and only one, the fourteenth, is related to the Liturgy of the Word and the ambo but far from the Liturgy of the Word core purpose: “The proclamation of the Word of God.” Of course, an important consideration we must remind ourselves of is that the rite under discussion is the Tridentine, where the readings are included in the missal. In any event, directive 14 of the conclusion refers to a movable ambo close to the sanctuary rail to be used for the preaching that is held at the same level of importance as the epistle and the gospel: The vast interiors of cathedral churches and of churches in pilgrimage places and in our great cities have made it necessary that preaching

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 93

16/11/20 2:42 PM

94  The formal and legal structure of proclamation should be done not from the sanctuary but from an elevated pulpit, usually located almost about the centre of the nave and to one side, or fixed to a sidewall. Preaching, according to the liturgy, that is, preaching, which is in organic relation to the eucharist Sacrifice, should be primarily an extension and explanation of the two readings which announce the word of God. Therefore, like the epistle and the gospel, the sermon should, wherever possible, issue forth from the sanctuary, that is, from a lectern or an ambo located near the sanctuary rail. 51 These avant-garde directives are more preoccupied with detaching the altar from the wall and creating an altar table than considering the liturgy as a whole. Nonetheless, it is here that the use of the ambo, or a lectern, starts to be reconsidered. The Liturgy of the Word on the documents of the Roman Catholic Church After centuries of neglect, the proclamation of Holy Scriptures in the Roman Catholic Church is regaining its place as a living and life-­ giving component in all Church rites. The Council with the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC, 1963) promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1963 returned to the principle of no liturgical action without the word of God. 52 To that end, Pope Paul VI says, “He [Christ] is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church” (SC 7). The Fathers of Vatican II insisted that the scriptures be given a place “of greatest importance in the celebration of the liturgy,” that pastors foster “a warm and living love” for it (SC 24), that preaching be based on it (SC 35), and that the richness of the Bible be opened up more plentifully (SC 51). The introduction of vernacular languages into the liturgy was a sign of change and was accompanied by modifications to the rubrics of the Mass and the rituals of Holy Week. These were the first steps in the direction of systematic reform. For this, the Concilium was constituted—a series of commissions guided by a group of experts and other advisors. The Concilium reported to the Pope for the reform work, 53 outlining specific criteria. First, that the Mass should become a celebration in which each participant plays their proper part. Second, that a bright and natural distinction be made between the two main parts of the Mass: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This distinction involved a difference of places that were initially understood as follows: the first part was to take place preferably at the celebrant’s chair or the lectern and the second at the altar table of Sacrifice and the Eucharistic banquet. Three major instructions followed Vatican II: the Inter oecumenici, the instruction for the new ordo of the Mass, and the instruction for the new lectionary of the Roman Missal. The ambo has a crucial new role in all of

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 94

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 95 them. The new ordo for the dedication of a church and an altar will appear a few years later, followed many years after that by the Book of Blessings. Inter oecumenici The Inter oecumenici, promulgated on September 26, 1964, was the first document of fundamental importance to the postconciliar liturgical reform. According to Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, 54 the instruction had three primary avenues of approach: pastoral, regulatory, and ceremonial. The first contained the doctrinal principles on which the regulation was to be based. The ceremonial aspects of instruction were general descriptions of how the revised rites were to be carried out. The text’s final section, which refers to the Mass, directs that the readings are to be proclaimed facing the congregation, either from the lectern or the edge of the sanctuary. Up to this point, the readings were done by the side of the altar. This important instruction immediately impacted the post–Vatican II liturgy. Compared to the previous ritual, the proclamation could be made not only by the celebrant but also by a competent minister or an appointed reader. The prayers of the faithful were given back to a member of the assembly. The instruction also considered the topic of art and liturgy. Bugnini explains, “the renewed liturgical awareness of the faithful and their active participation in worship call for a complete revision of the principles governing the functional aspect of the construction of sacred buildings.”55 The instruction only gave a few examples as guidelines for architectural programs. The first explained that the sanctuary should be sizeable enough to allow for the smooth celebration of the rites. The second specified that the altar should be freestanding, the celebrant’s chair must be in full view of the congregation, and the tabernacle can be located apart from the altar. The third dictates that each church should have one or two ambos, and in the case of having two ambos, the liturgy should be consistent with the ancient practices. Novus Ordo The revision of the missal started in April 1964. This revision was a subject of great concern for the fathers of the Second Vatican Council since it would reflect the Council’s agenda. Six requirements were included in article 50 of the Sacrosanctum Concilium, establishing the renewal project: 1 The distinctive character of each part of the Mass and their interconnections should be clearly expressed. 2 Active participation of the faithful is to be made more accessible. 3 The rites are to be simplified. 4 Less useful historical additions are to be eliminated.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 95

16/11/20 2:42 PM

96  The formal and legal structure of proclamation 5 Worthwhile elements lost in the liturgy over time are to be restored. 6 The substance of the Mass is to be maintained. In October 1964, the Concilium established the definitive Order of the Mass. Unlike the Tridentine Ordo, the Novus Ordo’s missal did not include the sacred scriptures and designated the lectern–ambo as the proper place for the Liturgy of the Word and the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Another vital change was that there must be three readings on Sundays and feast days. Some fathers and curial members argued that the Liturgy of the Word seemed too long in comparison with the Eucharistic liturgy, so some additional direction was given concerning the Liturgy of the Word:56 1 The Kyrie should never be omitted. 2 The Gloria should be kept according to the rules now in force. 3 After the homily, there should be a silence time for the faithful to meditate on the Word of God. 4 The chants after the readings should be shortened or eliminated. 5 The general intercessions do not seem necessary at all masses; they could be made after communion. The Novus Ordo was published on April 28, 1969, receiving final approval on March 11, 1970. The General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM) was utterly different from the Rubricae of the Pius V Missal. It had not only a description of the rites but also a presentation of the celebration, with explanatory sections tying the rituals to their doctrinal antecedents and pastoral aims. Since then, several new editions within the same spirit have been developed. Chapter V of the General Instruction, entitled “The Arrangement and Furnishings of Churches for the Celebration of the Eucharist,” is entirely dedicated to the liturgical environment. Article 288 clearly establishes that the place where the People of God gather is a church: “Churches, therefore, and other places should be suitable for carrying out the sacred action and for ensuring the active participation of the faithful… [they] should be truly worthy, beautiful and be signs and symbols of heavenly realities.” This means that the building and its components need to feature an otherworldly character over any other distinctiveness. In the commentary on the General Instructions, Mark Wedig and Richard Vosko observe, “the challenge is to create places of worship and to utilize liturgical symbols in ways that will stimulate all the senses and stir the imagination. Ultimately, it is the assembly that is called to transcendence.”57 As such, the ambo, a place of worship in itself, should be designed as a symbol of Mount Tabor, where the transfiguration took place. Pope Francis says, “The ‘luminosity’ that characterized this extraordinary event symbolized the purpose: to illumine the minds and hearts of the disciples so that they could understand clearly who their Master was. It was a flash of light that opened suddenly on the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 96

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 97 mystery of Jesus and illumined His whole person and His whole story.”58 A lector proclaiming the scriptures ritualizes this event. The role of artists can help with this purpose. The General Instruction insists on having commissioned works of art instead of purchasing mass-produced objects in order to promote excellence in the aesthetics of the liturgical environment (GIRM 289). Ritual furnishings may also be designed and built like pieces of art in terms of scale, proportion, materiality, texture, and colour. However, ritual suitability is more significant than any stylistic pattern. The form should follow the function, as the ambo is designed for proclamation, the altar for the eucharist, and the presidential chair for presiding and teaching. The design of each one may speak symbolically of the interconnection of these three main elements to help reinforce the understanding that Christ is present in each one. Different liturgical actions show this connection, including the placement of the Book of the Gospels on the altar at the beginning of the celebration. 59 Articles 291, 292, and 293 of the General Instruction refer to more technical aspects, such as how the diocesan commission on the Sacred Liturgy has to be involved in any construction, restoration, and remodelling of sacred buildings. Any project has to be characterized by modesty and simplicity of forms and not ostentation or pretension. The project must lend itself to being seen as a mystagogical space in itself without losing what is needed for a minimum level of comfort, security, and accessibility. The arrangement of the sanctuary received special attention. Article 295 expressed that it should be “suitably be marked off.” As Wedig and Vosko explain, “The sanctuary is the locus for the ambo and altar, specifying the area where Word is proclaimed, and the Eucharist is celebrated. In turn, the sanctuary is the place where the ministers of the Word and the Eucharist carry out their functions.”60 A well-executed area not only facilitates greater visibility but also accentuates the symbolic character of the sanctuary, expressing its sacredness through architectural distinctiveness. Article 309 is more focused on the ambo, recognizing the dignity of the word of God and the need for a proper place for its proclamation that faces the whole congregation. It emphasizes the need for a fixed ambo in consonance with the design of each church and in a prominent place. The article makes clear that the ambo is only for the readings of the Bible, but that it may also be used for the homily and the Prayer of the Faithful explaining, “The dignity of the ambo requires that only a minister of the word should go up to it.” Examining the current situation, this would be more of a desire than a reality. Finally, the article indicates that it is proper for the ambo to receive a blessing, according to the rite, before its use. Sacrosanctum Concilium number seven stresses the modes of Christ’s presence during the liturgical celebrations. This teaching was undoubtedly a theological revolution for the Roman Catholic Church, especially for the Liturgy of the Word. Wedig and Vosko affirm, “one of the most comprehensive innovations in the reform of the liturgy following Vatican II was the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 97

16/11/20 2:42 PM

98  The formal and legal structure of proclamation uncompromised role that the Word played in every rite, especially enriching the Eucharist for the people in the Liturgy of the Word.”61 The document asks for a “suitable place” (locus congruous) for the Liturgy of the Word to be based. The preference expressed is for a stationary ambo instead of a moveable lectern. The General Instruction says that the ambo is the rightful place for the proclamation of the Word, and it presents it as the table of the Word. Here, a unique modality of Christ’s presence is shown in the Word—its dignity is related to this fact. Commentators expressly say that the ambo ought not to function as a repository for the scriptures and that another place to reserve the sacred books is more appropriate. This gives us a clear sense that the ambo carries two symbolic meanings: when the Word is proclaimed— Christ’s presence; and when it is standing empty—His absence. Continued use of the Tridentine Ordo In 1984 and 1988, Pope John Paul II granted permission for stable groups attached to the Tridentine Rite to celebrate it again, following its last publication in 1962. Pope Benedict XVI, in his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7, 2007, stated that the 1962 edition was never juridically abolished and that it may be used without restrictions by any priest of the Latin rite when celebrating Mass without a congregation.62 We have discussed the inconveniences of the use of this ordo in relation to the Liturgy of the Word: the entire Mass was a ritual that most of the time took place at the altar; congregants were more spectators than participants; there was not a clear distinction between the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist; and the reading of the scriptures in Latin by a priest not facing congregants was not experienced as a proclamation. The new lectionary of the Roman Missal The desire for greater variety in the readings and the use of vernacular languages prompted a lectionary. The first plan was adopted by the German Church on an experimental basis and was accepted by the Holy Father on May 12, 1965. The Church of France also asked for permission to implement a preliminary plan based on the idea of the continuous reading of the books of the Bible, Lectio continua, as a way to make the congregation aware of the main lines of the economy of salvation. Both plans were experiments, and it was necessary to wait for the definitive lectionary. Group 11 was the study group commissioned to undertake the difficult work of reorganizing the readings for the Mass and reconsidering the physical location for the proclamation in the church building. As Bugnini observes, “This was the most important part of the work of restoring the esteem and appreciation of the Word of God in the liturgy, an area that the Catholic Church had undoubtedly neglected somewhat in recent

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 98

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 99 centuries.”63 The group was mindful with the Constitution on the Liturgy in two main areas: “in sacred celebrations there is to be more reading from holy Scripture, and it is to be more varied and apposite” (SC 35.1) and “the treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly so that a richer share in God’s word may be provided for the faithful. In this way, a more representative portion of the holy Scripture will be read to the people in the course of a prescribed number of years” (SC 51). The commission understood that an entirely new system of readings needed to be designed. The basic principle behind the projected lectionary was that “the mystery of Christ and the history of salvation” must be present in the readings. This mystery is the apostolic preaching about Jesus as Lord and Christ (Act 2:36), who fulfilled the scriptures through His life, His teaching, the Paschal mystery, and who gives life to the Church until His return. This monumental work was done during two years of study and meetings, which developed a clear direction for the new lectionary. According to Bugnini, the goal that all Christians have a single lectionary underlays the desire for an extended trial period: “The wish that the revised lectionary be allowed experimentally for a rather lengthy period (six to nine years) in order that the various Christian confessions might examine it during that time.”64 The shift from the current annual cycle to a system of three cycles was a significant innovation. The new order of reading was promulgated on May 25, 1969, and the preparation of the lectionary for the Mass was one of the pillars of this liturgical reform. The importance that was given to this work by the Church was clearly a sign of the new place the sacred scriptures would occupy in the life of the Church. Dedication of a church and an altar The rite for the consecration of a church is considered to be one of the most solemn liturgical services. Above all else, a church is a place where the Christian assembly gathers to hear the word of God, to offer intercession and praise Him, and to celebrate the sacrament of the Eucharist. This rite had undergone extensive development over the centuries and had become so complicated that no congregation could understand it and take part in it. Therefore, it was necessary to remove the complexities from the Tridentine Rite. The work of reviewing the ritual was given to a select study group, 21bis, in 1970. Their main concern was to ensure that the proper liturgical focus for the dedication lays in the celebration of the Eucharist. The process of renewing this rite was longer than that of others. Pope Paul VI approved the new Ordo dedicationis ecclesiae et altaris prepared by the Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship in 1977, prescribing the replacement of the old rite. He ordered its publication in the second book of the Roman Pontifical. For the Ordo, a church is the home of the Christian community, a building dedicated to God, where congregants receive nourishment from the table of the Word and the table of the Eucharist. The rite affirms that the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 99

16/11/20 2:42 PM

100  The formal and legal structure of proclamation ambo is the place where the Word of God is proclaimed and where the book of scriptures is solemnly enthroned. It also states that the Liturgy of the Word possesses dignity and uniqueness and that the ambo is the place where the symbolism of the Word is fully manifested. The Book of Blessings Norms related to the place for proclamation are also found in the Book of Blessings, published in 1984.65 In the section “Order for the Blessing of a New Lectern,” the ambo is described as the table of the Word of God, and it is here the whole assembly finds their necessary nourishment for the Christian life. If the blessing takes place within the Mass, the deacon or a lector carries the Book of Gospels in the entrance procession and places it on the altar. After the opening prayer, the blessing follows the actions of the rite of dedication, except that the priest or a deacon carries the Book of Gospels from the altar to the ambo, preceded by candle and censer bearer. The blessing of a new ambo could also take place outside of Mass, within a celebration of the Word, highlighting the proclamation itself. The order of blessing concludes with a prayer over the people, a blessing, and a song. Regarding practical and normative issues, the Book of Blessings (as the GIRM) says the ambo must be stationary or fixed, and not be a moveable lectern. Sometimes, because of the design of the liturgical space, the ambo cannot be fastened. In these cases, the Book of Blessings allows for a moveable one to be used. The Book of Blessings stresses the proclamation of the Word. It is the proclamation of the Word of God that dedicates the ambo, as it does the altar on which the Liturgy of Eucharist is celebrated. Episcopal norms An essential characteristic of any ordo is its flexibility in allowing continual adaptation to the circumstances of different eras in the life of faith communities, as well as to personal and pastoral needs. In the Roman Catholic Church, the fathers of the Council, together with the Pope, left the establishment of norms related to the construction of new churches in the hands of the different episcopal conferences. The standards developed by the national conferences, which wrote norms until the print of this study, reflect the particular cultural context, language, and local traditions of each national community. LITURGICAL RENEWAL AND THE ARRANGEMENT OF CHURCHES (FRANCE, 1965)

The bishops of France were the first episcopal conference to issue a document for implementing liturgical reform. Liturgical Renewal and the Arrangement of Churches was published in 1965 and reflected the French

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 100

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 101 Church’s commitment to working within the spirit of Vatican II. The document, in addition to laying out new design standards and guidelines for the revised rites, included commentaries on liturgical, pastoral, and theological issues. The document stresses that any liturgical modification will be much more readily accepted if care is taken to show its purpose and spirit. The French bishops made the point that liturgical reform cannot be limited only to the liturgical text and gestures. The most pressing task was to facilitate the active participation of the assembly as a community, and this required an effort and creativity through a design that actively engages congregants in the spirit of the reforms. The document itself was innovative in that it included consideration of the psychology of worship, and it took a more in-depth account of the role of the community in the liturgy. The second part of the document is divided into two sections that look at adaptations of existing churches to the new ordo requirements and innovative concepts in the design of new churches. In both sections, the place for the word has acquired a high level of importance. The bishops suggested that it may be advantageous to highlight the word of God by erecting an ambo in such a way that the minister can be seen and heard by the faithful. The document remarks, “It is not right to proclaim the Word of God anywhere in the sanctuary. It is appropriate out of respect for the Word of God that the place of this Word be well marked and remain visible even outside the celebration.”66 It also says that if there are two ambos, it is necessary to distinguish the main ambo, which is reserved for the proclamation of the Word of God. By recognizing the importance of the ambo as a necessary element for the ritual, the bishops are saying that the Holy Scriptures cannot be proclaimed anywhere in the church, just as the Eucharist should not be celebrated anywhere except at the altar. Ritual and place come together in a single symbol. This document has not been updated since its initial publication; however, the Commission diocésaine d’art sacré de Paris—with a mission to seek out and advise how to promote the historical, aesthetic, and symbolic aspects of ecclesial life to support the believers in their spiritual contributions to evangelization—has published a series of recommendations for the preservation of the liturgical patrimony of Paris. One guide, published in 2005, concerns the creation of new ambos, which is divided into three sections: need, character, and function. The first two sections are a repetition of the Inter oecumenici and the French document. The original contributions are found in the third section about purpose, giving precise directions for the location and construction of the ambo. Even though these recommendations only have authority in Paris, the commission reports have become a much consulted source in other dioceses. THE PLACE OF WORSHIP (IRELAND, 1966)

Ireland was also one of the first countries to publish a directory on church buildings and reordering. A small 1966 publication was greatly enlarged

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 101

16/11/20 2:42 PM

102  The formal and legal structure of proclamation into a pastoral directory issued in 1972. A third edition, titled The Place of Worship: Pastoral Directory on the Building and Reordering of Churches,67 was published in 1994. The focal point of The Place of Worship is the liturgical assembly, the ministers, and people who use a church building for worship: The vision is of God gathering his people together and being present among them. He makes his people holy and they in turn give him praise through prayer and the offering of their lives. He tells his people about himself and about Christian life to which he has called them and which they have already begun to live. (5) The document perceives the church building as both a worship place and a sign of faith. The fundamental need of churches is “to create the kind of environment which will reflect and articulate the nature of Christian assembly and its liturgy… all [the elements] must combine to help Christians become what they are when they worship: a priestly people gathered in the joy of the Holy Spirit around the risen Lord, worshipping the Father in body as well as in spirit and caught up in the timeless worship of heaven” (10). The communities may undertake liturgical improvements, especially the layout and furnishing of the reformed liturgical environment, in a way that the design always conveys function and significance together. The document is organized into twenty-nine sections, with specific norms related to the ambo in Chapter 11, The Sanctuary. There is a strong focus on integrating the sanctuary with the whole building. The sanctuary is part of the liturgical space where the central actions of the liturgy take place, containing: “the chair, making the place of presidency; the ambo, from where the word of God is proclaimed; the altar, centre of the eucharist banquet/sacrifice” (11.1). Each element and its location have to be designed in such a way that, when a liturgical action is performed, the element in use emerges as the focal point of attention and the theological significance of all these elements and their liturgical function are expressed. Section 13 is avant-garde, dedicated exclusively to the ambo, entitled “The Place of the Word.” The section is divided into five subsections: ambo and lectern; the purpose of the ambo, design, and location; ambo in chapels; oratories and prayer rooms; and display of the Book of Gospels. The Irish bishops, like the French ones, maintain that the dignity of the word of God requires a suitable place in the church for the proclamation to draw the attention of the congregants. For the directory, the ambo is more than a piece of furniture and more than just a place; it is phenomenologically significant: “It is the table of the bread of the word, just as the altar is the table of the bread of the eucharist. When the scriptures are proclaimed in the liturgy, Christ himself is speaking to his faithful, and they are celebrating his presence in the word.” From the ambo, the hearts and lives of the listeners can be touched with the power of the Word. This concept links to

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 102

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 103 our exposition in the next chapter, as the document grounded in the scriptures presents the proclamation of the word as a sacramental action. (13.2) For practical considerations, the document follows the French with some innovations, such as an adequate distance of the ambo from the president’s chair and altar to allow for dignified movement whether or one person or of a group (13.4). A requirement particular to the Irish church that is not present in the episcopal norms of other dioceses is the presence of ambos in chapels, oratories, and prayer rooms. With its detail, pastoral vision, and in-depth theological content, the Irish directory has been a crucial leading work in the English-speaking world. In the development of this document, there is a possible connection with the Celtic oral culture and narrative, which has long been focused on social gatherings. As an example, “A Celtic Rune of Hospitality” mentions the “eating place” and “storytelling place,” raising the question of whether this could be an example of the context influencing the development of, in this case, the ambo, which is quite likely. GUIDELINES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND DESIGN OF WORSHIP SPACES (GERMANY, 1988)

The German bishops, through their Liturgical Commission, wrote the handout Guidelines for the Construction and Design of Worship Spaces68 in 1988 and released an updated version in 2000. According to the Liturgical Commission, more considerable attention was put on active participation in the years following the implementation of the liturgical reform of worship space. However, numerous new and remodelled churches showed resistance to this. The Liturgical Commission, organized almost twenty years after Vatican II, produced guidelines by compiling directives and advisories regarding church design and worship found in various church documents. They worked principally within the context of the meaning and function of liturgical space. The guidelines start with a precise and critical history of church buildings, describing different concepts of ecclesia and how these are reflected in sacred places. It then moves to the new ecclesiology of Vatican II that invites an innovative dialogue between liturgy and architecture. In the bishops’ remarks, they stress that the faith community becomes the Church of Christ in their regular worship encounters: “In the process of this coming together a dual meeting takes place, the encounter with each other and with God. In liturgical celebrations, this encounter reaches its climax. Worship is the area where people are enabled to have this encounter” (25). They also remark, “the church is the site of the vividness of the word; it becomes form turned into Theology or ‘Doxology in stone.’” The second part of the guidelines is concerned with the preparation, planning, construction, and artistic design of new church buildings. The document highlights that, in the liturgical space, art serves to announce the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 103

16/11/20 2:42 PM

104  The formal and legal structure of proclamation Word of God and is a means of introducing the mysteries celebrated there. This section is significant for our purposes because the ambo was included in the list of art objects. In this instance, the Liturgical Commission gives recommendations on the aesthetic design of worship space: 1 Any artistic education or transformation is a process in which the community is in the dialogue with artists and architects. 2 Worship spaces should not give the inappropriate impression of splendour (see SC 124). 3 The dignity of the liturgical space and the spiritual formation of believers requires truthfulness in the materials and shapes. 4 In a total artistic concept, the space of worship should ensure that all areas, including vessels and equipment, be taken into account in the planning. 5 Instead of reconstructing lost artwork, it is better to seek them in the current culture, according to contemporary expressions of faith. The fifth section focused on the sanctuary area, considered the heart of the building, where the prayers, the proclamation of the Word, and the service at the altar take place. This section highlights that the functions of liturgical leadership and preaching represented with the altar, ambo, and presidential chair have to be designed as a unity. We found a full description of the ambo in Section 5.3. It ratifies from SC the theological concept of being the table of the Word. Concerning previous documents, Germans bishops add that the artistic design of the ambo has to express its liturgical significance. On its location and function, the norms reiterate all the previous ones. This directive reinforces the idea that the ambo is not a simple piece of furniture. It is linked to the presence of Christ in the Word of God. The importance of its design is directly connected to its liturgical and hermeneutical significance. The ambo, like the altar, should be used only for its express purpose: the proclamation of the Word of God. Its location is in the sanctuary and has to be in harmony with the other elements. This document has had a significant impact on new church design. New German ambos, for example, are more expressive of the ambo’s symbolic character while exhibiting quality construction and sobriety in design. THE DESIGN OF NEW CHURCHES (ITALY, 1993)

The Italian Episcopal conference, through its Commission for the Liturgy, produced two documents: a pastoral note called The Design of New Churches69 (1993) and The Adaptation of Churches According to the Liturgical Reform70 (1996). The first document stresses the local community gathering for worship as the principals who will embody the spirit of Vatican II: “The project and

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 104

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 105 the construction of a new church demands in the first place that the local community put into effect the ecclesiological-liturgical project brought by Vatican II.” This pastoral note highlights that the church building is not a museum; the church is a living place for the vital congregation. The document is organized into three chapters. The first chapter, by way of a preface, introduces the subject of the church as being understood not an as simple container but as an architecture that is “open,” “in harmony,” “involved,” and, in its own way, a “necessary component” of the celebration. The second chapter addresses the complex unity of the four main themes, which are the basis for the redesign of churches: space for the celebration of the Eucharist, Baptism, Penance, and iconography; and the decorative devotional facet of church interiors. The third chapter deals with the question of the adaptive liturgical design directly. As many Italian churches are of a historic nature, much of the direction of this document is written mindfully of the particular challenges of implementing the new standards in centuries-old buildings. To aid in a necessary shift in thinking to facilitate reform in this context, one of the principles it espouses is the concept that the church needs to move away from the idea of it as a building independent of the community it serves: The church cannot be considered a general architectural work. In fact, it owes its shape to the relationship that binds the assembly of the people of God that gathers. It is the celebrating assembly that “generates” and “gives full of meaning” to the architecture of the church. Who meets in the church is the Church—God’s people priestly, kingly and prophetic—hierarchically organized communities that the Holy Spirit enriches by a multitude of gifts and ministries.71 The church is architecture for the liturgy; the note recognizes that architecture can communicate and facilitate the celebration. It states that the church is the place for a sacramental encounter between the assembly and God in a particular time and culture. The multiple “languages” that the liturgy uses—the word, silence, gesture, movement, music, and singing—find their overall expression in liturgical space. For its part, the sacred space contributes to its specific language to strengthen and unify the symphony of these languages. In the second part of the document, the adaptation of the celebratory space is presented as a global project. It begins with a discussion of the assembly and then considers the sanctuary and its essential furnishings: the altar, the ambo, and the presidential chair. Concerning the ambo, it states that it is the proper place for proclaiming the word of God. Its form is akin to the shape of the altar—the primacy of which must be respected. Following the tradition of medieval ambos, the norms ask for a noble, high, and stable platform, with a place to locate the paschal candle next to it, remaining there as appropriate through the liturgical year. A difference with previous

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 105

16/11/20 2:42 PM

106  The formal and legal structure of proclamation norms, this time the Italian bishops ask for the ambo to be located in proximity to the assembly—constituting a kind of hinge between the sanctuary and the nave. Interestingly, the norms request for the ambo not to be placed along an axis with the altar or the presidential chair to allow each to function as a separate and specific sign. In the case of a church of great historical importance with an ambo, the norms indicate that it must be integrated into the general design to have it used regularly, or at least during large assemblies, and at solemnities, to highlight the proclamation. The second document, The Adaptation of Churches According to the Liturgical Reform, published in 1996, provides the current standard for the Italian Church. One exciting aspect of this note is that it not only provides the normative criteria for new building projects or adaptations of existing structures, but it also gives a critical review of projects initiated over the previous thirty years. The first chapter introduces the church as an open architectural work in harmony with the liturgical celebration. The second chapter presents the idea of architectural space, the Eucharist, Baptism, Penance, and iconography (both in the sense of the church interior decoration and its devotional images) existing and interrelating as a “complex unit.” The third chapter looks at the issue of adapting existing worship space in practical terms. The central concept found in the first chapter has to do with the assembly and how the assembly generates and fills the architecture of the church. Of utmost importance is the relationship between the physical church and the Church as the people of God. The physical church is the place of sacramental encounter of the community with God. Both norms are accurate in its message that the ambo is not furniture but a place to proclaim the word of God. The ambo has the same dignity as the altar; its form has to be in dialogue with the latter. The ambo is the “bond” between the sanctuary and the nave, and its design ought to communicate its significance. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHURCHES (ARGENTINA, 1993)

In 1993, the Argentine Episcopal Conference, through its Episcopal Commission on Liturgy, together with the National Secretary for Liturgy, wrote guidelines to help all those involved in the enterprise of designing, building, enlarging, or modifying church buildings.72 These guidelines are neither mandatory nor exclusive, and they were presented as recommendations based on Vatican II and the Code of Canon Law. The instructions begin by pointing out the centrality of the liturgy in the life of the Church, with the understanding that worship space is sacred and ought to be exclusively reserved for the liturgy. They then discuss the architectonic space and how its different elements must correspond to the celebration of the Mystery of Christ in the liturgy, as well the liturgical

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 106

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 107 assembly who celebrate their faith and life in Christ. The guidelines provide an excellent theological approach to church buildings, linking the liturgical actions with the liturgical space: “The Salvific facts touch us sacramentally also through the spaces and architectural elements where Christ is present today.” They also observe that Christians are consecrated people who, while being in the world, are not of this world. This leads to a phenomenological discussion of liturgical space and the need for church architecture to facilitate the spiritual movement of individuals from their corporeal reality to the transcendental. Christian ritual space must express God’s omnipotence and human fragility, the humility of the incarnation and the power of the Creator, the glory of the resurrection, and the poverty of the cross simultaneously. The church building ought to be an image of the Incarnate Word and a place where the divine meets humanity. The main section of the document breaks down the design of a church into considerations of each of its spatial components and significant furnishings (i.e. the sanctuary and the altar). Each section cites church documents (canon law, pastoral directives, etc.), followed by commentary. On designing the sanctuary, the ambo is described as one of the most critical elements of the building. Even though these guidelines are not as weighty a theological document, they are a vital source for architects and communities all around the country. OUR PLACE OF WORSHIP (CANADA, 1999)

In 1999, the National Liturgy Office of the Canadian Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops approved Our Place of Worship.73 It is a document that offers guiding principles and descriptions of key characteristics of a place of worship in line with the requirements of the Constitution on the Liturgy of Vatican II and the Roman Missal. Our Place of Worship is organized into four parts with five appendices. Like the documents produced in other national jurisdictions, it affirms the idea of worship space as an exterior manifestation of the interior spiritual life of the community—worship space flows from the life of the congregation. The basis of the renewal of Roman Catholic worship is the principle that sacred space is liturgical space where the mysteries of faith are celebrated first and foremost. A strong emphasis is placed on the assembly and its role. The first part refers to the principles of design for liturgical spaces and considers the existence of “liturgical centres” that are determined by liturgical action, the orientation of the assembly, the place of the ministers, and the choice and arrangement of furnishings. The chief centres are “the place from which the word is proclaimed” and the altar table. This publication calls the place for the word either the lectern or the ambo. In the second part, an article entitled “Ritual Space” discusses the Liturgy of the Word. Here the bishops indicate that the whole community,

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 107

16/11/20 2:42 PM

108  The formal and legal structure of proclamation being together, celebrates the Liturgy of the Word. Based on the SC and the GIRM, they call for a specific location for the proclamation of the Word and offer some recommendations: • • • • •

•

The ambo, or lectern, used for the proclamation of the Scriptures should stand alone in an open space, its stature emphasizing its significance without overwhelming other focal points. The minister proclaiming the scriptures should be seen easily, without other persons forming a background. Every effort should be made to enhance the natural projection of the human voice, and the microphones (and lamps), if they are needed, should not be obstructive. Good design, materials, and workmanship should make it unnecessary to ornament the ambo with secondary symbols. The close harmony between the table of the Word and the Eucharistic table should be evident in harmonious designs of the ambo and the altar table. At the same time, the “two tables” are to be distinct in shape and location. The ambo is used for the proclamation of the Scripture. It may also be used for the responsorial psalm, the homily, and the general intercessions. Other ministries of leadership, the song leader, commentator, or the one making announcements, should have another place, with a smaller stand.

Our Place of Worship is a valuable tool, gives clear insights, and is grounded in Vatican II theology. However, the document does not hold the same authority of other episcopal conferences since it was not published as a directive. BUILT OF LIVING STONES (UNITED STATES, 2000)

The United States Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops’ document on art, architecture, and worship, Built of Living Stones, was issued in 2000,74 replacing the 1978 Environment and Art in Catholic Worship. The document states that both full and active participations are greatly affected by the architectural expression of the faith of a community. The document invites congregations that are in the process of building or renovating a church to study the Church’s teachings and liturgical theology and work together with their local traditions, tastes, and parish history. Throughout this document, the bishops have tried to emphasize the fact that the physical building can help or hinder worship. It contains many of the provisions of canon law governing liturgical art and architecture and offers pastoral suggestions based upon the experience of the thirty-five years that have passed since the Sacrosanctum Concilium. The first chapter is a theological reflection on liturgy, art, and architecture. The second chapter is an analysis of the principles that parish communities must apply when building or renovating a liturgical space. The

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 108

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 109 third chapter contains advice concerning the commissioning of sacred art. The final two sections describe practical issues in the process of building or renovating church buildings. In the first chapter, we are reminded that the term “Church” refers to the “living temple” that is the people of God while “church” describes “the building in which the Christian community gathers to hear the word of God, to pray together, to receive the sacraments, and celebrate the eucharist.” The church is both the domus Dei and also domus ecclesiae. As the church is the proper place for the parish community’s liturgical prayer, this chapter delves into the particularities of the ritual space of a church. The second chapter addresses rituals celebrated in the church and offers guidance to communities so that they may fulfil their role in designing a place that readily accommodates those rituals. The sanctuary is the centre, where ministers exercise their offices. The principal ritual furnishings within it are the altar and the ambo “from which God’s word is proclaimed,” and the chair of the celebrant: “These furnishings should be constructed of substantial materials that express dignity and stability. Their placement and their design again make it clear that, although they are distinct entities, they are related in the one Eucharistic celebration.” The document expresses a necessary balance between the celebration of both liturgies of the Word and the Eucharist. The location of the furnishings, the spatial and aesthetic relationship between them, and the assembly will be a secure sign of this balance, and thereby function symbolically within the liturgical space. Furthermore, this document has an entire section dedicated to the ambo numbers 61 and 62. The ambos design should reflect the dignity of the Holy Scriptures being proclaimed there: “Here the Christian community encounters the living Lord in the word of God and prepares itself for the ‘breaking of the bread’ and the mission to live the word that will be proclaimed.” For its location and design, the norms ask for a spacious area around the ambo, to allow the Gospel procession, including ministers bearing candles and incense. As with previous norms, it recommends that the design of altar and ambo carry a “harmonious and close relationship” to one another to emphasize the relationship between word and Eucharist. Remarkable, the document values easy physical access to include those ministers with disabilities. The place for the Word is defined as a “central focus of the area” and is where the congregation encounters Christ in the word of God. This place is generated not only by the ambo’s physical presence but also by the event in time that is the Word’s proclamation. In highlighting the importance of ritual actions, such as the Gospel procession with a full complement of ministers bearing candles and incense, the American guideline document shows how intrinsically connected the ambo is to them. Interestingly, the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 109

16/11/20 2:42 PM

110  The formal and legal structure of proclamation discussion incorporates the matter of people with disabilities. An example of the implementation of the guidelines in light of such considerations is the ambo in the new cathedral in Los Angeles, California, which has been adapted for use for a lector in a wheelchair. The last sentence of Section 62 would seem to contradict the GIRM, which expressly established that the ambo is the place for the proclamation of the Word and that its function as a stand to exhibit the Sacred Scriptures is not its core function. As mentioned previously, another place for displaying the scriptures is more appropriate. CONSECRATED FOR WORSHIP: A DIRECTORY ON CHURCH BUILDING (ENGLAND AND WALES, 2006)

The teaching and policy document, Consecrated for Worship, was produced by the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and published in 2006.75 This is one of the last records on the subject of liturgical renewal and church design from an episcopal conference. The document’s purpose is to clarify the law and recommend an approach to be followed and implemented. As with most other contemporary documents of this nature, church buildings are defined as places where Christians gather in prayer and worship and as “places where the faith and life of the Church come together and are made visible” (4). Even though the faith of the Church is unchanging, the bishops recognize developments in theology, liturgical practice, and piety, which impact architectural style. Rooted in Vatican II, the document appeals to the liturgy as the centre of Christian community life: “The Church assembles at the font to enact its birth in the person of new members. It is gathered and schooled by the Word proclaimed at the ambo in its midst. It centres its life on the altar where the Eucharist, the source and summit of all its activity, is offered” (7). There is also an indication that communities are invited to work within a dynamic worship space. From time to time, parishes should reflect on the best use of their ritual space, since the place for the Word is a critical element. Article 10 in the document expresses what it considers to be the focal point of the celebration: “The principal focus, the heart of a church, remains the altar on which the Eucharist is celebrated, and the ambo from which the word is proclaimed” (10). It is striking that the document has not included the presidential chair and that it has put the ambo in the same category as the altar, as the altar and the ambo lead the minds of the faithful from its materiality to the invisible spiritual realities they manifest. However, with the presidential chair, following the Second Vatican Council, the role of the priest came back to one of presiding over a joint act of worship. The next article contains a phenomenological perspective that is not found in other documents: “The Liturgy happens not just within the sanctuary but throughout the whole sacred space. To

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 110

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 111 do the actions that are proper to it, the assembly needs to face in different directions, to process, to kneel and stand in comfort, the better to express its active role as the worshipping Body of Christ.” This new perspective is an invitation to have more dynamic sacred spaces, such as the Episcopalian Cathedral in Philadelphia, where the assembly moves to the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist after the Liturgy of the Word. This method is one way to break the usually static worship of the Roman Catholic Church. This document also makes an active call to artists to collaborate with representing the mysteries of faith celebrated in liturgical space: “Each work [of art], a fresh ‘naming’ of that which is of God; under the inspiration of the Spirit, each word a means by which artists witness to the glory, truth and beauty of God” (45). However, it is the community that is charged with the responsibility of seeking out the artist. As mentioned, part three deals with the theological aspects of the churches built to house the worship of the Church. This reminds us that the primary function of the church building is “to be a place where the local Church comes together to celebrate the Sunday Eucharist when the two tables of the Word and Lord’s Supper provide the main focus of action, around which the people gather. It is this form of worship for which the church building is primarily designed” (114). In practical matters, the document requests that there should be good processional routes, giving indications that the Gospel procession should go from the altar (where the Gospel book is placed at the beginning of Mass) to the ambo. Still, there is no mention of a procession of the lector. Instead, there is an indication that lectors are to be seated close to the sanctuary from where their ministry can be carried out with ease and dignity, and its positioning should make it clear that they are part of the gathered assembly. In the section “Music and Musicians,” there is a discussion of psalms: “The responsorial psalm is part of the Liturgy of the Word, and so the psalmist should normally sing it from the ambo (or another suitable place, GIRM 61). The General Intercessions may also be sung from the ambo. The route to the ambo from the choir should be clear, and the psalmist should be able to approach the ambo easily and visibly from the assembly” (145). These detailed instructions give us some sense of the importance placed on the responsorial psalm within the Liturgy of the Word. Sadly, it is still common to see the ambo empty when the psalm is sung. In part three, the document shows the advance of liturgical and theological conscience on the Liturgy of the Word, entirely dedicated to the ambo, entitled, “Proclaiming the Word: The Ambo.” We found some deep insights in this section: It [the ambo] should reflect the dignity of God’s word and be a clear reminder to the people that in the Mass the table of God’s word and of

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 111

16/11/20 2:42 PM

112  The formal and legal structure of proclamation Christ’s body is placed before them. The place for the readings of the word must also truly help the people’s listening and attention during the Liturgy of the Word. Great pains will therefore be taken, in keeping with the design of each church, over the harmonious and close relationship of the [ambo] with the altar. (180) The novelty of calling the ambo a “place for the proclamation” brings back the whole history and original liturgical intention of the Liturgy of the Word: “The place from which the Word is proclaimed… should reflect the dignity of God’s word and be a clear reminder to the people that in the Mass the table of God’s word and of Christ’s body is placed before them.” The insistence on this relationship between ambo and altar is consistent throughout the document; nevertheless, each one should express its own liturgical function and the action which takes place there. It insists that the liturgical action should be visible and open to everyone; it is to be barrier-­ free in the fullest sense, concerning lighting, accessibility, and other local circumstances. The section also presents practical considerations of trying to avoid everyday occurrences that happen in churches and are demeaning to the proclamation, such as having two identical lecterns or an ambo so small that the Book of the Gospels is in danger of toppling off the little bookstand. The document also discusses the role of the artist, considering respect for the setting and design as a task best left in the hands of the artist, but with the responsibility for commissioning on community. The document gives freedom while asking for prudence. This last set of guidelines demonstrates the marked development in the worship practices of the Western Church in the previous forty years that arose out of the call for liturgical renewal. Based entirely on the theology of Vatican II and updated according to new concerns, there has been a greater awareness of disabilities, technological developments, and other practical issues. Liturgical renewal has brought newfound artistic freedom to architects, interior designers, and visual artists. The document has also encouraged the community of the faithful to adopt a more eschatological perspective while being sensitive to the surrounding culture.

Synthesis and conclusion The lesson from this chapter is the potential of comparative religious law and practice on the proclamation and recitation of Holy Scriptures in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities for a fuller understanding and appreciation of their traditions. The fundamental elements were presented as succinctly as possible, and the complexity and frequency of the developments in the Church, in comparison to Judaism and Islam, were shown by the length of the Christian sections, which is mainly focused on the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 112

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 113 Judaism, Christianity, and Islam identify a spectrum of proclamation and recitation practices applicable to their faithful. The historical sources have shaped most of the norms. Developments on liturgical theology have brought current regulations, mostly in Reform Jewish and Christian tradition and on the Roman Catholics. Each religion, based on their beliefs, has clearly defined how to proclaim and recite Holy Scriptures, as well the character, extent, and purposes of their norms. To some degree, the ordo illustrates the theocratic foundations of religious law, as well as its temporal aspect—enlivened with a certain level of pluralism between and within traditions.76 First of all, this exposition is meant to illustrate how each of the Abrahamic faiths has developed the proper ritual way to read or to recite scriptures, showing evidence of a deep understanding of the real meaning of proclaiming the word of God. Judaism The evolution of rubrics throughout the proclamation of Holy Scriptures and the process of their standardization was gradual. Abrahamic religions venerated the sacred scriptures from an early time. We have no ancient texts outlining in detail the norms concerning proclamation itself before the destruction of the Temple. Nevertheless, ancient Jewish practices were the first to develop patterns that became rituals. Rabbinic Judaism was transforming Temple rituals into new sacred actions to be performed in the synagogue. The Torah ark and the bimah acquired a sense of being a holy place. By the third century, norms for reading the Torah began to be implemented, and most of the rituals were defined. Today, for the Jewish community, the weekly Torah reading is a powerful way to participate in God’s plans for His children. The Torah reading cycle symbolically represents the spiritual journey of the community to enter into the fullness of God’s covenantal promises. Early Christianity Early Christians during the first century were following rabbinic traditions for the reading of the scriptures and worship places started at the houses of the most well-off community members. At the end of the third century, Christians adopted the basilica as the most convenient place for their celebration. The first series of liturgical documents belong to the post-­ Constantinian era and are recorded in the Liber sacramentorum prayers. Reading scriptures during liturgical celebrations was acquiring more and more importance, with the place for proclamation differing between the West and the East. In Syrian churches, we find rituals where the readings take place at the bema. The ambo appears in Constantinople and is an expression of a lavish ceremony. Roman liturgy and the Carolingian reform also developed a highly ritualized Liturgy of the Word, and ambos were

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 113

16/11/20 2:42 PM

114  The formal and legal structure of proclamation required for its implementation. As a result, there are numerous ambo examples from churches built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in Italy. Islam In Islam, we have an entirely different tradition. The first divine command to the Prophet was the imperative “recite,” iqra, which can also mean to “read,” or “read out loud,” since, in the ancient world, people generally read their scriptures out loud, even when they were sitting by themselves. The recitation of the Qur’an is the foundation for Muslim worship, but not only that, as Graham says, “for in the formal worship of salat and also in individual devotional prayer life, no Muslim can function without being able to recite a minimal amount of the Arabic scripture.”77 Scholars such as Mahmoud Ayoub and others have recognized the aural and oral nature of the Holy Scriptures and its impact on the spiritual and moral life of the community. Al-Bukhari’s Sahih and other significant hadith collections relate the tradition in which the Prophet reportedly said, “The best among you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it to others.” The rites of worship are regulated by Shariah law, which unites all Muslim people into one community. Of these rites, the most important is the Salat, where the recitation takes place. There is no required place for the recitation, not even for Friday prayer. The fundamental principle of monotheism, together with the first act of individual submission, directs the design of the worship space, with the requirement of facing towards Mecca when it is time for prayer. Christian reformation and Catholic revival A rupture between norms and practices in the West appears in the sixteenth century, with the Protestant Reform putting the reading of the Bible at the centre of the liturgy. As a response, the Council of Trent produced the Ordo Missae, adapted the Roman ordo, and harmonized it with the broader liturgical tradition. For the reading of the Bible, two ambos were required, but at major feasts and solemnities only, during which one was used to read the epistle and the other the Gospel. The practices of Tridentine liturgy and the churches built in conformity to Trent’s reforms give evidence of the ambo’s decline into obsolescence. For parishes and private masses, the readings took place at the altar, facing away from the assembly. The Bible readings were in Latin. In most churches, either new or adapted for the Tridentine reforms, there was no ambo, not even in the new St. Peter’s Basilica. The Tridentine liturgy broke a tradition of more than one thousand years. In the same period of time, we have a significant contribution of Cardinal Borromeo with his Instructions. Though, it is surprising that these guidelines were never included in the rubrics related to the configuration of the liturgical space, as described in the Pius V Missal before 1917.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 114

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 115 Contemporary times To bring back to life, as the Protestant tradition did five hundred years before, the proclamation of the word for Roman Catholics was done gradually and was largely the result of the Liturgical Movement, finalized by the Vatican II. Finally, the Liturgy of the Word and the ambo were restored as the table of God’s Word. The documents of Vatican II, Inter oecumenici and the Novus Ordo, directed how to complete the renewal, particularly with the Liturgy of the Word as well as the Eucharist. However, the status of the ambo as a historically rooted element of church design and liturgical practice was not explicitly expressed, losing the opportunity to connect it with Church tradition. A great deal of attention was paid to the altar and its removal from the back of churches. Still, little consideration was given to the ambo, thereby making it an afterthought in church design and more of a creative problem rather than a possibility for innovative expression of the church’s tradition. Fortunately, the episcopal document addresses this issue twenty years later. Diocesan norms reinforced the dignity of the ambo. Most of the documents have theological notes suggesting that the proclamation of the Word from a single ambo is a metaphor for the one Word of God in which Christ is present and continues his ministry of salvation, sanctifying worshipers and embodying the unity of the witness of scripture. A criticism that could be levelled at the process of developing these norms was that they failed to consider the phenomenological aspects of the ambo, its potential as a work of sacred art, and its symbolic content. From a liturgical–theological perspective, post–Vatican II documents confirm that the proclamation of the Word and its place is independent of the Eucharist celebration. An ambo is a place of ritual action and not a piece of simple furniture, as confirmed by the Ordo of Dedication, since the principal part of the rite for dedicating the ambo is for the first time the Word of God is proclaimed from it. Surprisingly, there are no rubrics that indicate that the ambo is either signed with the cross, sprinkled with holy water, or incensed. It is only the proclamation of the Word of God that dedicates and blesses the ambo, but is it never clearly expressed to the assembly in the prayers of the ordo. Post–Vatican II ideas concerning the ambo can be summarized by saying that the ambo is not merely a place to keep the scriptures but a place to proclaim the word of God. The ambo is related to the altar in that it shares the sanctuary area together with the presidential chair. Only some episcopal conferences demonstrate a progression in their theological and hermeneutical insights, as well as discussing practical considerations—updated to fit with realities that were never taken into account before, such as having sound equipment and providing accessibility to all. All the documents show true reverence for the ambo and clearly express the idea that it is from the ambo that the Christian assembly receives spiritual nourishment from Christ, who is present through His word.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 115

16/11/20 2:42 PM

116  The formal and legal structure of proclamation The three faiths recognize that the purpose of liturgical norms—the administration of worship and sacred rites—is to guide the faithful in their relations with God and each other. The proclamation and recitation of the word of God is a primary action of all three religions and divinely instituted. Proclaiming and reciting scriptures are bound by norms and involve an intimate encounter between the congregation and their individual members in the presence of God. A religious institution provides a space for the liturgical proclamation, whether a synagogue or a church. The faith l­eaders— rabbi, priest, minister, and imam—are responsible for its execution. Finally, when we discuss religious norms, Muslims and some Jewish movements are the ones who abide every aspect of their life by the Qur’an and Shariah, and the latter by the Torah and Talmud. At the same time, Christians and liberal Jews do not; they try to live their life according to the teachings of their faith, but they have a certain degree of distinction between secular and religious life. However, for Muslims and ultra-­ Orthodox Jews, this difference does not make sense. While some traditions with Islam and Judaism are eagerly adapting, other traditions attempt to maintain their own sense of continuity. This brief examination of the development of the legal structure of proclamation and recitation prepares us for understanding and discussing the development of practices around ritual and ritual places. In the next section, we will delve more in-depth into the theological aspects of ritual.

Notes 1 Norman Doe, Comparative Religious Law: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, 218. 2 Alexander Schmemann, Introduction to Liturgical Theology, 33. 3 Aidan Kavanagh, On Liturgical Theology, 127. 4 David Nekrutman, The Siddur—An Inner Understanding of the Jewish People. 5 Schmemann, 39. 6 Timothy H. Lim and John J. Collins, The Formation of the Jewish Canon, 3. 7 Shnayer Z. Leiman, The Canonization of Hebrew Scripture, 14. 8 Alan Unterman, ed., Judaism, 43. 9 Aziz Al-Azmeh, “Canon and Canonisation of the Qur’an,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, ed. K. Fleet. 10 Mishnah, Pirkei Avot 1. 11 Talmud Bavli, Megillah 32a. 12 Ruth Langer, “Jewish Liturgy,” in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. J. Barton. 13 Mishnah Berakhot 4:1. 14 Mishnah Berakhot, 4. 15 Kiddushin 33b in Talmud Bavli. 16 Langer, 17 17 Megillah 29a, in Talmud Bavli, according to the commentary of Chidushei Agadot Maharsha. 18 See Code of Jewish Law, Orach Chayim, no. 149–52.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 116

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 117 19 H. A. Meek, The Synagogue, 69. 20 Note: The Code of Jewish Law lays out practical and concise instructions culled from the intricate web of Talmudic deliberation and rabbinic commentaries that come along with it. It was written by Rabbi Yosef Caro 914881575) in Safed, north of Israel. 21 Mishnah. 22 Orach Chayim, 150:5, based on Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Prayer 11:3, and Talmud, Sukkah 51b. See Tosafot on Sukkah 52a. 23 Chatam Sofer on Orach Chayim, 28. 24 Igrot Moshe on Orach Chayim, 2:28. 25 Mishneh Halachos, 7:12. 26 Talmud Bavli, Sukkah, 52b. 27 Doe, 19. 28 Schmemann, 53. 29 C. W. Dugmore, The Influence of the Synagogue Upon the Divine Office, 50. 30 The Lectio continua is interrupted with the appearance of the liturgical calendar, which later gives birth to lectionaries. 31 Robert Cabié, The Church at Prayer: The Eucharist, 43–6. 32 Borromeo, Instructionum fabricae: Supellectilis ecclesiasticae, 21–2. 33 Johannes H. Emminghaus, The Eucharist: Essence, Form, Celebration, 86. 34 See Jonathan Brown, Hadith: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World. 35 Brown. 36 “Ibadah,” in The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, ed. J. Esposito. 37 Graham, Beyond the Written Word, 100. 38 Muhammad Saed Abdul-Rahman, The Quran with Tafsir Ibn Kathir Part 1 of 30 Al Fatiha 001 to Al Baqrah 141, 37. 39 Anna M. Gade, “Recitation of the Qurʿan,” in Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe, 372. 40 Bukhari, 3047; Muslim, 819. 41 Martin Frishman, et al., The Mosque: History, Architectural Development & Regional Diversity, 32. 42 Bukhari 439, Muslim, 533. 43 Armstrong, The Lost Art of Scripture, chap. Recitation and Intentio. 44 André Haquin, “The Liturgical Movement and Catholic Ritual Revision,” in The Oxford History of Christian Worship, ed. G.Wainwright and Westerfield Tucker, 699. 45 The first partial authorization use of vernaculars for the biblical readings at mass and for singing, bilingual rituals in Latin and French and in Latin and German was in 1947. 46 Metzger, History of the Liturgy, 134. 47 Gerald Ellard, The Mass in Transition, 119–25. 48 Ellard, 119. 49 Ellard. 50 Ellard. 51 Ellard, 122. 52 Annibale Bugnini, The Reform of the Liturgy, 46. 53 Father Bugnini was given the responsibility of organizing the Concilium. In a short period of time, he had to determine the tasks, limits, and possible interlocking of the study groups and to mobilize some hundred scholars while identifying their specializations, tendencies, abilities, and readiness to be assigned to the most appropriate group: a complex machinery had to be set in motion. Bugnini, 61.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 117

16/11/20 2:42 PM

118  The formal and legal structure of proclamation

54 55 56 57

Bugnini, 825. Bugnini, 835. Bugnini, 354. Edward Foley et al., A Commentary on the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 354. 58 Pope Francis, Angelus: Second Sunday of Lent, 2017. 59 Pope Francis, 306. 60 Foley et al., 359. 61 Foley et al., 368. 62 Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum: Apostolic Letter Given Motu Proprio. 63 Bugnini, 409–10. 64 Bugnini, 417. 65 Catholic Church, Book of Blessings. 66 Commission Épiscopale Française de Liturgie, Le renouveau liturgique et la disposition des églises. 67 Irish Episcopal Commission for Liturgy, The Place of Worship: Pastoral Directory on the Building and Reordering of Churches. 68 Deutsche Bischofskonferenz and Liturgische Kommission, Leitlinien für den Bau und die Ausgestaltung von gottesdienstlichen Räumen Handreichung der Liturgiekommission der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz. 69 Chiesa Cattolica Italiana, Commissione Episcopale per la Liturgia, La progettazione di nuove chiese. 70 Chiesa Cattolica Italiana, Commissione Episcopale per la Liturgia, L’adeguamento delle chiese secondo la riforma liturgica. 71 Chiesa Cattolica Italiana, La progettazione di nuove chiese. 72 Comisión Episcopal de Liturgia, Secretariado Nacional de Liturgia, and Conferencia Episcopal Argentina, Lineamientos generales para la construcción de iglesias. 73 Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Our Place of Worship. 74 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Built of Living Stones: Art, Architecture, and Worship. 75 Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Consecrated for Worship: A Directory on Church Building. 76 Doe, 14. 77 Graham, 102.

Bibliography Abbott, Walter M., ed. The Documents of Vatican II: In a New and Definitive Translation with Commentaries and Notes by Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Authorities. New York, NY: Herder and Herder: Association Press, 1966. Abdul-Rahman, Muhammad Saed. The Quran with Tafsir Ibn Kathir Part 1 of 30 Al Fatiha 001 to Al Baqrah 141. London, UK: MSA Publication Limited, 2011. Armstrong, Karen. The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing the Sacred Texts. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2019. Barton, John, ed. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford University Press, 2016. Borromeo, Cardinal Charles. Instructionum Fabricae: Supellectilis Ecclesiasticae, 1577. Translated by Evelyn Carol Voelker. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University, 1997.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 118

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 119 Brown, Jonathan. Hadith: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World. 2nd ed. Richmond: Oneworld, 2009. Bugnini, Annibale. The Reform of the Liturgy, 1948–1975. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1990. Cabié, Robert. The Church at Prayer: The Eucharist. Translated by Matthew J. O’Connell. Edited by Martimort Aimâe Georges. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1986. Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Our Place of Worship. Ottawa, ON: Publication Service, CCCB, 2000. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. Consecrated for Worship: A Directory on Church Building. London, UK: The Catholic Truth Society and Colloquium, 2006. Catholic Church, and International Committee on English in the Liturgy. General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2003. Catholic Church. Book of Blessings: For Study and Comment by the Bishops and the Member and Associate-Member Conferences of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. Washington, DC: International Commission on English in the Liturgy, 1987. Catholic Church. The Roman Missal Adapted to the Use of the Laity from the Missale Romanum: As Corrected Under a Decree of the Tridentine Council, Issued by Command of Pope St. Pius V, Revised by Subsequent Popes, and Reformed by Authority of Pope Pius X. 21st ed. Toronto, ON: W.E. Blake, 1914. Chiesa Cattolica Italiana. Commissione Episcopale per la Liturgia. “L’adeguamento delle chiese secondo la riforma liturgica.” Conferenza Episcopale Italiana, 1996. http://www.intratext.com/X/ITA0027.HTM (accessed May 15, 2020). Chiesa Cattolica Italiana. Commissione Episcopale per la Liturgia “La Progettazione di nuove chiese.” Conferenza Episcopale Italiana, 1993. https://bce.chiesacattolica. it/1993/02/18/la-progettazione-di-nuove-chiese/ (accessed May 15, 2020). Comisión Episcopal de Liturgia. Lineamientos generales para la construcción de iglesias. Buenos Aires: Conferencia Episcopal Argentina, 1993. Comité National d’Art Sacré. L’église, maison du peuple de Dieu. Paris: Centre national de pastorale liturgique, 1971. Commission Épiscopale Française de Liturgie. “Le renouveau liturgique et la disposition des églises.” Centre national de pastorale liturgique, 1965. http://www. ceremoniaire.net/pastorale1950/docs/disposition1965.html (accessed May 15, 2020). Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship. “Ordo dedicationis ecclesiae et altaris.” In The Rites of the Catholic Church, edited by International Committee on English in the Liturgy, II. Collegeville, MN: Pueblo Pub. Co., 1991. Deutsche, Bischofskonferenz, and Kommission Liturgische. Leitlinien Für Den Bau Und Die Ausgestaltung Von Gottesdienstlichen Räumen Handreichung Der Liturgiekommission Der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz; 25. Oktober 1988. Bonn: Sekretariat der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, 1994. Doe, Norman. Comparative Religious Law: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Dugmore, C. W. The Influence of the Synagogue Upon the Divine Office. 2nd ed. Westminster, UK: Faith Press, 1964. Ellard, Gerald. The Mass in Transition. Milwaukee, WI: Bruce Pub. Co., 1956.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 119

16/11/20 2:42 PM

120  The formal and legal structure of proclamation Emminghaus, Johannes H. The Eucharist: Essence, Form, Celebration. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1997. Esposito, John L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2004. Fleet, Kate, Gudrun Krämer, John Matringe, and Everett Rowson, eds. Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Boston: Brill, 2013. Foley, Edward, Nathan Mitchell, and Joanne M. Pierce. “Catholic Academy of Liturgy, and Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions”. In A Commentary on the General Instruction of the Roman Missal: Developed under the Auspices of the Catholic Academy of Liturgy and Cosponsored by the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007. Frishman, Martin, Hasan-Uddin Khan, and Mohammad Al-Asad. The Mosque: History, Architectural Development & Regional Diversity. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994. Graham, William A. Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Haquin, André. “The Liturgical Movement and Catholic Ritual Revision.” In The Oxford History of Christian Worship, edited by Geoffrey Wainwright, and Karen B. Westerfield Tucker. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006. Irish Episcopal Commission for Liturgy. The Place of Worship: Pastoral Directory on the Building and Reordering of Churches. 3rd ed. Dublin, IE: Veritas Books; Carlow Irish Institute of Pastoral Liturgy, 1994. Kavanagh, Aidan. On Liturgical Theology. New York, NY: Pueblo Pub. Co., 1984. Leiman, Shnayer Z. The Canonization of Hebrew Scripture: The Talmudic and Midrashic Evidence. Transactions/Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences; Hamden, CT.: Published for the Academy by Archon Books, 1976. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1993. Lim, Timothy H., and John J. Collins. The Formation of the Jewish Canon. The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press, 2013. McAuliffe, Jane Dammen, ed. Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an. Leiden, NL: Brill Academic Publishers, 2004. Meek, H. A. The Synagogue. London, UK: Phaidon Press, 2003. Metzger, Marcel. History of the Liturgy: The Major Stages. Translated by Madeleine M. Beaumont. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1997. Nekrutman, David. “The Siddur – An Inner Understanding of the Jewish People,” Bridges for Peace Dispatch, 12/01 (2014). Peters, Francis E. A Reader on Classical Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. Pope Benedict XVI. “Summorum Pontificum: Apostolic Letter Given Motu Proprio.” benedict-xvi/en/ Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2007. http://w2.vatican.va/content/­ motu_proprio/documents/hf_ben-xvi_motu-proprio_20070707_­s ummorumpontificum.html (accessed May 15, 2020). Pope Francis. “Angelus: Second Sunday of Lent.” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2017. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2017/documents/papa-­francesco_ angelus_20170312.html (accessed May 15, 2020). Pope Pius XII, “Mediator Dei: Encyclical on the Sacred Liturgy.” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1947. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/­documents/ hf_p-xii_enc_20111947_mediator-dei_en.html (accessed May 15, 2020).

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 120

16/11/20 2:42 PM

The formal and legal structure of proclamation 121 Schmemann, Alexander. Introduction to Liturgical Theology. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003. Mishnah. New York, NY: Sefaria, 2014. https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Mishnah (accessed May 15, 2020). Orach Chayim. New York, NY: Sefaria, 2014. https://www.sefaria.org/Shulchan_ Arukh,_Orach_Chayim?lang=bi (accessed May 15, 2020). Sefaria. Talmud Bavli. New York, NY: Sefaria, 2014. https://www.sefaria.org/texts/ Talmud/Bavli (accessed May 15, 2020). United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Built of Living Stones: Art, Architecture, and Worship.” United States Catholic Conference, 2000. https://nyliturgy.org/wp-content/uploads/BOLS.pdf (accessed May 15, 2020). Unterman, Alan, ed. Judaism. Old Saybrook, CT: Konecky & Konecky, 1981.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp02.indd 121

16/11/20 2:42 PM

3

The theology of proclamation

What is the proclamation and recitation of Holy Scriptures? What occurs during public proclamation and recitation? What kind of presence do we face during this human action? Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in his book The Spirit of the Liturgy (2000), attempts to give the faith its central form of expression in the liturgy, suggesting, “Liturgy would be a kind of anticipation, a rehearsal, a prelude for the life to come.”1 In truth, for all Abrahamic faiths, liturgy must be an encounter with God in the everlasting present. This encounter is the mysterium constituting their liturgy. In this chapter, we discuss how the divine word is and has been transmitted, preserved, and proclaimed in the form of scripture. In essence, it is not a matter of empty rites performed as a matter of obeying divine commands nor is it about fulfilling the demands of the law of each religion. The liturgical proclamation and recitation are the reality of recalling God’s saving deeds in the holy words revealed to them. It is not an undertaking of repetitious imitation but a re-listening of the scriptures that lead them into the truth. Indeed, such is the proclamation and recitation’s nature that Abrahamic faiths describe it as the present encounter with the one they confess to; and the encounter’s privileged moment is in the proclamation and recitation of God’s words. The Abrahamic faiths profoundly believe that their Holy Books—the Torah, the Bible, and the Qur’an—are the very word of God revealed to them, as Karl Bart argues, and not solely for the faithful. Instead, they are the “actus purus of an invisible happening of God” and God’s testimony about Himself.2 For this reason, the re-enactment or reading of scriptures plays a significant role in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim worship. Indeed, worshippers experience the living presence of God through the ritual proclamation and recitation of their sacred scriptures. Divine revelation constitutes for them a vital element of their religion. In each of the three religions, the revelation is presented with five main features: author—God; instrument—nature, sacred places, visions, words, and others; recipient—a prophet or seer; and the efficacy of the addressee in their relationship with God and the community. The variants of each of these elements and their connection with the others bring different types of

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 122

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 123 revelation. In the Abrahamic religions, those revelations were written and taken as holy scripts.3

The Torah: God’s revealed teachings for humankind The most ancient tradition of having God at the heart of Holy Writ belongs to Judaism’s theology, when the Torah was revealed to Moses: “And you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them through Moses” (Lev. 10:11). Since the destruction of the Temple, the liturgical pre-eminence of the Torah has remained unchanged in the lives of Jewish people. In all three branches of Judaism (Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform), congregants continue reading the Torah on an annual or triennial basis. The Torah is the enduring symbol of God’s presence among Jewish people and the substance of divine revelation to Israel. The structure of Jewish revelation can be described as a relationship between the particular and the universal. God revealed Himself to Israel at Mount Sinai, creating a concrete encounter with His people in a particular moment in history. The impact of this encounter was so strong that it became a universal symbol for generations to come and constitute a possibility of reinterpreting and re-enacting that experience of the past in the present and future. The religious experience was, is, and will be recurring again and again by the knowledge of the name of God: “I am who I am” (Ex. 3:14). God’s revelation imbues the entire writing of the Torah: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 20:2). Today, the faithful re-enact that experience of liberation in the proclamation of the Torah during the service. In keeping with their beliefs, Jews in a synagogue service received the Torah when they gathered at the foot of a mountain in the Sinai Desert and witnessed how God spoke with Moses: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to come to you in the thickness of the cloud so that the people will hear as I speak to you, and they will also believe in you ever after’” (Ex. 19:9). In Passover celebrations, Jews recount the moment, somewhat overwhelmed by the experience, and remember how their ancestors asked Moses to kindly bring all the details of what exactly God would like from them and report on it, which he did, after over forty years of wandering in the desert. Those were witnesses of how Moses also entrusted the people with keeping multiple copies of the written record, which they did, and is the reason so many copies exist today and why they have the Torah. Jewish theologian Maimonides (1135–1204 CE), in his Mishneh Torah, inspires his students, saying, Israel did not believe in Moses, our teacher, because of the miracles he performed…. So why did we believe him? The revelation on Sinai which we saw with our own eyes, and heard with our own ears, not having to depend on the testimony of others.4

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 123

02/12/20 2:00 PM

124  The theology of proclamation The experience of the revelation transformed from the particular to the universal allows Jewish people to see with their own eyes and listen with their own ears to the ritual proclamation of the Torah. Judaism, through its different movements, has different perspectives on revelation. The central difference between them is their approach to revelation and the origin of the Torah. The Rabbinic Judaism and contemporary Orthodox view hold that everything in the written Torah (the Five Books of Moses) and the oral Torah was revealed directly by God to Moses. Conservative Judaism’s belief is that the Torah embraces God’s understanding of diverse people, the revelation evolved over an extended period, and it was written down by various divinely inspired individuals. The previous concept is theologically articulated in terms of “progressive revelation,” with the idea that God is revealed differently in every age. Alexander Even-Chen explains how another Jewish perspective teaches that it is in dialogue with the “progressive revelation” that reveals the Torah contains the words of God rather than that it is the word of God. As a result, in the development of the Torah, the sages are God’s partners for the written Torah. In moments of illumination, they translated the most in-depth words of God into everyday language. The latter understanding emphasizes that the text is the actual word of God that God expressed in human language to transmit the holy will. 5 Jews from the Reform believe that the Torah is not God’s direct revelation but is a revealed scripture written by ancestors that bears knowledge, experience, and answers for what God requires of them. Unlike the Orthodox tradition that views the Torah as complete and unchanging, the Reform tradition believes that revelation is progressive and that the Torah’s interpretation and applications in society continues to evolve. The Orthodox approach was articulated by Maimonides in the 8th article of the 13 Articles of Faith, which states that “the Torah has been revealed from Heaven.” Maimonides’s formulation may seem extreme for modern scholars, but Jews loyal to Rabbinic Judaism accept it.6 Orthodox Rabbi Asher Lopatin reframes how to approach the divine revelation from a different theological point of view: I believe our halakhic tradition needs to be driven by theology in order to keep Judaism alive and infinite, rather than ossified and limited. We need to start with awe of the Torah and Talmud coming from God, being infinite and deserving infinite reverence. We need to place ourselves humbly below it, and only then establish ownership of it and make it our ‘plaything,’ as King David says in Psalms (119) … Only if you feel Torah is your God-given partner can you then become intimate with her. Only then can you really feel you are so connected to Torah that you can make conjecture as to what she is thinking; only then you can trust your instincts in interpreting Torah’s 3,500-year tradition.7

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 124

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 125 This approach teaches that the Holy Book is the vehicle of the living, spoken word of God, rather than an object of veneration and a way to meet the divine in a worship of the proclamation of His words. This understanding of the divine authority of the Torah, together with the duty to perform the ritual proclamation, gives worshippers the possibility of enjoying a close relationship with God. From an analogue perspective, Ze’ev Wolf of Zhytomyr, a Hasidic preacher, in his book Or ha-Me’ir (1787 CE) gives a mystical standpoint of this encounter: The Torah is the impression of the divinity, and the world is the impression of the Torah. When an illuminatus concentrates his heart, spirit and soul to divest everything in the world from the form of the materiality, and cause the embodiment of the spiritual form.… By his comprehension of the embodiment of the divinity, which dwells there, namely within the letters of the Torah, which are embodied also in the entirety of the world, which has been created with the Torah, and they animate everything. And this is the power of the Illuminatus that he can divest the material form and cause the clothing by the spiritual form.8 For rabbi Ze’ev, the reading of the Torah is experienced as an intermediary between God and the faithful. Moshe Idel explains that the letters of the Torah represent the linguistic immanence of the divine within the created world.9 Jewish mystics believe that when the divine words within the Torah are proclaimed, they bridge the gap between the faithful and God. Idel continues, stating, “The specific quality of each of the letters, or sounds, gives shape to the human spirit, ultimately of divine origin, that pronounce them.”10 When the Torah is proclaimed, in that instant the human voice activates the divine nature of its revelation. Its recitation activates the linguistic immanence. Proclaiming the Torah Jewish theologians agree that the synagogue liturgy is an expression of a re-enactment of the Sinai theophany—the core myth of Jewish religious experience—which started with Rabbinic Judaism after the destruction of the Temple and reaches its most comprehensive expression by the eighteenth century in the Ashkenazi community. Reuven Kimelman calls this process a “templization of the synagogue” and “a sacrificazation of prayer.”11 When the community realized that the Temple would not be rebuilt as soon as they were expecting, the synagogue became the alternative space for many of the activities associated with the Temple, such as the blessing of the priests, blowing the ram’s horn on a New Year, shaking the palm branch and citron on Sukkot, reciting the Levitical Hallel psalms, blowing the shofar to announce the beginning of the Sabbath, and, above

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 125

02/12/20 2:00 PM

126  The theology of proclamation all, the Torah proclamation. In addition, after 200 CE, the construction of new synagogues acquired a physical orientation to the Temple. The ark and the bimah faced Jerusalem in order to oriented congregants’ prayers. As Kimelman says, the challenge was how to recreate a liturgy and space that was a religious continuum without creating a religious equivalency.12 The purpose was to make the synagogue a place where God could be found. Rabbinic Judaism contributed to the synagogal liturgy, not only helping the community to remain in the faith but also recreating the religious experience of the Temple with prayers, rituals, and symbols. Ruth Langer’s study on Ashkenazi liturgy roots reveals much of the significance of this recreation and the theology behind the elaborate ritual drama of the synagogue’s Torah reading as its core:13 In Ashkenaz, the liturgical response to the presence of Torah changed radically over the past millennium. Where the earliest ritual expressed only general praise of God, the Hasidei Ashkenaz added interpretations that made this praise specific to the story of the Torah. By the sixteenth century, Ashkenazi Jews had universally added verses that stated explicitly that the Torah reading connects the community to the ideal moments in the history of Torah, its proclamations from Sinai and Zion. Finally, under the influence of Lurianic kabbalah this became a liturgy that expressly makes the current synagogue ritual into a moment of equivalent revelation or immediate interaction with the Divine.14 For Langer, the proclamation generates a sanctified space by determining that it is from this place the congregants address God by reading aloud the divine revelation. In this manner, the ritual of Torah proclamation generates a sacred time and space as it was generated in the Temple. Langer explains, “The ritual reading of Torah, far from being the reading of a book, is now explicitly a performance that allows Jews personally to experience the central experience of their sacred history: the revelation of Torah and its ongoing proclamation from Jerusalem.”15 The behavioural language of the ritual and the verbal language of the liturgy are woven together to convey a single meaning: the presence of God in the midst of the assembly. At the moment of the proclamation, the mythic world and the world of the assembly fuse and become one sacred event. Rabbi Neil Gillman says, “It is ritual, then, that brings the mythic system into the life of the believer so that it can accomplish its function of ordering the world.”16 In this liturgical setting, the Torah text is not only read but also performed as a momentous event in order to express the presence of the divine (see Figure 3.1). The momentum generated by the Torah proclamation is so significant that Rabbinic Judaism found it necessary to precede and end the reading of the holy scroll with formulae, as if creating a unique sacred enclave for the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 126

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 127

Figure 3.1  Torah reading. Synagogue in Auckland, New Zealand (2018).© iStock. com. Artist’s Member Name: chameleonseye (Rafael Ben-Ari).

proclamation. All the formulae refer to the trustworthiness of their scriptures. The Jewish formula praises the Lord, who gave the Torah to the people of Israel. One of the ancient formulae of the Jewish blessing before the Torah proclamation that was retained from the tenth century Babylonian Siddur Rav Saadia Gaon says, “Blessed are you, Lord, our God, king of the world, who has chosen us among the nations and given his Torah/teaching to us. Blessed are you, Lord, Giver of the Torah.”17 And the blessing after the reading is: “Blessed are you, Lord, our God, King of the World who given us a Torah of Truth/Teaching of Truth and planted in us eternal life; blessed are you, Lord, Giver of the Torah.”18 Both rabbinic blessings create a liturgical setting for the Torah proclamation that frames and prepares the ritual action, in a way congregants can affirm that the author of the text proclaimed is God Himself. In this re-enactment, the readers acquire certain prominence. The first to read the Torah can also be expected to get a particular level of respect and honour from the community. The reader ritually kisses the scroll and then starts to cantillate the Torah with a distinctive and artful balance rather than a simple reading. The Torah’s proclamation precedes the lection from the Prophets (Haftarah). As indicated in the previous section, reflecting the old sociological ranks of the Second Temple period, a priest starts, a Levite

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 127

02/12/20 2:00 PM

128  The theology of proclamation follows, and an Israelite reads third; this was the subject of much discussion in the rabbinic period. Following the concepts of Langer, the ritual transforms the reader into Moses and the synagogue into Sinai, creating a dialogue between God and the congregants. Throughout the prayers, the congregation talks to God, and through the devotional act of vocalizing the Torah, God talks to the assembly. While the Prophets can be read from regularly bound codices, the Torah can only be recited from a uniquely produced scroll. Differences between the Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditions Ashkenazim and Sephardim formed different traditions for the ritual of Torah service. There are many distinctions in the prayer liturgy, as well as the tunes used in chanting both the Torah and the Prophets. However, for both communities, the synagogue is the place for worship and learning, and the congregations gather to hear the divine words revealed in the Torah on Shabbat, Mondays, and Thursdays. The Talmud assumes that this is true without question: On Mondays and Thursdays and on Shabbat at minhah, three read from the Torah, they do not add [to this number] nor decrease [from it], nor do they conclude with [a haftarah] from the Prophets. The one who begins the Torah reading and the one who concludes the Torah reading blesses before it and after it.19 Ancient rabbis believed that the public reading of the Torah was instituted by Moses, based on an interpretation of Exodus 15:22—“And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water”—comparing the water to the Torah. They taught that a Jew not studying the Torah within a threeday period starts to feel thirsty for the word of God so that believers would not be without Torah for longer than three days. 20 Then, the first day of the reading is on Shabbat, three days after is Monday and three days after that is Thursday. Both Sephardim and Ashkenazi begin the Torah service with the chanting of a series of biblical verses, primarily from the Book of Psalms. As the service continues, the congregants of both traditions stand up when the doors or curtains of the ark are opened, just as the Israelites stood on Mount Sinai for the Torah’s revelation. Torah scrolls are kept in a cabinet called the teivah (ark) in Sephardic congregations and Aron Hakodesh (holy ark) in Ashkenazi ones; both the names originate from the cabinet that housed the tablets in the Temple in Jerusalem. At this point, congregants chant a verse from the Torah: “When the ark was carried forward, Moses would say, ‘Arise, Lord! May Your enemies be scattered, may Your foes be put to flight’” (Nm. 10:35). By reciting this verse, they are re-enacting the Israelite march through the wilderness with the holy ark in their midst. The march

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 128

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 129 proceeds metaphorically from Jerusalem, and they sing, “The Torah shall come from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Is. 2:3). In the Ashkenazi tradition, when the Torah is taken from the ark, the Torah’s scroll is dressed in an ornamental silver or gold breastplate with a crown over a mantle and belt, evoking the vestments that the biblical priest used to wear, connecting the practice to Israel’s historic worship with priests and animal sacrifices. Ashkenazim store their Torah scrolls in velvet covers that they remove before laying the scroll flat for reading. In contrast, most Sephardim keep their scrolls in hard cylinders that can be opened (but not removed) for reading. To prepare for the central part of the service, the Torah reader begins an aliyah (Hebrew: going up), in which the honoured congregant ascends to the bimah to chant the blessings, evoking the ascent to the Temple in Jerusalem. During the reading, three congregants surround the reader, symbolizing the encounter of God with Moses and the people. There is an ancient practice of raising the Torah scroll before or after reading a ritual, known as the hagbah (Hebrew: to lift in), to show the script to everyone in the synagogue. In Sephardic congregations, the Torah scroll is raised before the reading begins, whereas Ashkenazi Jews raise the scroll after the reading is completed. The importance of seeing the Torah text comes from the book of Nehemiah, at the public Torah reading by Ezra. After the reading, “Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and when he opened it, all the people stood” (Neh. 8:5). The tractate Sofrim describes the ritual as: “Then he opens the Torah scroll three columns, and raises it so that the writing is facing the people who stand to the right and left, and brings it backward and forward, for it is a mitzvah for all the men and women to see the writing, and bow, and say, ‘And this is the Torah which Moshe placed before the children of Israel’” (Sofrim 14:14). While lifting the Torah does not require the recitation of a blessing, the hagbah is considered to be a significant role in the liturgy. It completes the ritual, first by hearing and then seeing the divine words. Rabbi Abraham Abele Gombiner (1635–1683 CE), in a commentary on Orah Hayyim, wrote, “When one sees the letters, the holiness of the words radiates and imparts holiness to the individual.”21 This ritual centres on the Torah itself, allowing the congregants to show proper respect and honour, and gives to them the impression of the tremendous and enduring spiritual significance the Holy Torah has in their lives. Another aspect that varies between the two traditions is the rolling up and tying of the Torah scroll and replacing its cover and ornaments. This is called gelilah and is performed by the goleil, the roller. In the past, rabbis viewed the honour of gelilah as a spiritual reward and a task traditionally reserved for the most distinguished members of the congregation. In Sephardic congregations, the Torah is rolled on the bimah, but in Ashkenazi congregations, the lifter takes a seat and is helped by the goleil to roll and dress the scroll.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 129

02/12/20 2:00 PM

130  The theology of proclamation When the Torah returns to the ark, but before closing the curtains or doors, congregants chant, “Whenever the ark was set down, Moses would say: Lord, may you dwell among the myriad families of the people of Israel” (Nm. 10:36). The verses continue, “Return, O Lord, to Your sanctuary, You and Your glorious ark. Let Your priests be clothed in triumph and let Your faithful sing for joy” (Ps. 132:8–10). As discussed earlier, ancient Rabbinic Judaism made use of this biblical language to dramatically reinforce the image that synagogue worship is a continuous fulfilment of the revelation at Sinai, the march through the wilderness, the conquest of the land and the worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. As the ark is closed, the congregation sings, “It is a tree of life to those who hold fast to it, and all of its supporters are happy” (Prov. 3:18) and “Help us turn to You, and we shall return. Renew our lives as in days of old” (Lam. 5:21). This prayer concludes the service, creating a sense of the history of Israel in the present time. The Torah: The centre of Jewish life Rabbinic Judaism and the diaspora have contributed richly to the resolution of different theological and liturgical arguments for Jews around the world. Rabbis have taught that the fate of the Torah, as a revealed text, is to be immutable. Jewish people have learned and believe in not having the right to change what God has given to them. Still, in the Midrash, Rabbinic Judaism developed a metaphoric reading of the Torah that takes them in a movement from the physical world to the realm of the spiritual. The whole Jewish tradition declares the Torah as the foundation text of Judaism, therefore, the centrepiece of the synagogue service. Proclaiming it publicly every three days ensured that the divine words would become collective wisdom. The Torah service is intended to be a re-enactment for the public worship of the revelation at Sinai, as witnessed by Moses and those gathered. Rabbis, making the first Abrahamic Holy Scripture the centre of Jewish life, have helped Judaism to continue its faith journey. First, by moving the Temple cult to the synagogue service, God’s presence was no longer confined to Jerusalem’s Temple sanctity; without that radical shift, it is unlikely that it would have survived the fate of the Temple’s destruction. The Torah service made Judaism vital and more robust in the diaspora. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai’s statement confirms it: “Wherever Israel wandered in exile, God’s presence (the Shechinah) went with them.”22 Second, Holy Scriptures were reached by all followers. While the Temple’s cult was the realm of the priests, the synagogue awaits each Jew to worship God undeviatingly. Through the holy gate of the Torah, Jews were granted access to God everywhere.

The Bible: Sacrament of the word of God Christianity declares itself as a revealed religion coming from God and as being revealing of God: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 130

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 131 our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Heb. 1:1–2). The revelation comprehends the dynamic process of God’s self-manifestation and communication in the specific and concrete person of Jesus—in all the breadth that believing memory recognizes in him, from his pre-existence until his future coming. The revelation gives the faithful an intimate knowledge of God. Christians seek to experience the revealed presence of God while proclaiming both the Old and New Testaments during the Liturgy of the Word. Christians define the Liturgy of the Word as an act of worship consisting mainly of scriptural readings, preaching, and prayers, similar to Jews and the proclamation of the Torah. In this way, each liturgy in both faiths nourishes worshippers from the table of God’s word. Christians pursue the sacramental presence of the word of God in Jesus Christ, present in the sacred scriptures and the Eucharist. Reaffirming God’s sacramental presence in the Holy Scriptures, in the thought that they are the sacrament of the word of God, is necessary for the profound revitalization of the ritual. The affirmation that the Holy Scriptures are sacramental has a long history in the tradition. The Lutheran theologian André Birmelé finds that recovering the sacramentality of the word of God is a way to relocate it meaningfully within worship actions. Birmelé’s first approach to recovering the sacramentality of the Word is to make a correlation with the traditional definition of sacraments. In the writings of the Early Church, a description of their rituals can be identified as being a “mystery” (from the Greek, mysterion). The word mysterion refers to something hidden, not entirely manifested, and not completely intelligible. This meaning of mystery is used theologically in the Old and New Testaments. In Daniel, mysterion is a sign of God’s secret plan for the end times (Dn. 2:18–19, 27–30, 44–47). In the New Testament, mysterion is God’s plan manifested by Jesus as the Messiah. Paul’s letter to the Colossians declares, “The mystery that has been hidden has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:26–27). The “mystery,” in this case, is Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). The Church’s Fathers have reread the entire Gospel from this theophanic point of view: in Clement of Alexandria, mysterion includes salvific actions and their worship representation (Stromata, Book II, Ch. x); and in Gregory of Nyssa, it is the salvific action of God in Christ (Epist. GNO VIII/2, 32, 10–15). Jean Corbon describes the “mystery” of the Liturgy as: When Christ speaks, his listeners hear the man Jesus, and at the same time the Father utters himself in his incarnate Word. Even when faith has not yet penetrated this mystery of unity between Jesus and the Father, the simplest folk cannot but be amazed: “No one has ever

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 131

02/12/20 2:00 PM

132  The theology of proclamation spoken like this man” (Jn 7:46). When Jesus acts, even the least and most human of his reactions, and not only his “astonishing” deeds, express some reflection of the mystery of the Father. 23 Latin writers adopted the term “sacrament” for the same purpose, proclaiming that Christ is the original sacrament of God—mysterion underlines the hidden and sacramentum the visible. The mission of the Church is to celebrate Christ through liturgical actions, which always remain mysterion. The Church, from its origins, believes and proclaims that God has spoken through Jesus Christ and partakes in the liturgy readings of His living words: “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by a Son” (Heb 1:1). Hereafter, the Bible is the first sacrament of the word of God, with Christ as the source of its sacramentality. In the same way, in which God has chosen water for the moment of baptism, and bread and wine for the Eucharist, he chose to offer himself through these writings. Following our argument, Origen does not hesitate to compare the word of God with the sacrament of the Eucharist: You who are accustomed to take part in divine mysteries know, when you receive the body of the Lord, how you protect it with all caution and veneration lest any small part falls from it, lest anything of the consecrated gift be lost. For you believe, and correctly, that you are answerable if anything falls from there by neglect. But if you are so careful to preserve his body, and rightly so, how do you think that there is less guilt to have neglected God’s word that to have neglected his body?24 In October 2008, a synod of bishops in Rome took place to reflect on the significance of the word in the life and ministry of the Church. Synod documentation begins with a Lineamenta (outline document) that gathers all the magisterium of the Church and current theological arguments, with questions for debate. Then, the Instrumentum laboris (working document) contains the responses, queries, and dilemmas of the local Churches on the chosen subject. The official outcome of the synod is pastoral and comes with the Pope’s apostolic exhortation, which has a doctrinal character. The Lineamenta of this synod, in a similar vein to Origen, affirms how Christians recognize that Jesus Christ is the “Word of God” in the scriptures and asks that the proclamation be truly Christocentric: Christians are aware of the centrality of the Person of Jesus Christ in the Revelation of God. However, they do not always know the important underlying reasons, nor do they understand in what sense Jesus is at the heart of the “Word of God.” Consequently, when they read the Bible, they are at a loss in making it a truly Christian reading. 25

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 132

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 133 The Lineamenta and the Instrumentum laboris find that the People of God were never appropriately introduced to a theology of the word of God in the liturgy and are therefore unaware of its sacramental character. The consequences of that finding are that singing and gestures for the Liturgy of the Word are done without an emotional rapport and understanding. 26 The principle of sacramentality holds that all human experience has the potential to lead to an experience of God that the visible, tangible, and historical material of the world around us is capable of revealing the intangible, invisible, and immaterial presence of God’s saving activity on humanity’s behalf. 27 Thus, sacramentality points to any manifestation as a sign of the mystery of God’s life. Indeed, the Holy Scriptures, written in human language, are the expression of God’s words. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms, the mystery is that “through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely” (CCC 102). The Holy Scriptures in their sacramentality are signs of the saving mystery of Christ, and they create a distance between Christians and the “Word of God.” This is why for Christians, the word of God is not immediately the book (Christianity is not a religion of the book as it is for Judaism and Islam) but the One who “fulfils” the Holy Scripture, Jesus Christ, the Word of the Father. The sacramentality of the Holy Scriptures invites us to explore the character of its proclamation. The sacramental act of proclamation Sacramental theology has been vigorously challenged in the life of the Church. The foundation of the sacramental doctrine was always based on the experience and practices of the Church. Kenan Osborne emphasizes, “Sacraments are only real when they are experientially celebrated and all theology is only a reflection on sacramental experiences, theologians are challenged not to develop overarching constructs.”28 Starting from the biblical principle of Christ-sacrament and remaining in this line of thought, the action of the proclamation of the Word can be considered sacramental, grounded on the experience and practice of the Church. As Pope Benedict XVI says, “To understand the word of God … we need to appreciate and experience the essential meaning and value of the liturgical action.”29 The Church has always celebrated the proclamation of the scriptures amid the assembly as a ritual expression. We understand “ritual” as a communal action with which a person tries to connect with a higher metaempirical world to express certain attitudes and achieve certain objectives. A ritual is a single event, but the sacred that springs from those actions has a constant dimension.30 Pope Francis expresses fairly, “The Bible is the book of the Lord’s people, who, in listening to it, move from dispersion and division towards unity. The word of God unites believers and makes them one people.”31 In this unity born of listening, when the minister reads, bringing

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 133

02/12/20 2:00 PM

134  The theology of proclamation to life the scriptures, the presence of Christ is revealed in it. The proclamation becomes a vehicle for the sacramental manifestation of the essence of the biblical text. This unique language of sensible and institutional mediations facilitates to the faithful a living relationship with God. When the scriptures are proclaimed, the presence of Christ is revealed. This is why Louis Marie Chauvet writes, “The Bible never reaches its truth as word of God as fully as in the liturgical act of its proclamation where the ancient text is, as it were, raised from its death by the living voice of the reader.” The sacramental mediation of the liturgical proclamation of the scriptures gives rise to the word of God that reaches the congregation efficaciously (CCC 1127). In the performance of a sacrament, the celebrant acts symbolically, and believers engage in a symbolic action. The Spirit uses this human action as a means by which to make Jesus Christ present to the faithful, who through His Church gives the gift of grace in a unique saving activity.32 The proclamation of the word of God is a liturgical and prophetic reality in which the Spirit announces and testifies for the actual event of Christ’s life in this world. Congregants respond in prayers and songs, in posture and gestures, by listening attentively. After each reading, they express their gratitude with the words “Thanks be to God” and, for the Gospel, “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ,” followed by a brief period of silence. Following the first reading, the assembly sings the Responsorial Psalm, a meditation on God’s word through the inspired words of one of the psalms from the psalter, the Bible’s prayer book. The Gospel is the high point of the sacramental ceremony. Christians believe that the Old and New Testaments are inspired by the Holy Spirit, but the Church gives special honour to the Gospel because the words and deeds of Christ are written there. The proclamation of the Holy Scriptures is present and an essential part of the Church’s sacraments. One question emerges: Are the readings of the Old and New Testaments just a contributing or constitutive factor that runs through the celebration of each sacrament from beginning to end? We can find an answer in St. Augustine’s commentary of the Gospel of John, who recognized that the event is more profound than a simple introduction (or a part), since it is the same Spirit who enlivened the proclaimed word of Christ: “Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (Jn. 15:3). Why does He not say, you are clean through the baptism wherewith you have been washed, but “through the word which I have spoken unto you,” save only that in the water also it is the word that cleanses?… The word is added to the element, and there results the Sacrament, as if itself also a kind of visible word…. And whence has water so great an efficacy, as in touching the body to cleanse the soul, save by the operation of the word; and that not because it is uttered, but because it is believed? For even in the word itself the passing sound is one thing, the abiding efficacy another. 33

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 134

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 135 Christ’s presence in the proclamation of the Word performed as a ritual symbol puts the action in the category of a sacrament. The full liturgy of the sacraments consists of the proclamation of the word of God. Furthermore, the Word constitutes the reality of the sacrament, bringing faith and leading the assembly to the reality signified by each sacramental symbol. In this way, proclamation becomes sacrament with the divinizing action of the Holy Spirit, which can transform the hearts of those who listen faithfully. The liturgical renewal of Vatican II has raised the Word to the dignity of an “essential sign” that is part of the global dimension of the Eucharistic celebration. In its most sacramental aspect, John Paul II says that the Liturgy of the Word “is not so much a time for meditation and catechesis as a dialogue between God and his People, a dialogue in which the wonders of salvation are proclaimed, and the demands of the Covenant are continually restated.”34 The ritual proclamation is the appointed time in the purpose of God, the kairos, which is the time in the liturgy when God acts. Performance and symbolism in the proclamation of the word The sacramental action of the proclamation, whether in its ritual totality of words, movements, sounds, and material aspects, can be called symbolic because it can evoke the reality it signifies. This symbolic performance does not merely signify the reality of the presence of the “Word of God” in the proclamation; it also establishes and fosters relationships with that reality, a relationship of awe, reverence, praise, and communion. The Church believes that the subject of this activity is Christ, since “by his power he is present in the sacraments, so that when a man baptizes it is really Christ himself who baptized” (SC 7). The same can be said of the proclamation of the Word, “since it is he himself who speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read in church” (SC 7). In the Roman Catholic tradition, the symbolic actions begin before the performance of the ritual proclamation. With the entrance procession, a minister carries the book of Gospels aloft with honour and places it on the altar until the Gospel reading—a symbol that shows the unity of the Word and the Eucharist. The Liturgy of the Word usually begins with a reading from the Old Testament, a responsorial psalm, and a reading from the New Testament. In Ordinary Time, part of the Christian liturgical year, the selections for first reading and the Gospel share a similar message to show the unity of God’s plan in the two Testaments. Saint Augustine said, “The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old is unveiled in the New.”35 Before the Gospel’s proclamation, the Gospel book is carried in procession from the altar to the ambo, letting the assembly see from whence the Word is coming. At the accompaniment of an acclamation sung by the people, the book may be incensed before the reading and kissed at its

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 135

02/12/20 2:00 PM

136  The theology of proclamation conclusion. Finally, all stand as the Gospel is proclaimed. The whole posture of honour shows how the Church pays homage to Christ—the belief that He is present in his Word and who proclaims his Gospel. The liturgical dramatization corresponds with the truth of revelation: the word of God comes from Christ. The Gospel may be the medium for the word of God, but it is the voice in the ambo that indicates to us that this word is only fully realized through embodiment. The readers are responsible for carrying out the act of giving voice to the Sacred Scripture. In this way, the divine revelation resonates in the voice of the witness who transmits it, transcending the textual level of scripture, can announce the incarnate Word, which constitutes the body of the church, its sacrament. Paolo Tomatis asserts, “Precisely the liturgy, caught in the variety and richness of its symbolic languages, protects access to this non-intellectual vision of the word of God. It does not happen if it is not corporal, as a relational and interpersonal event.”36 There are several symbolic actions of introduction around its proclamation, as explained in the General Instruction: The Liturgy itself teaches that great reverence is to be shown to it by setting it off from the other readings with special marks of honour: whether the minister appointed to proclaim it prepares himself by a blessing or prayer; or the faithful, standing as they listen to it being read, through their acclamations acknowledge and confess Christ present and speaking to them; or the very marks of reverence are given to the Book of the Gospels. (GIRM 60) The reading of the Gospel is a distinct symbol of Christ, the Word revealed by God. At a time when two ambos were required, one was designated only for the reading of the Gospel. Today, the symbolism can be found in the uniqueness of the book’s appearance, such as having a silver cover or rich symbolic decoration, giving a strong corporality to the Evangelarium, which follows the great importance reserved for the scriptures by the Church since the early centuries. From the fourth century, the liturgy makes the Gospel Book an objectbook, a fundamental element of the rite. In this respect, Giuliano Zanchi, a contemporary Roman Catholic theologian, says, “The book is writing and body, corporeity of Scripture, requesting to be opened and transformed into voice because the letter—in order neither to die nor to kill—becomes truly Word. In this, the book—as a human being is a body—talks already, even before being read.”37 The search for a beautifully decorated book invites parishioners to leave the mere functionality that, reinforced by a supposed primacy of content over the form of the rite, does not understand its symbolic structure. The preciousness of the object, together with the excess of the gesture, shows the book as an icon of the Word, and not simply a support for an important message. The Liturgy of the Word, as an ars

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 136

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 137 celebrandi (the art of celebrating), is an invitation to enter into a spiritual and dramatic experience. The lector: the noblest ambo Christians understand and live their liturgy as an encounter with the Incarnate Word of God, which is only possible through an immersive worship experience. It is through the gift of human language that congregants listen to the Old Testament, the psalms, and the New Testament, and that they pray and encounter the Incarnate Word of God, Jesus Christ. When the reader begins, they are performing an evangelical ministry. In the Church’s first centuries, all scriptural readings were done by the lector. Being a lector was an honourable and dignified ministry, involving the laying on of hands by a bishop. In a series of ancient canons, attributed erroneously to a supposed Council of Carthage in 398, canon 8 describes the ordination of lectors: When a lector is ordained, let the bishop speak a word concerning him to the people, pointing out his faith, his life, and his ability. After this, while the people look on, let him hand him the book, from which he is about to read, saying to him: Receive and be the reporter of the word of God; if you fulfil the office faithfully and usefully, you will have a part with those who have administered the word of God. 38 When the deacon was granted the ministry of reading the Gospel, and in the West the Epistle by the subdeacon, the lectorate lost much of its importance. In the Byzantine rite, the reader (Anagnostis) is the second highest of the minor orders. The reader’s role is to read from the Old Testament, the Epistle, and chant the Psalms during the Divine Liturgy, Vespers, and other services, as well as to chant the Alleluia and determine antiphons for the divine services. There is also a service for the ordination of a reader. In the life of the parishes today, a congregant may receive the presider’s blessing to read on some occasions. In the Latin rite, the term applied to the reader is the “lector,” formerly recognized as a minor order. Today, in contrast to the Byzantine tradition, the lectorate is a ministry, meaning that the lector is instituted rather than ordained. As in the Eastern tradition, the liturgy assigns biblical texts other than the Gospel to the lector. Reformation Churches used the term “reader” as the translation of the Latin term “lector.” The reformed Church of England discontinued the Minor Orders, and in 1866 introduced the office of licensed lay minister. Bishops are responsible for licensing readers to a particular parish or a diocese at large. A person holding the office is referred to as a “lay reader.” Unlike the anagnostis and the lector, the theological training of lay readers

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 137

02/12/20 2:00 PM

138  The theology of proclamation enables them to preach, teach, and lead worship, as well as to assist in pastoral and liturgical activities. There are lay readers in the reformed Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church, and the Lutheran Church. Today, in the Roman Catholic tradition, parishes are used to having non-instituted lectors, who are appointed to read the scriptures in the place of an instituted lector, because most candidates installed in the ministry of lector are doing so in preparation for ordained ministry, either as a priest or a permanent deacon. Seminary chapels have instituted lectors, and a parish may have one if a seminarian is doing his training or the parish has a diaconal candidate. But otherwise, most parishes make use of appointed readers. The recovery of its special institutional rite could help one to reconstitute the ministry of lector, as Pope Paul IV implies in Ministeria Quadam (MQ)39 and Pope Francis outlines in Aperuit Illis, suggesting to bishops to “celebrate the Rite of Installation of Lectors or a similar commissioning of readers, in order to bring out the importance of the proclamation of God’s word in the liturgy,”40 during the new declared Sunday of the Word of God in the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. If the proclamation of the Holy Scriptures in the liturgy constitutes one of the modes of the sacramental presence of the Lord in His Church, the ministry of the lector is the medium of this living dialogue between God and His people. The lector is both a messenger and spokesperson of the word of God, the link between the word and God’s people, offering their voice and interpretation to facilitate a lasting incarnation or dwelling of the Word among people (see Figure 3.2). The lector participates in the prophetic mission of those who have been called to teach all nations and preach the Gospel to every creature. In the context of this prophetic ministry, the lector appears as a living sign of the presence of the Lord in His Word. The liturgist Luis Schökel points: For love of this Word and being thankful for this gift of God, the liturgical lector has to make an act of surrender to it. He must be diligent in his efforts: if his voice does not sound, the word of Christ does not resound; if his voice does not articulate properly, the Word will become confused; if he does not convey the proper sense, people cannot comprehend the Word; if he gives improper expression, the Word loses some of its strength. And it is not worth appealing to divine omnipotence, because the path of omnipotence, in the liturgy as in all things, comes to pass through incarnation.41 The lector is called to be immersed in the Sacred Scripture and “to acquire that increasingly warm and living love and knowledge of Scripture that will make him a more perfect disciple of the Lord” (MQ 5). The lector is a minister of the Word who has to transmit to the assembly “the biblical treasures of the Church available to all faithful.”

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 138

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 139

Figure 3.2  Lector during the Liturgy of the Word. Ambo design by David Pereyra. University of St Mary. Calgary. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra.

A place to proclaim the word To gain a fuller understanding of the sacramentality of the scriptures and their proclamation, we must analyse their location within the Church. The Second Vatican Council, in its dogmatic constitution Dei Verbum (DV), describes the pre-eminent place of the scriptures and how they communicate and facilitate the grace of the Holy Spirit; in other words, they are a sacrament: The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table both of God’s word and of Christ’s body. She has always

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 139

02/12/20 2:00 PM

140  The theology of proclamation maintained them, and continues to do so, together with sacred tradition, as the supreme rule of faith, since, as inspired by God and committed once and for all to writing, they impart the word of God Himself without change, and make the voice of the Holy Spirit resound in the words of the prophets and Apostles. (DV 21a) The constitution instructs that at the liturgy, congregants are served from two tables: the table of the Word and the table of the Eucharist. From both tables, the faithful receive Christ, who is present in the proclaimed Word and in the Eucharist. These two tables are more than symbols; they also translate into a place. The liturgical movement and reform of Vatican II sought to return to the original Eucharistic configuration of the primitive church—a sanctuary with an altar that resembles a table, an ambo for the proclamation of the Holy Scriptures, and a presidential chair. The altar-table recovered the concept of the meal and of the berakah (Jewish benediction or thanksgiving), together illuminating the Christology of the Eucharistic celebration, which replaced the altar of the Old Testament. The ambo, as the successor of the bimah, is now considered to be the table of the Word, and the presidential chair, originally the bishop’s seat, links both tables as during His ministry. The presence of a table to place the scroll upon is a feature that comes from the synagogue, and the recollection of Jesus’s reading of the scriptures in Nazareth brings with it the idea of the bread of life within the activity of reading and preaching. When Jesus read the text, “and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him” (Lk. 4:14), He assumed not only the role of lector but also that of commentator, and revealing Himself with power and authority. Liturgical reform has sought to emphasize the idea of a prophetic announcement, for it is a prophetic quality that must be conveyed by the liturgical reading practices of the community. Jesus, in His reading and in Himself, becomes the table of the Word—the genius loci of the ambo. Restoring the liturgical place for proclaiming Holy Scriptures As church design evolved, from the first adapted spaces in private homes to purpose-built structures, the proclamation of the Word has had its own space. In the first chapter, we discussed how rituals historically defined the place of proclamation within a worship space. We saw the emergence of a rich rite around proclamation that was at its height during the first millennium up to the last century, when many liturgists agree that the rite and the place of the Liturgy of the Word decline into near irrelevance. Zanchi accurately summarizes this situation: The place of the Word in the Church and in prayer has been an object of embarrassing concealment hidden away in a marginal space and

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 140

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 141 veiled by a reserved and incomprehensible manner of proclamation. The eclipse of the ambo, configured in this manner, has left the field open for the hegemony of the pulpit, in which the internal drama of the Word was absorbed by an urgent need for a clear explanation.42 The liturgical renewal movement and grassroots Bible study groups have been the principal causes for the rebirth of the Liturgy of the Word in today’s celebrations, especially in the seventies. It is time for Christians to once again have the opportunity to reinvigorate the liturgical drama of the Word and restore its place in the liturgy. The word of the Holy Scriptures must take shape and become flesh, and this embodiment of the scriptures delimits the place where the embodied Word becomes present. In Les Pierres vivantes, architects Markiewicz and Ferranti introduce a new concept concerning the relationship between place, body, and Word: “The place of the Word is first materialized by the r­ eader’s body and voice. In this sense, is not the most beautiful ambo the human body?”43 Therefore, the noblest ambo is the person who holds the scriptures in his or her hands. The reading of the Word as a discrete event within the liturgy is the sign of its place; it is the act of reading that makes it present, not just its passive presence in the hands of the reader. The ambo enhances the presence and the power of the individual who has the role of embodying the Word. Le Corbusier said that architecture, as such, is the art of prolonging the permanence of the body in space—the house is a metaphor of the body. The ambo heightens the character of the proclamation of the Word, placing the lector above the assembly. An act of communication starts between the reader and the assembly. The proclamation generates a place in which a call for communion transpires.

The Qur’an: The verbatim word of God Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe that their scriptures contain the word of God; however, for Muslims, the Qur’an is the verbatim word of God revealed to the Prophet. Muhammad listened to the inspired words, memorized them, and recited those divine words to his followers. Ultimately, the revelations were collected in the Holy Qur’an. For believers, the Holy Book infuses sacredness in every word, letter, and sound when recited. In the same way that Jews and Christians refer to their sacred scriptures as the Holy Bible, Muslims refer to theirs as al-Qur’an al-Karim—the “Glorious Qur’an” (Surah, 56:77). The concept of revelation in Jewish and Christian tradition can be found in Islam as wahy, from the Arabic verb waha, which means “to put in the mind.” According to Armstrong, “This revelation was the culmination of two processes in Arabia, which fused in the Quran: one was the scriptural revolution of the Middle East, which had enlivened the scriptural genre in the region; the other was Arabs’ habit of regarding the religious ideas of their neighbors as tendencies that were still in the process

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 141

02/12/20 2:00 PM

142  The theology of proclamation of development rather than hardline doctrines.”44 For Muslims, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad are considered to be prophets and messengers of God who received revelations, with Muhammad being the final one. In the verses of the Qur’an, all scriptures from Abrahamic religions are considered to be inspired by God and communicated through a lineage of prophets to different people in previous times: Say: “We believe in God and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes and in (Books) given to Moses, Jesus and the Prophets from their Lord; we make no distinction between one and another among them and to God do we bow our will (in Islam).” (Surah, 3:84) Therefore, while Muslims believe that Muhammad is the last in the line of prophets, Islam requires devotees to have faith in all of the prophets (Surahs 2:4, 136, 253, 285; 4:152; 5:48). God’s guidance has been revealed to people through appointed messengers throughout history. Twenty-five prophets are mentioned by name in the Qur’an. Their acceptance does not change the Muslim belief that the Qur’an is the last and best, but that it is not the only worldly precedent. The Qur’an is the central theophany of Islam and the source and root of its theology. It is the most sublime language and a rational message that directly appeals to the human heart. Although all three faiths centre on worship and piety in their scriptures, the Qur’an represents the fountainhead of Divine guidance for every Muslim, even more so than the Christian Bible or the Jewish Tanakh. As William A. Graham expresses in Beyond the Written Word, For Jews, the prime medium of divine-human encounter is the Torah— but Torah understood not simply as scriptural text but as divine will, cosmic order, and human responsibility, to which the scriptural Torah is the guide. For Christians the encounter comes first and foremost through the person and life of Christ (which are accessible, but not exclusively so, in scripture). In Islam, on the other hand, it is in the concrete text, the very words of the Qur’an, that Muslims most directly experienced God.… In the Qur’an, God speaks with his own voice, not through inspired human writers.45 That is why the Qur’an is the mediator of the divine presence for Muslims. Throughout its recitation, the divine word becomes present in the sound of the surahs recited in communal worship—an immediacy of the divine communication. Armstrong explains, “They could hear the voice of God whenever they listened to a Quranic recitation; and when they recited the Qur’an, God’s speech was on their tongue and in their mouths. They held the Word in their hands when they carried a copy of the sacred text.”46 The

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 142

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 143 experiences described earlier can be compared with the Christian experience of the sacraments and their beliefs about Jesus: “And the Word become flesh and lived among us” (Jn. 1:14a). In contrast to the other Abrahamic religions, the Holy Qur’an has only one source, the Prophet. Although the words of the Qur’an came from the Prophet, they originate from God. To consider the Qur’an as the work or words of the Prophet is viewed as blasphemous and disrespectful by Muslims. Seyyed Hossein Nasr says, “The Prophet was the instrument through which the reality of the Qur’an, which existed with God on a level of reality beyond time, in what Muslims call the Preserved Tablet (al-lawah al-mahfuz; 85:22), was revealed to men and women in the world.”47 This concept is known as “uncreated,” referring to the Islamic doctrinal position supported by the Hanafi school (ca. 900 CE). Rumee Ahmed explains its meaning: “[The Quran] exists beyond time and space, and beyond everything created and contingent. The Quran was uncreated when time began, uncreated when it was revealed to Muhammad, and it is uncreated whenever humans recite it with their mouths.”48 Armstrong adds, “The Hadith People believed that the Quran was an earthly embodiment of the Word of God that had existed with him from all eternity.”49 The opposite thought is “createdness,” originating from the Mutazilah philosophical school, which holds that if the Qur’an is God’s word, then, logically, God “must have preceded his own speech.”50 For them, the Qur’an expresses God’s eternal will, but He must have created the work itself at some point in time. In any event, for scholars, the question of “createdness” is a hermeneutical issue with a lack of hadith support. The “uncreated” position is similar to Christian theology in how Jesus is the embodiment of the eternal Word of God. His pre-existence is expressed in the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1). God speaks to them throughout His eternal Word: “Through all the words of Sacred Scriptures, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely” (CCC 102). For these reasons, both religions venerate their scriptures and find that the word of God, not subject to time, is present there. The language of the Qur’an Unlike with Christianity, for Judaism and Islam, the original language of the scriptures is sacred. In Christianity, Christ is considered to be the Logos, the Word of God; from early times, the Church had no particular attachment to the language that Jesus spoke and the translation of the Bible was not an issue. As such, the language in the Christian proclamation is liturgical but not sacred. For Judaism, in post-biblical times, Hebrew was considered sacred—referred to as lashon ha-kodesh, the holy language. God is at the heart of the Hebrew language; therefore, when Jews proclaim in Hebrew, they ceaselessly invoke God, summoning the divine presence

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 143

02/12/20 2:00 PM

144  The theology of proclamation into everyday life. In Islam, as Seyyed Hossein Nasr explains, “the Quranic revelation in a sense ‘shattered’ the Arabic language and transformed it into the sacred language that it is for Muslims. It created a work whose language is inimitable and considered miraculous, a book that is believed to be untranslatable.”51 In this sense, Muslims are more categorical than Christians about refusing translation for the recitation of the Holy Book. Graham asks, “Why this fastidious fervor about the Arabic Text?” Graham then answers, “Because it is God’s direct discourse, ipsissima vox. He sent his revelation as a clear ‘Arabic recitation’ (Qur’an ‘arabi) that was transmitted verbatim through His apostle.”52 Other faiths have had a similar level of attachment to the original language of their scriptures, but principally for worship purposes, as Muslim discussion has always centred on the inimitability of the divine word. Holy recitation For Jews and Christians, the collected written text is God’s spoken message of their scriptures, communicated by proclamation and preaching. For Muslims, though, the written text of the Qur’an is primarily subordinate to an established tradition of oral transmission. 53 The orality of the Qur’an lies in its name. Qur’an is a verbal noun of the Arabic verb qaraʼa, which means “he read” or “he recited.” The first command the Prophet received was to recite: “Recite in the name of your Lord who created/Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous/Who taught by the pen/Taught man that which he knew not” (Surah 96:1–5). The surah stresses the importance of the sacred duty of reciting, obligatory for every Muslim. This first revealed surah is an invitation to seek the knowledge of divine truth and wisdom. Further scriptural evidence of the intended recitation of the Qur’an is the frequent appearance (sixty-three times) of the verb tala, “to recite,” followed by a related reference to reading the text aloud: “He it is Who sent amongst the unlettered ones a Messenger from amongst themselves to recite unto them His Verses, to foster them and absolve them of polytheism and discord, and teach them the Heavenly Book and Wisdom. And indeed, they had been formerly in manifest error” (Surah 62:2). The Prophet preaches the teaching of the Qur’an to the gentiles through the recitation of the revelations of God. The language, themes, and style of the Qur’an and its recitation uphold that these are indeed divine revelations: “Those to whom We [God] have given the scripture [kitab] and who recite it truly—those are they who have faith in it” (Surah 2:121). Scripture, recitation, and devotion are bound together. This pious element for Muslims dictates that the Qur’an should be recited with sincerity and honesty of purpose. The Qur’an exists as recitation, meaning that its essence is orality and the embodiment of God’s words. The oral transmission of the Qur’an is the original bearer of God’s message. As the Qur’an is the direct word of

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 144

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 145 God, a receiver was needed who could hold and transmit its sacredness. Souleymane Bachir Diagne says, “The Quran itself calls Muhammad ‘the illiterate prophet,’ meaning (negatively) one who could not read and (positively) one whose heart has been turned into a pure blank slate so that the word of God could be written on it, unadulterated.”54 Others argue that the first message the Prophet received, to “recite,” originated from his illiteracy. In any event, the Holy Book is not a written text, but a holy recitation, which is supported by the Arabic word Qur’an. The importance of oral recitation in Islam is also supported by the significance placed on memorizing the Qur’an. According to Michael Cooks, “A ninth-century scholar of Qayrawan held that the schoolteacher was entitled to his remuneration if the boy could read correctly from the written text, even though he did not know it by heart; few boys, he observed, get the Koran by heart the first time. But it was far better to be able to recite the entire text from ­memory.”55 The theological interpretation of this is that, for the prophetic tradition, the Word lives in the hearts of Muslims and not in the pages of a book. Qur’anic recitations do not sound like the proclamation used in Christianity and Reform Judaism. The Qur’an is chanted in a plain style; some scholars compare it with the chanting in Orthodox Judaism or the Christian Gregorian chant, but without formal rules for the musical aspect of recitation. In this way, the sound of the Qur’an accompanies daily Muslims life. The recitation must be kept distinct from music—its melody a unique experience—in order to preserve the sound of the revelation. Reciting is a unique art, separate from other artistic expressions. Qur’an as an action (reciting) is performed on many occasions and in a variety of locations but especially during the Salat. Graham explains, “One of these reports Muhammad to have said that any performance of the worship rite without a Qur’an in it is ‘deficient’.”56 In Islam, reciting is the heart of and most tangible worship expression. It is no more and no less than the ritual voicing of being Muslim. Marshall Hodgson says, It [Qur’an] was never designed to be read for information or even inspiration, but to be recited as an act of commitment in worship; nor did it become a mere sacred source of authority as the founding of Islam recede into time. It continued its active role among all who accepted Islam and took it seriously. What one did with the Qur’an was not to peruse it but to worship by means of it; not to passively receive it, but in reciting to reaffirm it for oneself; the event of revelation was renewed every time one the faithful in the act of worship relived the Qur’anic affirmations.57 In the recitation of the holy verses, a faithful affirms their faith, and as an active liturgical action, it is the preferred form of religious observances in the Muslim world. The reading of the Qur’an from beginning to end is performed during the month of Ramadan—the month of obligatory fasting, which is the month

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 145

02/12/20 2:00 PM

146  The theology of proclamation that the first revelation of the Qur’an was received (see Surah 96)—in thirty consecutive parts or in its entirety every night. Otherwise, the text may be divided into seven parts and recited from beginning to end in a weekly cycle. The Qur’an is recited in this way even more frequently in pietistic and Sufi circles. Some devout Muslims used to engage in this practice during their pilgrimage to Mecca, while others would on a pious visit to Medina or Jerusalem. Throughout the ages, Muslims who were gifted Qur’an reciters would ensure the constant reading of the Qur’an even after their deaths, preferably, but not necessarily. Muslims have instances of public reading, but they prefer oral recitation by heart over reading from the written text. The Qur’an reciter The Qur’an reciter is called hafid (preserver) or hafidah (memorizer). We can compare the reciter with the lector in the Christian tradition and the Baal Kri’ah, or Torah reader, in Judaism. Kristine Nelson, a trained Arabist, highlights the role of the reciter, explaining, The role of the reciter is not only to transmit the meaning of the text, but to stir the hearts of listeners with those meanings. It is recognized that the use of musical skills plays and important role in communicating not only the meaning of the text, but the significance of the recitation experience by capturing the emotions, affecting the senses, and engaging the total attention and focusing it on the significance of the Qur’an.58 The professional reciter knows the complete text by heart. The values of reciting the Holy Book are the subject of many hadiths: “You must recite the Qur’an for verily it is a light for you on earth and a treasure for you in heaven.”59 According to the tradition, the reciter will become an intercessor on the Day of Judgment: “Surely those who recite the Book of God and perform the prayer, and spend out of that which we have provided them, secretly and in public, look for a commerce that comes not to naught, that He may pay them in full their wages and enrich them of His bounty; surely He is all-forgiving, all thankful” (Surah 35:29). The tradition also defines the attitudes and intents of the reciter by stating that the reciter must “be pure and sincere and without hypocrisy in his reciting and that he has in mind the purpose of God Most High, and that he not intend by it to reach anything but that.”60 As in other faiths, the foremost attitude of the reciter is to reach the hearts of their listeners: “The Qur’an, when recited from the heart, reaches the heart.”61 Accordingly, Al Sa’id defines the most appropriate recitation as: “The affecting is that which the reciter recites with heartfelt and present enthusiasm, true concentration of the mental faculties, and readiness of the soul, not languidly or listlessly. Perhaps the hadith” Recite the Qur’an as long as your hearts are united with it, and when you

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 146

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 147 differ then arise from it” is a command to this reciting, for it calls for reciting as long as the heart is accepting and the mind alert, and the soul responsive, and if not, postponement is best.”62 Muslims experience the recitation as a means of transporting them to the mystery of God’s will, away from the sounds of everyday life. The act of reciting goes beyond just the pronunciation of the book and just a devotional practice. Reciter and listener involved in the meaning of the revelation can discover the quality of being worthy of attention in three key aspects: mind, heart, and spirit. Each recitation re-enacts the moment of revelation. That is why from the early days of Islam, the precise use of tajwid—prescriptions and guidelines for recitation—was given to concretize and protect its divine identity and the sound of the revelation for the whole community. The place of Qur’anic recitations in Muslim worship is a demonstration that sacred scriptures are united with the Creator in both individual and community life.

Recovering the full proclamation experience The idea of entering into a transcendental experience through ritual is a theme explored mainly by liturgical theology. Liturgical theologists believe that Abrahamic liturgies sincerely aim to achieve a holistic experience, one that involves the whole person. Religious services bring about a metamorphosis, a “change” in all participants. However, we do not understand why rituals are performed during a celebration, which is now a lost art. When we talk about art, we think of works in museums or galleries, and we forget about applied arts. In the same way, we think of artists—­ geniuses and masters—running the risk of forgetting all those who dedicate their time freely to music, theatre, or other arts, with the sole intention of doing things well—an art of the action rather than the work. The proclamation of the sacred scriptures is situated entirely in this area of the art of doing. Liturgy is an art of action, and this is how we must understand the art of celebration.63 How could these impressive forms of celebration be ­carried out when the path has been lost? It is so easy fall into a liturgical ­automatism—rituals, readings, reciting, and proclamation could be performed mechanically, empty of heart. To fully recover the re-enactment of God’s revelation, there are four points that need to be taken into account for the proclamation and recitation of the word of God: dramatic nature, motion in worship, physical location, and symbolic actions. Dramatic nature Considering the performative elements of proclaiming Holy Scriptures and the many features that it has in common with theatrical representations is a critical part of the proclamation experience. As Weissbach emphasizes, both “commonly involve ritualized and symbolic behaviour… as the embodied

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 147

02/12/20 2:00 PM

148  The theology of proclamation performance of written texts and the use of costumes and props.”64 Rabbi Hoffman, in The Art of Public Prayer, recognized that “worship is like drama, the principles of successful drama are applicable to public prayer as well.”65 The reader and the words of the Torah must capture the emotions of the congregants. Jewish renewal of the Torah service began with Reform Judaism in Germany in the nineteenth century. The reformers wanted to turn Judaism into a modern religion. To achieve their goal, they shortened the service, making it more accessible. Reformers removed the separation of men and women in worship and services, allowing them to sit together, and for women to perform prayers and be called to read the Torah. These changes permanently altered Judaism’s dramatic character, bringing diversity to the religion through updated theological and liturgical aspects. The inclusion of women in ritual actions was one of the biggest changes introduced by Reform Judaism. In contrast, in Orthodox Judaism only men can be called to read the Torah, and in the congregation men and women are still not allowed to sit together while praying. The issue of women reading from the Torah and receiving aliyot has received wide attention within the Orthodox community. Yet, they have not moved forwards for several reasons, namely modesty and historical precedent. Jessica Ann Rosenberg presents an analysis of three Orthodox rabbis responding to the question of women’s participation in public Torah readings, with Rabbi Mendel Shapiro in favour and Rabbis Gidon Rothstein and Shlomo Riskin opposed. She found that the three responses understand “community” under the same point of view, where men must act and reason on behalf of women because they are the ones with obligations. The most persuasive argument against women not being called to read the Torah is because there is no existing law that obligates them to do so. This argument is attached to the notion of “the dignity of the community” based on obligations. Riskin is the most extreme: “Torah reading, as a way to communicate with God, must be its inherently holy nature exclude women.”66 Shapiro’s argument is based on the concept that current laws are not relevant because of women’s status in today’s society. For Rosenberg, the reasoning failed because all use the authority of prior legal sources, making any other argument not legitimate. Today, Orthodox Jews feel that they are keeping the dramatic character of Rabbinic Judaism. Any possible changes have to come from a dialogue between rabbis and the faithful. In Christianity, the Liturgy of the Word was born of a renewed theological concept of revelation derived from the Fathers of the Church. Geoffrey Wainwright confirms that “the theological frame is vital because scripturally derived doctrine concerning God, man, and their proper relationship provides the standards by which the Christian worshipers seek to abide as they embody and enact the ongoing life of the Church before God that is Tradition.”67 The Fathers regularly incorporated in the liturgy the theological concepts developed by the community to keep it alive. Still, many

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 148

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 149 theologians agree that the regular liturgical performance is full of rigid behaviours. In the Liturgy of the Word and in the Torah service, the nonverbal aspects are too often attributed to aesthetics and regarded as inessential. Notwithstanding, the communication style, the voice from which the sacred words emerge, becomes instrumental in their reception. A simple, accurate reading is not enough to contain the evidence of the Word’s real sense––this belongs to the revelation and the acts of God. Without the grace of God, the proclamation of Holy Scriptures is only a sign and is purely conceptual. God’s words prepare and change human hearts, affecting the conditions that allow the proclamation in the Christian tradition to be a sacrament. Accordingly, the Roman Missal has provided a description of the necessary vocal expressions for different biblical texts: In texts that are to be spoken in a loud and clear voice, whether by the priest or the deacon, or by the lector, or by all, the tone of voice should correspond to the genre of the text itself, that is, depending upon whether it is a reading, a prayer, a commentary, an acclamation, or a sung text; the tone should also be suited to the form of celebration and to the solemnity of the gathering. Consideration should also be given to the idiom of different languages and the culture of different peoples. (GIRM 38.) The bodily eloquence of this act is different for the first reading, the psalm, the second reading, the proclamation of the Gospel, and even the homily, and it is connected to the physical place in which it dwells. Motion in worship Every act of worship engages bodily movements. As a result, the liturgy, as Frank Senn explains, involves action: “God’s movement towards humans and the human movement toward God in response.”68 The gradual disappearance of the dramatic character of religious services is evident in the levelling of all actions, particularly those that pertain to proclamation, thereby no longer sufficiently distinguishing the different qualities of the various acts involved in the sharing of the word of God. Physical movements, for example, are inconsistent and often undercut the solemnity of the moment where it should contribute to the creation of a reverential atmosphere. This common problem happens because readers do not take into account the different ritual actions that are required by the Torah service or for the Liturgy of the Word. Movement is given no significance apart from the practical needs of the liturgy, nor its symbolism. There is a risk of not connecting human emotions with rituals, and as a result, the action becomes mechanical. This is often seen in the practice of processing the Torah or the Gospel and its proclamation. In the case of the Torah, the feeling of re-enacting the Sinai

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 149

02/12/20 2:00 PM

150  The theology of proclamation revelation event may help the drama involved in this liturgical action. In the Roman Catholic tradition, ministers often arrive at the ambo, the Book of the Gospels in hand, to find the lectern occupied by the lectionary from which the Epistle was read. The shuffling of books and involvement of acolytes or other ministers to sort out the situation, while brief, nonetheless break the dramatic tension built up in the procession. The Introduction to the Book of the Gospels specifies that “after a brief silent reflection on the last reading from the Lectionary, or as the occasion dictates, after the responsorial psalm, the reader removes the Lectionary.”69 Historically, this inconvenience was resolved with the presence of two ambos, one for the readings and one for the gospel, but this option is not often chosen today. Physical location In the synagogue, the reading of the Torah occurs on a platform with a desk called tevah (Sephardim) or bimah (Ashkenazim). The Torah service is very similar in both with some variants concerning the use of the space. In the Orthodox tradition, Sephardi synagogues have the tevah placed in the middle of the room opposite the ark, without intervening seats. The leader and the cantor conduct most of the service from the tevah, facing in the same direction as the congregants. In Ashkenazi synagogues, the bimah is often in the centre, with some intervening seats between the bimah and the ark (see Figure 3.3).70 Both the leader and the cantor also conduct the service from

Figure 3.3  Central bimah and Torah Ark. Orthodox Ashkenazi synagogue, built in 1762, Plymouth, Devon. © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: Roger Mechan.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 150

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 151 it, but in some communities, the cantor has a separate reading stand immediately in front of and facing the ark from which they conduct the service. Over time, because the central bimah involved leaving a significant amount of space, Liberal synagogues moved the bimah from the centre towards the ark after the Reform movement started. Almost all modern Reform and Conservative synagogues combine the bimah with the ark. According to Seth Kunin, the bimah/tevah at the centre and the bimah at the front reveal a general pattern: In progressive [Liberal] synagogues we find a strengthening of sacred space. The bimah and the Torah are increasingly becoming the preserve of an almost priestly caste – the rabbis — who are almost qualitatively distinguished from the congregation. In the Orthodox community, although sacred space is maintained, it is less exclusive. 71 Having the bimah/tevah in the middle of the prayer room gives the sense of bringing the word of God in the midst of the congregants. A central bimah/tevah shows an understanding that prayer is a communal action, creating an atmosphere of inclusion and participation. Weissbach observes, “The leader of the service is seen as a shaliach tzibur, an ‘emissary of the community,’ rather than as a clergyman in a position of special authority.”72 In contrast, the bimah at the front of the synagogue would be experienced as a stage far from the assembly (see Figure 3.4).

Figure 3.4 Front bimah and Torah ark. Temple Emanu-El, established in 1845. New York City. © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 151

02/12/20 2:00 PM

152  The theology of proclamation The arrangement is perceived as an auditorium, where the officiants are separated from the congregation, highlighting the role of the rabbi. The leader mostly faces the congregation; in a sense, they are perceived as leading the service rather than praying with them. Ismar Schorsch, from the Jewish Theological American Seminary, encourages Conservative congregations to “consider a design that would restore the reading of the services and the Torah to the center of the sanctuary and underscore the role of the cantor as agent and facilitator.”73 Placing the bimah in the centre of the sanctuary puts the Torah service at the centre of the community. The community takes part in all that occurs on the bimah. Most of the Churches in the Orthodox Christian tradition have lost the fixed ambo; nevertheless, the placement of the movable one is central to the liturgy, and sometimes they have a portable ambo. In the Roman Catholic tradition, the national conferences of bishops are responsible for everything associated with design, location, and other specific uses related to liturgical environments. Most episcopal guidelines, however, only have brief references to the ambo. The most common criterion is that the ambo has to be visible and close to the assembly. Reform tradition varies, and, in most instances, the readings and preaching happen from the same lectern/pulpit. It is very common to see in contemporary church designs, having a semi-enclosed sanctuary area at one end of the church building, with the rest of the worship space being given over to seating. Placing the ambo to one side of this sanctuary space seems to be based more on practical considerations than theological or symbolic. In such schemes, it is very difficult to successfully enact the dramatic action of the Liturgy of the Word. Symbolic actions We can define the ritual of proclamation—both in the Torah service and in the Liturgy of the Word—as being a combination of signs and symbolic actions that enrich the experience for participating congregants by creating a structure of signification. During the ritual, there are different signs that provide information: some point to the lector (person), some to the reading (event), and others to the ambo or bimah (object and place). These signs are only function for the ritual and do not provide additional insight. Those signs say things like “Be silent and listen” or “Stand.” They are part of immediately recognizable liturgical etiquettes, with no need for personal engagement or participation. However, sometimes signs can give a surplus of meaning, becoming “signals”—the lector becomes “the chosen one” who is going to proclaim the word of God, the readings a message, and the bimah or ambo a place of divine presence. When worshippers experience these signals with a further surplus of boundless meaning from a source that exceeds the reader’s actions, giving the transcendental experience of listening to the divine revelation, then the faithful move beyond the sign and signal to the “symbol.”

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 152

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 153 The symbol carried by the ritual proclamation is a language with additional connotations, not only providing meaning but also entering into a dynamic of its own. It is already in some way the reality it represents as “the re-enactment of the revelation.” In precise terms, the symbol of the ritual is a transaction in which the readers become messengers, those who simply listen become believers, and the called ones become the disciples. When the faithful enter into this symbolic transaction, the scriptures read lively in the liturgical context acquire a significant density; the readings, the prayers, and the faith of those present give a compelling expressiveness to the signs and signals. The proclaimed word brings into existence the encounter between God and the faithful. Seeing and hearing the reader proclaiming is the symbolic and effective language of the God’s communication with His revealed word and of the faith with which the listener welcomes it. A structure of signification—with which the faithful express their relationship with God and with their community—is inherited from the revelation and from the tradition of each faith. The proclamation is conducted through signs, signals and body language that express the most intimate of beliefs. Thus, body postures (e.g., standing and kneeling) contribute to certain devotional attitudes (e.g. promptness, reverence, and humility). The gestures of the hands (e.g., raised to the sky and hitting the chest) often go where words cannot. As previously indicated, movements are also important (e.g., walking and procession). Furthermore, elements such as candles, fire, incense, pointer, dresses and their colours, and bells all contribute. The place of the celebration itself plays an important role: the buildings for worship, the ambo, and the bimah are viewed as worthy and respected places for the word of God. The liturgy has all of these expressive resources that are not taken sufficient advantage of.

Synthesis and conclusion Jews, Christians, and Muslims call themselves hearers of God’s word and message and consider themselves believers because their faith is a response to God’s revelation. We examined the human experience of believing in the revelation of God and how different people and cultures express it through the proclamation and recitation of their Holy Scriptures. The revelation gives them an intimate knowledge of God, in a way that they can experience their faith as a gift from God. In a Christian context that is also applicable to Judaism and Islam, Pope Francis says, “A profound bond links sacred Scripture and the faith of believers. Since faith comes from hearing, and what is heard is based on the word of Christ, believers are bound to listen attentively to the word of the Lord, both in the celebration of the liturgy and in their personal prayer and reflection.”74 Understanding that faith comes from hearing (including sign language) helps us grasp the traditions, rules, and morals of the three faiths. The three religions experience

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 153

02/12/20 2:00 PM

154  The theology of proclamation their faith as more than just an intellectual pursuit, involving the entire person in an act of surrender of the heart, mind, and will to the invitation and call of God. Although the three religions share comprehension and belief of the Holy Scriptures as the word of God, there are still notable differences. For example, Muslims deeply maintain the aural sense of hearing God speaking during the recitation of the Qur’an, while, for Christians, the word of God is theologically and sacramentally present in the living spoken message of the Bible. For the Abrahamic religions, God’s message is communicated both in the proclamation of the scriptures and in their preaching, but Jews keep the sense of the divine presence (Shekinah) in the entire liturgy, since the centre of it is the reading of the Torah. The connection between the divine presence and the Torah is a result of Rabbinic Judaism regarding the pre-existence of the divine word of scripture. From the Christian perspective, we discussed how contemporary theology based on the same sources of revelation and the tradition of the Church does not hesitate to apply “sacrament” to other realities beyond the seven sacraments, such as proclamation. This less restrictive concept of sacrament moves beyond terms such as efficacy—as it relates to the transmitting of grace in specific ritual settings—to one of appreciating the essential function of a sacrament as being both sign and symbol of the whole economy of God’s grace. If “sacrament” primarily means a visible manifestation of the historical and invisible gift of the grace of God, there is nothing detrimental in applying it to other realities that are not the traditional seven sacramental rites. Expanding the circle of sacramentality does not deny the truth of the sacrament. Indeed, such an application highlights similarities and emphasizes differences, providing the faithful with a greater appreciation of both the general concept of sacramentality and the specific sacramental reality to be found in the Church’s sacraments, such as baptism. This Christian concept of sacrament is not far from the experience of the Abrahamic religions when they proclaim or recite the word of God. The liturgy is the privileged setting for the word of God in the three Abrahamic faiths. The synagogue, the church, and the mosque are the homes of the scriptures through which God speaks to each community. We learned that congregants get the transcendental meaning of all the sacred words through the proper symbolic actions during the proclamation. The liturgical significance of proclamation and recitation emerges in the worshipping life of each synagogue, church, and mosque, as it is connected to the faithful’s rediscovery of the historical event of revelation. Once those gathered for the Torah proclamation, Liturgy of the Word, and Salat understand that they are not simply listening to a recitation of ancient texts but are witnessing God’s self-revelation through the memorial power of the liturgy, the experience is elevated beyond what is often perceived as being akin to an academic exercise.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 154

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 155 Connecting the act of proclaiming scripture to the idea of God’s self-­ revelation and reviving both the activity and the place of that activity as being essential parts of the ritual should also lead to a reassessment of the liturgy’s artistry. The art of celebrating has been reduced to a choreographed strategy. However, historically, liturgy is deeply founded on the meaning of gestures, and its proper practice is the education of the body as an expression of the fullness of being human. The bimah, tevah, and ambo as places of proclamation have a particular character, with the liturgy occurring in its space. This is a complex process that includes the word, the book, the place of the proclamation, and gestures. Both the process and its aesthetics are then a challenge in terms of shaping the possibilities to meet the goal of successfully proclaiming the word of God. The proficiency of the readers and the excellent design of the bimah, tevah, or ambo are important, but a proper celebration includes other aspects deserving of attention. The fundamental meaning of the proclamation and recitation of scriptures is attached to its ability to recall the revelation events. When Jews and Christians read scripture passages as part of their liturgy as Muslims do recite—that is, as an integral part of its worship—its purpose consists of evoking the memory and experience of the actions of God in the congregation today. There are other outcomes attached, such as learning about biblical history, following role models, or providing a reference point for moral behaviour; however, none of them are as crucial as the re-enactment. William Graham accurately explains that the generative power of the spoken word is one of the most prevalent religious themes.75 This power is transmitted in the performance of ritual actions; the act of naming makes present that which is named. Rabbinic Judaism, the early Christian Fathers, and medieval Islam connect the notion of the primordial power of the word to the power of their Holy Scriptures in theological formulations. For the proclamation and recitation of the scriptures, the three faiths precede and end their reading of scripture with special formulae, as if creating a special sacred enclave for the texts. The whole performance is full of symbolic actions; for example Muslims and Jews believe that the correct pronunciation and intonation of the text regenerates the authentic voice of the revelation of the Torah and the Qur’an. Though both traditions differ in the mode of recitation—Jews prefer chanting while reading and Muslims prefer reciting by heart—both believe that the cantillating and recitation of the text in the appropriate intonation re-enact the revelation as delivered to Moses and to Muhammad, respectively. The predominance of oral transmission has been stronger in the Jewish and Muslim traditions than in Christianity, so much so that in Islam, as William Graham eloquently observes, “the role of the written scriptural text has always been secondary to the dominant tradition of oral transmission and aural presence of the recited text.”76 From early on, the recitation of the text by heart was considered to be the most praiseworthy mode of the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 155

02/12/20 2:00 PM

156  The theology of proclamation liturgical reading of the Qur’an. In the Jewish tradition, liturgical proclamation by heart was not encouraged, instead a detailed and accurate regulation of the ritual reading of the Torah scrolls developed. The Torah holds the community together, affirming its commitment to its constant study. Symbolically, the liturgy surrounding weekly Torah readings re-­enacts the history of the revelation at Sinai. Texts other than the Torah had entered the Jewish liturgical life: the Talmud, the Mishnah, and the Book of Psalms are commonly recited in prayer and study. In contrast, in Islam, the dominance of the Qur’anic text in the liturgy remains unquestioned both in communal spaces and in private life. The words of God proclaimed in human language reach the heart of faithful. The three Abrahamic religions believe that the word of God precedes and exceeds their sacred scriptures, and that those scriptures were revealed and inspired by God and contain the divine word. The revelation of the eternal Word, as Pope Francis says, “gives shape and meaning to the relationship between God’s word and our human language, in all its historical and cultural contingency.”77 The proclamation and recitation are experienced as an event so that each time the reader recites or reads the sacred text, the assembly perceives it as prophetic. Today, the word of God, written in the Torah, the Bible, and the Qur’an, is spoken in many languages, allowing us to value the vastness of the human experience of God.

Notes 1 Joseph Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy, 14. 2 Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Romans, 188-89. 3 Giuseppe Ruggieri, “Revelación,” in Diccionario Teologico Interdisciplinar, 186. 4 Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah, 8:1. 5 Alexender Even-Chen, “A Torah of Participatory Revelation in Context.” 6 Louis Jacobs, God, Torah, Israel: Traditionalism without Fundamentalism, 25. 7 Asher Lopatin, “Five Pillars of Orthodox Judaism,” in Jewish Theology in Our Time: A New Generation Explores the Foundations and Future of Jewish Belief, ed. E. Cosgrove, 83. 8 Wolf Ze’ev, Sefer Or ha-Me’ir (Monsi, NY: Hotsa’at ‘Sha‘ar ha-Torah, 2019), fol. 239b. 9 Hava Tirosh-Samuelson and Aaron W. Hughes, Moshe Idel: Representing God, 64. 10 Tirosh-Samuelson and Hughes, 65. 11 Reuven Kimelman, “Rabbinic Prayer in Late Antiquity,” in The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 4: The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period, ed. Katz, 573. 12 Kimelman, 575. 13 Ruth Langer, “Sinai, Zion, and God in the Synagogue: Celebrating Torah in Ashkenaz,” in Liturgy in the Life of the Synagogue: Studies in the History of Jewish Prayer, ed. Langer and Fine, 122-23. 14 Langer, 159. 15 Langer, 145.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 156

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 157 16 Neil Gillman, Doing Jewish Theology: God, Torah & Israel in Modern Judaism, 36. 17 Siddur Rav Saadia Gaon, ed. Davidson et al., 359. 18 Siddur Rav Saadia Gaon. 19 Mishnah, Megillah, 4:1. 20 Bava Kamma, Talmud Bavli, 82a. 21 Abraham Abele Gobiner, Magen Avraham, 134:3. 22 Megillah, Talmud Bavli, 29a. 23 Jean Corbon, The Wellspring of Worship, 41. 24 Origen, Homilies on Genesis and Exodus, 380-81. 25 Roman Catholic Church, “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church: Lineamenta.” 26 Roman Catholic Church, “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church: Instrumentum Laboris.” 27 Richard P. McBrien, “Sacramentality, principle of,” in The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, ed. McBrien. 28 Kenan Osborne, “Sacrament,” in The New Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy & Worship, ed. Bradshaw, 416. 29 Pope Benedict XVI, “Verbum Domini,” no. 52. 30 Armido Rizzi, “Rito,” in Diccionario Teológico Interdisciplinar, 204. 31 Pope Francis, “Aperuit Illis,” no. 4. 32 Herbert Vorgrimler, Sacramental Theology, 71. 33 St. Augustin, On the Gospel of St John, Tr. 80:3 / ML 35, 1840 / NPNF VII, 344. 34 Pope John II, “Dies Domini.”. 35 Cf. St. Augustine, Quaest. in Hept. 2, 73: PL 34,623; Cf. DV 16. 36 Paolo Tomatis, “Il libro, la liturgia, la comunità: la funzione rituale dell”Evangeliario,” in Evangeliario: Il libro della buona notizia, ed. A. Vela, 56. 37 Giuliano Zanchi, “L’ambone nella drammaturgia liturgica,” in L’Ambone: Tavola della parola di Dio, 208. 38 Council of Carthage (398 CE), “The Ordination of the Clergy in Ancient Statutes of the Church, in Heinrich Denzinger, The Sources of Catholic Dogma, no. 156. 39 Pope Paul VI, “Ministeria Quaedam.” 40 Pope Francis, “Aperuit Illis,” no. 3. 41 Luis Alonso Schökel, “Consejos al lector,” 82. 42 Zanchi, “L’ambone nella drammaturgia liturgica,” 203. 43 Philippe Markiewicz and Ferrante Ferranti, Les Pierres vivantes: L’eglise revisitée, 185. 44 Armstrong, The Lost Art of Scripture, chap. 10. 45 Graham, Beyond the Written Word, 87. 46 Armstrong, chap. 10. 47 Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary, 25. 48 Rumee Ahmed, “Ordinary Justice: A Theology of Islamic Law as a Social Contract,” in Sharia and Justice: An Ethical, Legal, Political and Cross-­ cultural Approach, ed. A. Poya, 24. 49 Armstrong, chap. 10. 50 Sadakat Kadri, Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari’a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia to the Streets of the Modern Muslim World, 77. 51 Nasr, The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary, 34. 52 Graham, 85. 53 Graham, 79. 54 Souleymane Bachir Diagne, “On Reciting and Reading,” 666-67. 55 Michael Cook, The Koran: A Very Short Introduction, 78.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 157

02/12/20 2:00 PM

158  The theology of proclamation 56 Graham, 94. 57 Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization, 376. 58 Kristina Nelson, The Art of Reciting the Qur’an, 100. 59 al-Husari, 1966:24, in Nelson, The Art of Reciting the Qur’an, 56. 60 Nasr 1930: 236, quoting al-Rurr al-Adim, in Nelson, The Art of Reciting the Qur’an, 57. 61 Sayx ‘Abd al-Basit ‘Abd al-Samad, in Nelson, The Art of Reciting the Qur’an, 58. 62 al-Said 1970: 88, in Nelson, The Art of Reciting the Qur’an, 58. 63 Cf. Ars celebrandi: Guida pastorale per un’arte del celebrare. 64 Lee Shai Weissbach, “The Architecture of the Bimah in American Synagogues: Framing the Ritual.” 65 Lawrence A. Hoffman, The Art of Public prayer: Not for Clergy Only, 194. 66 Jessica Ann Rosenberg, “‘A Woman on the Bimah Means Ignorant Men’: Women’s Torah Reading and Modern Orthodox Identity,” 93. 67 Geoffrey Wainwright, “Christian Worship: Scriptural Basis and Theological Frame,” in The Oxford History of Christian Worship, ed. G. Wainwright and Westerfield Tucker, 4. 68 Frank C. Senn, Embodied Liturgy: Lessons in Christian Ritual, 321, 69 Catholic Church, “Introduction to the Book of the Gospels,” in The Liturgy Documents: Essential Documents for Parish Worship, Vol. 1, 371. 70 Mishneh Torah, “Prayer and the Priestly Blessing”, no. 3. 71 Seth D. Kunin, “Sacred place,” in Themes and Issues in Judaism, ed. S. Kunin, 46-47. 72 Weissbach, “The Architecture of the Bimah in American Synagogues.” 73 Ismar Schorsch, “A Synagogue Is Not A Temple.” 74 Pope Francis, “Aperuit Illis,” no. 7. 75 Graham, 65. 76 Graham, 58. 77 Pope Francis, “Aperuit Illis,” no. 11.

Bibliography Catholic Church. “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church: Instrumentum Laboris.” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2008. http://www.vatican.va/ roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20080511_instrlabor-xii-­assembly_ en.html (accessed May 15, 2020). Catholic Church. “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church: Lineamenta.” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2007. http://www.vatican.va/roman_ curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20070427_lineamenta-xii-assembly_ en.html (accessed May 15, 2020). Catholic Church. The Liturgy Documents: Essential Documents for Parish Worship. Vol. 1. Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications, 2012. Armstrong, Karen. The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing the Sacred Texts. Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2019. Kindle Barth, Karl. The Epistle to the Romans. Translated by Edwin C. Hoskyns. London, UK: Oxford University Press, 1968. Boselli, Goffredo, ed. L’ambone tavola della Parola di Dio. Magnano, IT: Edizioni Qiqajon, 2006. Bradshaw, Paul, ed. The New Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy & Worship. Louisville, KN: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 158

02/12/20 2:00 PM

The theology of proclamation 159 Catholic Church, and International Committee on English in the Liturgy. General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2003. Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1993. Centre National de Pastorale Liturgique. Ars celebrandi: Guida pastorale per un’arte del celebrare. Translated by Valerio Lanzarini. Magnano: Edizioni Qiqajon, 2008. Cook, Michael. The Koran: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2000. Corbon, Jean. The Wellspring of Worship. San Francisco, CA: Ingnatius Press, 1988. Cosgrove, Elliot J., ed. Jewish Theology in Our Time: A New Generation Explores the Foundations and Future of Jewish Belief. Woodstock, VT.: Jewish Lights Pub., 2010. Denzinger, Heinrich. The Sources of Catholic Dogma. St. Louis, MO: Herder, 1957. Diagne, Souleymane Bachir. “On Reciting and Reading.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 35, no. 3 (2015): 666–671. Even-Chen, Alexender. “A Torah of Participatory Revelation in Context.” TheTorah. com. (2017). https://www.thetorah.com/article/a-torah-of-participatory-­revelationin-context (accessed May 15, 2020). Gillman, Neil. Doing Jewish Theology: God, Torah & Israel in Modern Judaism. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Pub., 2008. Gobiner, Abraham Abele. Magen Avraham. New York, NY: Sefaria, 2014. https:// www.sefaria.org/Magen_Avraham?lang=en (accessed May 15, 2020). Graham, William A. Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Hodgson, Marshall G. S. The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1974. Hoffman, Lawrence A. The Art of Public Prayer: Not for Clergy Only. Washington, DC: Pastoral Press, 1988. Jacobs, Louis. God, Torah, Israel: Traditionalism without Fundamentalism. CincinnatiWest Orange, NJ: Hebrew Union College Press, 1990. Kadri, Sadakat. Heaven on Earth: A Journey through Shari’a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia to the Streets of the Modern Muslim World. 1st American ed. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012. Katz, Steven T. ed. The Cambridge History of Judaism: The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period. Vol. 4. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Kunin, Seth D. Themes and Issues in Judaism. New York, NY: Cassell, 2000. Langer, Ruth, Steven Fine, eds. Liturgy in the Life of the Synagogue: Studies in the History of Jewish Prayer. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2005. Markiewicz, Philippe, and Ferrante Ferranti. Les Pierres vivantes: L’eglise revisitée. Paris: Éditions Philippe Rey, 2005. McBrien, Richard P., ed. The Harpercollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism. San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins, 1995. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary. 1st ed. New York, NY: HarperOne, 2015. Nelson, Kristina. The Art of Reciting the Qur’an. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1985. Origen. Homilies on Genesis and Exodus. Translated by Ronald E. Heine. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2002.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 159

02/12/20 2:00 PM

160  The theology of proclamation Pacomio, Luciano, et al., eds. Diccionario Teológico Interdisciplinar. III vols. Salamanca: Ediciones Sígueme, 1985. Pope Benedict XVI. “Verbum Domini: Apostolic Exhortation.” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2010. http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/ hf_ben-xvi_exh_20100930_verbum-domini.html. (accessed May 22, 2020). Pope Francis. “Aperuit Illis: Apostolic Letter in the Form of Motu Proprio Instituting the Sunday of the Word of God.” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2019. http://www. vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papa-francesco-­motuproprio-20190930_aperuit-illis.html (accessed May 22, 2020). Pope John Paul II. “Dies Domini: Apostolic Letter on Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy.” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1998. http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/ apost_letters/1998/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_05071998_dies-domini.html (accessed May 22, 2020). Pope Paul VI. “Ministeria Quaedam: Apostolic Letter in the Form of Motu Proprio on Minor Orders.” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1972. http://www.vatican.va/ holy_father/paul_vi/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19720815_­ ministeria-quaedam_lt.html. (accessed May 22, 2020). Poya Abbas, ed. Sharia and Justice: An Ethical, Legal, Political and Cross-Cultural Approach. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2018. Ratzinger, Joseph. The Spirit of the Liturgy. Translated by John Saward. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2000. Rosenberg, Jessica Ann. “‘A Woman on the Bimah Means Ignorant Men’: Women’s Torah Reading and Modern Orthodox Identity.” Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women’s Studies & Gender Issues 21, no. 21 (2011): 88–96. Schökel, Luis Alonso. “Consejos al Lector.” Hodie, no. 17 (1965): 82. Schorsch, Ismar. “A Synagogue Is Not a Temple.” Conservative Judaism 43, no. 2 (1990): 61. Mishneh Torah. New York, NY: Sefaria, 2014. https://www.sefaria.org/texts/ Halakhah/Mishneh%20Torah (accessed May 15, 2020). Talmud Bavli. New York, NY: Sefaria, 2014. https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Talmud/ Bavli. (accessed May 15, 2020). Senn, Frank C. Embodied Liturgy: Lessons in Christian Ritual. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2016. Tirosh-Samuelson, Hava, and Aaron W. Hughes. Moshe Idel: Representing God. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2014. Vela, Alberto, ed. Evangeliario: Il libro della buona notizia. Padova, IT: Messaggero di Sant’Antonio, 2013. Vorgrimler, Herbert. Sacramental Theology. Translated by Linda M. Maloney. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992. Wainwright, Geoffrey, and Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, eds. The Oxford History of Christian Worship. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006. Weissbach, Lee Shai. “The Architecture of the Bimah in American Synagogues: Framing the Ritual.” American Jewish History 91, no. 1 (2003): 29–51. Ze’ev, Wolf. Sefer or Ha-Me’ir. Monsi, NY: Hotsa’at ‘Sha‘ar ha-Torah, 2019.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp03.indd 160

02/12/20 2:00 PM

4

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation

Having described the theological aspect involved in scripture reading and recitation and explored how community worship could illuminate the proclamation, we turn to phenomenological and hermeneutical insights, which offer a more vibrant approach to the ritual proclamation of the scriptures. For some readers, the place of proclamation or recitation may be a simple element in the worship space. Others may envision it as a relevant part of the sacred space. Both visions are thick with religious experience. If we want to grasp and understand ritual proclamation and recitation, the secret lies in the nature and function of their ritual places. Conversely, we must come to grips with the religious event and the emotional experience that it brings. This chapter has three distinct sections for facilitating a full comprehension of this ritual action, which is an amalgamation of different moments that employ a wide range of expressions. The first section examines actions related to the reading, storing, recollecting of scripture, and the deciphering of the sensory experiences resulting from these activities. What is needed, as Mark Searle remarks, is a deeper understanding of the human dynamics of liturgy as ritual behaviour.1 To do this, we will dive into the realm of emotions and experiences. The second section explores the phenomenological aspects of the physical experience of sacred space during the reading of holy texts. It analyses how worshippers react when a person reads Holy Scriptures and the profound, close relationship that arises between the reader and the assembly. Tied to that emotional realm is the matrix of ritual identification that congregants carry with them when listening to the proclaimed divine word. The third section is a hermeneutical approach to proclamation and considers the symbolic nature of the immediacy of the reader/reciter communicating from a sacred space. As part of this discussion, we will look at the most general patterns of experience that happen whenever a congregation member seeks to understand the divine and one another, interpret ritual actions, and experience the liturgy as intriguing, enjoyable, and significant.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 161

02/12/20 2:13 PM

162  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation

Reading and listening to Holy Scriptures Jews, Christians, and Muslims have developed similar perceptions about the word of God as being alive and dynamic in their religious practices. Reading, proclaiming, cantillating, and reciting scriptures are mediums of a communicative interchange between God and humans. The assembly engages in this communication through three main actions: the act of reading, the act of listening, and the performance that brings them together. The act of reading The act of reading Holy Scripture out loud serves a communal deed and need. The act of proclaiming scriptures ensures that the text is enacted and effectively representing the presence of God in the congregation, as C.S. Lewis eloquently expresses, “We read to know that we are not alone.”2 In The History of Reading, Alberto Manguel, citing many examples of famous readers in history, examines the pleasures, responsibilities, and power that come from reading. In his work, he describes his deep sense of connection with readers throughout history, which gives rise to the conviction that “I am not alone.”3 When we read, a whole hidden universe opens to us—a world of meanings, images, ideas, and histories. Manguel describes this mystery in his book: We “discover” a word because the object or idea it represents is already in our mind, “ready to be linked up with the word.” It is as if we are offered a gift from the outside world (by our elders, by those who first speak to us) but the ability to grasp the gift is our own. In that sense, the words spoken (and, later on, the words read) belong neither to us nor to our parents, to our authors; they occupy a space of shared meaning, a communal threshold which lies at the beginning of our relationship to the arts of conversation and reading.4 What is this act we call reading? The act of reading is a complex process that involves seeing and apprehending words. It is the coordination of different skills that involve the reader’s judgement, recognition, memory, knowledge, learning, and life experience. Neurolinguistic science tells us that there is a mechanism in the human brain that controls comprehension, production, and acquisition of language. Canadian scientist André Roch Lecours discovered that, in the process of reading, a reader visualizes the words and organizes them into a system that originates from the reader’s own time and place. 5 As Manguel explains, What all this seems to imply is that, sitting in front of my book… I do not merely perceive the letters and blanks spaces of the words that

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 162

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 163 make up the text. In order to extract a message from that system of black and white signs, I first apprehend the system in an apparently erratic manner, through fickle eyes, and then reconstruct the code of signs through a connecting chain of processing neurones in my brain — a chain that varies according to the nature of the text I’m reading — and imbue that text with something –– emotion, physical sentience, intuition, knowledge, soul — that depends on who I am and how I become who I am.6 Readers face a series of tasks that are performed at the subconscious level to decipher, create images, and build meanings from what they read, or even what they hear. When the act of reading is done in a ritual religious environment, it becomes a “proclamation.” For Antonio Dongui, “the term ‘proclaim’ expresses the interior attitude of the one who is called by the Spirit [God] to be herald of the Anointed One, the One expected by all humanity, and the source of every joy that fills the heart of every creature.”7 In this ritual context, to describe “proclamation” as just “reading” diminishes the message. Unfortunately, this is what is happening in some liturgies today. In these instances, the reader does not adopt a proper internal disposition or a proper tone of voice, which would have “render[ed] the communication of the word incisive in every hearing.”8 The act of reading is not enough to transmit the divine words. The scriptures within the three Abrahamic communities continue to be brought to life during their repeated proclamation and recitation, creating and refreshing their religious life. Dongui describes this dynamic as, “To proclaim the Scriptures is to cry out to the world a sense of life; the fullness already operating in the heart of the lector overflows.”9 This ritual action occurs within a particular space, acting as a focusing lens, and serves as a method to encourage worshippers to pay attention to the holy words, and to transmit the holy words, as required by the divine mandate of all three faiths. Readers, reciters, and congregants perceive the process of proclaiming and reciting the holy words as a powerful, enlightening, and unique experience. Gerard van der Leeuw, in Religion in Essence and Manifestation, states, “The word… is a decisive power: whoever utters words set power in motion.”10 Indeed, Holy Scriptures are a particular class of powerful words that acquire their maximum expression during ritual proclamation. Graham remarks on this, saying, “There is much to be said for the perception that, especially in the cult-oriented world of wholly oral traditions, and to a lesser degree in any ritual activity, the act of naming makes present, or at least summons the power of, which is named.”11 The connection of proclamation and power is a central aspect of the ritual. In the Muslim tradition, the Qur’an must be transmitted as it was given to the Prophet, as a recited phonetic text to keep its divine power. In many ways, the proclamation and recitation of Holy Scriptures have been the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 163

02/12/20 2:13 PM

164  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation driving force to bring eternity to the present time, experiencing “the reality of the unseen.”12 Words are powerful; they subjugate and alter the inner world of the listener. More specifically, the proclamation of scriptures could be considered metaphysically, as Ricoeur suggests, “The text is like a musical score and the reader like the orchestra conductor who obeys the instructions of the notation. Consequently, to understand is not merely to repeat the speech in a similar event, it is to generate a new event.”13 In this sense, the reader does not create but instead reveals, makes audible, and brings the scriptures alive, creating a new event. The practice of reading independently did not exist in the ancient world. Prior to the seventeenth century, the concept of silent reading was not common, as literacy was a luxury. Originally, worshippers heard the proclamation of scriptures but did not read them privately. This was especially true in Judaism. Daniel Boyarin explains, “reading, in ancient Jewish culture, signifies an act which is oral, social and collective.”14 The Hebrew Bible uses the word qarâ (Hebrew for “to read, call, proclaim”) for those activities, as written texts were meant to be shared orally. Boyarin analyses some verses from the Hebrew Bible, showing the variety and power of qarâ. Genesis shows the divine oral power of qarâ: “The angel of the Lord called out (qarâ) to him from the heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham.’ And he said, ‘Here I am’” (Gen. 22:11). Exodus reveals the social character of qarâ: “Then he took the book of the covenant, and he read (qarâ) it in the hearing of the people, and they said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken, we will do, and we will be obedient’” (Ex. 24:7). Deuteronomy highlights the collective of qarâ, the sharing by all the members of the Torah: “When all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read (qarâ) this Torah before all Israel, in their hearing. Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the stranger with your towns—so that they hear and learn to fear the Lord your God and to observe diligently all of the words of this Torah” (Deut. 31:11–12). In all of the three examples, qarâ denotes an oral action that involves the community at large. Boyarin continues, explaining, “All these acts of speaking in which the verb qarâ is used are immediately followed by the desired or actual result of the performance of the speech act in the performance of the listener.”15 Reading Holy Scriptures is a proclamation, a declaration of faith, and a summons, where the ones who qarâ, or cry out, illuminate and warm the hearts of every listener. Qarâ is not only a vocalization but also involves the swaying of the reader’s body as they express movements in the rhythm of the text. The Midrash Tehillim encourages the action in this way: With my head, I bend my head and bow down in prayer.… And I also wear phylacteries [tefillin] on my head. With my neck, I fulfill the precept of wrapping oneself in fringes [tzitzit]. With my mouth, I praise You, as it says: “My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord” (Psalms

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 164

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 165 145:21).…With my face, I prostrate myself, as it says: “He fell down on his face to the earth” (Genesis 48:12).… With my nose, when I smell spices with it [during the Havdalah blessing] at the outgoing of Shabbat. With my ears, I listen to the singing of the Torah. As the Midrash Tehillim explains, the entire body acts as a ritual tool for praising God. Standing, bowing, swaying, prostrating, kneeling, singing, and cantillating are all possible movements. In the History of Reading, Manguel, when describing the reading of sacred texts, says, “Where every letter and the number of letters and their order were dictated by the godhead, full comprehension required not only the eyes but also the rest of the body: swaying to the cadence of the sentences and lifting to one’s lips the holy words, so that nothing of the divine could be lost in the reading.”16 In the three faith traditions, different kinds of body movement, spontaneous or regulated, express devotion during readings. Jewish readers, on the spirit of the psalmist, utter, “All my bones shall say, ‘O Lord, who is like you?’” (Ps. 35:10), revealing that when receiving the word of God, the entire body trembles. Western Christians sit for the readings and the psalm and stand for the Gospel proclamation as a sign of reverence. When the Gospel Book is carried in procession from the altar, congregants look towards the minister at the ambo in joyful acclamation. After the minister has proclaimed the Gospel, he sings or says the acclamation “The Gospel of the Lord,” and the assembly responds with “Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ,” he then kisses and lifts the book, showing love and praise to the Word. The act of reciting Kristina Nelson views the ideal recitation as a paradox. She explains that Muslims scholars agree that first, “the Qur’an is paramount in its divine uniqueness and perfection,” and second, “that melody is essential to the most effective Qur’anic recitation.”17 The recitation is linked to the reciter’s faithful attitude. The recitation ensures the correct transmission of the Holy Book.18 That is why surah memorization is a critical part of the process, as it allows the reciter to connect with the Qur’an on a deep level. The performance is considered to be an act of worship involving the faithful body and spirit, the same as for Judaism and Christianity. To enter into the state of prayer—where the recitation is at the core— Muslims comprise the whole person—soul, heart, mind, tongue, and body. Their whole existence becomes involved. Hodgson explains, It [the Qur’an] was never designed to be read for information or even for inspiration, but to be recited as an act of commitment in worship; nor did it become a mere sacred source of authority as the founding of Islam receded into time. It continued its active role among all who

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 165

02/12/20 2:13 PM

166  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation accepted Islam and took it seriously. What one did with the Qur’an was not to peruse it, but to worship by means of it; not to passively receive it, but in reciting to reaffirm it for oneself; the event of revelation was renewed every time one of the faithful, in the act of worship, relived the Qur’anic affirmations… it continued to be an event, an act rather than merely a statement of facts or norms.19 Hodgson expresses the Muslim belief that through the performance recitation of the Qur’an during the Salat, they experience the divine message as Muhammad did. Muslims start by standing and raising their hands to their ears, then they place their right hand over their left on their chest or navel while in the standing position with a short supplication seeking God’s protection followed by Surah Al Fatiha. The faithful then bows and says “Glory be to God, the Most Great” three times. While moving into the upright position, Muslims recite “God listens to the one who praises Him,” and while in the standing position, “To God belongs all praise.” “God is Great” is then recited again with hands hanging loosely at the sides. Next, they move to a prostration position and “Glory be to God, the Highest” is repeated three times. Palms, knees, toes, forehead, and nose must be the only body parts touching the ground. “God is Great” is recited while moving to the sitting position, followed by the final prostration. After saying “God is Great,” Muslims return to a sitting position. Then they recite a set number of short prayers in Arabic, praising God, and sending peace on the Prophet. They repeat the declaration of faith, raising the forefinger of their right hand, to act as a witness. To end the prayer, Muslims first turn their face to the right, saying “Peace be upon you, and the mercy and blessings of Allah,” and then do the same to the left. Muslims believe that each of these recitations is made to two angels: the angel on the right side records all good actions and thoughts and the one on the left records all wrong actions. When reciting the Qur’an, mind and body, reason and feeling, lose their distinction and become fused. Muslims feel that, as the tongue recites and words flow from the lips, the mind ponders, the heart reflects, the soul absorbs, tears well up in the eyes, the heart quakes and trembles, the skin shivers and softens just as the heart does, and there no longer remains any duality between the two—even your hair may stand on end. 20 The act of listening As emphasized throughout, sacred texts, like the Bible, Torah, or the Qur’an, hold the words of God, and the most significant action for the faithful is not to read the text but to listen to it. In listening, the believer acknowledges that God is their creator; God has something to say to them. Therefore, expressing a profound awareness of being a creature of God, they listen with reverence. 21 Philosopher Paul Ricoeur gives grounds for

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 166

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 167 this. He believes there is something specific in the Abrahamic traditions that offer a level of privilege to the Word. He says, “You have the tradition that the word was created by the word; in the switch from the first narrative of creation to the second, God not only does but says.”22 Hearing, reading, and reciting sacred texts are part of the same sacred act. The act of reading or reciting initiates an intimate spiritual–physical relationship between the reader and the listener, which involves all the senses. There is the sound of words being recited, the scent of incense lingering in the air (in the Christian tradition), the reader’s dynamic gestures and facial expressions, and the sounds of the reader opening a scroll or turning the pages of a holy book. The acts of listening and reading set in motion a whole chain of activities that depend both on the text and the exercise of certain mental faculties. Wolfgang Iser has found that reading and listening produces effects and prompts responses that are beyond the text, the reader, and listener, such as aesthetic pleasure or how the literary work can come alive in the reader’s mind. Of particular interest to us is what Iser calls an aesthetic response: “A reformulation of an already formulated reality, which brings into the world something that did not exist before.”23 This aesthetic aspect is made tangible by the reader and the listener through different perspectives. He explains, “As the reader passes through the various perspectives offered by the text and relates the different views and patterns to one another he sets the work in motion, and so sets himself in motion too.”24 The reading of sacred texts sets the congregation in “spiritual” motion. When the Jewish community repeats “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone” (Deut. 6:4) every day, they predispose themselves to the active act of listening. The text mobilizes each member of the congregation differently, based on past emotional experiences, teachings learned, personalities encountered, and the memory of loved ones. Furthermore, Graham notes that, for Luther, the ears are the organs of the Christian: “The true Christian needs to listen truly and well to the message of scripture rather than let himself or herself be led astray by the appearances of  this world. In this sense, faith is by hearing, not by seeing. Hearing is  not the external work of the ears, but the internal work of the Holy Spirit in the human heart.”25 As such, for the three faiths, the sacred texts have the power to change the hearts of those who are truly putting their heart into listening. The listening of sacred texts creates an overpowering spiritual experience where body and mind reflect the divine. Donghi explains, “Our thirst for divine communication develops an interior attention in our daily life, creating the condition for our ritual listening.”26 The ritual of listening has multiple images usually connected with where it is done, the strongest one being the meal. The Torah service and the Liturgy of the Word are joined with a meal liturgy (in Judaism it is a domestic rite). The unity of word and meal has its ground on the concept that listening to Holy

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 167

02/12/20 2:13 PM

168  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation Scriptures is like eating, where the listener received the nutrients for their spiritual life: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps. 119:103), and the Prophet says, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty” (Jer. 15:16). Listening is a ritual posture where worshippers discover their vocation of being called by God, becoming an authentic spiritual experience. Listening is the fundamental posture of the prophet, the disciple, and the faithful; in many Western languages, listening is related to obeying, as it is derived from the Latin ob-audire (to hear or listen to), which is itself derived from audire (to hear). In Islam, sam’na wa-a ṭ a’na (we hear and obey) go together: “The answer of the Believers when summoned to Allah and His Apostle in order that He may judge between them is no other than this: they say ‘We hear and we obey’: it is such as these that will attain felicity” (Surah 24:51). Donghi affirms, “If faith is a fullness of adhering to the word, the soul necessarily must always fully relive the posture of listening.”27 There is something in the nature of the voice which provides it with “master-like authority.”28 Boyarin also affirms, “The reading of prophetic text, as that of the Torah, is expected to function as the speech-act of command, and its intended perlocutionary effect is obedience.”29 Listening is more than just hearing; it is an act of love. When a believer listens to the word of God, they open their heart to gain a new understanding of Him, creating an authentic connection that builds mutual trust. The act of listening asks for the listener’s full attention and uses all of the senses. In doing so, the reader is made aware of the verbal and non-verbal messages in what is being read. That is why scripture’s proclamation is a process that has structure where listening is included, and, as Iser declares, a process that “must be of a complex nature, for although they are contained in the text, they do not fulfill their function until they have affected the reader,”30 and I would further add, the congregation. The fulfilment of the reading of and listening to sacred text occurs when the act of reading and listening becomes an event, an encounter, and a dynamic happening experienced by those who are gathered in its performance. The performance All performances, sacred and secular, are ritually framed and they have the ability to transform time, space, and consciousness. Performance, in a broad sense, is characterized as a mode of human actions that unfold in a specific and unique fashion. In a religious connotation, performance can be seen as an expression of religious or cultural ideas, such as when the performance is perceived as a ritual. In an analysis of ritual performance, Catherine Bell, a remarkable ritual theorist, says that performances focus “on what ritual does, rather than on what it is supposed to mean.”31 Performance is able to organize ritual actions. In the proclamation of

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 168

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 169 scriptures, the role of performance is a requisite for effectively transmitting its meaning. A competent performer is a person who lends their voice and body to serve the Holy Scriptures, giving it form and expression, and introducing the congregants to a lively experience of the scriptures. Further, Bell explains, “Performance models suggest active rather than passive roles for ritual participants who reinterpret value-laden symbols as they communicate them.”32 The active, even emotional participation, of reading and recitation is the ultimate aim. The proclamation of scriptures is inherently theatrical, with both the Torah service and Liturgy of the Word often acting as interpretative performances. There are two reasons to support this conclusion. 33 First, the reader wants to verbally communicate to the assembly—humans have a compelling desire and tenacious will to communicate with other human beings.34 Second, there is the assembly of the faithful—a group with a religious attitude—who are listening to sacred words. As in any performance, that moment of hearing and seeing brings remembrances of the past. A strong impression is produced that engages the worshippers and allows them to be emotionally and physically attentive. The reading becomes suggestive—that is to say, the meaning of the words is acquired by the faithful. But where and when does the meaning arise in each individual? Psychologist Juan David Nasio says that it is in the state of wakefulness, between the emotional connections and the unconscious memory of the mind. According to Nasio, the past is made present, and the present meets again with the past. In that precise moment, the worshipper sees and listens to the minister not only as one who simply reads aloud but also as one who can invoke memories and insights from the past. As the members of the congregation experience this effect, individual listening becomes communal listening, binding the members together as an assembly—a group of people gathered together for a common purpose, in this case to listen to the words of God. The essential tool to communicate Holy Scriptures to the assembly are words, but they are also limited because they cannot capture the complexity of their origins. Soltes discusses this issue, explaining, The difficulty of putting, into words a reality that is beyond our own becomes even greater. Words are paradoxical, then, as instruments in the hands of religion: they are the primary medium in which the nature and commandments of divinity are revealed, but they cannot fully connect us to divinity to the extent that divinity is believed by a given tradition to be beyond words—ultimately indescribable, ineffable (in the Jewish tradition the very name of God is ineffable). 35 The performance of proclaiming engages the senses of hearing and seeing— the voice of the reader embodies a symbolic character for the congregation: the voice of God. There is no voice without a body, just as there is no

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 169

02/12/20 2:13 PM

170  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation consciousness without someone to proclaim it. The reader’s performance is subjected to the perceptions and impressions of that moment as well as the authority of being the voice of God. 36 These experiences are expressed through the reader’s body. Nasio claims, “the body is the soundboard most sensitive to the unconscious, and the unconscious is consistent with the inevitable variations of a living and mortal organism.”37 The unseen is manifested in the body of the reader and exudes meaning—Lévinas calls this effect “radiation,” an “epiphany.”38 In the liturgy, congregants use their voices to welcome the reader in a communitarian performance. Mladen Dolar, in his study of the voice, explains, “We are social beings by the voice and through the voice; it seems that the voice stands at the axis of our social bonds, and that voices are the very texture of the social, as well as the intimate kernel of subjectivity.”39 On attentive response, the whole congregation pays attention through the liturgy to the voices of the different readers who proclaim the Holy Scriptures during the services. All these voices are transmitting messages that convey feelings and meanings, and all these voices implore, pray, confess, and reveal. Crying out, the voices rise over the whole celebration, breaking the silence and sounding the miracle of life. Certainly, the voice is the medium of scripture and may express its character. It also creates raison d’être for the listener, because, as Dolar states, “the voice is an opening toward meaning.”40 Saint Augustine describes this when he says John the Baptist is the voice and Christ is the Word (the Logos): “The voice [John the Baptist] precedes the Word [Christ] and it makes possible its understanding.” The announcement of the Baptist gives a new understanding of who the Messiah is, Saint Augustine continues, saying, “Now look closely at the meaning of this sentence: ‘He has to increase, I have to diminish’ (John 3, 30)… why could the voice [John the Baptist] says, “He has to increase, I have to diminish”?… Because the voices are being effaced as the Word grows…. The voice gradually loses its function as the soul progresses to Christ.”41 This is the essence of performance, an event of human communication that opens the possibility of transcendental meaning. Consequently, the voice of the reader seems to embody the divine presence. Dolar says that the voice offers “the illusion that one could get immediate access to an unalloyed presence … a firm rock against the elusive interplay of signs.”42 In fact, for Ricoeur, “reading is the concrete act in which the destiny of the text is fulfilled.”43 The voice of God, which has resonated in the hearts of the prophets, was put into writing in order to be read to the congregation. Today, this transmission of the Word of God continues in the voice of the reader. Dolar asserts, The voice is the flesh of the soul, its ineradicable materiality, by which the soul can never be rid of the body; it depends on this inner object which is but the ineffaceable trace of externality and heterogeneity, but

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 170

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 171 by virtue of which the body can also never quite simply be the body, it is a truncated body, a body cloven by the impossible rift between an interior and an exterior. The voice embodies the very impossibility of this division, and acts as its operator.44 The voices of the ones who read or recite as they proclaim the word of God are the medium to His presence. Talal Asad describes the Muslim experience, explaining, “Like the icon for believing Christians, the divine recitation intimates a form of life within but also beyond the present, something that may be lost but can be re-evoked and confirmed as it crystallizes in the heart of the faithful man or women.”45 Thus, learning the verbal art of proclamation is essential. Two primary principles of overseeing ritual readings are beauty and intelligibility. In relation to its beauty, proclamation is a ritual act that needs to be performed rather than a speech. To perform is an artistic expression, for readers use their body as a vessel for expressing a transcendental reality while reading or reciting, establishing a direct connection with the congregation. As Dolar says, “It is as if the use of the voice will ultimately endow those words with the character of sacredness and ensure their ritual efficacy.”46 Here is where the performance can play a significant role, expressing the truth and the beauty of the divine revelation. For its intelligibility, the word must be comprehensible to be a word, and nowhere in the liturgy is this more acutely relevant than during the Torah service and the Liturgy of the Word. If a word is mumbled, mispronounced, or inaudible, it is just a sound and no longer a word for the hearer. David Kahan expresses that verbal art brings forth a vivid and authentic interpretation, priming the faithful for a setting of awe and to be waiting in suspense.47 Sacred texts acquire power only when they are given expression by a voice that is alive to its sacred purpose. Readers should be trained in verbal performance art, as verbal art is the ultimate experience expected by worshippers during a worship service. The voice performs the sacramental action: the reader and the scroll; the minister, lectionary, and Book of the Gospels; and the reciter and the Qur’an. As Dolar says, The three great “religions of the Book” all rely on Holy Scripture where the truth is manifested, yet the scripture, the holy letter, can become effective only if and when it is assumed by a living voice. It can function as a social tie, the link between the community of believers, only if and when a voice pronounces what has been written ever since the foundational moment of origin and stored by tradition, and what all believers keep in their memories anyway.48 In the case of reciting the Qur’an, religious ritual is not only highly structured, with specific rules commanding how the surahs must be pronounced,

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 171

02/12/20 2:13 PM

172  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation but also the discipline is called tajwid. This discipline also involves expected rituals of purity and etiquette from both reciters and listeners. In this section, I have briefly explained how the act of reading serves as a method for assisting in understanding the physical, emotional, and spiritual relationship with the body, especially during a religious ritual. The voice of the reader, which comes from the innermost realm of their being, transcends themselves. The voice is intimately related to the world of the sacred and its power to catalyse spiritual motion. Finally, to understand the Torah service, the Liturgy of the Word, and the Qur’anic recitation as a performance, we have to include listeners and their cultural backgrounds. From here, we turn to a physical experience of “proclaiming-reciting–­ listening” in a sacred space.

Experiencing sacred space and time The study of the structure of experience and consciousness that a congregant has of sacred space during the reading of scriptures brings us to our phenomenological approach. An assembly of faithful may have different physical and spiritual responses when a person reads a holy scripture, as they are tied to an emotional realm that is the matrix of the ritual. Sacred spaces operate as a communicative setting for them, and its meaning lies in its connection to the human spirit. Alberto Pérez-Gómez explains, “If architecture can be said to have a poetic meaning, we must recognize that what it says is not independent of what it is. Architecture is not an experience that words translate later. Like the poem itself, it is its figure as presence, which constitutes the means and end of the experience.”49 Architecture can enhance the human spirit, values, and abilities to inspire trust in others. Phenomenology in architecture is the discursive and realist attempt to understand how architecture can emerge as the very material existence of humans embodied by immaterial emotions, feelings, and beliefs. Phenomenologists study human experience; they explain that our first experience is of existing: the sense of “here I am in the world.” This “being in the world” is the starting point of understanding our surroundings. With this understanding, Merleau-Ponty explores the phenomenological structure of perception. His central thesis is that perception is not caused by the world and the sensations that it evokes, but rather perception has primacy in the interpretation of the world and is centred in the body. Merleau-Ponty believes that we perceive the world through our bodies; we are embodied subjects, involved in the experience of everyday life. The relationship between our body and the world around us—what is often referred to as “environment”—is the focus for phenomenologists and those who try to apply its insights to the field of architecture. Juhani Pallasma, a phenomenologist architect, says, “The senses define the interface between us and our environment. Architecture is the art of reconciliation between ourselves

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 172

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 173 and the world, and this mediation takes place through the senses.”50 For this discussion, we consider the worshipper to be an embodied consciousness, performing ritual actions in the sacred space of a synagogue, church, or mosque. Since ancient times, the connection between religious ritual actions and the senses is critical. In the case of the celebration of the Torah service, Liturgy of the Word, or Salat, voices, vestments, bowing, processions, swaying, incense, gestures, and touching (e.g. kissing the book) engage the attention of the senses. The ritual action of these religious services has a unique aspect that delivers a multisensory experience to its participants. William Graham shares a vivid experience that he had during a Russian Orthodox service: “The kissing and touching of icons, the antiphonal chanting and singing of liturgy and hymns, the smells and sounds of the swinging, lighted censers, and the interplay of light through the cathedral windows all seemed clearly designed to produce for the small congregation of regular worshippers what I can only described as a ‘synaesthetic’ experience.”51 Any instance of proclaiming or reciting Holy Scriptures in the three traditions generates degrees of movement, voice modulation, and periods of silence that entice and engage the congregation. As Thomas Barrie, an expert on phenomenology and architecture perception, explains, the multisensory experience may be unusual to consider because “we are predominantly visual creatures.”52 This ritual experience is strongest when it takes place in a setting that combines the sensory with the symbolic. In this context, the architecture for the place to proclaim—such as the bimah, lectern, and ambo—is critical to consider in all aspects. 53 Places to proclaim have been born from the necessity of setting sacred reading apart from other forms of reading. The Holy Scriptures make places to proclaim “sacred places,” although the places themselves do not grant the texts a specific sacrality. From a phenomenological perspective, places to proclaim are connected to what happens in a given space, and they necessitate liturgical action. Liturgical action as ritual To consider places to proclaim only as a stand to support a book or as a reading podium, without taking into account its liturgical context, leads us to perceive them as practical objects for simple use, rather than as an integral part of an event. When Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship, they participate in the liturgical action—a world that can make the mystery accessible to the community assembled in a given time and place before the living God. For example, Aidan Kavanagh, an American liturgical scholar, insists that Christian worship is more than just liturgical action and is instead the total convergence, meeting, and melding together of Christian belief and worship, called “the rite.”54 Today, some perceive these rites or ritual actions as

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 173

02/12/20 2:13 PM

174  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation simple meaningless repetitions, and they do not see the value of experiencing ritual actions as one meaningful rite. Nevertheless, the liturgy needs bodily presence and engagement. It is through this presence and engagement that the congregation acts corporeally and affirms its identity. Romano Guardini expresses this as: The people who really live by the liturgy will come to learn that the bodily movements, the actions, and the material objects which it employs are all of the highest significance. It offers great opportunities of expression, of knowledge, and of spiritual experience; it is emancipating in its action, and capable of presenting a truth far more strongly and convincingly than can the mere word of mouth.55 In a similar vein, Wainwright argues that rituals that include gestures, movement, and material objects play a significant part in worship (see Figure 4.1). For him, the body is the fundamental communicative sign of the human person and speech is the supplest sign with which to express the precision of intention. 56 Another vital aspect to consider in our phenomenological study is emotion—an essential part of human perception. From a religious studies perspective, Pamela Klassen has examined the relationship between ritual and emotion and the inherent meaning of this relationship. Klassen goes so

Figure 4.1  Imam leading afternoon prayer, (Salat), Zagreb Mosque completed in 1987, Croatia (2012). © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: paulprescott72 (Paul Prescott).

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 174

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 175 far as to claim that “emotional engagement is almost always part of ritual behaviour.”57 Michelle Rosaldo takes this idea even further, calling emotional responses “embodied thoughts.”58 Klassen points out that religious rituals work mainly with regular, repetitive performances that are usually tied to textually or orally recounted traditions and narratives and are not characterized by sharp memories of any singular event. 59 However, in the Liturgy of the Word, the Torah services, and the recitation in the Salat, the emotional memory works differently. Consider two perspectives on the liturgy: from the reader and from the congregation. The reader carries the responsibility of proclaiming the word of God and, in most instances, will experience a strong emotional response from a prophetic message. Whereas for the congregation, text from the sacred scriptures may incite them to recall episodes from their individual lives and their associated emotions, which can be entirely unrelated to the biblical narrative being read. The religious services involving scriptures as rituals have the potential to arouse intense emotions, often in connection with the season of the liturgy, such as at Yom Kippur, Christmas, Passover, and Ramadan. For example, on Palm Sunday and Good Friday in Roman Catholic communities, strong emotions arise during the reading of the Passion of the Christ and the accompanying processions and rituals, such as the kissing of the Cross. In Islam, the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, involves a series of rituals with the intention to bring the pilgrim closer to God. It is an intense spiritual experience that moves the faithful with deep emotions. The level of emotion a ritual evokes is determined by the form it takes during the performance, the focus of attention, and who is conducting it. As Klassen observes, A religious ritual has its most important and effective form when the agent is a “culturally postulated superhuman agent” (e.g., a god) or is very directly related to a superhuman agent, as in the case of a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. This ritual form also arouses the greatest level of emotional response and ritual memory, both of which are central to the development and the cultural transmission of religious convictions, according to McCauley and Lawson: “Ultimately, only the gods can bring about such effects”; thus, in these rituals the gods either act directly or certify the action indirectly.60 In Christian liturgies, the superhuman agent is the deacon or the priest who holds Holy Orders. Their status is signalled by the clothing they wear and by different ritual actions, including carrying the Book of the Gospels, fanning the incense, and reciting the benedictions. Also, congregants stand as the deacon or priest rises. As a result, they possess a greater potential for arousing an emotional response in their proclamation of the Gospel.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 175

02/12/20 2:13 PM

176  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation In the case of the Torah service, it is the very presence of the holy scroll and the proclamation of the Sh’ma that arouse the emotional responses of congregants. Langer explains, The reader presents the Torah to the congregation just as Moses presented it at Sinai. He does this by holding the Torah high and proclaiming the Sh’ma, which rabbinic tradition links to the Ten Commandments that precede it almost directly in Deuteronomy. In today’s Ashkenazi liturgy, too, this recitation of Sh’ma immediately after the Torah is taken from the ark on Sabbaths and holidays is a moment of supreme drama.61 The emotional response in front of the Torah has been actively encouraged by the rabbis from early times based on the Sinai’s accounts. Every generation of Jewish people has received the message that they must look upon themselves as if they themselves had gone out of Egypt.62 The Torah has been revealed again to them and congregants respond with emotion, “Our God is one, our Lord is great, holy is His name.” With these deeply meaningful words, the Torah service comes dramatically alive as the congregants attempt to recapture foundational moments of their story. With recitation, Lauren Osborne has researched what it may mean to feel religious sound. She considers the sound of the Qur’an on the level of experience or nondiscursive meaning. She found that the arousal of emotion in a collaboration between performer and audience produces an “emergent phenomenon” of physical and spiritual feelings.63 In a study done by Nayef and Wahab on recitation and emotions, they present different reactions from the reciter and the listeners, depending on selected themes: “The Quran has an audible beauty that hearing of it, the listener will feel the hypnotic emotional and beautiful effects of it, even if he doesn’t understand its language. The music of Quran is a magic which can change extremely the people hearts and emotions.”64 The beauty of the voice reciting verses is considered to be one of the most influential aspects for raising emotion. We can extend this phenomenological perception to the act of proclamation in the other two faiths. The proclamation’s choreography and setting In the Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty compares the human body to a work of art. The ideas and thoughts behind any work of art are communicated by sounds, expressions, and colours, as it is in the proclamation or recitation of the Holy Scriptures. Merleau-Ponty compares the phenomenon to the experience of reading poetry: It is well known that a poem, though it has a superficial meaning translatable into prose, leads, in the reader’s mind, a further existence which makes it a poem. Just as the spoken word is significant not only through

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 176

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 177 the medium of individual words, but also through that of accent, intonation, gesture and facial expression, and as these additional meanings no longer reveal the speaker’s thoughts but the source of his thoughts and his fundamental manner of being.65 Graham says that, for Luther, “the written word of the Bible was not simply a manuscript, but a manuscript with a voice — or, still better, a manuscript that was the medium for God’s voice.”66 When Holy Scriptures are proclaimed and recited, the word of God comes once more to dwell in their midst and take up residence in their hearts and minds. Accordingly, Merleau-Ponty explains, Just as the sacrament not only symbolizes, in sensible species, an operation of Grace, but is also the real presence of God, which it causes to occupy a fragment of space and communicates to those who eat of the consecrated bread, provided that they are inwardly prepared, in the same way the sensible has not only a motor and vital significance, but is nothing other than a certain way of being in the world suggested to us from some point in space, and seized and acted upon by our body, provided that it is capable of doing so, so that sensation is literally a form of communion.67 The medium by which we phenomenologically experience the reading of Holy Scriptures is the reader proclaiming (through intonation, gestures, and movements) the ritual context and place (bimah, ambo, or lectern). The Torah service is a dramatic re-enactment of the theophany at Sinai—the reader is in place of the Eternal, as the person called to the reading symbolizes the people to whom the Torah was given. R. Shimon bar Yohai says, “When the scroll of the Torah is taken out in public to be read there from the heavenly gates of mercy are opened and the love from above is awakened. A man should then say: ‘Blessed be the name…’”68 During the Liturgy of the Word, believers can experience the presence of the divine sacramentally, echoing the prologue of John’s Gospel: “And the Word becomes flesh and lived among us” (Jn. 1. 14a). For Muslims, the recitation resembles Surah Az-Zumar: “Allah has revealed the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, repeating the skins of those who fear their Lord tremble thereat; then their skins and their hearts do soften to the celebration of Allah’s praises. Such is the guidance of Allah: He guides there with whom He pleases, but such as Allah leaves to stray, can have none to guide” (Surah, 39:23). Some commentators say that this is a description of the Prophet’s companions, whose eyes would water and skins would quiver when the Qur’an was recited.69 By understanding the read and recited scriptures as a performance situated on a sacred space, we may include the congregation, rather than focusing only on the reader and reciter and the liturgical moment of the ritual.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 177

02/12/20 2:13 PM

178  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation In the earliest Christian liturgies, the reading of the scriptures was a profound life experience. A minister, who was regarded as an emissary of the divine, took on the role of the first evangelical travellers who brought the “good news” (evangelion) to the villages and towns of the ancient world. In the Greek cities of antiquity, an emissary carrying news, good or bad, went to a public area—often what was designated as the “agora”—where there was a good deal of traffic and a cross section of the local population. Such a messenger would stand upon a platform or find high ground to be seen and heard by all present. In doing so, the messenger effectively appropriated the public space for their communication. This frequent occasion of a traveller with a message addressing the locals in the public square can be translated from the ancient village to the present-­day liturgical spaces of synagogues, churches, and mosques, but with a heightened sense of intention. In the liturgy, the gathered faithful are more expectant, awaiting the proclamation of the word of God. Their aim is apparent in the fact that they have convened in anticipation of the message to be delivered and that they have implicitly invited the messenger to address them through their gathering. In this regard, the “event” being brought forwards into our world resembles the preaching of the Old Testament prophets “who come to proclaim the year of the Lord” until the arrival of the “Word made flesh.” In synagogues, churches, and mosques, from a spatial perspective, this experience has three phenomenological aspects very similar to the experience reported by Frederic Debuyts in a chapel in Switzerland, after an improvised liturgy: This word spontaneously departed from the centre of the chapel, directed to the end, towards the altar. But once alone, and putting myself to wander a bit, soon I had the opportunity to realize with amazement that it was all inside of the church signed, penetrated, even the smallest corner, so that it would be impossible to say or do anything else. For a moment, it was the whole church that was the “place of the Word.”70 The divine words that call and bring the assembly together can be translated phenomenologically as the “event of convergence.” This term, used by Tangorra, tells us of the highly symbolic value of communal gathering that has the proclamation and recitation of the scriptures. He uses it as a theological category to describe a crucial moment of grace that gives meaning and understanding to the gathered assembly.71 Traditionally, this “event of convergence” is called a “religious experience”; it is the realm of the more ephemeral and intuitive experience.72 In the liturgical environment, this happens only with the presence of the congregation. The proclamation of sacred scriptures as a religious experience deserves a place of significance. For the listening assembly, the proclaimed word of God creates, releases, reconciles, and gives eternal life. Pérez-Gómez

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 178

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 179 says that architecture should be a place of existential orientation, and we can apply this to our consideration of the places for proclamation, as they orient the listener through the grace of God’s words.73 When in a synagogue, the leader removes the Torah scroll from the ark, the congregation stands just at the Israelites did at Mount Sinai for the revelation of the law and chants, “From Zion shall come forth the Torah, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3); in a church service, after the congregation listens to the reading of the scriptures, the minister says, “The Word of the Lord,” and the people respond, “Thanks be to God.” The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Vatican Council II declares, when the scriptures are proclaimed, “God speaks to his people” (SC 33). From the perspective of the listener, the phenomenon they witness is that of God using human language to communicate with them as His people. However, the language itself is transformed. As Merleau-Ponty explains, “The language is no longer an instrument, no longer a means; it is a manifestation, a revelation of intimate being and of the spiritual link which unites us to the world and our fellow men.”74 This phenomenological experience can be so strong that it can move the faithful towards each other in love, justice, and peace, and towards God in faith, hope, and unwavering confidence: “When God communicates his word, he expects a response, one, that is, of listening and adoring ‘in spirit and in truth’ (Jn. 4:23).”75 As Wallace recalls, “The words of Scripture are sacred words to those who believe; they can even evoke faith in those who do not believe.”76 The necessity of places for proclamation Architect Steven Holl firmly believes, “architecture, more fully than other art forms, engages the immediacy of our sensory perceptions. The passage of time, light, shadow and transparency; colour phenomena, texture, material and detail all participate in the complete experience of architecture.”77 When reading sacred scriptures, the reader’s perception is not focused on the worship space, images of saints, backgrounds of stained glass, or objects in the sanctuary area; rather, it is focused on the congregation and the perception of the worshippers. The worshipper’s experience is dependent on the reader. The performance of the ritual brings focus and directs the worshipper’s perception of places of proclamation. During the proclamation of the Scripture, the location from which the reader proclaims becomes the singular centrepiece (see Figure 4.2). Places of proclamation are not artefacts, but the locus of an event. In fact, places of proclamation could be perceived as the place where God speaks to his people. For Christians, it is the place where Christ reveals himself as a Word of God.78 Recently, in the Roman Catholic Church, congregations produced liturgical documents that enhance the idea of the ambo as the place for the proclamation of the word of God, referring to it as a “liturgical place reserved for the word of God.” Like all liturgical places, places

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 179

02/12/20 2:13 PM

180  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation

Figure 4.2  Ambo in a remarkable position. St Françoise de Molitor, Paris (2005). © David Pereyra. Photographer: David Pereyra.

of proclamation are transformed into celebratory spaces. If, as Pallasma asserts, “architecture is the art of reconciliation between ourselves and the world, and this mediation takes place through the senses,”79 then our senses connect us to the word of God and the spiritual world through places of proclamation. The place to proclaim has the power to gather believers. We can apply the words from the Comité national d’art sacré to all places of proclamation, because when rightly asserted, the element with the most significant transformative potential in terms of the liturgical scene is the ambo.80 It can produce what Barrie calls a, “powerful sensual architecture” that touches us, “and once contact is established, connect us to physical and symbolic territories that are both broader and deeper.”81 A shared ritual The proclamation of Holy Scriptures requires the active participation of both the reader and the assembly. The phenomenological relations established between the congregants, the reader, and the place of proclamation may excite devout thoughts and increase faithfulness to God’s word. For the recitation, the phenomenological relationship occurs between the congregants and the space for recitation. Merleau-Ponty explains that participants experience the power of adopting certain forms of behaviour in their bodies: It is precisely my body which perceives the body of another, and discovers in that other body a miraculous prolongation of my own intentions, a familiar way of dealing with the world. Henceforth, as the parts of my body together comprise a system, so my body and the other’s are one whole, two sides of one and the same phenomenon, and

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 180

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 181 the anonymous existence of which my body is the ever-renewed trace henceforth inhabits both bodies simultaneously.82 If this is the experience between reader and listener, it is very close to the words of the Gospel: “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us.” (Jn. 17. 20–21). In the proclamation or recitation of scriptures, a particular kind of dialogue occurs between God and His people. Again, from a phenomenological perspective, Merleau-Ponty says that in the experience of dialogue, common ground is found and the thoughts of the listener and the speaker are interwoven into a single fabric. In this unique dialogue, we have a dual being, “where the other is for me no longer a mere bit of behaviour in my transcendental field, nor I in his; we are collaborators for each other, and we co-exist through a common world.”83 A proper ritual makes possible the mutual collaboration between reader and congregation; through listening, they explore together the transcendental field the readings bring. Merleau-Ponty continues, saying, “It is only retrospectively, when I have withdrawn from the dialogue and am recalling it that I am able to reintegrate it into my life and make of it an episode in my private history, and that the other recedes into his absence.”84 The faithful integrate into their lives the sacred words in such interactions so that they become as much a part of public history as they make their own histories. The proclamation is a transcendental dialogue between the faithful and God that happens when the reading and proclamation of scriptures are performed as a ritual in an appropriate environment. Pallasma writes, “The most essential auditory experience created by architecture is tranquility. Architecture presents the drama of construction silenced into matter and space; architecture is the art of petrified silence.”85 Ritual environments arise as a continent of experiences and religious practices of worshippers. This idea can be compared with the notion of sacredness in Richard Vosko’s God’s House is Our House: Built environments or crafted objects become sacred only when they are experienced in a particular situation. In rituals of dedication we bless and thank God for the gift or land or a building. Churches and ritual objects will acquire sacredness over time just like the materials bronze and copper acquire a patina.86 In the case of places of proclamation and spaces for recitation, if its place and use are consistent and accessible over time, it acquires its own history for the actions of the Torah service, Liturgy of the Word, and the Salat. Vosko observes an associative patina on sacred elements, which over time makes the liturgy a more time-transcending experience at every occasion.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 181

02/12/20 2:13 PM

182  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation The leading role of proclamation places Synagogues, churches, and mosques have an exceptional ritual space quality that contributes to the growth of a vital faith experience during religious rituals. Their architecture may vary. Still, the most thriving synagogues, churches, and mosques have one thing in common: architecture that moulds natural materials into structures so powerful they evoke something beyond our world with the intention and the capacity to assemble the congregation, enhancing the human spirit and inspiring the faithful. This fascinating experience includes the design for the proclamation and recitation of Holy Scriptures. The bimah in the Jewish house of worship has taken the leading role for the Torah service. It is both a place for the proclamation and time set aside for participation—a space of recognition of the divine revelation. It is in this place that the sacred readings attain its coherence and meaning. The designer of the bimah writes the spatial script—a visual poem for the drama of the divine revelation. Besides its location and orientation (in the middle or in front of the assembly), the bimah is the most crucial feature in framing a synagogue’s liturgy. The design of the bimah must give clues about the mindset of a congregation. The location of the bimah within the sanctuary reflects certain assumptions and carries particular messages about the relationship between congregants and those who officiate at services. Orthodoxy and Reform frame the experience of the Torah proclamation from different perspectives; notwithstanding, the design of the bimah could always encapsulate the theological and liturgical traditions of Jewish congregations. For synagogue architects, the appearance of the bimah is one of the most essential features in setting the tone of their buildings, and many have given meanings and tremendous power in their own right. The overall impression of a bimah is often intended to have a dramatic impact on achieving the kind of atmosphere they desire. In churches, the leading role of the place to proclaim depends on each Christian tradition. The forerunning comes from the Reformation, where the Liturgy of the Word is the centre of the service; in Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, the leading role is shared with the Eucharist celebration. For most of the Reformation churches, buildings are not an end to itself, as they are not attached to the traditional concept of sacred space. For them, church buildings frame, facilitate, and articulate worship. As a result, for these cases, Pallasma sees, “elements of an architectural experience [the lectern] seem to have a verb form rather than being nouns.”87 The lectern in the Reform Churches is a place where the minister reads from the Bible and preaches—an essential feature of worship. Reading and preaching from the same location have a hermeneutical message: the inspired sermon acquires the authority of God’s word. In contemporary Orthodox Divine Liturgy, the ambo is movable. Its leading role is temporal, and the proclamation’s place is dynamic and

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 182

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 183 theatrical. We can observe the integration of the concept of sacred time in the choreography and holy space, created by the portable ambo, combining to create a meaningful proclamation.88 This portable element is designed in a way that its tangible presence, together with a minister with his rich vestments, receives the necessary attention (see Figure 4.3).

Figure 4.3  Portable ambo. Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Nicholas completed in 1762, Sremski Karlovci. © iStock.com. Artist’s Member Name: Marko Rupena.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 183

02/12/20 2:13 PM

184  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation In Roman Catholic Churches, the ambo is usually located in one fixed location: to the side of the altar, with the assembly seated before it. This traditional arrangement with the centrality of the altar denotes a secondary role. The downside to this linear design is that the congregants only perceive a single stage, which reinforces the focus on the altar table. This focused concentration of the whole assembly to the altar goes against the dynamic of the liturgy. Zahner quotes Richter and Muck’s criticism of this linear form: “The concentration and unidirectionality of all the liturgical places and the assembly facing the altar does not correspond to the liturgical dynamic of a polycentric ritual.”89 Multidirectional spaces bring dynamism to the liturgy. In the case of fixed locations, the design and place of the bimah or ambo is crucial for ensuring they have the necessary characteristics for their leading roles. Herbert Muck writes, It is interesting to note that in no text is it required that the ambo should be inside the sanctuary; hence we have the possibility of entirely new architectural and liturgical configurations. It should also be noted that in history, there have been various solutions relating to the place of the “announcement.” For example, the bema of the Syriac Church is located amid the assembly. The proclamation of the Word may be celebrated in another location, and hence the assembly can then approach the Lord’s table.90 Designers imbued with concepts of the liturgical reform of Vatican II have explored and continue to explore locations for both outside the sanctuary. As an immediate result, a more dramatic Liturgy of the Word can be observed, thanks to more prolonged movements in the ritual choreography, a visual detachment from the altar, and a better demarcation with the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Places of proclamation enable congregations to put themselves in the continuum of their faith culture. Every Torah service and Liturgy of the Word with the act of proclaiming from the bimah and the ambo can become profound when experienced through sensitized consciousness. Listening, seeing, and feeling in this frame are to become the subject of the ritual.91 Through the phenomenological study of places of proclamation, we seek ways of incorporating this experience of space into our vision and design of liturgical architecture.

Interpreting the proclamation experience As we examine the reading and reciting of Holy Scriptures from the vantage point of their place of proclamation and spaces of recitation, spatial relations and architectural dynamics become critical to our discussion. We have seen how the sacredness in scripture is revealed and experienced

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 184

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 185 through religious rites and how it addresses both body and spirit. Now we will turn to discussing the general patterns of experience that occur whenever faithful seek to: • • •

understand the divine and one another; interpret ritual actions; and experience the liturgy as intriguing, enjoyable, and significant.

The art of interpreting these patterns of experience is known as hermeneutics. A hermeneutical approach can illustrate how worshippers are brought together through liturgical experiences, not to relate to any psychological reality that may arise from such a gathering, but rather to create meaning for an invisible, transcendental world. Meaning can be acquired through an understanding of the significance of the place where sacred scriptures are read, and by regarding worshippers and their liturgical environment as being in a hermeneutical conversation. Manguel explains that this is a crucial step: The place of reading … is important, not only because it provides a physical setting for the text being read, but because it suggests, by juxtaposing itself with the place on the page, that both share the same hermeneutic quality, both tempting the reader [and the listener] with the challenge of elucidation.92 Hermeneutical dialogue involves multiple interpretations that have the potential to provide a new understanding of a given situation or event by demonstrating the dynamism of the space. As Halgren Kilde suggests, all sacred space is dynamic space and “contribute[s] in important ways to the very meaning of ritual practices and to the shape and content of the religious themselves.”93 This hermeneutical approach also considers the participation of worshippers in the ritual proclamation. Their interaction with their liturgical environment has to be conceived as participatory and conversation-like: worshippers to liturgy, readers to the bimah, lectors to the ambo, worshippers to readers, synagogue to the bimah, and church to the ambo. When looking for these interactions in the proclamation of Holy Scriptures, we must go beyond superficially seeing and hearing to inquire about the meanings present in the event. Discovering those meanings in the liturgy will guide our exploration of the significance of the proclamation’s ritual and place within the event of the proclamation of God’s word. Our hermeneutical work promises to fundamentally change the way we think about the interpretation, understanding, and communication of the proclamation and recitation of scriptures. To fully understand proclamation, it is necessary to grasp its individual sequences—prayers, readings, movements—however, all of them only have meaning within the broad

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 185

02/12/20 2:13 PM

186  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation context of the ritual. The dimension of purpose is part of what gives liturgy and liturgical design an affinity with theology and philosophy. Still, one needs not be a theologian or philosopher to understand that liturgy and liturgical design convey profound meaning for the faithful. In the celebration of the Torah service, the Liturgy of the Word, and the Salat, worshippers have a sense that they are not just participating in a ritual but are part of the most profound faith aspirations of believers. Let us approach the celebrations by identifying the three patterns of experiences. Understanding the divine and one another From a hermeneutical perspective, the full meaning of the liturgy is not immediately grasped by congregants without the mediation of symbols. What is required in the Jewish and Christian ritual experience is the representation of the whole spiritual life and its symbols; then one can be directed to specific meanings, to finally make the symbolized experience present. Halgren Kilde asserts that these symbols have particular attributes, and that they “manifest[s] the presence of something that really is present.”94 Through the symbolic actions of the ritual proclamation, the divine and human interaction is revealed in the holy juxtaposition of three patterns: the body of the reader, the place of proclamation, and the act of reading and listening. The first instance is the body of the reader—the primordial expression of the ritual action of proclaiming. The reader is the symbol of the faithful, the chosen one to read the Holy Scriptures. The presence of the body of the reader is far richer than generally believed because it is the symbol of the human spirit. The liturgy theologian Martin Kilmartin states, The human way of existence is corporeal. Through the body, the human being gains consciousness of self as being in the world, and in relation to others, and the things of the cosmos. The body is the most original manifestation of the person to self, and the source of self-knowledge.… The body is not only the most original epiphany of human beings, it is the most immediate way by which they are revealed to themselves and to others. The body is the primordial act of the human, by which self-knowledge is generated.”95 The body of the reader provides a place from which the word of God rises up. As Wainwright writes, “It is an embodied humanity, endowed with speech, that God calls into communion with himself.”96 The voice of the reader resounds amid the assembly, carrying the spoken Word. The second pattern, places of proclamation, is a discrete feature that comes into existence as a pure artefact. We can identify four basic pieces that characterize the presence of this object. First, places of proclamation are purely functional, but a designer faces the challenge of creating

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 186

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 187 a meaningful design for the ambo or the bimah. Second, liturgical design is an artistic expression. The beauty of historical bimot (plural of bimah) or ambos is not separable from its function of being the stage to proclaim and embody a religious ethos. Third, places of proclamation have a symbolic function. Places of proclamation complement the ritual by symbolizing the ways that divine revelation stands out amid the gathered assembly. The structure, by rising up from the ground, claims the honour and reverence that they grant, becoming part of the narrative. Lastly, history and traditions shape the appearance and use of places of proclamation. When designing new places of proclamation, designers must have an understanding of the historical ones. In certain cultures, the past is highly influential, and an artist could be under pressure by the traditions of a community. Hermeneutic understanding is relevant to all four aspects and challenges for places of proclamation. Our effort to recover the concept of these places, through their physical presence and by resisting their pure functionality, will help to amplify the experience of the reading of and listening to scriptures in a ritual context. Through time, any community can perceive a symbiosis, a link established between the event and the artefact. The proclamation and the place become a single reality, such as the Torah service and bimah or the Liturgy of the Word and ambo. Reading and listening is our third pattern of experience and includes both the physical and non-physical acts of manifesting the presence of God in the Torah for Jews, in the Qur’an for Muslims, and the sacramental presence of Christ for Christians. As Ricoeur explains that the Word has assumed the function of the numinous, which is manifested in its proclamation. It is not for nothing that hermeneutics directs our attention to the proclamation as a supreme symbol—a proclamation wherein the Word is highly potent, since it has the power to unfold the divine revelation that it announces.97 To this end, Ricoeur states, “Thus, the manifestation of the sacred is dialectically reaffirmed and internalized in the proclamation.”98 This experience of discovering and uncovering reveals the ultimate meaning to be experienced in the liturgy and calls on worshippers to recognize it. The three patterns, which contain our hermeneutical approach, show how a symbolic structure binds the ritual act of proclamation. These patterns allow for the act to transition from significance to meaning, imaginary to ontological reality, and symbol to reality. The summit of this passage in the Jewish tradition is the raising up of the Torah, witnessing God’s word proclaimed. The bimah is the most symbolic structure that is tied to ritual in Judaism and is used to re-enact the wooden tower at the Water Gate where Ezra first read the Torah to the people. Lange says, “Erecting a special structure constituted a public announcement of an event of significance.”99 A platform raised in the middle or at the front of the synagogue dramatically stages the readings. Within Christianity is the Gospel’s proclamation, where the ambo, as Capomaccio suggests, becomes the monumentum

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 187

02/12/20 2:13 PM

188  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation resurrectionis, the place from which Christ’s resurrection is announced. As a result, what the scripture proclaims, the sacrament realizes.100 Each proclamation of the Word becomes a time and place of the real presence of Christ, experienced by the assembly as a personal encounter with the Lord. Instead of being just the place in a church where a lector reads the Bible during the liturgy, the ambo is the liturgical place of the Word from where the word of God is announced.101 This whole hermeneutical approach explains how members of a congregation create bonds between each other and God through liturgical experiences. We have argued that the ritual of proclamation is not to compare to any psychological reality that may arise from such a gathering, but instead creates meaning related to an invisible, transcendental world. Interpreting ritual actions Proclaiming Holy Scriptures has been connected to artefacts and places throughout Jewish and Christian history; as a result, those elements are rooted in the historical memory of the faithful. Although there is a disproportion between the symbol that carries the ritual action and the place it occurs, rituals lead to an inner transcendence for the worshipper. All ritual sacred actions connect the present with eternity, allowing sacred space to retain the quality of the ephemeral. The role of ritual proclamation subtly binds the sacred space in facilitating the physical and symbolic interchange of the liturgy, always inviting the faithful to discover, uncover, and reveal the liturgy’s mystery through symbols and actions that direct our view beyond its pragmatic reality. Worship spaces are characterized by a distinctive syntax, which enables the arrangement of various areas that, in turn, create a cohesive sacred space. Lukken and Searle argue that these divisions impart a particular character upon the worship space such that “the immanent organization of the space, in virtue of which the space itself is a means of communication, and brings about meaning independently of the actors that enter that space.”102 The purpose of each area is to help the worshipper enter into other realms of this spiritual experience. We have asserted several times that worshippers can connect with the word of God through ritual performance in the place of proclamation. The liturgical artefact mediates the action, generating a boundary between the one who reads and the assembly. For example, a monumental bimah or ambo dramatically shapes the relationships involved in the proclamation in terms of how it is perceived in phenomenological terms—what lies beyond the artefact is limited in its visual accessibility, at least for those who sit in the assembly. Relationships of monumental objects express the modal and historical connection of past liturgies. The modal link will be different if the ambo or the bimah (as in Sephardic synagogues) is in the middle of the assembly. This arrangement recaptures a greater sense of participation,

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 188

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 189 since the ritual action is in the midst of the worshippers. In light of this, it is understandable why ambos from the first millennium were raised above the assembly, delimiting a definite boundary. The spatial character of places of proclamation is consistent with their role, and their topoi sets up boundaries when the liturgy is enacted. As Lukken and Searle explain, “Boundaries are always an indication that the spaces they differentiate are associated with different competencies. So relational roles, with their reciprocal competencies, are invariably marked off topographically.”103 The physical place of proclamation is more than just a podium for reading scriptures; it is a unique place where sacred relationships develop between the reader and the assembly. Barrie considers sacred architecture as occupying an intermediary position, which is physical and symbolic.104 The place of proclamation may be considered in itself a sacred place because it indicates the topos of the word of God that is proclaimed. The place of proclamation performs a critical role as both an image of a spiritual symbol and a facilitator of liturgical actions; it should be designed as a threshold between faithful and their ritual action. Barrie describes the goal of this intermediary position as “creating a middle ground, a liminal zone, that mediates between humans and that which they seek, serve, fear, or worship.”105 The place of proclamation was conceived for this role—a physical place where worshippers can experience God speaking to them in the present moment. A hermeneutical interpretation leads us to a better understanding of the place of proclamation in terms of architectural resources and comparative enterprise. Experiencing the liturgical place The mediating character of the place of proclamation as a “sacred cultural artifact” brings us to a particular area of hermeneutical studies: the hermeneutics of architecture. Earlier in the chapter, we gained a better understanding of the Torah service, the Liturgy of the Word, and the Salat and their topoi. In this section, we discuss the research of Lindsay Jones and Thomas Barrie—two scholars who have been working in hermeneutical studies as applied to sacred architecture—to analyse this artefact in terms of its spatial-symbolic character. Sacred buildings and their content have special permission to symbolize the place of the faithful in the world and their orientation to the ineffable. Jones and Barrie have influenced the ongoing development of the hermeneutical approach to the interpretation of sacred architecture. For Jones, religious buildings are fundamentally shaped and arranged as contexts for the religious experiences that are enacted within them. In contrast, Barrie views sacred architecture as a “cultural artifact,” responding to a particular set of beliefs and imperatives that communicates and embodies symbolic, doctrinal, and historical content. In both contexts, the place for

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 189

02/12/20 2:13 PM

190  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation proclamation and recitation is an active area that performs an elucidative role, delivering the Torah service’s suggestive content, the Liturgy of the Word, and the Salat and highlighting a liturgical action. The experiences of liturgical actions and sacred architecture are very close, and both can be perceived as a joint event. Jones puts his analytical emphasis on that combined experience as an event—following the phenomenological ideas of Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer. In The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture, Jones presents a theoretical method for the study of sacred architecture that provides multiple possible interpretations. This concept, which Jones describes as “the superabundance of meaning,” is instrumental when applied to the idea of the place of proclamation as a sacred place. The superabundance of meaning, to some degree, is a result of sacred spaces being constructed by humans to reflect their conceptions of mortality–­ eternity, humanity–divinity, and power–devotion. The place to read and recite sacred scriptures may acquire its full meaning through “the ritual-­ architectural event.” Jones affirms that this meaning is neither a quality nor a condition of the building but rather arises from particular situations he calls “events.” To varying degrees, each community in a Jewish, Christian, or Muslim tradition assigns a place for reading and reciting their scriptures with different levels of conscience. All congregants recognize the function of that place. Proclaiming and reciting Holy Scriptures in a ritual environment bring meaning directly to the place where the scriptures are being read or to the space where they are being recited. It is a reality that no faithful will deny or fail to recognize. Ritual-architectural events make us see the place of proclamation and the space for reciting in a dynamic situation, which helps our hermeneutical enquiry into the sequence of gestures, movements, and times in which the ritual place and the reader, together with the congregants, or the community of reciters, are an integrated whole. Jones affirms that the architecture of synagogues, churches, and mosques is better approached as a ritual event than as a static description of buildings, as we can find in the historical methodology of Banister Fletcher and Auguste Choisy. In criticizing historical approaches, Barrie says, “There is much value in understanding the past not as a frozen artefact with fixed meanings, but as an accessible knowledge base that has contemporary relevance.”106 Proclaiming, listening, reciting, and praying bring worshippers into active interaction with the place of proclamation or the space of reciting, which is the principle ritual-architectural event of reading and reciting scriptures. Regardless of contemporaneous liturgical evidence, the place of proclamation or the space of reciting as a venue may reveal a significant understanding relevant to liturgical theology, devotional practices, and liturgical design—more so than historical studies have generally done. Deriving from a long tradition, the ambo, the bimah, the mimbar, and the kursi are often perceived as functional elements, even though they are not.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 190

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 191 As seen in Chapter 1, soon after the second consecration of the church of Hagia Sophia in 563 CE, Paul the Silentiary described not only the church but also the effect that magnificent space had on him during the ritual action. His report of his experience of the great church’s interior supports Jones’s emphasis on the human experience of the architectural event.107 Jews, Christians, and Muslims from different eras have solemnly revered the word of God, as can be seen in the stories of Nehemiah from the Bible, the liturgies in the early synagogues, the Byzantine Empire, the experience of Muslims reciting in any mosque around the world in any period of history, the Tridentine reform, and the revival of the Liturgical movement. If we return to the beginning of “experiencing the liturgical place,” which interpretation of the human experience of architecture would be most effective when considering the place to proclaim or recite sacred scriptures? The experience of a place of proclamation or the space to recite is invariably hermeneutical, opening us to its “eventful character.” This place is a combination of practical purposes and symbolic elements. In the case of the ambo and the mimbar, they have indeed been used for other purposes, acquiring a plethora of meanings that nonetheless share common themes of hierarchy, authority, and devotion in understanding its role in the liturgical action, which is not in the case for the bimah. Today, the focus is on the primary symbolic function, as they have lost its former connection with temporal power (it is no longer permitted for non-religious use). Nonetheless, there remains a shared element between the ambo, the bimah, the mimbar, and the podium at which a politician, professor, or orchestra conductor performs their roles. Indeed, it is something visceral and instantly communicated to us from our collective memory of human society’s beginnings when the first leader asserted himself by taking to a high place to address his tribe. For example, we expect a speech from the president of the United States to be from a lectern vested with the Great Seal of the United States. However, a simple piece of portable furniture bears the imprint of power and imparts quasi-divine authority to the speech (it is no coincidence that God is almost always invoked in presidential addresses). In this particular case, we can find a strong influence from the Protestant tradition of preaching from the pulpit. In all of the examples of proclamation places that have been discussed, it is easy to observe that while the primary symbolism of those places is consistently present, other symbolic facets may or may not be evident, even its artistic character. The imprint of an individual’s imagination, the particular narrative expressed, either in a literal or abstract fashion, makes the place of proclamation a symbol to serve the artist’s vision (see Figure 4.4). Given this, we must de-emphasize the place of proclamation as it is found in particular instances and focus in more generic terms on the worshipper’s experience of the area for reading or proclaiming during the service. As Jones argues, “It is not buildings, which mean nothing in and of themselves,

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 191

02/12/20 2:13 PM

192  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation

Figure 4.4 Sculptural ambo. Artist: Giuliano Vangi. Chiesa di Padre Pio, San Giovanni Rotondo, Apulia (2008). Architect: Renzo Piano. Photographer: Francesco Di Capua.

but the dynamic and fluctuating interactions between people and buildings, particularly in the context of ritual, that hold our interest.”108 One of the most challenging tasks for the liturgical movement was to reconstitute the original meaning of the ambo after it had been superseded for more than 500 years by the pulpit and its liturgical function as the place for preaching. The prominent location and the height and design of pulpits from the 1500s to the 1950s indicated they were to be taken as an important structure—something that was never realized in the design and location of the twentieth-century ambos. The place of proclamation thrives when worshippers are deeply engaged in the liturgy—what the Fathers of Vatican II more reservedly referred to as “active participation.” Our task is to envision the experience of the place for proclamation in such a way as to enable us to appreciate the flow of the ritual-architectural event, the movement of the liturgy between the whole congregation, and this unique place reserved for the Torah service, the Liturgy of the Word, and the Salat. The morphology of the ritual-architectural event Scholars of religious studies defined rituals as a universal category of human experience. As religious rituals are a prescribed set of actions, the performance of which symbolizes the faithful’s encounters with and reverence for

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 192

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 193 the divine, they can have formal or spontaneous behavioural structures. Jones works with a distinct morphology of ritual which incorporates the aspect of architectural events—with some categories differing in emphasis depending on the individual case—that will help in our hermeneutical analysis. Rather than inquiring after the meanings of the places for proclamation, this examination is conceived of liturgical actions that convey worshippers and those places into active participation, because Jones insists in a hermeneutical interpretation of sacred architecture “in terms of dynamic ritual situations” rather than “once-and-for-all meanings of buildings.”109 The dynamism of reading scriptures during worship can shift in significance from one reading to the other and throughout the liturgical year. Each reading may provoke multiple experiences. In other words, the Torah service, the Liturgy of the Word, or the Salat is acknowledged as architectural events that do (or in some cases, do not) set in motion ritual events and their accompanying transformations. The basic premise is that each ritual-architectural event shares a complementary pattern of convention and innovation. The study of these categories immediately brings up two questions. First, what is the role of Jewish and Christian history and liturgical tradition (convention) in the experience of the bimah and ambo? Or the role of Muslim tradition in the experience of the mosque? Second, if it exists, how effective is the transformative potential (innovation) of the ritual-architectural event for worshippers? The responses to these questions can also widen other aspects of the liturgical experience that were hitherto taken for granted. In either case, a significant transformation could be expected throughout the hermeneutical experience of the place for proclamation or the space for recitation. These patterns can be analysed using Jones’s categories: convention and innovation, commemoration and allurement, and ritual context. Convention and innovation A convention is a set of agreements that often becomes a custom. Certain types of customs may become law, and regulatory legislation is introduced to enforce the convention. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox faiths, this concept is expressed by the word “tradition” and is applied to a wide variety of topics. In Judaism, convention is found in the both Talmuds—Jerusalem and Babylonian—bodies of interpretation surrounding of the oral law. In Islam, convention is found in the Ibadah. Convention serves as a mode of ritual to incite faithful to worship. However, copying and adhering to the architectural standard of tradition rarely constitutes the total raison d’être of an architectural program. For the ambo, there has been a multitude of changes with long and varied customs regarding its form and location; it is difficult to establish a unique convention. In Judaism, we have the tevah in Sephardic tradition and the bimah in Ashkenazi tradition. In Islam, the concept is more open, with a preference for the mosque for Friday prayers.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 193

02/12/20 2:13 PM

194  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation Levine reminds us that “synagogues were regarded as religious institutions with a sacred status, such as that reflected in Valentinian’s decree of ca. 370 defining synagogue as a religionum loca.”110 The sanctity was attributed to the presence of Torah scrolls. Synagogues in all traditions are oriented towards Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, with the congregants gathering inside facing the wall, where the ark is directed towards Jerusalem. The decision to place the holiest object in the synagogue, the Torah, in the ark, was connected to the Holy Temple, and it was located in an apse against the Jerusalem-oriented wall. All the space and elements need for worship were designed around the Holy Scriptures. The most important one that allowed the scroll to be opened for reading was the bimah. As the Jewish liturgy evolved, the bimah acquired more and more relevance. Ancient synagogues might have the bimah in the centre of the hall if the area was big enough or against one of the walls. As we have discussed, Sephardic and Orthodox synagogues adopted a central bimah. The Reform integrated the bimah in the area with the Torah ark at the very front of the hall. In the Christian tradition, for centuries churches were oriented towards the east. This practice arose from the desire to relate the solar imagery of the risen Christ to the physical locality of the worship space. In some instances, the church’s sanctuary was at the east end, with resurrection imagery related to the Eucharistic rite. In others, the main entrance opened to the east so that worshippers leaving the building after morning liturgies or, more dramatically, emerging from the building after the Easter vigil, would face a rising sun. For Jones, orientation in churches is more a matter of historical conventionality than direct interaction with sky phenomenon. Nevertheless, the ambo at Hagia Sophia was linked with the centre, or omphalos, of the world, and orientation was also important in the Syrian tradition. Today, the location of the ambo relates to the altar. Traditionally, it is located to the right of the altar, as Christ is symbolically seated to the right of the Father and close to the assembly. For mosques, the qibla wall is the convention—facing the qibla is a necessary condition for the validly of Salat. The experience of this convention by the worshipper is one of fulfilling an expectation. However, when the design and placement of bimot and ambos incorporate innovation, an opportunity for wonder is created. Some liturgists and liturgical designers stress conventionality, others innovation. The ones who emphasize innovation deepen the delight for worshippers of experiencing the unexpected. In the new Kol Emeth synagogue in Palo Alto, instead of a raised bimah, it is at the congregation’s level. Instead of having the Torah read from on high in front of the ark, the centre is surrounded by the congregation in a circle (see Figure 4.5). The ambo, in St Kateri Tekakwitha’s chapel, surprises the worshipper because is integrated with the assembly, the whole space recreates the circle of right relationships (see Figure 4.6). The cutting-edge design of Zaha Hadid’s mosques (never built), with fluid forms to wrap the entire worship space, are signs of innovation.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 194

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 195

Figure 4.5  Central bimah surrounded by benches on the same level. © Kol Emeth synagogue in Palo Alto, California. 2019 (in construction). Congregation Kol Emeth, Palo Alto, California. Design by Field Architecture.

Figure 4.6  Kateri Tekakwitha’s chapel, St Joseph College at University of Calgary, Edmonton. Design by David Pereyra. © Marc Neal. Photographer: Marc Neal.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 195

02/12/20 2:13 PM

196  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation The architect enriched them with a deep symbolism that translates Islamic sonic rituals into waving shapes based on the visual sound of the voice of the muadhin chanting the call to prayer. Hadid imprinted in the interior of the mosque a metaphoric association of curvilinear flow of Arabic calligraphy by adding calligraphic carvings in the walls. Rituals can also be an experience of innovation. For example, the reading of the Passion on Palm Sunday or Good Friday has been a field of interesting experimentation. According to Jones, without convention, there could be no event, and without innovation, “nothing of significance transpires in those events.”111 Commemoration and allurement Through ritual actions, worshippers recall archetypal religious events in designated sacred spaces. These ritual-architectural events always leave worshippers with a spiritual imprint. Concerning architecture, Jones writes that the “strategically choreographed experiences of architecture have an exceptional capability for presenting new information, for retrieving forgotten meanings, and for facilitating participation in otherwise inaccessible realms.”112 The physical presence of places of proclamation in a synagogue or a church adds, through the act of commemoration, something new to the spatial dimension of the building or deprives the space of its meaning with its absence. This contribution is, to some degree, a modifying of consciousness of worshippers, as experiences of architecture produce changes of consciousness in people. When the place of proclamation has a strong presence in the building, such as that of the ambo in the church of Padre Pio (see Figure 4.4) or the reconstruction of the bimah in the new Hurva synagogue in Jerusalem, it can have a dramatic effect upon the minds of worshippers. This commemorative dimension of the place for proclamation has the power to recall the presence of the mystery that takes place in the liturgy. Places of proclamation are the dwelling where a sacramental presence of God is manifested; it is a divine presence that is expressed in liturgical and theological terms. Regarding this, Jones comments on the work of Staalen Sinding-Larsen on iconography and ritual and its relation to architecture: Ritual-architectural expressions of divinity are not codes that can be deciphered and translated back into words. Where Sinding-Larsen explains the fascinating, speedy malleability whereby the meaning of an iconographic image of Christ changes several times even within the course of a single mass—“the connotations may change from that of the Trinity to that of the present God, to Christ’s presence in the Eucharistic bread and wine, and so forth”—we need to appreciate that, paradoxically enough, the meanings and valances of sturdier architectural expressions of the attributes of God, such as ceilings, sculpted doorways, and windows, can also be significantly rearranged within the span of a few eventful, liturgical moments.113

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 196

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 197 From the solemn entrance of the Book of the Gospel, to the first and second readings, to the procession of the Book from the altar to the ambo for the proclamation of the Gospel, a dynamic experience is created that includes visual, haptic, and emotional aspects. The ambo is designed as a ritual-­ architectural stage for the reiteration and re-enactment (commemoration) of the sacred drama of Christ’s life, passion, and resurrection. The Torah reading takes place at the bimah amid the community—­ worshippers are captivated by the Torah’s procession, the readers are called (aliyah), the Torah is read, and it is raised. The bimah, along with the ambo, is designed for a vivid commemoration of God’s revelation to Moses. The Torah reading is the main ritual-architectural event; without its presence, there would not be any worship or participation on the part of the congregation. The bimah is a visual and spatial point of reference for the connection between performance, liturgical space, and Jewish religious life. The ritual-architectural allurement for Jones is “a consequence of the supernatural activity of the sacred rather than of human builders or ritual choreographers.”114 We should put our emphasis on the ambo rather than a divine ontological presence to appreciate this category of analysis. The Torah service, the Liturgy of the Word, or the Salat may provide the allurement. We can consider a testimony for the allurement of the Hagia Sophia’s ambo in the poem of Paul the Silentiary, recited in 563 CE soon after the second consecration of the church. For the bimah’s allurement, there is Ezra reading the Torah to the Jerusalem population after the Babylonian exile, reintegrating the faithful with the Torah’s laws. For mosques’ allurement, an extraordinary example is the spectacular Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi (2007) design by Yousef Abdelky. Of course, allurement in some places of proclamation or recitation may be a result of their artistic qualities, as the Ottoman mosques in Istanbul, but this is an entirely unexplored area. Walter Gropius’s recommendation for the design of theatres is an avenue for considering “allurement” in liturgical design. He explains that the theatre architect must “employ all possible spatial means capable of shaking the spectator out of his lethargy, of surprising and assaulting him and obliging him to take a real, living interest in the play.”115 Good liturgical designers consider their approach to designing a proclamation place, with a focus on inviting worshippers to take an active and participatory role in the liturgy, such as the work of Richard Vosko, Richard Giles, Maurizio Bergamo, and Mattia Del Prete. There are many instances and patterns in the actual world of people worshipping, praying, proclaiming, and reciting Holy Scripture in less than ideal situations—after the fall out of war or natural disaster—where allurement is done with a non-traditional practice and location of places of proclamation in liturgical spaces. There is no hermeneutical conversation between the assembly and the proclamation place if this quality of allurement is not present—the place of proclamation remains silent.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 197

02/12/20 2:13 PM

198  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation Ritual context Just as the faithful undertake rites of initiation to enable their participation in sacred mysteries, a place that is going to be assigned for religious uses may require rites that set it apart from the world. Jones illustrates, “The first step in a collective ritual celebration involves the requisite sanctification of place, the preparation of some sort of ritual context wherein the subsequent ceremonial activities might proceed with due decorum, efficacy, and efficiency.”116 The dedication ritual of a church provides efficacy to the church building, and the blessing of the ambo and the first reading dedicates the place in order for it to be the principal focus of attention in the Liturgy of the Word. The ambo facilitates the ritual by providing an appropriate context. This ritual context helps worshippers enter into the Liturgy of the Word by demarcating the space of enactment from the rest of the building’s interior. The ambo serves to concentrate the assembly’s attention in the liturgy, engendering emotional responses. Nevertheless, in Islam, the consecration of a mosque is not necessary. The hadith on “The Mosque” (Chapter V) says that the whole earth is a mosque, so there is no need to consecrate one. In Judaism, although the synagogue is considered to be the substitute for the Temple and called Mikdash Me’at ( “the small sanctuary” or “the small temple”) in the Talmudic literature, there is no legally prescribed ritual for this event. However, scholars agree that ceremonies were frequently observed. For example, Rabbi Lehman developed a ceremony of dedication for the new synagogue in Mainz in 1856, which was recorded in Ozar Dinim U-minhagim: A Digest of Jewish Laws and Customs. This ritual has no mention in the codes, but it is commonly practiced. The ritual, created by Rabbi Lehman, began in the old synagogue by reciting Psalm 132. After a brief sermon, the elders took the Torahs from the ark and carried them in procession to the new synagogue, led by the rabbi, the cantor, and the choir, followed by worshippers. At the doors of the new synagogue, they recited Psalm 122 and the cantor chanted, “Open to me the gates of righteousness.” The president of the synagogue then took the key and opened the door of the new synagogue. Those who carried the Torahs lined up on the platform in front of the ark, and they recited “How lovely are Thy dwelling places” and Psalm 84. Then they marched around the synagogue with the Torahs seven times. Afterwards, they installed the Torahs in the ark, the Rabbi preached, and congregants recited Psalm 30 (of the Dedication of the House). The epicentre of the ritual is described as being around the Holy Torah. From the moment of the dedication, the bimah will be the designated “context” for the ritual reading of the Torah. An important ritual in Judaism that concerns this study is the dedication of a new Torah scroll, which is praised as a grand celebration. The event recalls King David welcoming the Holy Ark into Jerusalem: “David

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 198

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 199 went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom to the city of David with rejoicing … David danced before the Lord with all his might … David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord wish Shouting, and with the sound of the shofar” (2 Samuel 6:12-15). The ritual is scheduled in advance when the handwriting of the Torah is almost complete. The community prepares the following in advance: a mantle, a crown, a pointer (yad), and other necessary ornaments for the Torah. The celebration may start with a procession outside of the synagogue. The Torah is carried under a chuppah accompanied by music, singing, and dancing. During the parade, participants kiss the Torah as it passes by— doing so is auspicious for health and longevity. At the synagogue, the cantor approaches the Holy Ark and proclaims, “Torah scrolls, on behalf of the holy congregation that prays in this synagogue, you are requested to come and greet the Torah that [the donor] has merited to write and dedicate, at an auspicious hour, to this synagogue.” A community member opens the Ark, and all existing Torah scrolls are brought out to greet the new Torah. The donor carries the new Torah into the synagogue. The liturgical ceremony stars with hymns and songs; after that, the Torahs circle the bimah seven times. Another hymn is sung with an extra eight rounds of dancing. The Torahs return to the Ark, and the ritual concludes with Aleinu and the recitation of the Mourner’s Kaddish. Emotion, ritual, and place The sensual dimension in the ritual of proclamation and those concerned more broadly with its place to perform the ceremony is another aspect to consider. Hearing, seeing, and touching are vital elements that point to the emotional issues of reading, reciting, and listening to Holy Scriptures, and that makes the personal engagement of the faithful with God and their community more vivid. Ori Soltes, in “Accessing the Sacred through the Five Senses,” emphasizes the role of words, saying, “Words link our intellects and emotions to the sense of sounds, when we speak, chant, and hear the spoken word. It is not just the words themselves, however, but how they are shared with the community that enhances their importance as vehicles for a proper divine-human relationship.”117 In each situation and in diverse ways, the encounter with the divine words can induce in readers and hearers responses of joy, sorrow, consolation, or the feeling of being chosen— the ritual of proclamation could have the effect of transforming faithful’s spiritual, physical, and mental states. As Graham states, “Sacred Books are not just authoritative documents or sources of doctrinal formulas; they are living words that produce a variety of responses—emotional and physical as well as intellectual and spiritual.”118 These responses guide us to better understand what it means to be exposed to the ritual proclamation of the Torah and the Bible or the ritual recitation of the Qur’an.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 199

02/12/20 2:13 PM

200  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation Our final area of analysis involves examining the relationships between emotion, ritual, and place. Jones proposes three areas of concentration: the liturgical environment and how it connects emotion to the liturgy, the theatrical modes of allurement, and the theatrical presentation of meaning and messages.119 Liturgical environment (emotion) The liturgy and its architectural settings are intended to encourage worshippers to immerse themselves emotionally in a spiritual liturgical environment. For Muslims, their emotions are attached to the Arabic language. Talal Asad, in Secular Translations, says, “Reciting the Qur’an in the original [Arabic] especially in a liturgical context is thought to be a particular (physical-emotional-cognitive) attitude, that its nontranslatability has a special significance intrinsic to this sense.”120 When the same ritual is framed in a mosque, the emotional experience may be amplified. Proclamation and recitation are connected to the idea of physical emotion and spiritual audition, which implies active participation instead of limiting their role in the liturgy. Full comprehension of that ritual requires proper performance and allurement—the ritual’s context is needed to provide emotional, sentimental, and sensory stimulation. The liturgical setting for the place of the proclamation—its artistic composition and clearly defined structure—should enhance the understanding of any given liturgical event. The place of proclamation, as one of the few predominant synagogue or church elements, helps with the affective dimension of the experience of the divine words in its evocations of awe and wonderment. To function properly, its presence as a podium needs to make an impression and thereby persuade worshippers of the divine presence when a reader proclaims from it. Provoking emotional responses has not been one of the main priorities in contemporary synagogue and church design, which is in marked contrast to the Baroque experience. Nevertheless, the place of proclamation’s appearance in contemporary liturgy has generated some creativity concerning its design and placement. Theatrical modes of allurement (ritual) The theatrical mode is the result of a particular morphology that the architectural space adopts to powerfully attract the visitor. In this instance, our primary concern is how an outward form is perceived, especially visually, and how it can evoke an emotional response from the worshippers rather than how they might solicit some divine agency. This concept of theatrical mode of allurement frames the movements, readings, and proclamations to illustrate how the place for proclamation can prompt individuals to engage in the ritual of reading sacred scriptures.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 200

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 201 There are three possible theatrical configurations or spatial organizations, which can be used to some extent as settings for creating liturgical space. The first is typified by “stationary events,” in which ordained ministers perform from within a sanctuary—a strongly demarcated area kept apart from the assembly. The second is “processional events,” in which ministers move throughout a fixed assembly that is usually seated on pews. The third is “participatory processional events,” in which ministers and assembly move together within the liturgical space.121 Designs emphasizing stationary events have been the traditional layout for thousands of synagogues and churches. In Ashkenazi synagogues, congregants are seated in rows of pews facing the ark and the bimah. In churches, the assembly is seated, facing the sanctuary where the ambo is located. The effect is imposing for the worshipper to some extent, as this configuration encourages passivity rather than active participation. This design concept is generally contrary to the intentions of the liturgical movement. The idea of processional events as an organizational concept in liturgical design is imprinted in Sephardic synagogues, where the seats are arranged around the room, with everyone facing the bimah (except when congregants turn to face Jerusalem when praying the Amidah). The Torah procession around the bimah thus acquires a more dramatic character. A similar setting can be found in many modern churches built after the 1950s. Typically, the floor plan departs from the traditional, and the ambo is located in the middle of the assembly. This configuration has a higher degree of allurement; the pageantry of the Book of the Gospel’s procession from the altar to the ambo is more significant than other traditional settings. The effect is the same for the readings, as the lector moves from the assembly, linking the assembly of worshippers to the proclamation place. In both cases, a considerable distance between the altar and the ambo increases the dramatic character of the ritual more than in the traditional configuration of worship space. Participatory processional events create situations where the assembly moves as part of the liturgy; any movement of members brings considerable potential allurement. As Jones says, “In these more viscerally participatory configurations… onlookers are no longer simply looking on; they too are performers, experiencing the ritual circumstance in the most direct of fashions. The option of passivity is removed.”122 Today, movement by the whole of the worshipping assembly should be a key consideration in the architectural treatment of liturgical space. Participatory movements and actions remind a Jewish or Christian congregation of their itinerant roots as God’s journeying people. In Muslim tradition is the tavaf—on of the rituals of pilgrimage in Mecca. Pilgrimages go around the Kaaba seven times, in a counterclockwise direction, symbolizing the unity of believer in the worship of the One God. Orthodox churches are good examples, as the open space without benches gives total freedom of movement.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 201

02/12/20 2:13 PM

202  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation Analysing theatrical modes of allurement in the ritual of proclaiming scriptures opens the door to thinking about how to develop the liturgical design of its place. In Re-Pitching the Tent, Richard Giles applies the theatrical mode of allurement’s concept: The Christian community has much to learn from the theatre, for the stage designer is in all but name a designer of liturgical space. The stage designer sets the scene, creates the space, in which the written text play is brought to life, and the audience transported to another world, even carried to another plane of existence…. In Christian liturgy we go a step further, for there is no audience, only participants in the unfolding drama of the saving work of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.123 In the past, most of the sacred buildings of the Abrahamic faiths were designed to have a dramatic effect on worshippers. The design may help the allurement, but only the reader and the reciter can transfix the congregation and bring its members to a transcendental experience of being the people of God. Theatrical presentations of meaning and messages (place) Enacting liturgy disseminates a whole world of messages and meanings throughout its performance and the reading of the scriptures heard by the assembly. The place of proclamation is the theatrical arrangement that provides the necessary atmosphere for the acquisition of knowledge and raising awareness. This can be found in historical examples—such as the jubés in France, the bimah in the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, and the new ambo in Padre Pio church—that have the ability to intensify the theatrical modes of the Torah service or the Liturgy of the Word by “turning up the volume” and by isolating the event. The enhancing of the drama of reading scriptures makes the place of proclamation a compelling liturgical space within the worship space. Liturgy’s theatrical elements for the Liturgy of the Word and the Torah service require a choreographic organization. They include features attached to the place of proclamation, such as the proper distance between the place of proclamation and the altar in churches and, for the Torah ark in synagogues, the position of the assembly relative to the main hallmarks, lighting of the space, and materials used in decoration (texture, colour, and others). All of these elements may help to enhance a more direct allurement of the word of God.

Synthesis and conclusion The hermeneutical approach is a means of applying theology, anthropology, and phenomenology to an analysis of the place of proclamation and the space for recitation in order to achieve a more complete understanding

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 202

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 203 of it and its ability to facilitate direct, heterogeneous engagement between worshippers and their religious beliefs. In this, we see that sacred architecture is a fundamental medium for worshippers in situating their individual bodies in the spiritual realm. A new understanding of the place of proclamation and the space for recitation has been proposed and widened the perspective regarding its role in embodying liturgy, incorporating symbolism, facilitating ritual, and deepening the impact of worship as both a physical and psychological experience. Based on the premise, the word of God brings life to all dynamic symbolism around the proclamation and recitation of Holy Scriptures. In a uniquely elucidative, didactic, and exhortative way, the place of proclamation creates a necessary intermediate zone for ritual proclamation through liturgical symbolism. The Torah service and Liturgy of the Word from the place of proclamation and the Salat in the mosque engender emotional responses in those who worship in faith. Accordingly, places of proclamation have a tremendous role in encouraging an allured ritual for the reading of scriptures. This is seen in the ambos of Padre Pio’s church, Christ of the Light, and Gesù Redentore that illustrate the potential arrangement of articulating symbolic content and eliciting broadened theological–liturgical understanding. The simplicity and clarity of these places of proclamation encourage recognition of the principal architectural act of delimiting place. As Barrie suggests, “The clear articulation of place requires a separation from its immediate context, and thus the necessity of entry and passage.”124 Every bimah, ambo, lectern, and mimbar should suggest that its role is more than just an object within the liturgical space. Bimot and ambos at the front of the sanctuary should be easily distinguishable from other elements of the area. They should have their own distinct entrance and passage. Materials of construction, location, and entryway style serve to recreate a theatrical experience that helps to bring the worshipper into the mystery. Barrie states, “The coherence of the architecture is its effectiveness in establishing relationships between the participant and place and delivering its symbolic content.”125 Further, Jones believes that it is inadequate to imagine that religious buildings have unified and stable meanings. Instead, sacred architecture should be constituted in terms of situational events rather than in terms of what is presumed to be the “real,” once-and-for-all meaning of buildings. A crucial idea informing this subject is that, instead of searching for the meaning of the place of proclamation or places for recitation, an inquiry should be conducted on how liturgical situations constitute its significance that brings worshippers and worship buildings into active interaction. Ritual-architectural events are intended to captivate and entice a congregation. Phenomenology tells us that architectural experiences have an exceptional capability for conveying new information, reviving lost meanings, and helping worshippers to access otherwise inaccessible realms. The

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 203

02/12/20 2:13 PM

204  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation sacredness of the proclamation place is not an objective condition but a situational, relative, and relational one that emerges from the dynamic interactions between worshippers and their liturgical environments.

Notes 1 Mark Searle, “Ritual,” in Foundations in Ritual Studies: A Reader for Students of Christian Worship, ed. P.Bradshaw and Melloh, 10. 2 “In my play about C.S. Lewis, Shadowlands, I gave Lewis the line, ‘We read to know we’re not alone.’ That has been my own experience. It’s through books that people I’ve never met have reached out to me, saying, ‘This is what matters most to me. Does it matter to you too?’ This feeds something very different to the appetite for entertainment. It feeds, I suppose, the hunger for meaning.” ­[William Nicholson, Screenplay Shadowlands, 1993] https://www.goodreads.com/author/ show/46130.William_Nicholson/blog?page=9 (accessed May 22, 2020). 3 Manguel, A History of Reading, 5. 4 Manguel, 35. 5 “Professor Lecours argues, ‘as if the information received from the page by the eyes travels through the brain through a series of conglomerates of specialized neurons, each conglomerate occupying a certain section of the brain and effecting a specific function. We don’t yet know what exactly each of these functions is, but in certain cases of brain lesions one or several of these conglomerates become, so to speak, disconnected from the chain and the patient becomes incapable of reading certain words, or a certain type of language, or of reading out loud, or replaces one set of words with another. The possible disconnections seem endless.’” [Personal interview of Manguel with André Roch Lecours, Montreal, No. 1992] In Manguel, 37. 6 Manguel, 38. 7 Antonio Dongui, Words and Gestures in the Liturgy, 25. 8 Dongui. 9 Dongui. 10 G. van der Leeuw et al., Religion in Essence & Manifestation, 460. 11 Graham, Beyond the Written Word, 64. 12 Graham, 113. 13 Paul Ricœur, Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning, 75. 14 Daniel Boyarin, “Placing Reading: Ancient Israel and Medieval Europe,” in The Ethnography or Reading, ed. J. Boyarin (Berkeley, 11. 15 Boyarin, 13. 16 Boryarin, 46. 17 Kristina Nelson, The Art of Reciting the Qur’an, 52. 18 al-Zarkai 1957: 456, in Nelson. 19 Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization, 367. 20 “What Does Quran Recitation Really Mean?,” ABoutIslam, 2019, https:// aboutislam.net/shariah/quran/recite-memorize/what-quran-recitation-­reallymean/ (accessed April 20, 2020). 21 Dongui, 28. 22 Paul Ricœur and Wallace, Figuring the Sacred: Religion, Narrative, and Imagination, 71. 23 The theory of the aesthetic response is different than the traditional theory of aesthetics of reception. A theory of response has its root in the text; a theory of reception arises from a history of readers’ judgments. Cf. Wolfgang Iser, The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response, x. 24 Iser, 21.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 204

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 205

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

Graham, 150. Dongui, 29. Dongui, 28. Dongui, 76. Boyarin, 15. Iser, 21. Catherine M. Bell, Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions, 73. Bell, 73. David Kahan, Textured Spatiality and the Art Of Interpretation, 212. Juan David Nasio, Mi cuerpo y sus imágenes, 19. Ori Z. Soltes, “Accessing the Sacred through the Five Senses,” in Religion: Material Religion, ed. D. Apostolos-Cappadona, 6. 36 James A. Wallace, The Ministry of Lectors, 16. 37 Nasio, 135. 38 Emmanuel Lévinas, Humanisme de l’autre homme, 51. 39 Mladen Dolar, A Voice and Nothing More, 14. 40 Dolar. 41 Saint Augustin, in Les plus beaux sermons de saint Augustine, Études Augustiniennes, Paris, 1986, tome III, pp. 206–15; translated and cited by Michel Poizat, Vox populi, vox Dei (Paris: Éditions Métailié, 2001), 130. 42 Dolar, 37. 43 Paul Ricœur and Thompson, Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences: Essays on Language, Action, and Interpretation, 164. 44 Ricœur and Thompson, 71. 45 Talal Asad, Secular Translations: Nation-State, Modern Self, and Calculative Reason, 76–7. 46 Dolar, 107. 47 Kahan, 211–13. 48 Dolar, 108. 49 Alberto Pérez-Gómez, “The Space of Architecture: Meaning as Presence and Representation,” in Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, ed. S. Holl et al., 8. 50 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, Polemics, 29. 51 Graham, 158. 52 Thomas Barrie, The Sacred In-Between: The Mediating Roles of Architecture, 17. 53 The engagement of those who listen depends upon the acoustic quality of the space. 54 Aidan Kavanagh, On Liturgical Theology, 100. 55 Romano Guardini, The Spirit of the Liturgy, 60. 56 Geoffrey Wainwright, Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine, and Life, 119–22. 57 Pamela E. Klassen, “Ritual,” in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Emotion, ed. J. Corrigan, 146. 58 Michelle Rosaldo, “Toward an Anthropology of Self and Feeling,” in Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion, ed. R. LeVine and Shweder, 137–57. 59 Klassen, 147. 60 Robert N. McCauley and Lawson, Bringing Ritual to Mind: Psychological Foundations of Cultural Forms, 123. 61 Ruth Langer, “Celebraiting the Presence of the Torah: The History and Meaning of Reading the Torah,” in My People’s Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Comentaries, ed. L. Hoffman, 25. 62 Mishnah, Pesachim 10:5, 116b.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 205

02/12/20 2:13 PM

206  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 63 Lauren E. Osborne, The Experience of the Recited Qur ʾan. 64 Eman Ghanem Nayef and Muhammad Nubli Abdul Wahab, The Effect of Recitation Quran on the Human Emotions, 56. 65 Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, 174. 66 Graham, 150. 67 Merleau-Ponty, 246. 68 Zohar Shemot, 206a. 69 Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “Surah Az-Zumar,” in The Study Quran. 70 Frédéric Debuyst, “L’ambone: Un luogo vivo per l’assemblea,” in L’ambone: tavola della parola di Dio, ed. G. Boselli, 21. 71 Giovanni Tangorra, “L’Assemblea liturgica convocata dalla parola di Dio,” in L’ambone: tavola della parola di Dio, ed. G. Boselli, 51. 72 Barrie, 22. 73 Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Built upon Love: Architectural Longing after Ethics and Aesthetics, 109. 74 Merleau-Ponty, 228. 75 Catholic Church, Lectionary of the Roman Missal, no. 6. 76 Wallace, The Ministry of Lectors, 7. 77 Steven Holl, et al., eds., Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, 40. 78 Mauro Piacenza, Planning and building God’s house: The Lecturn. 79 Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin, 13. 80 Comité national d’art sacré, L’église, maison du peuple de Dieu, 31. 81 Barrie, 24. 82 Merleau-Ponty, 412. 83 Merleau-Ponty, 413. 84 I Merleau-Ponty. 85 Juhani Pallasmaa, “An Architecture of the Seven Senses,” in Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, ed. S. Holl, et al., 31. 86 Richard S. Vosko, God’s House is Our House: Re-imagining the Environment for Worship, 49. 87 Pallasmaa, An Architecture of the Seven Senses, 35. 88 Edward S. Casey, “How to Get from Space to Place in a Fairly Short Stretch of Time,” in Sense of Place, ed. S. Feld and Basso, 36. 89 Walter Zahner, “Realizzazioni di amboni in Germania e in Austria,” in L’Ambone: tavola de la parala di dio, ed. G. Boselli, 168. 90 Zahner, 169. 91 Steven Holl, “Questions of Perception—Phenomenology of Architecture,” in Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, ed. S. Holl, et al., 40. 92 Manguel, 166. 93 Jeanne Halgren Kilde, Sacred Power, Sacred Space, 3. 94 Halgren Kilde, 147. 95 Edward J. Kilmartin, Christian Liturgy: Theology and Practice, 21. 96 Wainwright, Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine, and Life, 20. 97 Paul Ricoeur, Fe y filosofía, 83. 98 Ricoeur, 84. 99 Langer, Celebraiting the Presence of the Torah, 21. 100 Cosma Capomaccio, Monumentum Resurrectionis, 57. 101 Crispino Valenziano, “Ambone e candelabro: Iconografia e iconologia,” in Gli spazi della celebrazione rituale, ed. R. Falsini, 164. 102 Gerard Lukken and Mark Searle, Semiotics and Church Architecture, 42. 103 Lukken and Searle, 47. 104 Barrie, 4. 105 Barrie.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 206

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 207 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125

Barrie, 9. Jones, 2. Jones, 29. Jones, 184-87; 262–63. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue, 281. Jones, 71. Jones, 84. Lindsay Jones, The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture: Experience, Interpretation, Comparison. Hermeneutical Calisthenics: A Morphology of Ritual-­ Architectural Priorities, vol. 2., 107. Jones, The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture, vol. 1, 75. Jones, 80. Jones, 185. Soltes, “Accessing the Sacred through the Five Senses,” in Religion: Material Religion, 4. Graham, 162–63. Jones, The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture, vol. 1, 190–212. Asad, Secular Translations, 60. Asad, 193. Asad, 198. Richard Giles, Re-Pitching the Tent: Re-ordering the Church Building for Worship and Mission, 141. Barrie, 213. Barrie, 221.

Bibliography Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane, ed. Religion: Material Religion. Farmington Hills, MI: Mcmillan Ref. USA, 2016. Asad, Talal. Secular Translations: Nation-State, Modern Self, and Calculative Reason. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2018. Barrie, Thomas. The Sacred in-Between: The Mediating Roles of Architecture. London, UK: Routledge, 2010. Bell, Catherine M. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Boselli, Goffredo, ed. L’altare: mistero di presenza, opera dell’arte. Magnano, IT: Edizioni Qiqajon, 2005. Boyarin, Jonathan, ed. The Ethnography or Reading. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1993. Bradshaw, Paul, and John Allyn Melloh, eds. Foundations in Ritual Studies: A Reader for Students of Christian Worship. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007. Capomaccio, Cosma. Monumentum resurrectionis: Ambone e candelabro per il cero pasquale. Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2002. Catholic Church. Lectionary of the Roman Missal. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1965. Comité national d’art sacré. L’église, maison du peuple de Dieu. Paris: Centre national de pastorale liturgique, 1971. Corrigan, John, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Emotion. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2008. Debuyst, Frédéric. L’ambone: tavola della parola di Dio. Magnano, IT: Edizioni Qiqajon, 2006.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 207

02/12/20 2:13 PM

208  The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation Dolar, Mladen. A Voice and Nothing More. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2006. Dongui, Antonio. Words and Gestures in the Liturgy. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2009. Feld, Steven, and Keith H. Basso, eds. Sense of Place. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press, 1996. Giles, Richard. Re-Pitching the Tent: Re-Ordering the Church Building for Worship and Mission. Rev. and expanded ed. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2004. Graham, William A. Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Guardini, Romano. The Spirit of the Liturgy. New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997. Hodgson, Marshall G. S. The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974. Hoffman, Lawrence, ed. My People’s Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Comentaries. Woodstock, VE: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2000. Holl, Steven, Juhani Pallasmaa, and Alberto Pérez Gómez, eds. Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture. San Francisco, CA: William Stout, 2006. Iser, Wolfgang. The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980. Jones, Lindsay. “The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture: Experience, Interpretation, Comparison”. In: Hermeneutical Calisthenics: A Morphology of RitualArchitectural Priorities. Cambridge, MA: Distributed by Harvard University Press for Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions, 2000. Jones, Lindsay. The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture: Experience, Interpretation, Comparison. Monumental Occasions: Reflections on the Eventfulness of Religious Architecture. Cambridge, MA: Distributed by Harvard University Press for Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions, 2000. Kahan, David. “Textured Spatiality and the Art of Interpretation.” The Heythrop Journal 53, no. 2 (2012): 204–6. Kavanagh, Aidan. On Liturgical Theology. New York, NY: Pueblo Pub. Co., 1984. Khurram, Murad. “What Does Quran Recitation Really Mean?” ABoutIslam, 2019. https://aboutislam.net/shariah/quran/recite-memorize/what-quran-recitation-­ really-mean/ (accessed April 20, 2020). Kilde, Jeanne Halgren. Sacred Power, Sacred Space: An Introduction to Christian Architecture and Worship. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2008. Kilmartin, Edward J. Christian Liturgy: Theology and Practice. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1988. Leeuw, G. van der, J. E. Turner, G. van der Leeuw, and J. S. Hay. Religion in Essence & Manifestation: A Study in Phenomenology. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1938. Lévinas, Emmanuel. Humanisme de l’autre homme. Montpellier: Fata morgana, 1972. Levine, Lee I. The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. LeVine, Robert Alan, and Richard A. Shweder, ed. Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion. UK: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Lukken, Gerard, and Mark Searle. Semiotics and Church Architecture: Applying the Semiotics of A. J. Greimas and the Paris School to the Analysis of Church Buildings. Kampen, The Netherlands: Kok Pharos, 1993.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 208

02/12/20 2:13 PM

The experiential spectrum of ritual proclamation 209 Manguel, Alberto. A History of Reading. Toronto, ON: Vintage Canada, 1998. McCauley, Robert N., and E. Thomas Lawson. Bringing Ritual to Mind: Psychological Foundations of Cultural Forms. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception. Translated by Colin Smith. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004. Nasio, Juan David. Mi cuerpo y sus imágenes. Buenos Aires: Paidós, 2008. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary. New York, NY: HarperOne, 2015. Nayef, Eman Ghanem, and Muhammad Nubli Abdul Wahab. “The Effect of Recitation Quran on the Human Emotions.” International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8, no. 2 (2018): 50–70. Nelson, Kristina. The Art of Reciting the Qur’an. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1985. Osborne, Lauren E. “The Experience of the Recited Qurʾan.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 48, no. 1 (2016): 124–8. Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. London, UK: Academy Editions, 1996. Pérez-Gómez, Alberto. Built Upon Love: Architectural Longing after Ethics and Aesthetics. Cambridge, MA; London, UK: MIT, 2006. Piacenza, Mauro. “Planning and Building God’s House: The Lecturn.” Agenzia Fides, 2006. http://www.fides.org/en/news/7145-VATICAN_Planning_and_building_God_s_house_Contribution_by_Bishop_Mauro_Piacenza_President_of_ the_Pontifical_Commission_for_the_Cultural_Heritage_of_the_Church_The_ Lecturn#.Un_XZI3oUZs (accessed May 23, 2020). Ricœur, Paul. Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning. Fort Worth, TX: Texas Christian University Press, 1976. Ricœur, Paul, and John B. Thompson. Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences: Essays on Language, Action, and Interpretation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1981. Ricœur, Paul, and Mark I. Wallace. Figuring the Sacred: Religion, Narrative, and Imagination. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995. Ricoeur, Paul. Fe Y Filosofía. Translated by Néstor A. Corona, et al. Buenos Aires: Prometeo, 2008. Mishnah. New York, NY: Sefaria, 2014. https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Mishnah (accessed May 15, 2020). Valenziano, Crispino. “Ambone e candelabro: Iconografia e iconologia.” In Gli spazi della celebrazione rituale, edited by Rinaldo Falsini, 163–220. Milano: Edizioni, O.R., 1984. Vosko, Richard S. God’s House Is Our House: Re-Imagining the Environment for Worship. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2006. Wainwright, Geoffrey. Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine, and Life. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1980. Wallace, James A. The Ministry of Lectors. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2004.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Chp04.indd 209

02/12/20 2:13 PM

Conclusions

By now, it will be apparent that my understanding of the proclamation of scriptures focuses less on rubrics than on holistic ritual practices. I do not merely mean devotional practices, but the practice of living the faith illuminated by the word of God. Undoubtedly, this first finds its reason in the fact that Jews, Christians, and Muslims profoundly believe that “God chose to reveal Himself and to make known to us the hidden purpose of His will” (DV 2). The Torah, the Bible, and the Qur’an have revelations that are meant to be heard. In the three scriptures, God asks the faithful to listen to His words, “Hear therefore, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Dt. 6:4). Jesus then says, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” (Lk. 11:28), and, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you all that I have said to you” (Jn. 14:26). Those faiths have understood that they should proclaim the divine words with the same intense desire that God revealed to them, as the angel Gabriel commanded Muhammad to recite the words he was given: “Recite, in the name of your Lord who created. Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the Most Generous” (Surah 96:1–3). The word of God has only one destiny—the heart of His creatures. When Mary of Nazareth listened to the divine words, “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (Lk. 2:19). Our ancestors mastered the art of listening with such devotion and fervour of these words. They knew, as Mckenna explains, that “God and the Word of God can come at any moment, anywhere, to anyone—but it all begins with listening. Then it becomes a spoken word for others to listen to.”1 Before the divine revelations were collected into the books, each text was preserved in the memory and the heart of reciters and transmitted through their art of proclaiming. This oral dimension of the scriptures closely connects with its ritual aspect. As Graham states, “The spoken word of scripture has been overwhelmingly the most important medium through which religious persons and groups throughout history have known and interact with scriptural texts.”2 This practice has been passed down to this day, and around the

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Conclusion.indd 210

16/11/20 4:33 PM

Conclusions 211 world—Jews, Christians, and Muslims read aloud, proclaim, and recite their Holy Scriptures. For all of them, listening to their scriptures allows them to experience the presence of God amidst the community. We have clearly expressed that the act of reading, listening, and sharing the word of God is a sacred act, both insightful and compelling. The emphasis we have put on the ritual of proclamation and recitation is one of the most distinctive aspects of the life of the three religions. Nevertheless, the difficulty in engaging with the spirit of proclaiming Holy Scriptures that is manifested in congregations today may itself be a consequence of liturgical and phenomenological reasons, in which much of the particularity of faith experience appears to be diminished. Our communities are looking for a new way to hear God’s word. Recovering the centrality of the divine word in the life of our communities leads us to appreciate the most profound meaning of the force of its proclamation anew. Worship is, of course, not limited to any particular space or time, but some places are genuine mediums as places of proclamation. A new understanding of these places broadened the prospect concerning their role in integrating liturgy, consolidating symbolism, expediting ritual, and digging into the meaning of worship as both a physical and psychological experience. I have emphasized throughout this study that the liturgy determines the hermeneutics of any given space inside of a synagogue, church, or mosque, and conversely, how the configuration of the worship space, including its furnishings and decoration, shapes the understanding of the liturgy. With our historical exposition of early liturgical space, we have seen the importance not only of the bimah, ambo, and the open mosque space but also of the Torah service, Liturgy of the Word, and Salat. The great challenge of the current participatory efforts is to find a means of reintegrating theological symbolism and liturgical actions. Our phenomenological and hermeneutical analysis of the ritual shows the need of an identifiable place for it in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. We also sought a design that facilitates the community’s experience of the proclamation of scriptures as a transcendental event. As already stated, the goal of sacred architecture is to make the boundary between flesh and spirit permeable. The religious aspect of the Torah Service, Liturgy of the Word, and the Salat makes it possible for places of proclamation and recitation to transcend their strictly functional role to being an iconic image within the worship space that leads worshippers to have profound experiences. The bimah, ambo, and mimbar are the liturgical places from where the word of God is proclaimed and recited, manifesting a particular divine presence to the gathered faithful, rather than just a single artefact. However, to proclaim the word of God in the liturgy is not merely reading a sacred text but is a celebration of the divine revelation, of light and life. Through the examination of the dramaturgical dimension of this liturgical experience, we see that the reading of scripture from indistinct locations within the worship space is simply the relating of biblical accounts;

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Conclusion.indd 211

16/11/20 4:33 PM

212  Conclusions however, reading the scriptures from the place of proclamation means to “announce” that God loves and takes care of the faithful. The reader at the place of proclamation becomes more than a liturgical reader—this minister of the divine words is sacramentally the bearer of the good news. This last proposition about place pushes us to centre our attention on the liturgical environment in general and to consider what would be the proper setting for the Torah service, Liturgy of the Word, and the Salat. We have seen how the liturgical environment can function as the medium through which the assembly perceives the focal centres of worship. It is within the worship building where the faithful’s focus shifts into the different spaces of the interior. These different foci require the community of believers to have an understanding of what they represent. Focus places, such as the bimah, the ambo, or the mimbar, lead us to gain a better comprehension of the symbolism inherent in the configuration of worship spaces infused by the liturgical action, including the postures, gestures, orientation of the assembly, and clergy. The place of proclamation is a symbol of profound depth because the place discloses a reality that touches upon our faith experience. A proper design acts as a catalyst for this disclosure. The ritual act of proclaiming is itself contextualized into a broader action of the liturgy. Many documents of the different faiths lay out the parameters within which a community may design its liturgical space, orientation, furnishings, and any other relevant aspect. For this reason, any prospective designer ought to have more than just technical knowledge of each liturgical practice. What is required is a live experience of liturgy, from which a phenomenological analysis can be derived and then applied to the problems of design. Those who have been called to design synagogues, churches, or mosques and liturgical environments should be able to take liturgy seriously. A perspective that views worship from an intellectual distance that regards liturgy as a sociological phenomenon, or as a problem of ergonomics, will not be able to understand or properly facilitate the earnest use of particular gestures, spatial arrangements, spoken language, colours, and decorative designs in the Torah Service, Liturgy of the Word, and Salat. Ultimately, there is no single solution that will meet the needs of every liturgical environment. Theory must be put into practice, and ideals must be reconciled to the practicalities of a real world where resources are limited and decisions are the end product of consultations among several community actors, whose priorities are not always in harmony. However, involving the community, inviting real participation, and sharing all the possible approaches to the problems of design will create the right environment for providing the place of proclamation and the space for recitation with dignity and a location within the worship space that is appropriate to its situation in the Abrahamic tradition. After these reflections, the People of God from the Abrahamic faiths should be encouraged to become increasingly familiar with the proclamation and recitation of the Holy Scriptures. They understand and believe

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Conclusion.indd 212

16/11/20 4:33 PM

Conclusions 213 that their spirituality is based on the word of God proclaimed, accepted, and celebrated in their communities. This deepening relationship with the divine Word will take place with even greater enthusiasm if each faith community is conscious that, in the Holy Scriptures, they stand before God’s definitive word on the cosmos and history.

Notes 1 Megan McKenna, Listen Here! The Art and Spitiruatliy of Listening, chap. 3. 2 Graham, Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion, 155.

Bibliography Graham, William A. Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1987. McKenna, Megan. Listen Here! The Art and Spitiruatliy of Listening. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2016. Kindle.

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-Conclusion.indd 213

16/11/20 4:33 PM

Index

Note: Italicized page numbers refer to figures. Abrahamic: community 163; faith 3, 7, 62, 64, 65, 75, 113, 122, 154, 202, 212; liturgies 147; religions x, 2, 7, 39, 46, 75, 90–91, 113, 123, 142, 143, 154, 156; sacred text 3, 130; traditions 1, 4, 52, 88, 167, 212 agape (Christian) 16, 18, 20 Ahmed, Rumee 143 Alexandrian rite (Christian tradition) 21 aliyah 80, 129, 197 altar 8, 9, 18, 20, 23–25, 28–33, 36, 43, 52, 53, 54 (fig. 1.15), 55, 56, 61, 67, 81, 86, 87, 93–112, 114–115, 135, 140, 165, 178, 184, 194, 197, 201–202 ambo 3–4, 21, 24–31, 26 (fig. 1.4), 33, 35 (fig. 1.8), 38 (fig. 1.11), 55–56, 58, 59 (fig. 1.17), 61–63, 84–87, 92–94, 96–98, 100–115, 135–141, 139 (fig. 3.2), 150, 152–153, 155, 165, 173, 177, 179–180, 180 (fig. 4.2), 182–194, 183 (fig. 4.3), 187, 192 (fig. 4.4), 196–198, 201–203 Anagnostis 137; see also lector Analogium 26; see also ambo antiphonary 36 Antiochene rite 21, 35, 83 Apostolic Constitutions 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 31 Aquila of Pontus 77 Armstrong, Karen x, 2, 5, 91, 141–143 Aron Hakodesh 128; see also Torah, ark Asad, Talal 171, 200

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-index.indd 214

Ashkenazi 125, 126; congregation 129; community 125; liturgy 126, 176; rite 79; synagogue 150 (fig. 3.3), 201; tradition 128–130, 193 Augustine, St xi, 5, 134, 135, 170 Aventin, Laurence 34, 38, 56 Ayoub, Mahmoud M. 39, 114 al-Azmeh, Aziz 77 Baal Kri’ah see Torah, reader Barrie, Thomas 173, 180, 189–190, 203 Bart, Karl 122 basilica 18, 19, 20, 24–25, 27, 29, 31–32, 33 (fig. 1.7), 80, 82, 113; Lateran 29; Saint Mary Major 29–30, 30 (fig. 1.6); St Peter 29, 31, 114 Beauduin, Dom Lambert 92 Bell, Catherine 168–169, bema 14, 18, 21–24, 22 (fig. 1.3), 31, 58, 113, 184; throne 23 Benedict XVI (Pope) 98, 133 berakah 140 Bergamo, Mauricio 4, 197 Bēt-sqāqōnā 22 Bible (Christian) 7, 22, 25, 28, 53, 58, 64, 76, 88, 94, 98–99, 114, 122, 130–134, 141, 142, 143, 154, 156, 166, 177, 182, 191, 199, 210; reading 50, 97 bimah 3, 4, 12, 13–15, 18, 62, 79–80, 81, 113, 126, 129, 140, 150 (fig. 3.3), 151 (fig. 3.4), 150–153, 155, 173, 177, 182, 184–185, 187–188, 190–191, 193–194, 195 (fig. 4.5), 196–199, 201–203, 211–212 Blessed Friday (Muslim) 48–49; see also Jumu’ah Mubarak

03/12/20 2:43 PM

Index 215 Book of Blessings (Christian) 95, 100 Book of the Law (Jewish) 9, 10, 76; see also Torah Borromeo, Charles (cardinal) 55–57, 84, 86, 114; Instructions 57 (fig. 1.16), 84–87 Bouyer, Louis 12, Boyarin, Daniel 164, 168 Brenzel, Stephanie 64 Brown, Jonathan 87 Bukhari, Sahih 44, 45, 47, 87, 90, 114 Butts, Kim 3 Byzantine 12, 30; ambo 24; Church 24, 27, 35, 57; empire 57–58, 63, 191; liturgy 4, 24–29; rite 27, 57–58, 63, 83, 137 Caleffi, Arnold 4 Capomaccio, Cosma 4, 68n88, 187 Carolingian: empire 33, 34; reform 113; Renaissance 31–34; legislation 32 Cassis, Marica 16, Charlemagne (emperor) 32 Chauvet, Louis Marie 134 Christ x, 20, 21, 24, 27, 34, 55, 61, 86, 94, 97, 99, 102–104, 106–107, 109, 115, 131, 134–138, 140, 142, 143, 165, 170, 179, 187–188, 194, 196, 202; body of 111; word of 134, 138, 153 Church: building 15–21, 22 (fig. 1.3), 23, 24, 26 (fig. 1.4), 27, 30–32, 34, 35, 36 (fig. 1.9), 38, 52, 53, 54 (fig. 1.15), 55, 58, 61, 63, 84–87, 93, 96–97, 99, 101–112, 115, 116, 137–138, 140, 152, 154, 178–179, 182, 184, 188, 196–198, 202–203; dedication of 95, 99–100; Fathers 63, 76, 148; house 16–19; imperial 19; institution 18, 20, 24, 31, 32, 34, 52, 53, 55, 75–76, 83, 94, 98–100, 106, 110, 112, 131–133, 135–137, 140, 143, 148, 154 Collins, John J. 76 Concilium (commissions) 94, 96 Constantinopolitan rite 24 Constantine (emperor) 19, 20, 25 Constantinople 4, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28 (fig. 1.5), 30, 57, 83, 113 Constitutio Antoniniana 18 Cook, Michael 145 Counter-Reformation (Roman Catholicism) 53, 55–56, 86 Cyprian 18, 19, 31

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-index.indd 215

Da Rocha Carneiro, Anne 4 Damblon 3 Davies, J.G. 26 Debuyst, Frédéric 4 Dedication of church and altar see Ordo dedicationis ecclesiae et altaris Del Prete, Mattia 4, 197 dikka 44 Diocesan norms see Episcopal norms Divine Liturgy 27, 29, 58, 83, 137, 182 Doe, Norman 75 Doig, Allan 18, 19, 25, 27, 30, 32 Dolar, Mladen 170–171 Domus ecclesiae 18, 19, 20, 109 Dongui, Antonio 163 Dugmore, C. W. 82 Dura Europos 12, 13 (fig. 1.1), 18, 19 (fig. 1.2) Emminghaus, Johannes H. 86 Episcopal norms (Roman Catholic) 84, 100–112, 114 Esposito, John L. 47 Eucharist 16, 18, 20, 29, 30, 31, 52, 53, 62, 82, 85–87, 93–94, 96, 97–102, 105–106, 108–111, 115, 131, 132, 135, 140, 182, 184 Evangeliaries 25, 136 Eve-Chen, Alexander 124 Expositio officiorum ecclesiae 22 Fatihah 47, 63 Ferranti, Ferrante 141 Fine, Steven 11 Five Pillars of Islam see Pillars of Islam Foley, Edward 16, 21, 26, 52, 55 Francis (Pope) 96–97, 133, 138, 153, 156 Frishman, Martin 90, 91 Gadamer, Hans-George 190 Gade, Anna 89 Gallican rite 83–84 gelilah 129 Gemara 78 General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM) 61, 96, 97, 100, 108, 110, 111, 136, George of Arbela 22 Gerhards, Albert 4, Ghanem Nayef, Eman 176 Giles, Richard 4, 197, 202, Gombiner, Abraham Abele (Rabbi) 129

03/12/20 2:43 PM

216  Index Gospel Book 25, 28, 29, 111, 135–136, 165, Gothic: architecture 34–35, 52; cathedral 35; space 34 Goudarzi, Mohsen 40 Grabbe, Lester 9 gradus see ambo Graham, William A. 2, 62, 88, 114, 142, 144–145, 155, 163, 167, 173, 177, 199, 210 Gregory the Great (Pope) 30 Grzelidze, Tamara 29 Guardini, Romano 174 Guéranger, Dom Prosper 60, 92 Gutmann, Joseph 11 Hadid, Zaha 194 hadith(s) 39 Hagia Sophia (church) 27–28, 28 (fig. 1.5), 30, 31, 57, 191, 194, 197 hagbah 129 Hajj 46, 175 Harnack, Adolf von 17 Hebrew Bible ix, 58, 76, 164; see also Tanakh Heidegger, Martin 190 Hickley, Denis 21, 23, 29 Hirsh, Samson Raphael 60 Hodgson, Marshall 145, 165–166 Hoffman, Lawrence A. (Rabbi) 148 Holl, Steven 179 Holy Scriptures 1–3, 7, 11, 13, 25, 27, 53, 58, 64, 75, 101, 109, 114, 130–134, 154, 155, 163, 169, 173, 213; listening 166–167, 199; place of 82, 140–141, 177, 184, 194; proclaiming x, 31, 65, 86–87, 94, 112–113, 122, 138, 140, 147, 149, 153, 161–167, 170, 173, 176–177, 180, 182, 185, 188, 190, 203, 211–212; reading 10, 16, 52, 94, 135, 161–165, 186, 199; reciting 56, 112–113, 122, 153, 165–166, 173, 176–177, 182, 184, 190, 199, 203, 211–212 Honorius of Autun 34 Hoppe, Leslie J. 11 ibadah (instructions) 87–88 ibadat (rituals) xi, 88–89 imam 3, 42, 44, 48, 49, 50, 63, 116, 174 (fig. 4.1)

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-index.indd 216

Inter oecumenici 94, 95, 101, 115 iqra 39, 114, Jacobs, Louis 15, Jacobson, Israel 59 Jammo, S.Y.H. 22 Jesus 16, 17, 21, 27, 55, 82, 97, 99, 131–134, 137, 140, 142–143, 165, 202, 210; see also Christ Jerusalem: city 11, 20, 21, 22, 23, 30, 42, 48, 57, 76, 79, 81, 83, 126, 129, 146, 179, 194, 196, 197, 198, 201; Temple 7, 8, 9, 10, 80, 128–130, 194 Jewish Bible see Tanakh Jewish reform 58–59 Jones, Lindsay 189–198, 200–201, 203 Josephus 14 jubé 37, 38 (fig. 1.11), 63, 202 Judaism 2, 5, 7, 16, 39, 48, 51, 64, 78–79, 81, 82, 112–113, 116, 123–124, 130, 133, 143, 146, 153, 164, 165, 167, 187, 193, 198; Conservative 60, 81, 123; Orthodox 60, 64, 123, 145; Rabbinic 77–80, 113, 124–126, 130, 148, 154, 155; Reform 58–60, 123, 145, 148; Ultra-Orthodox 60 Jumu’ah Mubarak 48–49, 63 Jung, Jacqueline E. 37 Jungmann, Josef A. 33 Justin (Martyr) 18 Justinian (emperor) 27 Kaaba 201 Kahan, David 171 Kavanagh, Aidan 75, 173 Kehillah 81 Kilde, Halgren 185–186 Kilmartin, Martin 186 Kimelman, Reuven 125–126 Klassen, Pamela 174–175 Koran see Qur’an Krautheimer, Richard 18, 27 Kunin, Seth D. 151 kursi 3, 44, 190 Langer, Ruth 4, 11, 78, 80, 126, 128, 176 Lassus, Jean 21 lectern(s) 3, 22–23, 34, 35 (fig. 1.8), 36, 44, 53, 81, 87, 94–96, 98, 100, 102, 107, 108, 112, 150, 152, 173, 177, 182, 191, 203

03/12/20 2:43 PM

Index 217 Lectio continua 82, 98 lectionary 87, 94, 98–99, 150, 171 lector(s) 18, 20, 21, 26, 31, 97, 100, 110–111, 137–139, 139 (fig. 3.2), 140–141, 146, 149, 152, 163, 188, 201 lectorate 63, 137 Leeuw, Gerard van der 163 Leiman, Shnayer 76 Leo III (Pope) 32 lettner 37 Levinás, Emmanuel 170 Levine, James 4, 10, 12, 194 Licciardo, Giovanni 30 Lim, Timothy H. 76 Liturgical movement 28, 60–62, 92–94, 115, 140, 191, 192, 201 Liturgy of St Basil and of St John Chrysostom 31, 58, 83 Liturgy of the Word 2, 17, 22, 25, 29, 32, 34–38, 52–53, 55, 56, 61–63, 84, 86–87, 92–100, 107, 108, 111–113, 115, 131, 133, 135, 137, 139 (fig. 3.2), 140–141, 148–149, 152, 154, 167, 169, 171–173, 175, 177, 181, 182, 184, 186, 187, 189, 190, 192, 193, 197, 198, 202, 203, 211, 212 Loosley, Emma 20–24 Lukken, Gerard 188–189 Luther, Martin 53, 167, 177 Maimonides x, 123, 124 Makkah see Mecca Manguel, Alberto ix–xii, 2, 162, 165, 185, 204n5 maqsurah 44 Markiewicz, Philippe 141 Mass 31, 34, 52–53, 55–56, 61, 84, 86–87, 93–100, 111–112, 196 Mckenna, Megan 210 Mecca 42, 46, 48, 50, 90, 114, 146, 175, 201 Medina 42, 49, 90, 91, 146; mosque 44, 49 Meek, Harold A. 11 Megillah (Tractate) 15 Mendelssohn, Moses 58 Merleau-Ponty, Maurice 172, 176–177, 179, 180–181 Metzger, Marcel 25, 52–53, 55, 92 Meyers, Eric M. 12, 14, 16 Midrash 130, 164, 165

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-index.indd 217

migdâl 10, mihrab 42–43, 43 (fig. 1.12), 44, 91 mimbar 3, 43–44, 43 (fig. 1.12), 49, 91, 190, 191, 203, 211, 212 minaret 42, 91 Minhag: Ashkenaz 79; Italia 79; Sefarad 79 Mishnah 15, 78, 80, 81, 156 missa, see Mass Missale Romanum 55, 84–87, 114 Morselli, Piero 38 mosque 3, 42, 43 (fig. 1.12), 44, 45 (fig. 1.13), 46 (fig. 1.14), 47–48, 49–51, 57, 63, 90–91, 154, 173, 174 (fig. 4.1), 191, 193, 196, 197, 198, 200, 203, 211 Mozarabic rite (Christian tradition) 84 muadhin 196 mu’amalat (social relations) 88 Muck, Herbert 184 Muhammad (Prophet) 4, 39–42, 44, 45, 48–52, 62, 77, 87–91, 114, 140–145, 155, 163, 166, 168, 210 musalla 42 Nasio, Juan David 169–170 Nasr, Seyyed Hossein 143–144 Nekrutman, David 76 Nelson, Kristine 146, 165 new ordo, see Novus Ordo Night Journey 47 Novus Ordo (new order of the Mass – Mass of Paul VI) 94–96, 101, 115 Ordo (Christian) 75–76, 82–83, 87, 92, 100, 113; Missae, see Missale Romanum Ordo dedicationis ecclesiae et altaris (ordo of dedication) 99–100, 115 Orthodox (Christian tradition): Church 3, 57–58, 59 (fig. 1.17), 83, 152, 183 (fig. 4.3), 201; ­communities 58; Divine Liturgy, see Divine Liturgy; doctrine 32; faith 193; rite 58; Russian, see Russian Orthodox; tradition 63, 112 Osborn, Kenan 133 Osborne, Lauren 176 Pallasma, Juhani 172, 180–182 Paul VI (Pope) 94, 99; Mass of see Novus Ordo

03/12/20 2:43 PM

218  Index Pérez-Gómez, Alberto 172, 178 pergamo see pulpit performance x–xii, 2, 5, 11, 27, 32, 46, 47, 49–50, 56, 88, 126, 134, 145, 148–149, 155, 162, 164, 165–166, 168–172, 175, 177, 179, 188, 192, 197, 200, 202; and symbolism 135–137 Peters, Francis E. 48 Philo 14 Pillars of Islam 45–46, 88 Pius V (Pope) 55, 84, 86, 96, 114; Missal see Missale Romanum Pius XII (Pope) 7, 92; Missal see Missale Romanum podium 10, 11, 17–19, 173, 189, 191, 200 proclamation: of the Word 21, 63, 84, 93, 98, 100–101, 104, 108, 110, 133–137, 140, 147, 184, 188; place of 4, 5, 140–141, 161, 189, 184, 186, 188–192, 196–197, 200–204, 212 the Prophet, see Muhammad Protestant see Reformation pulpit 19, 26, 34, 37–38, 42–44, 53, 56, 61, 63, 85–86, 93–94, 141, 152, 191–192; Pisano 34, 35 (fig. 1.8), 38; pulpit-altar 53–54 pulpitum see pulpit pyrgus see ambo qahal 81 qarâ 89, 144, 164; see also ­proclamation al-Qaradawi, Yusuf 51 qibla wall 42, 91, 194 qira’at 89 Qur’an 7, 39–47, 50–52, 62–63, 77, 87–91, 114, 116, 141–146, 163, 165–166, 176, 187, 210; reading 44, 50, 52, 63–64, 89–91, 145; reciter 51, 114, 146–147; reciting 2–3, 49–52, 88–91, 144–146, 177, 200; studying 46 (fig. 1.14) Rabinowitz, Louis Isaac 11, 12 Ramadan 46, 145, 175 Ratzinger, Joseph (cardinal) 122 reader x, 2, 5, 13, 18, 20, 23, 25, 80, 86, 95, 127–129, 134, 137, 141, 146, 148, 150, 153, 156; body of 186; office of 19; see also lector recitation see Qur’an, reciting re-enacting 123, 128, 149 Reformation (Christian tradition) 3, 53–55, 137, 182

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-index.indd 218

Rentel, Alexander 58 Ricoeur, Paul 164, 166, 170, 187 Riskin, Shlomo (Rabbi) 148 ritual-architectural-event 192–193 Roch Lecours, André 162, 204n5 Roman Catholic (Christian tradition) 3, 31, 55–57, 84, 94, 97–98, 100, 107–114, 133, 136, 138, 150, 152, 175, 179, 184, 193 Roman ordo 29, 84, 114; see Missale Romanum Rome x, 18, 21, 24, 29, 30 (fig. 1.6), 33 (fig. 1.7), 56, 83–84, 132; rite 83–84 Rosaldo, Michelle 175 Rosenberg, Jessica Ann 148 Rothstein, Gidon (Rabbi) 148 Russian Orthodox (Christian tradition): Church 57–58; service 173 Russell, James C. 32 Sabbath 12, 14–16, 48, 64, 79–80, 125 sacrament 17, 27, 85, 99, 130–135, 136, 139, 149, 154, 177, 188 sacramental 92, 103, 105–106, 131, 133–135 sacramentality 22, 131–133, 139, 154 sacred space 10, 35, 92, 105, 107, 110, 151, 161, 172–173, 177, 182, 185, 188 Sadeghi, Behnan 40 al-Said 147 Salat 42, 45–50, 62, 91, 145, 154, 166, 173, 174 (fig. 4.1), 175, 181, 186, 189–190, 192–194, 197, 203, 211–212 sanctuary 12, 22, 32–34, 36, 37, 42, 53, 56, 58, 62, 81, 93–95, 97, 101–102, 104–107, 109–111, 115, 130, 140, 152, 179, 182, 184, 194, 198, 201, 203 Sawm 45 Schaff, Phillip 53 Scherer, Pedro 4 Schökel, Luis 138 Schorsch, Ismar 152 Schmemann, Alexander 75, 82 Scott, Robert A. 34 screen xii, 33 (fig. 1.7), 36–37, 37 (fig. 1.10), 44 Searle, Mark 175, 188–189 Seasoltz, R. Kevin 37, 63 Senn, Frank 149 Sephardic 79; congregation 128–129; rabbi 92; rite 79; synagogue 188, 201; tradition 81, 128–130, 193–194

03/12/20 2:43 PM

Index 219 Septuagint (LXX) 77 al-Shafi’i (Islamic Jurisprudence) 50 Shahadah 45 Shapiro, Mendel (Rabbi) 148 Shariah (laws) 87–88, 114, 116 Shekinah 154 sheliah sibbur 15 Shia 88; tradition 87 Siddur 76, 79, 127 Sodi, Manlio 84 Soltes, Ori 169, 199 Stancliffe, David 25, 27 sujud 47 Sukkot 125 Sunnah 50–51, 63, 87 Sunni 88; tradition 87 surah 41, 165 symbol 152–153, 180 Symmachus 77 synagogue 7, 10–13, 80–81; Dura Europos 12–13; service 14 Syrian tradition (Christian) 21, 23, 24, 194; bema 24; church 22 (fig. 1.3), 24, 113; liturgy 21–24 table: of the Eucharist see altar; of the Word see ambo Taft, Robert 21, 24, 27 tajweed 88–89, 172 Talmud 11, 14–15, 64, 78, 80, 116, 124, 128, 156, 193; Bavli (Babylonian) 14, 78; Yerushalmi (Jerusalem) 78 Tanakh 7, 10, 64, 76–77, 142 tarteel 89 Tchalenko, George 21 Teivah see Torah, ark tevah see bimah Theodotion 77 topos 10, 189 Torah 7–14, 23, 59–60, 64, 77–81, 116, 122–125, 127–130, 142, 148–151, 155, 156, 164, 166,

BK-TandF-PEREYRA_9780367356484-200289-index.indd 219

176–179, 187, 194, 197–199, 210; ark 81, 113, 128, 150 (fig. 3.3), 151 (fig. 3.4), 194, 202; procession 201; proclaiming 81, 88, 124–128, 131, 154, 182; reader 129, 146, 148, 176, 199; reading 10–12, 14–15, 50, 60, 62, 78, 82, 113, 129, 154, 156, 187, 197–198; service 2, 78–81, 127 (fig. 3.1), 128, 130, 148–150, 152, 167, 169, 171–173, 175–177, 181–182, 184, 186–187, 189–190, 192–194, 197, 202–203, 211–212; shrine 14, 22; singing 165 Triacca, Achille Maria 84 Tridentine: liturgy 55, 114; rite (ordo) 38, 56, 61, 87, 93, 96, 98, 99 Typikon 83 Umayyad: caliphs 44; dynasty 42 Uthmanic: canon 89; codex 62, 77, 89; tradition 40; vulgate 77 Valenziano, Crispino 4 verbatim 64, 141–143, 144 Vosko, Richard 4, 96, 97, 181, 197 Wahab, Muhammad Nubli Abdul 176 Wainwright, Geoffrey 148, 174, 186 Wallace, James 179 Wedig, Mark 96–97 Weissbach, Lee Shai 4, 147, 151 White, L. Michael 17–19 Wise, Isaac M. 59 wudu 42, 48 Xydis, Stephen G. 27–28 Yochai, Simon ben (Rabbi) 130 Zadeh, Travis 41 Zahner, Walter 184 Zakat 46 Zanchi, Giuliano 136, 140

03/12/20 2:43 PM

BK-TandF-BIGO_9781138589919-200144-FM.indd 14

16/10/20 6:36 PM