Book Notice - Index Lectionum: A Comparative Table of Readings for the OF and EF

Matthew Hazell & Peter Kwasniewski (foreword), Index Lectionum: A Comparative Table of Readings for the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite (Lectionary Study Aids, vol. 1), Lectionary Study Press, 2016. xxxviii + 232 pp. Available from Amazon (USA $16.95; UK £11.99; Germany, France, Spain, Italy €15,49 + tax).

The Index Lectionum is a new tool that makes the comparison of the lectionaries of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms easier than it has been up until now. All the readings at Mass in both forms of the Roman Rite have been arranged side-by-side in biblical order, with their use in each form documented. This book thus makes it possible to look up a biblical reference and quickly find out if it is used on the same day or celebration in the OF and EF, or where a reading in the EF has been transferred to in the OF, and so on.

As Dr Kwasniewski writes in the foreword:

[T]his Index also facilitates, in fact for the first time, fruitful scholarly comparisons between the old and new lectionaries... We have waited close to half a century for the opportunity to hold in our hands a single resource that indicates, with painstaking detail, just what the reformers added and, perhaps of far greater interest, what they chose to omit that had once been present in the Church’s worship. Thus equipped, we are at last in an optimal position to carry further the kind of comparative studies on the lectionary that Dr. Lauren Pristas has perfected in regard to the collects of the Mass. (p. vii)

Sample page of the Index, from Matthew's Gospel

This is the first volume in the series; subsequent volumes will take up the use of the Psalms in the two Missals, as well as comparing the psalms and readings of the Liturgia Horarum (2000)/Breviarium Romanum (1961).

For all those who love the Church's liturgy, the Index Lectionum is a vital comparative tool for further study of and research into the lectionaries of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms: their relationship to one another, their similarities and differences, and their respective pastoral advantages and disadvantages.

Sample page of the Index, from Jeremiah

Sample page of the Index, from 1 Peter

CONTENTS

Foreword: "Not Just More Scripture, but Different Scripture" (Peter Kwasniewski) (vii)
The Index Lectionum: An Introduction and User's Guide (Matthew Hazell) (xxxi)

Index Lectionum (1)

Appendix 1: Comparison of Sundays in the Proper of Time (181)
Appendix 2: Comparison of Proper of Time for Weekdays in Lent (191)
Appendix 3: Comparison of Saints' Days (195)
Appendix 4: Readings of the Commons of MR 1962 (218)
Appendix 5: Comparison of the OF and EF Commons (223)