Liturgy
Liturgy literally mean "something done in public"- usually a service. Every culture has its liturgy. I described one in my reflection 11,000 Virgins. Liturgy teaches us who we are, reinforces our social roles, and generally tills the garden of our intellect - through its words, symbolism and tenor. It's also the ultimate public expression (in Christianity) of our relationship to the Almighty.
Although I wouldn't always recommend The Remnant magazine, a Catholic traditionalist publication, Chris Ferrara insightfully relates this fact about the liturgy surrounding the Pope's funeral.
We see the opposing currents at work even in the funeral liturgies for the Pope, where the Vatican appears suddenly to have rediscovered the ecclesiastical necessity of Latin and chant, while the rest of the Church suffers the degradation of funerals and other vernacular liturgies whose utter lack of dignity offends even Protestants. Every word of the liturgical text for the procession of the Pope’s body into St. Peter’s was intoned in Latin, every vestment was of the most dignified traditional design, and there was not a woman, lay reader or guitar in sight. Even the choir was composed entirely of men. It was as if the “liturgical renewal” of the past 35 years had never happened, as if the Vatican were finally admitting that the new liturgy is simply not suitable for serious worship.
A majestic liturgy is so desperately needed not only because its solemnity is appropriate for worship, but because in the modern world images are cheap and fleeting. The death of John Paul II, a great man whatever the disapointments of his papacy, called out for such a solemn liturgy. Why should we settle for less each Sunday?
Michael Brendan Dougherty
in Religion
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