Archimandrite Robert Taft: a
life dedicated to the liturgy
A round table “The liturgical heritage of
archimandrite Robert Taft”
was held at the SFI. In Memoriam
February 01, 2019
On January 30, a round table
dedicated to the memory of Archimandrite Robert Taft (1932-2018) - a Catholic
priest of the Eastern rite, an outstanding Christian scholar, one of the
founders of modern liturgics, who has been a member of the SFI Board of Trustees
since 2011, was held at the St. Philaret Institute.
“I hope that when I leave, I
will have a Russian dirge, and maybe even an Irish tenor will sing“ Danny Boy
”over my grave in memory of my Irish background, which I am proud of and deeply
grateful for, despite made a great journey eastward, ”wrote archimandrite Robert Taft . - What do I think
about the other world? I never thought about it - which looks rather
strange to a Catholic priest. But I firmly believe that the Lord is with
me in the present and will be with me in the future. I see no reason to
worry about this, for I am in His hands. ”
Archimandrite Robert Taft , who is called the
creator of modern liturgics and the “teacher of many teachers,” departed to the
Lord on November 2, 2018, on the day of memory of all the dead faithful in the
Catholic Church.
“I am very happy to be in this
meeting,” said the papal nuncio in Russia, Celestino Migliore, welcoming the
participants of the round table in memory of Father Robert Taft at the St.
Philaret Institute. - The papal institute, in which Father Robert served,
was created in order to deepen and develop relations between the East and the
West. Over the three years of my life in Russia, I felt very well how
important this knowledge of each other is, so that both mutual understanding
and cooperation are born. ”
Papal nuncio in
Russia Celestino Migliore
The main work of a Jesuit
scholar was devoted to the history of the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which
is most often performed in the Orthodox Church. The scientific concept of
this multi-volume research, Father Robert's approach to resolving liturgical
problems and the significance of this work for liturgical science, was
presented in the report “ Archimandrite Robert Taft , SJ: Life dedicated to
liturgy”, priest Edward Farrugia, SJ, dean of the faculty of the Eastern
Churches of the Pontifical Oriental Institute.
Priest Edward
Farrudja, SJ, Dean of the Faculty of the Eastern Churches, Pontifical Oriental
Institute
The research methodology
proposed by Father Robert Taft in his writings on the Byzantine liturgical
tradition makes an invaluable contribution to the development of liturgical
science, said Zoya Dashevskaya , dean of the
theological faculty of the SFI. The task of the liturgists, as Father
Robert and his students saw it, is not archeology and not a study of the
liturgical orders themselves, but an attempt to penetrate the experience of the
prayers of people from different eras. Liturgical sources, considered
outside the historical-cultural and theological context, tell little to the
reader, and it is necessary to draw a lot of accompanying evidence in order to
recreate the context of their formation and use. Father Robert’s holistic
approach involves the use of philology, philosophy, theology, church and
secular history. For the Taft method, the connection between the history
of worship and the life of the Church today was of fundamental importance. Divine
service was not for Taft only an "object of study." It is
permeated with his keen interest in tradition, his love of prayer,
Dean of the
Theological Faculty of the SFI Zoya Dashevskaya
The bibliography of the
scientist includes more than 800 scientific papers and publications in the
field of Eastern liturgics. Zoya Dashevskaya noted that,
unfortunately, “there is no systematic work on translating the works of Father
Robert into Russian”, and “the main Russian monographs and conceptual works
remain unknown to the wide Russian reader.”
Taft's research played a big
role in uniting Christians who inherit different liturgical traditions. Thus,
thanks to his works, the Eucharistic communion between the Assyrian Church of
the East and the Chaldean Church was actually restored, and the Pope of Rome
separated from it into the jurisdiction of the Pope of Rome. This was stated
in the report “Recognition of the anaphora of Adday and Marie by the Holy See
in 2001: Theological Contribution of Father Robert Taft” by priest Stefan
Lipke, SJ, director of the St. Thomas Institute. In the anaphora of Addai
and Marie used in the Assyrian church, there are no setting words (“this is My
body”, “this is My blood”), which are always present in the text of both
Catholic and Orthodox liturgy. Can such an anaphora be considered a
Eucharistic prayer and, therefore, can the Assyrians take communion with
the Catholics? Since “one should not“ read out ”the more ancient
theological liturgy of more modern theological interpretations, but rather
should turn to ad sources — sources, seeking in the ancient liturgies the early
consciousness of the believing community,” Archimandrite Robert Taft showed that the Assyrian
Church "stands in the tradition of the Last Supper and performs the real
Eucharist just like all Catholic, Orthodox and Coptic churches."
Priest Stefan
Lipke, SJ, Director of the St. Thomas Institute
Remaining an academic
researcher whose scientific style was even called “Germanic,” Archimandrite
Robert always had an ecclesiological perspective in mind, trying “to see evidence
of epiphany and the existential presence of God in any liturgical source,” said
SFI David , head of the department
of theological disciplines and liturgics. Gzgzyan . The theses that
Taft formulates in the article “What does the liturgy do?” (“What Does Liturgy
Do?”) Show that he talks about the reality of the Church, about the very
foundations of life in the New Testament. In recent years, the scholar was
especially interested in the problem of people's participation in worship and
the broader - ecclesiological - issue of the role of the laity in the life of
the Church, therefore he called on his students to develop liturgical science
in this direction.
Head of the
Department of Theological Disciplines and Liturgies of the SFI David Gzgzyan
“It’s important for us to
realize that the liturgical heritage of the West and the East can unite, to be
alive,” the rector of the SFI priest George Kochetkov is sure , “and
Father Robert Taft did a lot to breathe life into this heritage so that all
Christians better understand each other friend not only at the level of
theological schemes and constructions, but also at the level of prayer. We
all want to have a single access to the throne of grace and to be one, coming
before our Father in Heaven. ”
Round table "The liturgical heritage of Archimandrite Robert Taft . In Memoriam” was held at the St. Philaret
Institute on January 30th. It was organized by the St. Filaret Institute
and the Institute of St. Thomas. Representatives of the Orthodox,
Catholic and Lutheran churches took part in the round table.
Source: https://sfi.ru/sfi-today/article/arkhimandrit-robert-taft-zhizn-posviashchennaia-liturgii.html?fbclid=IwAR2zlmuiSois17nDhuDCndjVdyQkZAHuELbkorfivKax4jPRSUTMHBSBv8s