Tridentine For Dummies II

What Is Liturgy at its Core.

The Liturgy at its very core, at its heart is but one thing; it is a public work. We have all Eaten at restaurants and many of us at fast food places, what goes on behind the counter is little different than what goes on at a Liturgy, be It a Novus Ordo, a Tridentine, a Byzantine, or an Chaldean...

Wait did you just really compare the Liturgy to fast food?
If you are asking this question then the answer is yes, I did and I think its a very good analogy. In the liturgy of Mc. Donald's each person behind the counter has their place and their specific liturgical function. Order taker 1 takes your Order, while the cook methodically prepares your food. First the bun then the catchup, mustard, pickles, onions, cheese, meat and finally wrap it. While this is going on someone is preparing your fries for you and possibly your drink. Then the "runner"(or more simply the person who gets you your food) places it in a
bag or on the tray. While this is going on order taker 2 is taking another order while someone in drive thru is taking another order, as the cook continues to prepare each sandwich in neck-break speak his assistant continues to prepare each hamburger patty. In this Liturgical dance like any each person must know their place know their proper responsorial and do the action at the appropriate time, if not... we have witnessed what happens. Its complete mess that takes forever to get straitened out. But if everyone does their part when they are suppose to and how they are suppose to then what looks like simple chaos to the naked eye is in reality a carefully orchestrated masterpiece.

It is the same thing in our own morning routines it is the Liturgy of the day which is carried out methodically and with care. If however we are living an undisciplined life then our liturgy is always out of sync. How would it be if every time an employee of Mc. Dolands came to work they tried to do things their own way they tried to reinvent their liturgical function? Would they not create a mess would there be no organization, how would anything productive get done? Thus in our lives we must have an organized Liturgy by which our day, week, month year, is operated.

So much more then is the importance of our Religious Liturgy. What is unorganized Chaos is not of God it is not for God it is not with God it is not though God it is an abomination to God. Unorganized Chaos is the liturgy which worships the Anti-gods. Liturgy being woven into our very fabric, into the fabric of the irrational man within us all, we are the liturgy we practice. If our Liturgy is loud, if our Liturgy is obnoxious, if our liturgy is profane, or apathetic, this is a refection up us, upon our very character.

Do not even some Atheists say "Man is religious by his nature, man must have Liturgy and ritual or man is not complete", and do not even some Atheists say "That which has not Organized Chaos as his Liturgy has Nihilism as his Liturgy, These men believers of a god or not must be destroyed for they live to the destruction of all else". This then expresses the importance of an organized and repetitive Liturgy, it is this sameness which brings about order in our lives, this religious rigor which spreads out over the rest of us to say to our lives "here there will be peace."

When one innovate the liturgy then let him be anathema for he innovates the soul and thus seeks to destroy its harmony.

The Liturgy of Christians

There are many different types of Liturgies we have as Christians: Liturgy of the Hours, Liturgy of the word, Liturgy of the Eucharist only to name but a few. It is however the last of these which I mentioned which is of the greatest importance, the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the re presentation of the Sacrifice of the Lord and Creator of all of the Universe. Here there must be solemness for here we pray not at the foot of the altar of pagan gods by which we are with great joy and fervor feasting on the flesh of idol sacrificed animals which give no meaning or hope to man. Instead we pray the prayer at the foot of the cross, one of sorrow and lamentation of spirit we cry to the heavens "LORD! LORD! Who has crucified you?" then with contrite heart "Here I see none but myself, My Lord! My God! It is I who have nailed you to the cross, I have driven my sin into your heads and feat, I have placed the burden on your head with thorns, your side I pierced! Forgive my unbelief! Forgive my foolish way's! Turn my heart O'Lord that I may seek none but you."

We do not dance and sing as if at some feast! "I am not perfect enough for that yet", we call forth our sins and sing songs of love and sorrow for "I have murdered the one whom I loved, His blood be on my hands and upon no other".

The liturgy then must be done with great care and love, it must not be carried out even at days of feasting as a joyous event on our part, no even on days of feasting we feast not because of us but because of the Lord who has saved us thus even our feasting is in solemness.

We then at the Liturgy of the Divine Sacrifice pour out ourselves in sorrowful love to our Lord, and this is the meaning of Christian Liturgy.