In the current liturgical context, the priest-celebrant faces many choices about how to celebrate Mass—and he and those around him may have very different thoughts on the best way of doing so.
Recent magisterial attentiveness to the ars celebrandi, or "art of celebrating," has offered a suggestive analogy between the liturgy and fine art. Attuned to the inherent beauty of divine worship, this analogy holds promise as a framework for discerning how the Mass is to be participated in and celebrated.
In The Beauty of the Liturgy, Donald T. Anstoetter draws on the aesthetic insights of twentieth-century Thomistic philosopher Jacques Maritain to elaborate an approach to thinking about liturgical action and celebration artistically, aesthetically, and theologically. As Anstoetter shows, the interrelationships of artist, art, and audience share deep parallels with those of celebrant, liturgy, and assembly, including a common aim of enabling active participation in the poetic contemplation of the beautiful.
Anstoetter ultimately advances a theology of ars celebrandi that locates the source and measure of liturgical artistry in Christ the priest. It is Christ's love for the Father and for his flock that provides the integrity, proportion, and clarity of the liturgy's beauty. And it is by sharing in Christ's own ars celebrandi that the priest-celebrant can foster the glorification of God and the sanctification of the faithful amidst a landscape of shifting priorities and preferences.
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Submit RequestAbout the Author
Donald T. Anstoetter is a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. He is the director of worship and assistant professor of sacramental-liturgical theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, where he has served since 2015. He holds an S.T.L. from the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm in Rome and an S.T.D. in Sacramental/Liturgical Theology from the Liturgical Institute at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.
What People Are Saying
"Beauty is the primary lens through which recent popes ask us to understand, celebrate, and pray the liturgy. For this reason, Fr. Donald Anstoetter's The Beauty of the Liturgy—and its principal theme, the ars celebrandi, or 'art of celebrating'—will be an indispensable resource for liturgical ministers, particularly priests. But laity, too, will benefit from Anstoetter's insights, for a beautifully celebrated liturgy encourages the active participation of the faithful. Indeed, the liturgy's goal is not simply to show the radiant beauty of God but to make those who encounter him works of art themselves."
"Recent popes have called for an ars celebrandi that avoids the extremes of liturgical minimalism and flippant creativity. Bringing an impressive range of theological and philosophical sources into dialogue, Fr. Donald Anstoetter's The Beauty of the Liturgy intensifies our understanding of what it will cost the Church today to answer that call. Wedding profound theological foundations with practical pastoral wisdom, this book will inspire not only priest-celebrants but all the lay faithful to more deeply appreciate how God is crafting them into a living work of art through their continual immersion in the Church's liturgy."
"By systematically applying the aesthetics of St. Thomas Aquinas and Jacques Maritain to the sacred liturgy, Fr. Anstoetter addresses the question of how the beauty of the liturgy is related to the ars celebrandi and ars participandi of the Roman Catholic liturgy as reformed by Vatican II. The reader can only be struck by his perception and clarity of the issues involved. However, lest anyone imagine that the beauty of the sacred liturgy is something that is merely external, Anstoetter writes in his conclusion, 'Everything this book has said about the ars celebrandi and the ars participandi flows from, revolves around, and returns to the central reality of divine love: Jesus's love for his Father and for his flock.'"
"This book should become a classic. Masterfully researched and bringing together a richly Maritainian perspective on art with the best of contemporary liturgical scholarship, this book shows what truly constructive liturgical theology looks like. Indeed, if Abbot Prosper Guéranger, founder of the Liturgical Movement, were alive today, he would be delighted by what Fr. Anstoetter has achieved—and by the way he has achieved it, cutting through the fog of liturgical strife. A necessary addition to the bookshelf not only of theologians but of all bishops, priests, and seminarians."
