'Preface
The liturgy of the Roman Catholic church has been irrepressible development in the twentieth century, especially since the Second Vatican Council. Among the countries in which people, inspired by this council, have worked to open new channels in the liturgy, the Netherlands has a prominent place. One of the Dutch
pioneers was, and still is, Gerard Lukken. During his many years' working in the field he has made an effort to
provide guidance to those who are celebrating the liturgy in parishes and elsewhere. At the same time he play-ed a leading part in the development of the study of liturgy in the Netherlands. Even if his scholarly publications now and then show a local a local colour - and how could it be different -: the subjects which he brought up and the original way in which he elaborated them, exceed our national borders easily. Linguistic borders, however,
are a different matter. Many of the products of his pen, which have not lost any value or topicality, have been published only in Dutch so far. The announcement of his early retirement therefore seemed to us to be an excellent occasion to collect some some of Gerard Lukken's articles and contributions and to publish them in English, German or French. On the third of March 1994 this anthology was presented to Gerard Lukken on the occasion of his official farewell from the Theologisch Faculteit Tilburg, in which he taught since 1967. (...)'.