Fr Stefan Geiger
Preside, Pontifical Institute of Liturgy
Sant'Anselmo Atheneum

The Society for Catholic Liturgy held its annual conference at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans from 23-25 September 2026. Its theme was "Made Holy by the Praises of God: The Liturgy of the Hours in the Life of the Church," chosen as the English-speaking world prepares to adopt the new translation of the editio typica altera of the breviary.

The Society was founded in 1995 to promote the scholarly study and practical renewal of the sacred liturgy. It works through its annual conference, its peer-reviewed journal Antiphon, and a membership of academics, students and practitioners in fields such as sacred art, architecture and music. Its president since 2026 is Fr David M. Friel, a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. The 2025 conference, held at The Catholic University of America on the “Liturgical Legacy of Joseph Ratzinger — Benedict XVI”, drew a record number of scholars.

Three Benedictines of the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy at Sant'Anselmo in Rome took part this year: Fr Cassian Folsom OSB, Fr Stefan Geiger OSB and Fr Eusebius Martis OSB.

Fr Cassian Folsom has been a member of the Society for many years and a major supporter of its work from the beginning. Founder of the Abbey of San Benedetto in Monte in Norcia, Italy, and professor of liturgy at Sant'Anselmo, he gave the keynote address on Friday, "Searching for Equilibrium: A History of the Roman Breviary from the 16th to the 20th Century." He presented the successive stages of that history with remarkable clarity: the books that came out of each of them, and the process by which they took shape. Each stage was shown under its own conditions, especially regarding the changing demands made on priests in pastoral ministry and the changing understanding of the Liturgy of the Hours itself. Throughout, Fr Cassian laid particular emphasis on the search for equilibrium.

Fr Stefan Geiger, as preside (dean) of the PIL, presented a paper on the Thesaurus Liturgiae Horarum Monasticae (1977) as a theological document of post-conciliar Benedictine reform. Working from documents in the archive of the Abbot Primate at Sant'Anselmo, he argued that the four psalter schemes of the Thesaurus, none of them ranked above the others, express in the structure of the book the theology of prayer that its Directorium sets out in words. He also chaired a paper session.

Fr Stefan was invited to give the closing remarks. Speaking from a Benedictine perspective, he recalled that the presence of God in the Office is given beforehand (Rule of Saint Benedict, ch. 19), and that the Hours will bear fruit when they are prayed, with culture following as a consequence and never as the aim: quaerere Deum.

Fr Eusebius Martis, also professor at Sant'Anselmo, chaired a paper session on Friday. In February he had given the first lecture of the Society's online series preparing for the conference on “The Phenomenon and Spirituality of Celebrating the Liturgy of the Hours”.

Several alumni of the PIL also took part. Two of the Society's officers studied at Sant'Anselmo: the Vice President, Fr Ryan T. Ruiz, received his doctorate in Sacred Liturgy from the PIL in 2016; and the Secretary, Fr Michael Wurtz CSC, who preached at the Thursday Mass, did his doctoral studies there. Among the speakers were also Fr Nicola D. Ventura, who obtained his licentiate at the PIL in 2025, and Fr Lorenzo Penalosa OSB, of Saint Meinrad Archabbey, a licentiate of Sant'Anselmo. Fr Dennis Gill, another alumnus, was likewise present.