Dix's The Shape of the Liturgy
Those who are concerned about the state of the Roman Rite will find Dom Gregory Dix's The Shape of the Liturgy (Dacre Press: London, 1978; ISBN 0 7136 0389 5) to be indispensable to their understanding of matters liturgical. Dix, an Anglican Benedictine monk of Nashdom Abbey, discusses in splended fashion the development of Christian liturgical tradition around a four action shape: offertory, thanksgiving, fraction, and communion.
Dix observes that Christ, in commanding us to "do this," did not give specific directives on how the Eucharist ought to be done, but rather left its exact development to His Church. In addition, he makes the welcome point that the Eucharist is not the re-enactment of the Last Supper, but rather the anamnesis of the entire Paschal Mystery. "Doing this," then, means not only the eating of a meal, but also involves a liturgical rite which expresses the entirety of Christ's Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension, as well as the anticipation of the Parousia.
This Mystery, Dix says, is expressed primarily in the four action shape, and it is indeed the action which is most important. The accompanying prayers of the liturgy, e.g. those at the offertory, according to Dix, are secondary to the action, though certainly not unimportant, and their function is to lend an explanation of the meaning of the action that is taking place.
In the process of elucidating the shape of the liturgy, the author discusses many fascinating developments in the history of Christian worship, but the reader should be aware that, having been first published in 1945, this book contains some outdated scholarship. This unfortunate fact does not, however, compromise the overall integrity of the work. It should also be noted that Dix does not succumb to archaeologism but in fact supports the organic nature of liturgical development.
Throughout his book, Dix emphasizes the importance of the corporate aspect of the act of Christian worship. It is not a surprise, then, that he takes a dim view, sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly, of a number of late Medieval liturgical developments and asserts that the prevalence of the Low Mass, along with the popular devotions of the laity, factored greatly into the 16th century Protestant Reformation. He is, at the same time, quite critical of the Protestant "said" liturgies which disrupt completely the four action shape. Cranmer's Zwinglian-influenced liturgies are particularly criticized by this monk of Anglo-Catholic tendencies.
Every word of this 752-page tome weighs a pound, and the Catholic reader must sift through some of the points carefully, particularly with respect to Dix's Eucharistic theology, which is sometimes quite faulty. Therefore, I would not recommend this book to any Catholic who has less than a thorough understanding of this subject.
Nevertheless, the four action shape described by this good monk ought to be one of the basic elements of contemporary liturgical discussion. For example, applying Dix's principles specifically to the Roman Rite, we could ask the following. Do the present offertory prayers of the 1969 Missale Romanum express the meaning of that liturgical action? Do the words and manner of administration at Holy Communion express the meaning of the reception of the Eucharist? Are each of these parts in harmony with the whole of Roman liturgical tradition?
It wouldn't hurt, either, for modern liturgists to consult Dix's depiction of the liturgy of the sub-apostolic period, which shows the participatio actuosa of the faithful of that time to be of a quite solemn nature. Those early Christians most definitely did not strive after a party-like disposition or the atmosphere of a hotel ballroom meeting, both of which can be found at Masses today.
In the closing chapter, Dix eloquently sums up his own book and documents how Christians throughout two millenia have fulfilled the Lord's command to "do this for the anamnesis of (Him)":
"Was ever another command so obeyed? For century after century, spreading slowly to every continent and country and among every race on earth, this action has been done, in every conceivable human circumstance, for every conceivable human need from infancy and before it to extreme old age and after it, from the pinnacles of earthly greatness to the refuge of fugitives in the caves and dens of the earth.........The sheer stupendous quantity of the love of God which this ever repeated action has drawn from the obscure christian multitudes through the
centuries is in itself an overwhelming thought." (pp. 744-5)
There is now a new edition of this work available, published by Continuum International, ISBN
0826479421, which can be found on amazon.com. It is enthusiastically recommended.
Dix observes that Christ, in commanding us to "do this," did not give specific directives on how the Eucharist ought to be done, but rather left its exact development to His Church. In addition, he makes the welcome point that the Eucharist is not the re-enactment of the Last Supper, but rather the anamnesis of the entire Paschal Mystery. "Doing this," then, means not only the eating of a meal, but also involves a liturgical rite which expresses the entirety of Christ's Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension, as well as the anticipation of the Parousia.
This Mystery, Dix says, is expressed primarily in the four action shape, and it is indeed the action which is most important. The accompanying prayers of the liturgy, e.g. those at the offertory, according to Dix, are secondary to the action, though certainly not unimportant, and their function is to lend an explanation of the meaning of the action that is taking place.
In the process of elucidating the shape of the liturgy, the author discusses many fascinating developments in the history of Christian worship, but the reader should be aware that, having been first published in 1945, this book contains some outdated scholarship. This unfortunate fact does not, however, compromise the overall integrity of the work. It should also be noted that Dix does not succumb to archaeologism but in fact supports the organic nature of liturgical development.
Throughout his book, Dix emphasizes the importance of the corporate aspect of the act of Christian worship. It is not a surprise, then, that he takes a dim view, sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly, of a number of late Medieval liturgical developments and asserts that the prevalence of the Low Mass, along with the popular devotions of the laity, factored greatly into the 16th century Protestant Reformation. He is, at the same time, quite critical of the Protestant "said" liturgies which disrupt completely the four action shape. Cranmer's Zwinglian-influenced liturgies are particularly criticized by this monk of Anglo-Catholic tendencies.
Every word of this 752-page tome weighs a pound, and the Catholic reader must sift through some of the points carefully, particularly with respect to Dix's Eucharistic theology, which is sometimes quite faulty. Therefore, I would not recommend this book to any Catholic who has less than a thorough understanding of this subject.
Nevertheless, the four action shape described by this good monk ought to be one of the basic elements of contemporary liturgical discussion. For example, applying Dix's principles specifically to the Roman Rite, we could ask the following. Do the present offertory prayers of the 1969 Missale Romanum express the meaning of that liturgical action? Do the words and manner of administration at Holy Communion express the meaning of the reception of the Eucharist? Are each of these parts in harmony with the whole of Roman liturgical tradition?
It wouldn't hurt, either, for modern liturgists to consult Dix's depiction of the liturgy of the sub-apostolic period, which shows the participatio actuosa of the faithful of that time to be of a quite solemn nature. Those early Christians most definitely did not strive after a party-like disposition or the atmosphere of a hotel ballroom meeting, both of which can be found at Masses today.
In the closing chapter, Dix eloquently sums up his own book and documents how Christians throughout two millenia have fulfilled the Lord's command to "do this for the anamnesis of (Him)":
"Was ever another command so obeyed? For century after century, spreading slowly to every continent and country and among every race on earth, this action has been done, in every conceivable human circumstance, for every conceivable human need from infancy and before it to extreme old age and after it, from the pinnacles of earthly greatness to the refuge of fugitives in the caves and dens of the earth.........The sheer stupendous quantity of the love of God which this ever repeated action has drawn from the obscure christian multitudes through the
centuries is in itself an overwhelming thought." (pp. 744-5)
There is now a new edition of this work available, published by Continuum International, ISBN
0826479421, which can be found on amazon.com. It is enthusiastically recommended.
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