Brot Und Spiele: The Best Liturgical Abuses Yet!

The liturgical color purple denotes suffering and contrition.

I spent the better part of last evening with my buddy drinking German lager at Seattle’s own Bierstube. Given my own Polish prejudices (see here, here, and here) there is an element of danger, or paranoia, about voluntarily walking into a place regaled with all sorts of Heimat paraphernalia, including a huge poster of what looks like Sarah Palin in folk dress with beer in hand.

I suppose that’s why I never really got all sentimental about Benedict, even though I was there for his first foreign visit to a country other than Germany, that is, Poland. Polish and German relations have always been complicated. They did produce one of the most remarkable documents of the 20th century, the Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops. If you can’t see why it’s remarkable, then you should read Norman Davies on the history of Poland Heart of Europe.

I couldn't find a good .jpg for the Kunzler book, so this'll have to do. — I couldn’t find a good .jpg for the Kunzler book, so this’ll have to do.

Twentieth century liturgical reform, with all its beauty and horror, can be attributed to the efforts of German scholars such as Odo Casel in The Mystery of Christian Worship and Romano Guardini in The Spirit of the Liturgy. The remarkable ferment continues to this day with excellent books such as Kunzler’s comprehensive The Church’s Liturgy and Ratzinger’s own The Spirit of the Liturgy.

I’ve documented some amusing Protestant liturgical fouls here and here. What makes me wonder is why all the best Catholic liturgical abuses come out of German-speaking lands. Can anyone relieve my discomfort by explaining this to me? What’s the history behind beauties such as these?