Articles on Liturgy
““The celebration of Holy Mass has the same value as the Death of Jesus on the Cross.” St. Thomas Aquinas.
Must Catholicism be Patriarchal?
Someone was joking recently that the reason the Eastern Orthodox could not have women bishops is because you can’t call a woman “Patriarch.” Behind the wisecrack is some wisdom, and the existence of women [...]
Holy Smoke!
Why do We Use Incense in Worship? Our altar boys practically fight for the honor of being the thurifer. That’s the name for the server who carries the thurible--the censer--in the procession at Mass. [...]
The Passionate Preacher
My Dad was always critical of my choice of major in college. “Speech and English?!” he’d shake his head, “Why don’t you do something useful like business administration?” The Vatican has recently advised seminarians [...]
Redeeming the Time
The Liturgical Year When is New Year’s Day? Everybody assumes it is January first, but for centuries Catholics observed March 25 as the start of the new year. March 25 is the beginning of [...]
Myth for the Masses
Symbolism and the Language of Liturgy In his conversations with the journalist Bill Moyers, the mythologist Joseph Campbell commented on the power of lived symbolism in communal life. When the judge comes out in [...]
New Liturgy? What New Liturgy?
One year ago Catholics all across America braced themselves for the introduction of the new translation of the liturgy. The translation promised to be more reverent in it’s style, more faithful to the original [...]