The Post-Vatican II Reform of the Lectionary

The Lectionary for Mass, drawn up by Group XI of the Consilium ad exsequendam, is often held up as one of the greatest achievements of the post-Vatican II liturgical reform. Yet until recently, the full details of their discussions and labors have remained unpublished, accessible only to archival researchers and specialist scholars.

The present volume offers an English translation of the Latin and French schemata of Group XI in their entirety-the first time, in fact, that the complete documentation for any of the Consilium study groups has been made available in translation. The process of the reform of the lectionary can thus be traced through the various draft orders of readings as well as the debates among the members and consultors of the Consilium. A detailed introduction contextualises the reforms within the history of the twentieth-century liturgical movement and the Second Vatican Council, while appendices contain supplementary material such as the weekday orders of readings used experimentally in certain countries during the 1960s.

By making the primary source documentation more accessible to all, this volume contributes to further critical study and exploration of the Novus Ordo lectionary and the post-Vatican II liturgical reforms more generally, as well as to ongoing discussion of how closely the work of the Consilium ad exsequendam reflects Sacrosanctum Concilium and the will of the Fathers of Vatican II.

N.B. Ebook Users: Please note that due to the complexity of the layout of this book (including dozens of detailed charts), the ebook utilizes a "fixed layout" format instead of reflowable text. Thus you will need to use an ereader that is optimized for such a layout: Colibrio Reader for Android devices, Apple Books (iBooks) for iOS devices, or Thorium Reader for desktop computers. Programs like Calibre or Sumatra will not work.

PRAISE FOR THIS BOOK

"The reader will find a treasure trove of information and insight into the mind and workings of Coetus XI. Hazell's introduction is a refreshing summary, reporting different points of view without being limited to the common narrative. A comprehensive bibliography allows those interested to further their studies and the appendices provide additional pertinent historical documents. Hazell is to be commended for making the sources available. In this way, the reader has the necessary tools with which to make informed judgments about this important aspect of the life of the Church." -Dom Cassian Folsom, OSB, Professor of Liturgical Books, Pontifical Institute of Liturgy, Sant'Anselmo, Rome

"With this volume, Matthew Hazell fills a conspicuous and long-standing gap in liturgical scholarship. The revision of the Mass lectionary, despite its enormous consequences for Catholic worship, has remained strangely obscure-its committee debates, drafts, and decisions known only in fragments. Hazell reconstructs that history in exhaustive detail and, crucially, supplies English translations of the schemas and official notes in their entirety. It is difficult to imagine future research on the three-year lectionary that does not begin here." -Rev. Matthew S. C. Olver, Senior Lecturer in Liturgics, Nashotah House Theological Seminary

"A growing number of scholars have turned their attention to exactly what took place within the body charged to implement the Council's constitution on the liturgy. Matthew Hazell is to be congratulated for this important contribution to that scholarship and to the ability to distinguish between the reform desired by the Council and that which was in fact promulgated in its name." -Dom Alcuin Reid, Prior, Monastère Saint-Benoît, Brignoles, France