The Wellspring of Worship

Deisis--Jesus, Mary, St. John the Baptist

Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom)
(the Mother Church of Byzantium)

Istanbul, Turkey (formerly Constantinople)

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

Fr. Jean Corbon (1924-2001), a Melkite Catholic priest, was born in Paris, France. He was a priest of the Greek Catholic eparchy of Beirut, and a professor of Liturgy and Ecumenism at the University of the Holy Spirit in Kalik, and the University of St. Joseph in Beirut. Then Cardinal Ratzinger asked Fr. Corbon to contribute his gifts to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and he responded by helping to compose the fourth section on prayer.
The Wellspring of Worship is a must read! A few excerpts follow:

The ascension of the Lord was thus really the new space for the liturgy of the last times, and the iconography of the church built of stone was its transparent symbol. In his ascension, then, Christ did not at all disappear; on the contrary, he began to appear and to come. For this reason, the hymns we use in our churches sing of him as "the Sun of justice" that rises in the East. He who is the splendor of the Father and who once descended into the depths of our darkness is now exalted and fills all things with his light.

The ascension does not show us in advance the setting of the final parousia; it is rather the activation of the paschal energy of Christ who "fills all things" (Eph 4: 1 0). It is the ever-new "moment" of his coming.

What, then, is this "work" by which the conqueror of death pours out his life in abundance? What is this energy with which the Father and the risen Son henceforth "still go on working" (Jn 5:17)? It is the fontal liturgy in which the life-giving humanity of the incarnate Word joins with the Father to send forth the river of life; it is the heavenly liturgy.

Fr. Jean Corbon was a bridgebuilder, Pope Benedict XVI is too

He took seriously the mandate articulated by Pope John Paul II--
"the Church must breathe with both lungs" both East and West.

Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,
Mike Rizzio


Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ
See you on the High Ground!

 

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for: Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas; St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael