Child looking at candles in wonder
Supported by a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. and directed by the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy (NDCL), Contours of Wonder is a new, three-year initiative that aims to foster a renewal in the liturgical formation of children. Contours is influenced by the work of Romano Guardini. According to Lesley Kirzeder, program director of Contours, “Essential to this initiative is ensuring that our research contributes meaningfully to the academy while remaining accessible to the wider Church in a way that inspires a transformation in how children are both understood and formed.”
The NDCL is partnering with Villanova University along with scholars from a variety of disciplines across the academy to publish three research volumes for the initiative, which will explore formation in the modern technocratic age, liturgical imagination, and a theology of childhood. Additionally, the initiative will offer three research scholarships to Notre Dame students and an undergraduate course in Spring 2025.
According to Timothy O’Malley, Ph.D., academic director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, “Romano Guardini understood that if we were to develop a humane culture in an age characterized by technology, the abuse of power, and frenetic activity, we need to remember what it means to be a liturgical creature.”
In light of this vision, beginning in Fall 2024, the NDCL will partner with five U.S. dioceses to share the initiative’s research and themes with the local Church through a series of workshops and a year-long cohort experience. Cohort participants will work together to conduct research and plan how to respond to the challenges of liturgical formation in their ministries and lead others to do the same. In Summer of 2026, Contours will host a capstone symposium and cohort celebration at the University of Notre Dame.
Lesley Kirzeder, M.A. Timothy O'Malley, Ph.D.