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The Liturgy of The Catholic Church
From the creation of the Church beginning with the ministry of Jesus Christ, Catholicism has and will always mean a way of life. ... The principles or teachings of the Catholic Church chart out the Christian way of life moreover instilling the revered system of public worship paramount to the identity of the Church known as the liturgy.
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the structure of the liturgy and illustrate the importance it holds in Catholic tradition. First, the nature of the liturgy will be outlined to provide a better understanding of this sacred act of public worship. Second, the sacraments will be established and expounded upon and finally, the history of the liturgy will be presented.
I
The Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy presents the liturgy as an action that goes far beyond any cult or ritual in the narrow sense. ... It is a sacred action symbolizing the body of Christ - the head and members of the church. The liturgy represents the priestly function of Jesus Christ. ...
The liturgy originates from what the church itself is and as complex and uncontainable as the church is so too is the liturgy. The church is not only defined as the structure in which it is housed or the members but as it is, so it does. ... Among the activities is the celebration of the liturgy and this activity, as the Constitution on the Liturgy emphasizes, is the summation and combination of all the other activities of the church. It is the expression of the church’s whole life and that life is directed toward making Jesus Christ present in the world. Ever since its establishment, the church quickly recognized that the liturgy is the principle means of accomplishing this. ...
Consequently, the liturgy is an act of worship, however, it is significantly distinguished from worship in the broad sense. ...
Conversely, the liturgy is public worship not by any one man or group of men, but by the community that is the church. Inasmuch as the liturgy is the personification of the church’s viewpoint toward God, it is always outwardly expressed because it is a specialized form of worship that includes the entire community. Therefore, a liturgy cannot be performed inwardly nor can it be simply performed externally. The liturgy is an action, yes but a significant and holy action that involves the whole man, his mind, his will, heart, emotions and his body. Furthermore, the liturgy is not only an action of Jesus Christ in the church through signs and symbols but it also signifies by far, more than the words and actions can sufficiently convey.
Since the liturgy on the whole celebrates the mystery of salvation, or the redemption act symbolically, the forms of celebration may vary from one rite to another, however, the celebration is always the same. Hence, there are many rites but only one liturgy and only one act of the church. ... The drama of the rites of the mystery of salvation is enacted principally through the Eucharist or Mass, then through the sacraments and finally through the Divine Office which is the public prayer of the church. ... The other six sacraments are closely related to the Eucharist; Baptism and Confirmation prepare a person to celebrate the Eucharist by making him a member of the church; Penance reconciles the church member to the church after he has succumbed to sin; Matrimony is the sign of the union between Jesus Christ and His church; the Anointing of the Sick is the sacrament that restores the sick man to health so that he may again take part in the Eucharist with his church brothers; Holy Orders makes a man capable of performing the ministry of the Eucharist for his fellow Christians
As with the Eucharist, these sacraments are acts of public worship and together with the Eucharist outline the most important part of the liturgy.
Approximate Word count = 3040
Approximate Pages = 12.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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