Ressourcement or Aggiornamento? An Assessment of Modern Liturgical Reforms

This article assesses the liturgical reforms attributed to Alexander Schmemann and New Skete monastery. A close examination of these reforms demonstrates that they were primarily pastoral attempts to continue the work inaugurated by the Moscow Council of 1917-18 (Schmemann), and to restore monastic stewardship of venerable liturgical traditions (New Skete). The author suggests that it would be more fruitful to approach the question of renewing tradition on the basis of the goals of liturgical renewal, which happen to be common to both the Catholic and Orthodox churches, namely liturgical theosis, or divinization of the people through liturgical events.