Proposed Curriculum

Curriculum

The institute's curriculum for trainers will mirror yet truncate its recommended three-year core curriculum for liturgical ministry students in centres of formation everywhere. Divided into three parts, it explores how the body works in event, in the proclamation of scripture and in leading liturgical prayer. As well, it will present the theological-theoetrical foundation for this approach to formation.

I. Liturgical Event Theory

Liturgy as Performing Art. How to describe liturgy as an event using three aspects of event and 120 event components. How to interpret liturgy as event using the construct of proximity. For theology, this construct asks two questions: "How close is God to us?" and "How is God close to us?" The ability to critique the liturgical event using theologically rich proximity language will be presented, as well as the ability to predict outcomes in event and in research of the literature. Lastly, the ability to use descriptions, interpretations, critiques and predictions will come together in the ability to prescribe the best formation practices for each individual minister. Based on research by James O'Regan.

II. Liturgical Event Training

The Body in Event: Movement, Breathing, Voice, Speech, Gesture and Handling

Students will begin to understand the physicality of the rites by understanding and experiencing the physicality of their own bodies including how their muscles work, how their breathing works, and how their voice works. They will experience anew what their bodies are capable of doing within the context of alien content before an assembly. They will learn what it means to do action under the gaze of others.

The Body in Proclamation of Scripture: Gospels

Students will begin to proclaim lectionary scripture with a view to physically understanding the differences in text voice or character. They will learn to respond in their own bodies, idiosyncratically, to the demands of Pauline literature, prophetic literature and, especially, the Gospels.

The Body in Liturgical Prayer: Eucharistic Prayer

Students will begin to pray presidential prayers, specifically a Eucharistic Prayer, while physically including the assembly, physically addressing God, learning to physically give space to individual words, even their syllables where warranted, to listen to what they are speaking as they speak, to hear how they respond to text or if they actually do respond to text. They discover the flow of each prayer and experience each part of the prayer, on-the-fly, noticing that such divisions are fleeting , all the while repeatable, depending on their actual life context and that of the assembly.

© James O'Regan, 2004, 2005