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The following is adapted from the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
LAMBERT BEAUDUIN, OSB (1873–1960), Belgian liturgist and founder of the biritual Benedictine monastery of Chevetogne. After ordination in 1897, he worked with a society of priests devoted to the care of working men and in 1906 entered the Beuronese Benedictine Abbey of Mont-César at Louvain.
In September,1909 he addressed the National Congress of Catholic Action (Congrès national des Oeuvres catholiques) in Malines under the patronage of Cardinal Désiré Joseph Mercier, to whom Beauduin wrote in advance of the Congress. He also wrote to the Beuronese General Chapter in advance of the Congress on May 27, 1909, recommending that Benedictine monks particularly study the liturgy. His address was entitled “The True Prayer of the Church” («La Vraie Prière de l’Église»), and was later published as part of his book The Piety of the Church (La Piété de l’Église) in 1914. There was difficulty in finding a place in the sections of the Congress for his address. In his address he specifically recommended:
● Missals with vernacular translations of the mass texts be made available; and these should be the source of prayer during mass, rather than private devotions;
● Recitation of Compline by the laity instead of other forms of evening prayer;
● Prayers from the liturgy be used by the laity as preparation for Communion and Thanksgiving.
Although an address on the liturgy by an acquaintance, the historian Godefroid Kurth, received more attention, Beauduin's recommendations were endorsed by the Beuronese General Chapter in July, 1909, and Mont-César became a center of liturgical study and renewal. Beauduin helped establish the pamphlet-periodical La Vie liturgique, intended as an introduction to the liturgy for the laity, and published at intervals throughout the liturgical year. He took part in the organization of Liturgical Weeks in 1909, and the publication in 1911 of Les Questions liturgiques, a monthly magazine intended for the clergy.
In 1912 the Belgian newspaper, Le Patriote, published on its front page a series of three long anonymous articles attacking the liturgical movement. Beauduin responded in an article entitled « Griefs contre le mouvement liturgique » (“Complaints Against the Liturgical Movement”) in Les Questions liturgiques (QL, II, 1911-1912, Sept.,1912, 529-33), summarizing the complaints as follows:
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FIRST COMPLAINT. They are young, reckless, exaggerated; the author compares them “to the young zealots whom Saint John loved and to whom he wrote.” The liturgical movement therefore lacks a Mentor; hence these offers of service in three inserts on the front page. |
PREMIER GRIEF. Ils sont jeunes, imprudents, exagérés; l’auteur les compare “aux jeunes zélotes qu’aimait saint Jean et auquel il écrivaitIl manque donc un Mentor au mouvement liturgique; de là ces offres de service dans trois insertions en première page. |
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SECOND COMPLAINT. It takes slow work, gradual initiation; the leaders of the movement want to reform everything at once. |
DEUXIEME GRIEF. Il faut un travail lent, une initiation graduelle; les chefs du mouvement veulent tout réformer d’un coup. |
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THIRD COMPLAINT. Liturgical leaders exaggerate the importance of the liturgy and present it as “a universal panacea.” |
TROISIEME GRIEF. Les chefs liturgistes exagèrent l’importance de la liturgie et la présentent comme “une panacée universelle.” |
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FOURTH COMPLAINT. The current liturgical movement wants to “throw overboard the devotions dear to the Christian people and worry only about Mass and Vespers.” |
QUATRIEME GRIEF. Le mouvement liturgique actuel veut “jeter par-dessus bord les dévotions chères au peuple chrétien et ne plus s’inquiéter que de la Messe et des Vêpres.” |
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(Beauduin, QL, II (1911-1912), 529-33. |
cited in Conliffe,74-75 ) |
In June, 1913 Dom Maurice Festugière (1870-1950), a monk of Maredsous, Belguim published a long article in the Revue de philosophie entitled, “La liturgie catholique, essai de synthèse” ([“The Catholic Liturgy, Towards a Synthesis.”] Revue de philosophie vol.13, no.s 5-7, May-June, 1913, pp. 692-895). As the title of his essay suggests, he attempted a systematic philosophical and theological assessment of Catholic liturgy and liturgical prayer. In so doing he criticized the individualistic spiritual practices of the Jesuits and contrasted them with the practice of liturgical prayer and meditation.
Beauduin reviewed Festugière's article positively, ironically referring to a Jesuit author whom he claimed supported Festugière's approach:
| Despite his peaceful intentions, the author [Dom Festugière] will not avoid controversy. Liturgical restoration clashes head-on with too many prejudices for it to be otherwise. Instructive and comforting are, from this point of view, the sincere pages published in the Studies by Father Dudon, S.J. on the Eucharistic Apostolate of Father Léonard Cros, S.J. (f.1913). | Malgré ses intentions pacifiques, l’auteur [Dom Festugière] n’évitera pas la polémique. La restauration liturgique heurte de front trop de préjugés pour qu’il en soit autrement. Instructives et réconfortantes sont, à ce point de vue, les pages si sincères que publiait, dans les Études, le Père Dudon, S.J. sur l’Apostolat eucharistique du P. Léonard Cros, S.J. (f1913) . |
| Forty years ago, this precursor began a tireless campaign in favor of daily and early Communion: he encountered tenacious and almost official opposition within and outside the Society of Jesus. Before dying, he saw Pius X consecrating and still surpassing the ideas for which he had valiantly fought. | Il y a quarante ans, ce précurseur entreprit une inlassable campagne en faveur de la Communion quotidienne et précoce: il rencontra dans la Compagnie de Jésus et en dehors une opposition tenace et presqu’officielle. Avant de mourir, il a vu Pie X consacrer et dépasser encore les idéeg pour lesquelles il avait vaillamment combattu. |
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QL, III (1912-1913), 394, |
In November, 1913 Jean-Josef Navatel, SJ, editor of the respected Jesuit journal Etudes, criticized the liturgical movement and defended traditional Jesuit meditation and devotion in an article entitled, “L’apostolat liturgique e la piété personnelle” (“The Liturgical Apostolate and Personal Piety.” Etudes 137/?50, Nov. 20, 1913, pp.449-76).
Beauduin responded to the article by Navatel with “Mise au point nécessaire: réponse au R. P. Navatel” (“A Necessary Elaboration: Response to Rev. Fr. Navatel.” Les Questions liturgiques, December 1913, p. 83-104).
In 1914 he wrote La Piété de l’Eglise, which included the recommendations he had made in his 1909 address, The True Prayer of the Church, and popularized the aims of the Liturgical Movement.
In 1921 he was sent to the Anselmo in Rome and became interested in Eastern liturgy. After Pope Pius XI had urged that Benedictines should pray for Christian unity (Equidem verba, 21 March 1924), Dom Beauduin founded a monastery of Union at Amay-sur-Meuse (see chevetogne). He attended Cardinal Mercier at the Malines Conversations and in a report to him expressed the desire that the Anglican Church should be ‘united to Rome, not absorbed’ (‘unie non absorbée’). When this phrase was published considerable criticism was directed against him.
In 1928 he had to leave Amay and in 1930 he was condemned by a Roman tribunal. His preaching in 1942 was one of the factors leading to the establishment of the Centre de pastorale Liturgique in Paris. In 1950 he was able to return to his community, now at Chevetogne. The validity of his approach to questions of reunion was recognized by Pope John XXIII.
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Beauduin’s memorandum on ‘L’Église Anglicane unie non absorbée’ is pr. in The Conversations at Malines 1912–1925: Original Documents, ed. Lord Halifax (1930), pp. 241–61; Eng. tr. in G. K. A. Bell (ed.), Documents on Christian Unity, 3rd ser. 1930–48 (1948), pp. 21–32 (no. 149). R. Loonbeeck and J. Mortiau, Un Pionnier, Dom Lambert Beauduin (1873–1960) (Université de Louvain, Recueil de Travaux d’Histoire et de Philologie, 7e Série, Facs. 12–13; 2001). Other Lives by L. Bouyer, Cong. Orat. (Tournai, 1964) and S. A. Quitslund (New York, 1973). Veilleur avant l’Aurore: Colloque Lambert Beauduin [held at Chevetogne, 30 Aug.–3 Sept. 1976] (Chevetogne, 1978).This Webpage was created for a workshop held at Saint Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, California in 2015
