The University of St. Thomas

Liturgy and Sacramental Theology


Library research in liturgical and sacramental studies can challenge beginning students. Many common topics present difficulties in searching catalogs. Some important journals are not indexed in databases and the print sources that do so can be hard to use. This handout concentrates on English language resources whenever possible. Musical traditions in sacramental theology are not covered in this guide.

It is not practical to provide suggestions for every topic. The one used here, to help beginners get an idea of the process involved, is the consecratory prayer called epiclesis (or epiklesis in some sources).

Our search strategy can exploit the hierarchical structure of liturgical subjects found in catalogs and indexes. In the example here of epiclesis, the pattern might be described as: Liturgies / Lord's Supper / Eucharistic Prayer / Anaphora / Epiclesis.

All these terms can be searched in various resources, yet note that relevance may decline as terms searched become less specific to the topic. Be prepared to use alternate spellings, synonyms or related terms.  For example: invocation, holy spirit, consecration, transubstantiation, all could be deployed in searches about epiclesis , as needed..  

For further help, contact Jan Malcheski, Theology Reference Librarian at Ireland Library. 

REFERENCE SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES

New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship
IRL Ref BV 173 .N485 1990
A modern Catholic encyclopedia, with sources. Use Contents to look up parts of liturgies, like epiclesis.

A Bibliography of Christian Worship
Ref BV 176 .B5 1989 

New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967 and 2002)
2002 ed. now online.
Ref BX 841 .N44  

Sacramenta: Bibliographia Internationalis
Ref BV 800 .Z58 1992
Although getting dated, good background and bibliography.
Use polyglot index in Vol. 4 to find citations.

Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church.
3rd ed. Ref BR 95 .O8 1997
One of the classics. Concise edition now online

The Early Church: An Annotated Bibliography 
Ref BR 162.2 .R63 1993 
  

Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. 2nd ed.
Now online (in Routledge collection)
Ref BR 162.2 .E53 1997 

Orbis Liturgicus: Who?s Who in Contemporary Liturgical Studies
Ref BV 178 .W37 1995
Basic resource on early Church, good sources.

Documents on the Liturgy: 1963-1979
Ref BX 1970 .A56 1982.

Vogel, Cyrille. Medieval Liturgy: An Introduction to the Sources
Ref BX 1973 .V6313.
Selected documents from period of major reform

. 

MORE PRINT REFERENCE SOURCES

  • Liturgical Dictionary of Eastern Christianity (1993)
  • Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (1991)
  • Lexikon fur Theologie und Kirche (1995)
  • Dictionnaire encyclopedique de la liturgie (1992)
  • Dictionnaire de theologie catholique (1913)
  • Dictionnaire d'archeologie chretienne et de liturgie (1922)


CLICNET LIBRARY CATALOG

CLICnet KEYWORD results are now ranked in relevance order. But this ranking is prone to many quirks and distortions. Caution is well advised.

For epiclesis, however, KEYWORD may yeild limited results, becasue of terminology and the "nesting" effects -- works with wider subject headings often include relevant treatments but are seldom specifically cataloged.

SUBJECT searches often work well as they can be indentified in search results (check the bottom of the book record for the assigned SUBJECTS).

Results improve with a broader search like SUBJECT KEYWORD (s: eucharistic prayer, s: lord's supper or s: anaphora). Use the default keyword seach box and precede terms with an s:  [that is, s colon]

Here is a CLICnet example (see search box at top of screen for method)

Besides CLICnet, you may want to search bibliographies, indexes and databases. This approach is especially helpful for essay collections (a rich resource) which can be searched in ATLA. See below.

You may also want to simply browse the shelves in the call numbers around known items that look promising. Most liturgical works are gathered in call number ranges in BX.

NOTE: CLICnet uses the subject term Lord's Supper, instead of Eucharist. Keep in mind that keyword searches with eucharist can lead rather quickly lead you to official subject headings; check the bottom of a relevant book record.

Some research in liturgics can be very difficult, especially if limited to English language sources ... consult your instructor.

DATABASES AND INDEXES

NOTE: Unfortunately, some important journals are not indexed in the main databases. Articles
can be found via bibliographies (above), footnotes in known sources, paper indexes or your
instructor's guidance.

ATLA Religion Database

Catholic Periodcial Literature Index

ATLA is our main theology database for graduate level research, available via the Web, on campus for all, off campus for authenticated users. CPLI, the Catholic Periodical and Literature Index, is also available online employing the same interface as ATLA.  There is limited overlap between the two but CPLI is often less productive for research  than ATLA given CLPLI indexes qute a few popular titles (newspapers, glossy magazines, etc.).

ATLA also uses the subject term Lord's Supper, not Eucharist. Keep in mind that keyword searches with eucharist easily lead you to other subject headings. On the other hand, with its Catholic focus, CPLI does use Eucharist as a subject heading instead of Lord's Supper.

A good way to search ATLA and CPLI is with keywords. Examine the "hits" from a search looking for relevant subject headings. ATLA indexes journal articles and also essays in collections. (For our epiclesis example, use keywords like epiclesis, epiklesis, or synonyms/related terms). 

CentralSearch. UST also has a combined databse search service, called CentralSearch. With a single search, you can explore several databases with one searchce.  Useful for interdisciplinary searching and broad "descovery" approaches. There is a subset limited to "theology, religion and philosophy."

OTHER ONLINE RESOURCES 

 

WEB SITES and ONLINE BIBLIOGRAPHIES

MORE INDEXING SOURCES  (ADVANCED)

  • Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses: "Elenchus Bibliographicus"
    10 years in Index Corner (earlier years in stacks)
The September ETL includes Elenchus Bibliographicus, indexing Liturgy in section VII. (There is no category "epiclesis" but check through VII.4 De eucharistia and VII.10 Historiae liturgicae). This can be a good source for journals NOT indexed in ATLA.
  • Questions Liturgiques
    Most issues include a classified list of recent books.
  • Rivista Liturgica
    In Italian but issues include lists of recent "books received."

Other Indexing Sources

  • Elenchus of Biblica (previously Elenchus Bibliographicus: Biblia)
  • L'Annee philologique (at OSF library. Mac may have online access)
  • Arhivum Historiae Pontificae
  • Bibliographia Patristica (now ceased)
  • International Medieval Bibliography (online)
  • Revue d'histoire ecclesiastique: bibliographie (each issue must be examined)
  • RIC: Repertoire bibliographique des institutions chretiennes (1966-1992, ceased) 

 2 Oct 2007   j9m