The basic structure of our Order of Holy Communion has stood for centuries in the liturgical churches as the supreme witness to the reality of God. Here God gives Himself in the sacramental elements of the service and man acknowledges his indebtedness to God in the sacrificial. This is no theatrical invention, based on clever psychological insights. Here man is led into the presence of God, who took the initiative once in the redemptive work of Christ and is active here again in His means of grace. -- Earnest Koenker, *Worship in Word and Sacrament* p. 68
I hear a lot of Fr. Alexander Schmemann in this quote.
ReplyDeleteTrent,
ReplyDeleteA lot of his thought does run the same route as Schmemann. They were writing about the same time, of course, and the liturgical movement influenced both - though in differing ways.