8. The Ethiopian Liturgical Tradition

9. Worship and Discipline in the Coptic Church

10. Mar Thoma Church Worship

11. The Liturgical Tradition of the Syrian Orthodox Church

12. Relation between Baptism, ‘Confirmation’ and the Eucharist in the Syrian Orthodox Church

13. Church, Sacrament And Liturgy in Fr. Louis Bouyer’s Liturgical Piety

14. Liturgical And Iconographic Development As Reactions To Docetic - Gnostic And Iconoclastic Heresies

15. The Worship of God in a Secular Age

16. The Worship of God in a Secular Age: Some Notes

17. Worship in a Secular Age

Preface

Metropolitan Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios had a deep insight into the vital connection between liturgy, theology and Christian life. His broad vision of Reality was essentially informed by his liturgical experience as a Christian steeped in the Eastern Tradition. True to the spirit of Eastern Christianity, Mar Gregorios always held that genuine human freedom arose from the true worship of God. It is significant that his first major book, published in 1967, was titled Joy of Freedom: Eastern Worship and Modern Man. His concern for God’s creation, for the well-being of humanity and building up of a just and peaceful society was the outcome of his theological conviction arising from a liturgical and experiential spirituality.

As part of the project to publish the complete works of Mar Gregorios we are publishing in this volume his articles and papers on worship and liturgy. They span more than 30 years of his life. Most of the materials are already published on different occasions in various publications. This volume is published with the generous contribution of Mr. Paul George, Ernakulam. We wish to express our deep gratitude to him and his family.

We hope this volume will be warmly received by the readers of Mar Gregorios and all those who are interested in liturgical theology and spirituality.

Fr. Dr. K. M. George

President

Mar Gregorios Foundation

Orthodox Theological Seminary

Kottayam

24 November 2003