This article examines the hermeneutical criteria underlying the various principles of selection and arrangement of the readings within the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist. Methodologically, two dimensions of the lectionary will be considered: the horizontal, referring to the arrangement of the readings throughout the liturgical year, and the vertical, focusing on the intertextuality and thematic relationships among the readings within a single celebration. A special point of reference will be the lesser-known Ambrosian Lectionary of 2008 (Milan), which may be regarded as an advancement of the Roman Ordo Lectionum Missae. In its selection and arrangement of readings, it consciously takes alternative paths to the Roman model. At the end, this article draws conclusions for liturgical hermeneutics and for a possible revision of the Roman order of readings, exploring how the advantages of the Roman and the Ambrosian lectionary could be combined.
Marco Benini (Fri,) studied this question.