Proceedings of the North American Academy of Liturgy 2022

Issues in Medieval Liturgy Convener: Daniel J. DiCenso (ddicenso@holycross.edu) did his doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge (Gates Scholar) and is Associate Professor of Music, College of the Holy Cross specializing in Medieval chant and liturgy.

Members in Attendance: Anne Yardley, Barbara Haggh-Huglo, Michael Witczak, Joanne Pierce, Walter Knowles, Jerome Weber, Margot Fassler, Elaine Hild, Paweł Figurski, Tyler Sampson, Andrew Irving, Rebecca Maloy, Donna Brussell, Christopher Hodkinson, Richard Rutherford.

Visitors in Attendance: Samantha Slaubaugh, Arsany Paul, Jenny Claire Smith , Pawel Figurski , Hilary Bogert-Winkler , Andrew Stoebig.

Description of Work: This year’s seminar involved a general update on research projects underway, a presentation and discussion of papers, works in progress, and projects on the horizon, and a lengthy discussion of the relative merits of online and in-person formats. This year only one member attended the conference in person, but we had one of the largest (and most robust) research discussions in recent memory. Though all members acknowledge the benefits of in-person meeting, many members of the seminar were in favor of keeping a hybrid option on the table going forward as a permanent fixture of the academy.

Papers and Presentations: • Margot Fassler, “The Laments in Hildegard’s Liturgical Play.” The theological significance of the various laments in Hildegard’s play Ordo virtutum were explored in this presentation, including both texts and music. The last part of the work focused on the final chant of the play In principio. Much of the text was sung by Christ on the Cross and becomes an altar call deeply situated in the liturgical commentary on the Eucharist found in Hildegard’s treatise Scivias, written at the same time as the play.

• Rebecca Maloy, “Singing Sanctity in Medieval Iberia.” This paper is based on the collaborative work in progress, Doctrine, Devotion, and Cultural Expression in the Cults of Medieval Iberian Saints. The paper gave an overview of the status of the project and illustrated how we approach the Old Hispanic liturgies for Iberian saints, from liturgical and musical perspectives, using as a case study the office and mass for St. Fructuosus, Augurius, and Eulogius.

• Anne Yardley, “Commemorating the Virgin at Barking Abbey: Caumbridge University Library Dd.12.56.” This paper examined the unusual commemo-