St. Vlad's symposium now available as podcasts

I'm looking forward to listening to these talks (available here). Picture of Fr. Taft came from The City and the World.

Ancient Faith Radio, in partnership with St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, is offering podcasts of the lectures from the international academic symposium titled “The Past and Future of Liturgical Theology: Celebrating the Legacy of Father Alexander Schmemann,” held on the seminary campus January 30–31, 2009. Fr. Alexander served as the dean of SVS from 1962 until his death in 1983, and his seminal work in the field of liturgical theology is recognized throughout the globe.

Renowned liturgist The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Robert F. Taft, S.J. presented the keynote titled “The Liturgical Enterprise Twenty-five Years after Alexander Schmemann (1921–1983): The Man and His Heritage”—the centerpiece of the colloquium and this year’s Father Alexander Schmemann Annual Memorial Lecture—to a capacity crowd on Friday, January 30, 2009.

Remembering Fr. Alexander as protagonist for the discipline of liturgical theology, Fr. Taft honored him as an "informer," not a "reformer," and as a "'kerygmatic theologian'... who was able to bring out of the liturgy its true meaning and make it live for people as a joyous event, which is the life in Christ." Fr. Taft emphasized the enduring and phenomenal "shelf life of Fr. Alexander's oeuvre" and termed his overall work a "landmark" in the field of liturgical theology. He also identified areas of scholarly progress in that field since Fr. Alexander's death, which will elucidate and guide the future of the academic study of liturgical theology.