Anyone ever read The Orthodox Liturgy by Hugh Wybrew....

[Vlad]

..if not do you know of any good books on the development and History of the Byzantine rite.

Blessings

[biro]

I haven't read it, but it looks very interesting. Here is the link for it at Google Books.   


http://books.google.com/books?id=Es8IUlpYMGAC&lpg=PP1&dq=Hugh%20Wybrew&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

[Agia Marina]

I started reading it, and had to put it aside.  Too many interruptions.  I'll start from the beginning when I get the chance.

[Sleeper]

I read this book last month and I think you'll find it to be a great, honest, historical assessment.  Wybrew has a great amount of respect for the Byzantine liturgy, but he also doesn't pull his punches.  It's definitely worth the time.

[Pravoslavbob]

I think Wybrew is incorrect on a few things, but the book is definitely worth looking at.  Just make sure that you try to read it with an open mind but also a critical one: Wybrew is not the final authority on all things liturgical or Orthodox.  (He is Anglican, and I don't believe that liturgy is his discipline of expertise.)   Still, it is a very thorough treatment considering its small size, and I think that he is right on target about many things in Eastern liturgical development. 

Fr. Robert Taft (a jesuit of the Byzantine rite!) is widely renowned as a scholar who has looked at Eastern liturgical development from an historical perspective.  You might want to look at his The Byantine Rite: A Short History.  

I highly recommend Fr. Alexander Schmemann's For the Life of the World and Liturgy and Tradtion (edited by Thomas Fisch) for a greater understanding of the meaning and purpose of liturgy.  (I know that there is a great dislike for Fr. Alexander's works in some circles, but don't let that stop you.  There is also a great deal of enthusiasm for his work as well.)

[Carl Kraeff (Second Chance)]

I highly recommend Fr. Alexander Schmemann's For the Life of the World and Liturgy and Tradtion (edited by Thomas Fisch) for a greater understanding of the meaning and purpose of liturgy.  (I know that there is a great dislike for Fr. Alexander's works in some circles, but don't let that stop you.  There is also a great deal of enthusiasm for his work as well.)

Ditto! I think that Father Alexander of blessed memory is a modern day Chrysostom, as well as being one of the most outstanding educators and theologians in our history.

[dcointin]

I read it some years ago and thought it was a very informative and objective book.  He's not wholly uncritical, but also not biased in any way that I could observe.  It shed some light for me on the structure of the DL in particular, and for example why we have the Little Entrance.  I would recommend reading it.

[Hermogenes]

I read this book last month and I think you'll find it to be a great, honest, historical assessment.  Wybrew has a great amount of respect for the Byzantine liturgy, but he also doesn't pull his punches.  It's definitely worth the time.

Agree. Good overview. Taft is a reliable "authority," too, although I am a little uncomfortable with the fact that neither of these gentlemen are Orthodox. Gets us a little bit back into some of the issues that popped up with Archbishop Williams at SVS.

I guess the question might be: What are you looking for? A guide to what's going on? Spiritual reflections/meditations? Technical discussion of liturgical theology? Etc., etc.

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