Liturgy and Byzantinization in Jerusalem by Daniel Galadza (review)

Over recent years, Daniel Galadza has established himself as a leading scholar of Eastern Christian liturgy, and the publication of his first monograph confirms that the high esteem in which he is held by his colleagues is merited by the outstanding quality of his research. Liturgy and Byzantinization in Jerusalem is the much-anticipated adaption of Galadza's doctoral dissertation, "Worship of the Holy City in Captivity," written under the supervision of Stefano Parenti at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.

This volume is a major contribution to the field of Eastern Christian liturgical studies, which has begun to attract considerable scholarly interest among Western scholars in recent years. It documents the development of the worship of the (Chalcedonian) Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem from the Arab conquest (638) to the expulsion of the crusader forces (1187), according to a process which Galadza terms "liturgical Byzantinization," defined as "making liturgical practices conformable to those of the Great Church of Constantinople, at the expense and to the detriment of local, in this case Hagiopolite, liturgical practices" (5). As the author demonstrates, the story of liturgical development in Jerusalem (as elsewhere) is convoluted and protracted, and cannot be reduced to a singular narrative of the uniform diffusion of one local tradition into another.

Liturgy and Byzantinization in Jerusalem is thoughtfully arranged into five chapters and two parts. The first part provides an overview of the early Jerusalem liturgy (chap. 1) and a detailed account of the historical context within which the process of liturgical Byzantinization took place (chap. 2). The second part provides three carefully exegeted case studies of this process, selected according to a "bottom-up" approach, which takes seriously the question of what changes to the liturgy might have been appreciable to the average worshipper. Thus, chapter 3 deals with developments within the Divine Liturgy of Saint James (the ancient eucharistic liturgy of Jerusalem), chapter 4, the liturgical calendar, and chapter 5, the lectionary. As one would expect from a work that has emerged from a doctoral dissertation, methodology is very clearly explained, the state of the question is exhaustively surveyed, and all sources (including many manuscripts) are thoroughly documented—and Galadza manages all of this with confidence and a light touch.

Despite his early acknowledgement that an "empirical approach" does not necessarily preclude "a theological understanding of liturgy" (8), Galadza rarely makes the move from description of historical sources and analysis through the methods of comparative liturgy to interpretation of meaning, whether theological or otherwise. Some significant but brief observations about the relevance of this study for contemporary liturgical practice (especially regarding the revived celebration of the Divine Liturgy of Saint James) make their way into the "Conclusion" (350 ff.)—and overzealous liturgical reformers would do well to inwardly digest them—but these do not pertain directly to the development of meaning within the Jerusalem liturgy. More could be done here, and without compromising the wissenschaftlich methodology, that might help theologians and social historians to see more clearly the potential significance of liturgical studies for their own work. This is perhaps a desideratum for future research rather than a criticism.

Overall, this is a work of enormous value. Not only does it enlighten our understanding of a crucial phase in the development of Eastern Christian worship through erudite scholarship but it also identifies many avenues for future research and highlights the liveliness of the field at present.