Adrien Nocent, OSB (2 February 1913 – 9 December 1996) was a Belgian monk and

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Biography

Nocent was born in

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

and entered

Maredsous Abbey Maredsous Abbey () is a Benedictine monastery at Maredsous, in the municipality of Anhée, Wallonia, Belgium. It is a founding member of the Annunciation Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The abbey was founded as a priory on 15 ...

at the age of 19, making solemn vows in 1933. He was ordained as a priest in 1938. He studied theology at

Keizersberg Abbey Keizersberg Abbey, also known as Mont César Abbey (; ) is a Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery on the hill ''Keizersberg'' or ''Mont César'' in the north of the university town of Leuven, Belgium. History The site The ''Keizersberg ...

(French ''Mont César'') near

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, where the

Liturgical Movement The Liturgical Movement was a 19th-century and 20th-century movement of scholarship for the reform of worship. It began in the Catholic Church and spread to many other Christian churches including the Anglican Communion, Lutheran and some other Pro ...

began. Among his teachers were Bernard Capelle (1884–1961) and Bernard Botte (1893–1980). Nocent entered military service before his ordination and later during the Second World War when he served in a military hospital and later a military chaplain. Beginning in 1952, Nocent lectured at the ''Centre international Lumen Vitae'' in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. He continued his studies at Louvain University and in Paris at the

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

. He finished his degree there in 1959 with a thesis under the direction of Gabriel Le Bras (1891–1970) and titled ''Un Fragment de sacramentaire de Sens au Xe siècle. La liturgie baptismale de la province ecclésiastique de Sens dans les manuscrits du IXe au XVIe siècles.'' He then went to Rome to teach at the

Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm The Anselmianum, also known as the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm (; ) or simply ''Sant'Anselmo'', is a pontifical university in Rome associated with the Benedictines. It offers courses in philosophy, theology, liturgy, monastic studies, lan ...

. Together with Salvatore Marsili (1910–1983) Cipriano Vaggagini (1909–1999), and Emmanuel Lane, he founded the Pontifical Liturgical Institute. Nocent became a consultant to the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

in 1964 and in 1969, consultant to the

Congregation for Divine Worship The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments () is the dicastery (from , from δικαστής, 'judge, juror') of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church as distin ...

. As of 1984, he served as the first editor of the liturgical periodical ''Ecclesia orans''. For decades, Nocent was a sought-after speaker on the topic of post-conciliar liturgical reform. He spoke in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

. Many bishops considered him to be an eminent specialist in his field. Nocent was an amateur violinist and Vice President of the

Arthur Grumiaux Baron Arthur Grumiaux (; 21 March 1921 – 16 October 1986) was a Belgian violinist, considered by some to have been "one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century". He has been noted for having a "consistently beautiful t ...

Foundation.

Books

*''Contempler sa gloire''. 3 vols. Paris 1960–1965. **(German) ''Das heilige Jahr''. 3 vols. Stuttgart 1965–1966. **(Italian) ''Contemplare la sua gloria''. 3 vols. Brescia 1964–1966. *''L‘avenir de la liturgie''. Paris 1961. **(Dutch) ''De toekomst van de liturgie''. Roermond 1963. **(Spanish) ''El porvenir de la liturgia''. Barcelona 1963. **(English) ''The Future of the Liturgy''. Montreal 1964. *(with Marc Mélot) ''On nous change la messe''. Brüssel 1965. *(with Jacques Deretz) ''Synopse des textes conciliaires''. Paris 1966 **(Italian) ''Dizionario dei testi conciliari''. Brescia 1967. **(English) ''Dictionary of the Council''. London 1968. **(German) ''Konkordanz der Konzilstexte''. Graz 1968. *''Célébrer Jésus-Christ. L’année liturgique''. 7 vols. Paris 1975–1977. **(English) ''The Liturgical Year''. 4 vols. Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota 1977. Hrsg. von Paul Turner. 3 Bde. Ebenda 2013. **(Spanish) ''El año litúrgico. Celebrar a Jesucristo''. 7 Bde. Santander 1977. **(Italian) ''Celebrare Gesù Cristo''. 4 Bde. Assisi 1977. *''La liturgia. I sacramenti. Teologia e storia della celebrazione''. Genua 1986. *''Le renouveau liturgique. Une relecture''. Beauchesne, Paris 1993. **(English) ''A Rereading of the Renewed Liturgy''. Collegeville, Minnesota 1994. **(Italian) ''Liturgia semper reformanda. Rilettura della riforma liturgica''. Magnano 1993.

Secondary literature

Festschrift

*''Traditio et Progressio. Studi liturgici in onore del Adrien Nocent, OSB''. Rome 1988 (Studia Anselmiana. Analecta liturgica 12) (with Nocent's publications for the period 1955–1987).

Obituaries and bibliographies

*Paul De Clerk: "La carrière et l'oeuvre de liturgiste de Dom Adrien Nocent 1913–1996". In: ''Lettre de Maredsous'' 26, 1997, 2, p. 77–80. *"In memoriam. Dom Adrien Nocent, O.S.B. (1913–1996)". In: ''Ecclesia orans'' 14, 1997, p. 7–13.
Franciszek Małaczyński: "Śp. o. Adrien Nocent OSB (1913–1996)"
In: ''Ruch Biblijny i Liturgiczny'' 50, 1997, p. 308–309. *Basilio Rizzi: "Bibliografia di Adrien Maurice Nocent OSB (2.2.1913–9.12.1996)". In: ''Ecclesia orans'' 14, 1997, p. 439–449.

References

External links

*
Biography, with photos, written in Italian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nocent, Adrien 20th-century Belgian Roman Catholic priests Belgian Benedictines Academic staff of the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm Liturgists 1913 births 1996 deaths