Quotes About Liturgy

It is more necessary than ever to intensify liturgical life ... by means of an appropriate formation ... of all the faithful.

For townsmen and countrymen alike, the rhythms of the liturgy on the eve of the Reformation remained the rhythms of life itself.

The putting on of vestments and lighting candles, it's a wonderful ritual that never changes from one Mass to another.

As a Jew, I recognize the importance of Israel historically, liturgically: its place in our history and in our sacred texts. I fully recognize and appreciate that. I just think that, for me, a sole focus on Israel gets in the way of the pursuit of a relationship with God and a more spiritual existence within Judaism.

A church that looks and talks and sounds just like the world has no reason to exist. A church that does not emphasize asceticism and discipleship is as pointless as a football coaching staff that doesn't care if its players show up for practice. And though liturgy by itself is not enough, a church that neglects to involve the body in worship is going to find it increasingly difficult to get bodies into services on Sunday morning as America moves further into post-Christianity.

It was the beauty of the liturgy in St. Sophia that converted Russia to Orthodoxy after a fact-finding mission from Kiev in the tenth century experienced the service and reported back: "we knew not whether we were in Heaven or earth. For on earth there is no such splendour and beauty, and we are at a loss how to describe it. We only know that there God dwells among men.

the decreasing demands in other areas were as important, and probably more so, for reducing the commitment of Catholics. As lannaccone (1994, p. 1204) has commented, the Catholic church "managed to arrive at a remarkable, 'worst of both worlds' position-discarding cherished distinctiveness in the areas of liturgy, theology, and life-style, while at the same time maintaining the very demands that its members and clergy are least willing to accept.

Guardini recognized that the liturgy is the true, living environment for the Bible and that the Bible can be properly understood only in this living context within which it first emerged.

The only thing that we ever do in this world that is real participation in the life we hope to live forever is to worship with Christ at the Liturgy.

The Old Testament narrates the disruptive blessing of God drawing near to the Israelites. Through tabernacle and temple, law and liturgy, God dwelt in their midst, the contours of his visage slowly yet steadily emerging. Then, at last, out of the womb of Israel, God himself came forth in our flesh, revealing his face clearly and concretely in the face of Jesus Christ.

continuity between the two main parts of the Mass: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

I often think of the set pieces of liturgy as certain words which people have successfully addressed to God without their getting killed.

how are you sacred to me? your lines are golden threads - your patter, my patten - I explore the liturgy of your words...

The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from the limitations of our own weakness and an invocation of all Good to enter and abide with us.

liturgy is not a particular style of worship or some outmoded preference on the part of old people; it's a timeless pattern based on the fourfold movement—one that was originally created by first-rate storytellers who knew what they were about.

Consumerism is the worship of the god of quantity; advertising is its liturgy. Advertising is schooling in false longing.

A clergyman of the Church of England should be ready for every emergency, from Asperges and Incense to North End Position and Evening Communion.

Hours of the day were named for the hours of prayer: matins around midnight; lauds around three A.M.; prime, the first hour of daylight, at sunrise or about six A.M.; vespers at six in the evening; and compline at bedtime.

Music had always been the handmaid of the Roman liturgy.

We use the Heidelberg Catechism in our worship. Sometimes we read it responsively. Other times I'll work it into my communion liturgy. I'll quote it in my sermons from time to time. I've seen the Catechism used effectively as Sunday school material.

Liturgy and worship were never meant to be confined to the cathedrals and sanctuaries. Liturgy at its best can be performed like a circus or theater - making the Gospel visible as a witness to the world around us.

I like the ritual, the liturgy of a well-crafted, emotional fashion show. I will never be jaded with this side of fashion. The catwalk is pure anthropology, something like an esoteric encrypted parade. It can totally be replaced but it will be missed.

But liturgy is meant to be an interruption. It disrupts our reality and refocuses it on God. It reshapes our perceptions and lives with new rhythms, new holy days, a whole new story.

Liturgical theologian Aidan Kavanaugh says it well: "The liturgy, like the feast, exists not to educate but to seduce people into participating in common activity of the highest order, where one is freed to learn things which cannot be taught.