Continuing to contribute their expertise to research of the early Church, liturgical historians Bradshaw and Johnson, professors at the University of Notre Dame, have drawn on contemporary scholarship to update and expand an earlier work by Thomas J. Talley, to whose memory this book is dedicated. Although the co-authors respectfully rely upon Talley's The Origins of the Liturgical Year to describe the nascent development of feasts, fasts and seasons, their citations of contemporary scholars affirm the variety of conclusions that have evolved from the relatively limited data mined from extant sources. The book's last section concerning martyrs and saints transcends the efforts of Talley, whose earlier publication had excluded the sanctoral cycle.
To begin their book on Christian heortology, the study of calendrical festivals, Bradshaw and Johnson initially consider the distinctions between Sabbath and Sunday, highlighting the apparent diversity among scattered communities, where calculations of time could rely upon either lunar or solar phases. Not surprisingly, the authors assert that regular, weekly observances by the first generations of Christians might not have occurred each Sunday, which subsequently becomes designated as ‘the Lord's day’. The first four chapters function as a logical prequel to Bradshaw and Johnson's diachronic analyses of Easter and Pentecost, Lent and Holy Week, and Christmas and Epiphany, respectively. Their project is more comprehensive than Adolf Adam's The Liturgical Year and less eclectic than Martin Connell's Eternity Today; nevertheless, dedicated scholars could benefit by supplementing this publication with Johnson's edited Between Memory and Hope: Readings on the Liturgical Year, which includes critical insights from other renowned liturgiologists. Students of liturgy also should refer to the footnotes provided by Bradshaw and Johnson, who cite not just their own works but also the contributions of others, such as Alistair Stewart-Sykes, whose interpretations of primary sources sometimes differ markedly from those of the authors.
The book's section on the sanctoral cycle is a notable feature. Its readable account of developments in the cult of the saints is supplemented by five tables depicting various feasts observed by Christians in the East and West. While the acts of the early martyrs inspired a significant number of annual commemorations, Bradshaw and Johnson describe the evolution of the liturgical calendar, which eventually includes the names of bishops and other individuals esteemed within their local communities. The authors present a final chapter on Marian devotions and feasts as these celebrations emerged from the East; their attention to the ecclesial uses of the term ‘Theotokos’ is quite intriguing.
Bradshaw and Johnson provide two helpful indices: one consisting of modern authors and another comprised of ancient sources and subjects. The publication does not include a bibliography, however, despite the writers’ diligent use of citations throughout the book. Some readers may be disappointed in the writers’ opting to utilize the Revised Standard Version of the Bible for scriptural quotations rather than NRSV. Nevertheless, these two accomplished liturgical historians complement previous publications by sharing current scholarship, not only with members of the Alcuin Club but also with anyone else interested in the feasts, fasts and seasons of the early Church. Their commendable book is particularly appropriate for seminarians, clergy and laypersons seeking knowledge about the Christian year and its formative development during the patristic era.
