Pope Francis Approves Publication of Supplement to Liturgy of the Hours
By Joseph O’Brien
On December 13, 2025, Pope Francis approved for publication the long-awaited Supplement to the Liturgy of the Hours and the third edition of the Martyrology, the Church’s official listing of martyrs and other saints of the liturgical calendar. The news was announced by Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, as part of an interview with the Vatican News Service.
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website, the Liturgy of the Hours— also known as the Divine Office—“is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer.” The General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours (GILH) states that this “public and communal prayer of the people of God” can be traced to Apostolic times. “From the very beginning the baptized ‘remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers’ (Acts 2:42).”
After the Second Vatican Council, the Church revised the liturgical book for the Divine Office and published it in 1971 as the Liturgia Horarum, or “The Liturgy of the Hours.” Before these revisions, the official form was the Brevarium Romanum, the Roman Breviary, published in 1568 with revised editions through 1962.
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Plunged into Darkness: The Office of Tenebrae
By Father Aaron Williams
Since the reform of the Roman Breviary in the 1960s, one curious attachment has remained among many Catholics, and that is attachment to the office informally known as “Tenebrae.” In the traditional breviary, the offices of Matins and Lauds for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday were celebrated in a unique and reduced form which, through the course of time and custom, came to take on its own ceremonial.
Between the two offices of Matins and Lauds, which were commonly celebrated back-to-back, there are 13 psalms, two canticles, and nine longer lessons. These parts of the office were grouped into “nocturns”—a grouping of three psalms followed by three lessons (readings). During the Triduum, many aspects of the office such as the dialogues and
Behind the Shadows
hymns were omitted, as well as the doxology at the conclusion of psalms.
Distinguished Extinguishing
When the office was celebrated solemnly, a 15-branch triangular candelabra was erected in the sanctuary, known as the “Tenebrae hearse.” These candles would be gradually extinguished through the course of the office until the final central candle remained. Then, during the chanting of the Benedictus, this candle would be removed (not extinguished) and hidden from the sanctuary. A collect is prayed, and then a loud noise known as the strepitus is made, signifying the earthquake upon Christ’s death atop Calvary or even when the stone was rolled away from the tomb on Easter morning. The lit candle is returned to its place and all depart in silence with the church
Please see TENEBRAE on page 4
Pilgrimage in 8-pt. Fonts
Within the days of the Easter Triduum, another series of celebrations lurk in the shadows commonly known as Tenebrae—and Father Aaron Williams brings it all to light. 1
Sermons in Four Words
Unify. Edify. Vivify. Sanctify. Father Benjamin
A. Roberts shows how a prayer by mysticaltheologian Adrienne Von Speyr can inspire homilies to reach deeper into Christ’s mystery 5 Salvation Unabridged
In this reprint, Christopher Carstens explains how Lent prepares us for the battle for salvation, armed with the sacraments and following Christ over the paschal bridge he’s already won 7
What does a baptismal font have to do with going on a pilgrimage? According to Michael Raia—and Pope Francis—nothing less than our earthly journey to our ultimate destiny 9 Liturgical Groundwork
Carmina Chapp reviews The Liturgy of the Land: Cultivating a Catholic Homestead by Jason M. Craig and Thomas D. Van Horn, in which she finds the seeds for renewing Catholic culture 12
“Tenebrae,” which is the Latin word for “darkness,” is taken from one of the responsories chanted during the celebration of this night office: Tenebrae factae sunt, dum crucifixissent Jesum—“Darkness covered the earth when Jesus was crucified.”
According to the Vatican News Service interview, the approval for publication of the Supplement and the revised Martyrology “represent a further step towards completion of the liturgical reform desired by the Second Vatican Council.”
“On October 28, 2024, an Ordinary Assembly of the Dicastery unanimously expressed its approval at the publication of both liturgical books,” Cardinal Roche said in the December interview, adding that he was “pleased to announce that the Holy Father, in the audience granted to me last December 12, gave his approval. Therefore, as soon as possible we will be able to start the process of publication.”
Cardinal Roche said in the interview that the Supplement consists of three elements: a two-year cycle of biblical and patristic readings for the Office of Readings, Psalm and Canticle Prayers, and an optional lectionary with an additional selection of readings.
Historical Moment
Pope Francis’s approval of the Supplement, Cardinal Roche said, couldn’t have come at a better time, noting that “in this particular Year of Grace that is the Jubilee, we can and must seize the opportunity to rediscover the richness of the Liturgy of the Hours and renew formation on the prayer of the Church.”
Father Neil Xavier O’Donoghue writes in his blog at Pray Tell that Pope Francis’s approval of the Supplement is an historical moment for the Church.
“I think that this is an important landmark for the Roman Rite,” he writes in a January 30 blog post, “as it is, to my knowledge, the last of the renewed liturgical books that remains to be published following the general renewal of all the rites in the wake of the Council. Many books have been published in second editions (editio typica altera) and a third typical edition of the Roman Missal has been published (along with further minor revisions to this in a later printing), but this is a book that has not been published before. The last such book was the new edition of the Rite of Exorcisms and Related Supplications….”
According to Father Andrew Menke, executive director of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), Pope Francis’s approval of the Supplement represents an important step in fulfilling the original plan for the Liturgy of the Hours.
“These texts were mentioned in the GILH,” he told Adoremus, “when it was first published in the early 1970’s, but for various reasons they were not actually finalized until now.”
The three elements of the Supplement mentioned by Cardinal Roche, the expanded biblical readings, Psalm and Canticle Prayers, and optional lectionary readings, said Father Menke, means that the Liturgy of the Hours will offer even greater breadth and depth for the faithful who pray or wish to pray these official prayers of the Church.
Father Menke told Adoremus that “this supplementary material, especially the new options for readings from the Fathers and from ecclesiastical writers, will be a great gift. Those who make use of it will find new insights into the interpretation of Scripture and into the spiritual life. I think it could also be very helpful for priests and deacons in the preparation of homilies.”
Three Elements
As for the Psalm and Canticle Prayers, Father Menke said that “the Vatican prepared a first draft of these prayers back in the 1970’s but did not formally promulgate it. However, ICEL obtained a copy of that text and translated it into English. These prayers were included in ICEL’s 1975 translation of the Liturgy of the Hours, which is familiar to those who pray the breviary in the United States and certain other countries. The new collection of Psalm and Canticle Prayers soon to be published in Latin appears to have some similarities with the draft text from the 1970’s, but it seems to have been significantly revised and now also includes prayers to accompany the Canticles.”
The scripture readings provided by the Supplement, according to Father Menke, offer a two-year cycle that expands upon the one-year cycle in the current form of the Liturgy of the Hours.
“This two-year cycle overlaps to some extent with the one-year cycle of readings provided in the fourvolume Liturgy of the Hours,” he said, “but obviously provides a more comprehensive collection of Biblical texts. As is the case with the cycle in the current book,
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each of the Scripture readings in the supplement is followed by a reading from the Fathers or from ecclesiastical authors.”
Father Menke also offered further detail regarding the optional Lectionary, noting that “there are readings that correspond to the Gospels that are read on Sunday in the three-year Lectionary for Mass. There are also readings corresponding to the various seasons of the liturgical year and readings drawn from different periods of the Church’s history. Interestingly, the modern readings include several selections from the writings of St. John Henry Newman.”
The preparation of an English version of the Supplement will soon get underway. “As Cardinal Roche mentioned, the Vatican is still working out the publication of the Latin texts,” Father Menke said. “But the Dicastery has shared electronic files with ICEL and with similar organizations and with bishops’ conferences around the world. So translation work will begin soon, but it’s too early to predict how long it will take. By my count there are over 2,000 pages of material, although the Biblical readings can be drawn from existing translations. ICEL will certainly make this project a high priority.”
Currently, the US bishops plan to publish a new translation of the four-volume Liturgy of the Hours in the coming years, and, according to Father Menke, publication of the Supplement should not hinder this effort.
“It will be interesting,” he added, “to see how this supplementary material will eventually be published. For example, generally speaking, the new two-year cycle of texts does not include the hymns, versicles, and psalmody that are needed to pray the Office of Readings. So perhaps bishops’ conferences might choose to include that material so that the Supplement could be used as a standalone book to pray the Office, although that might require dividing the material into two or more volumes.”
As another option, Father Menke told Adoremus, “perhaps for the sake of trying to keep the book shorter, bishops’ conferences might publish only the readings, although that would require the user to juggle the Supplement with the four-volume breviary. Presumably the picture will get clearer once the translation is developed and the bishops have the opportunity to analyze the material.”
Christopher Carstens contributed to the writing of this story.
Message of the Holy Father on the Occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the Death of Dom Prosper Guéranger
By Pope Francis
To the Very Reverend Father Dom Geoffroy Kemlin, Abbot of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes and President of the Congregation of Solesmes OSB:
As you celebrate this year the 150th anniversary of the death of your founder, Dom Prosper Guéranger, I am pleased to join in your thanksgiving. I wish to express my encouragement and my affectionate closeness to those who have committed their lives in the wake of this servant of the Church, or who are working to make his life and work better known. Benedic anima mea Domino. This verse from Psalm 102 was one of the last words he spoke before committing his soul to the hands of the Father on 30 January 1875.
Adoremus Bulletin
In evoking Dom Guéranger, my predecessors have underlined the various expressions of his charism received for the edification of the whole Church: his role as restorer of Benedictine monastic life in France, his liturgical knowledge placed at the service of the People of God, his ardent piety towards the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, his work in support of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and that of papal infallibility, his writings in defense of the freedom of the Church. I would also like to highlight two aspects of this charism that correspond to two current needs of the Church: fidelity to the Holy See and the Successor of Peter, particularly in the area of liturgy, and spiritual paternity.
Dom Guéranger was undoubtedly one of the first architects of the Liturgy Movement, the fruit of which would be the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium of the Second Vatican Council. The historical, theological and ecclesiological rediscovery of the liturgy as the language of the Church and an expression of its faith was at the heart of his work, first as a diocesan priest and then as a Benedictine monk. This rediscovery inspired in particular his publications favoring the return of the dioceses of France to the unity of the Roman liturgy, and it was this rediscovery that prompted him to write the volumes of L’année liturgique [The Liturgical Year] in order to make available to priests and lay people the beauty and riches of the liturgy, which is “the first wellspring of Christian spirituality” (Apostolic Letter Desiderio desideravi, no. 61). He strongly affirmed that “the prayer of the Church is the most pleasing to the ear and heart of God, and therefore the most powerful. Happy, then, is he who prays with the Church” (Preface to L’année liturgique). May the example of Dom Guéranger inspire in the hearts of all the baptized not only love for Christ and his Bride, but also filial trust and docile collaboration cum Petro et sub Petro, so that the Church, faithful to her living Tradition, may continue to raise “one and the same prayer capable of expressing her unity” (Apostolic Letter Desiderio desideravi, no. 61).
I would also like to evoke another aspect of the charism of Dom Guéranger: spiritual paternity. Attentive to the work of the Holy Spirit in souls, Dom Guéranger wanted only one thing: to help them in their search for God. Shaped by the Benedictine Rule and divine praise, his gentle and joyful confidence in God touched the hearts of the monks who came to gather around him, the nuns who benefited from his teachings, but also the men and women with responsibilities in the Church and society, and above all the fathers and mothers of families, the children, the little ones and the humble who sought his spiritual advice. In times of peace, as in times of adversity, they all found in him the strengthening or renewal of their faith, a taste for prayer and love of the Church. May his example of docility to the Holy Spirit and of service inspire and guide many of the faithful in the ways of the Lord, “meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29).
I pray that the work of the Servant of God Dom Guéranger may never cease to produce fruits of holiness in all the faithful, and that it may also remain a living witness to the fruitfulness of monastic life at the heart of the Church.
It is with this wish that I impart my Blessing to you, Reverend Father, and to your brothers of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre, to those of the Congregation of Solesmes, and to all those who will take part in the commemorations of the return to God of Dom Prosper Guéranger.
From Saint John Lateran, 2 January 2025
EDITOR - PUBLISHER: Christopher Carstens
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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE The Rev. Jerry Pokorsky
Ecce, Agnus Dei!
By Christopher Carstens, Editor
There’s a great deal to behold during the Paschal Triduum, especially on Good Friday. For example, the liturgy’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah begins, “See [Ecce], my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised on high and greatly exalted” (52:13). During the Gospel of St. John, we hear Pilate’s command to “Behold, the man!” [Ecce, homo!] (19:5). At the showing of the cross, the priest again calls us to look: “Behold, the wood of the cross!” [Ecce Lignum Crucis!]. And as at every Mass, at Good Friday’s liturgy the priest-celebrant shows us the host before communion, calling upon us to “Behold the Lamb of God” [Ecce, Agnus Dei].
So much to see—but only for those with eyes to see and ears to hear (Matthew 13:16-17). It’s this last command—“Behold the lamb of God!”—that we can focus on this upcoming Triduum to our benefit. For this gem of a phrase unlocks a great treasure of meaning in our liturgical and spiritual lives.
The Scholastic maxim that “grace builds upon nature” is a firm foundation from which to start our insights, for the natural world knows a great deal about lambs. In our Northern Hemisphere, at least, the wise farmer wishes for his lambs to be born in the spring, when grass begins to grow, water begins to flow, and light and warmth return. (Lambing in mid-winter is a much more difficult task.) And when these new lambs appear, they are the model of innocence, purity, and new life—as anyone who has held a newborn lamb, heard its newly discovered bleating, or watched its carefree jumping and playing can attest. Even the skies appreciate a lamb in their midst, as the springtime Aries constellation (the ram) takes center stage.
Lambs continue to figure prominently in the Old Testament. Consider Abel, who offered to God “the best” of the lambs of his herd—and was himself “sacrificed” to God for his actions. Abraham’s only son, Isaac, was led to the base of Mount Moriah (where Jerusalem would later sit) on a donkey, carried the wood of his own sacrifice up the hill, but at the last was replaced with a lamb hanging in a tree. Later still, God would commission Moses to offer “two yearling lambs as the sacrifice established for each day; one lamb in the morning and the other lamb at the evening twilight” (Exodus 29:38-9). Accordingly, the prophet Isaiah (as we’ll hear on Good Friday) will liken Jesus to “a lamb led to the slaughter” (53:7). And, as St. John will also tell us in his Good Friday gospel, Jesus the Lamb of God began his journey up Golgotha “about noon”
on the day of preparation for Passover (19:14)—the time when the Passover lambs began to be sacrificed in the Temple.
Of course, the cross is not the last word on God’s lamb. St. John continues to behold great sights in heaven—including “a Lamb that seemed to have been slain” (Revelation 5:6). Nevertheless, this heavenly lamb is described as “standing” “triumphant” amidst worshiping angels and elders at the throne. Near the end of the Book of Revelation, we’ll see the lamb not only standing but celebrating: making merry at his marriage to his bride, the Church (19:7-9).
To “Behold the Lamb of God,” then, is to behold a great deal about Christ. But the phrase is also a chance to consider our own lives through, with, and in him. Indeed, if what Gaudium et Spes teaches is correct— that “Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and his love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear” (22, emphasis added)—then to “Behold the Lamb of God” is to see something of ourselves in him.
We hear in the first verses of the Book of Genesis (1:27) how man was made in the “image and likeness” of God (don’t worry: if you haven’t read these lines from the beginning of the Bible recently, the Church will proclaim them as her first reading at the Easter Vigil). Sin, of course, effaces at least in part that divine image in us. The great restorer of that image is Christ. To adapt a phrase: Christ looked like us so that we
might look like him—a standing, victorious Lamb. And the font of that restoration is the womb of the Church. Herself born of the side of the Lamb upon the cross, the Church's womb—the baptismal font—regenerates divinity in our fallen humanity. “We men are conceived twice,” St. Didymus of Alexandria says in the Office of Readings: “to the human body we owe our first conception, to the divine Spirit, our second…. Visibly, through the ministry of priests, the font gives symbolic birth to our visible bodies. Invisibly, through the ministry of angels, the Spirit of God, whom even the mind’s eye cannot see, baptizes into himself both our souls and bodies, giving them a new birth” (Monday of the Sixth week of Easter). Our first gestation took place in the amniotic waters of our biological mothers: our new gestation takes place in the amniotic waters (amnos, some say, means “lamb”) of our supernatural Mother, the Church.
Whether you are 25, 45, 65, or 85, the sacred liturgy presents to attentive souls mysteries of great meaning. “Behold”—said four times on Good Friday—should make our ears perk up and our eyes light up. “Behold the Lamb of God” should draw us ever deeper into the reality of Christ our redeemer, and make us more aware of ourselves, those whom he came to redeem. As we celebrate Holy Week and the Sacred Paschal Triduum this year, may we enter its liturgies with eyes and ears wide open for a grace-filled encounter with the Lamb of God.
Readers’ Quiz On the Seasons of Lent and Easter
“The Paschal Mystery and its celebration constitutes the essence of Christian worship in its daily, weekly, and yearly unfolding” (Pope Paul VI, Mysterii Paschalis, promulgating the new Universal Roman Calendar). Few Catholics would dispute the Paschal Mystery’s prominence. But how familiar are we with the many liturgical details that present this mystery to us each year? Test your knowledge on the Lent and Easter seasons in this Adoremus readers’ quiz!
1. Which magisterial authority decreed that Easter is to be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox?
a. The Council of Nicaea (325).
b. Pope St. Leo the Great (r.440-461).
c. The Council of Trent (1545-63).
d. Pope Pius IX (r.1846-1878).
e. The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).
2. True or False: Just as during the Advent season, the playing of the organ and musical instruments, as well as the decoration of the altar with flowers, may only be done in moderation during Lent.
3. Crosses in the church can be covered:
a. Beginning Ash Wednesday.
b. On the Monday following Laetare Sunday.
c. Before the Mass of the Fifth Sunday of Lent.
d. After the Fifth Sunday of Lent.
e. Beginning on Palm Sunday.
4. The Chrism Mass, as its name suggests, finds the diocesan bishop consecrating the Sacred Chrism and blessing the other holy oils. What other mystery does the Chrism Mass celebrate?
a. The bishop as high priest of the local church.
b. The birth of the priesthood.
c. The commitment of service carried out by deacons.
d. The example of the evangelical counsels lived by consecrated persons.
e. The work of the laity in the mission of the Church.
5. When does the Church recommend that holy water stoups be emptied—or does she?
6. What hour does the Roman Missal recommend that the Good Friday liturgy begin?
a. 9 a.m.
b. Noon.
c. 3 p.m.
d. There is no recommended hour given.
7. What new manner for the priest-celebrant to adore Good Friday’s cross appeared in the 2011 Roman Missal?
a. He may prostrate himself before the cross.
b. He may approach the cross on his knees.
c. He may change into a purple chasuble.
d. He may remove his shoes.
e. He may wear a maniple.
8. How many crosses (or is it crucifixes?) may be used for the Good Friday adoration?
9. True or False: If no deacon is present at the Easter Vigil, the priest should carry the Paschal Candle into the church.
10. When is the double Alleluia used at the dismissal?
a. At the Easter Vigil only.
b. At the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday only.
c. During the Easter octave only.
d. Throughout the Easter season.
e. During the Easter octave and at Pentecost.
The sacred liturgy presents to attentive souls mysteries of great meaning. “Behold”—said four times on Good Friday— should make our ears perk up and our eyes light up. “Behold the Lamb of God” should draw us in ever deeper into the reality of Christ our redeemer, and make us more aware of ourselves, those whom he came to redeem.
illumined by the light of this single candle. The office became to be known as “Tenebrae,” which is the Latin word for “darkness,” and is taken from one of the responsories chanted during the celebration: Tenebrae factae sunt, dum crucifixissent Jesum—“Darkness covered the earth when Jesus was crucified.”
Practically speaking, the office of Tenebrae as known in its traditional form did not survive the reform of the Roman Breviary following the Second Vatican Council. However, in many places, devotional attachment to Tenebrae still exists. Several cathedral churches and indeed smaller parishes still offer the Office of Tenebrae either in its traditional form, or in a modified form to reflect the modern breviary, or even as a sort of para-liturgical service utilizing elements both old and new. In any case, it seems worthwhile to consider various ways this practice can be continued in parishes today.
The most common experience of this office in the modern world actually occurs on the evening of the Wednesday of Holy Week. This is likely due to two converging dynamics. On one hand, celebrating the office at night when the Church windows are darkened enhances the elements of light and darkness that play out as the office progresses. Also, prior to the reform of the Roman Breviary, it was very common that the offices of Matins and Lauds be anticipated the night before. In fact, it is arguable that with the exception of monastic communities, when the Office of Tenebrae was carried out publicly prior to the reform, it likely took place in the evening. Celebrating the office or a similar service on the Wednesday evening of Holy Week also avoids conflicting with Mass times during the Triduum.
In this case, it seems preferable that unless the office is being celebrated fully according to the traditional rite and in Latin, an abbreviated para-liturgical service be utilized instead of the actual texts of the Liturgy of the Hours, so as to not displace the proper celebration of the office.
Tenebrae Rehearsal
While some parishes still have a traditional Tenebrae hearse, many parishes do not (if they ever owned one to begin with). Purchasing a new hearse is often very costly. So, an alternative could be to utilize any dignified candelabra the parish owns and place it either
on a pedestal or the communion railing, if possible. Placing it on the altar itself should be avoided.
An office could be arranged with the singing of hymns, the recitation or chanting of psalms, and the reading of lessons. Since most traditional candelabra are equipped with seven candle sockets, one possible arrangement of this service is as follows. The office is divided into three nocturns, each consisting of a psalm, a lesson, and a hymn or motet sung by the choir as a responsory. The psalms could be selected from the more penitential psalmody or from the offices used during Holy Week. The readings of Tenebrae were famously taken from the Book of Lamentations.
A candle could be extinguished after each psalm and each responsory, leaving one single candle lit after all three nocturns are finished. At this point, the congregation kneels, and
recommendation seems to be more common since the sound more easily emulates an earthquake.
Of course, a sermon or reflection could also be inserted after the final nocturn but before the office concludes. Though, in practice, I have found the office is very impactful without a sermon and allows the faithful to slip into prayer as the church fades into darkness.
“Several cathedral churches and indeed smaller parishes still offer the Office of Tenebrae either in its traditional form, or in a modified form to reflect the modern breviary, or even as a sort of para-liturgical service utilizing elements both old and new.”
Tenebrae x Three
Perhaps a more preferable approach to Tenebrae today would be to utilize the Liturgy of the Hours. This is the practice of my own parish, the Basilica of Saint Mary in Natchez, MS. In our parish, Tenebrae is celebrated on all three mornings of the Sacred Triduum. We use the text of the Liturgy of the Hours for the Office of Readings and Lauds, and the choir chants the Latin responsories which correspond to the responsories given in the breviary for the appropriate day.
For all three of these days, we place a large seven-branched candelabra on the communion railing on the epistle side (or right side of the sanctuary). The two hours of Office of Readings and Lauds are celebrated continuously, beginning with the invitatory and the office hymn. Three psalms are chanted and then the first candle is extinguished. The second and third candles are extinguished after the first
everyone recites the Lord’s Prayer as the final candle is removed from the sanctuary. The strepitus is sounded, then the candle is returned followed by a final collect (which could be the collect of the day). There is no directive on how to make the strepitus, but some common practices are to drop an object, slam a door, or have the faithful remove their hymnals and bang them on the back of the pews. This last
and second responsory to the office lessons. We omit the Lauds hymn, and then chant the psalmody, with the fourth, fifth and sixth candles being extinguished after each psalm and canticle.
During the responsory at lauds, the altar candles are extinguished, leaving only the 7th candle remaining lit in the church. This candle is removed by a server during the Benedictus
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Please see TENEBRAE on page 5
Tenebrae is an ancient service of the Church, and in many ways it is the simplicity of the service which gives Tenebrae its appeal. Celebrating the office deliberately and with simplicity gives it a noble character, and corresponds to the solemn nature of all the Triduum liturgies.
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When the office of Tenebrae was celebrated solemnly, a 15-branch triangular candelabra was erected in the sanctuary, known as the “Tenebrae hearse.” These candles would be gradually extinguished through the course of the office until the final central candle remained.
Praying Toward the Sermon with Adrienne Von Speyr
By Father Benjamin A. Roberts
The mystical theologian Adrienne Von Speyr (1902-1967), whom I regard as the mother of my theology of preaching, teaches us to pray. In With God and With Men, a collection of her prayers, Von Speyr offers a prayer entitled, “Before the Sermon.” In this essay, I will examine this prayer’s structure, provide a theological overview, and explore some of the implications for the theology of preaching.
Structure
When we look at the structure of this prayer, Von Speyr begins by invoking the preaching ministry of Jesus, “When you preached on earth, Lord.” Then follow six petitions. The first is a petition for the preacher, “Lord, bless now the words of the preacher.” The second petition, “But give to us, his hearers,” asks for a blessing for the assembly. Unity is the theme of the third petition, “Instead let the hour become a holy hour,” requesting that hearers and the preacher experience a spiritual union. The fourth petition, which includes, “allow it to work in us,” calls for transformation, while the fifth petition, “Let us not forget,” appeals for remembrance and edification. The sixth and final petition is for mission and calls for a new life of faith and prayer. In summary, the prayer invokes the preaching ministry of Jesus and prays for the preacher, the assembly, for unity, transformation, remembrance and edification, and empowerment for mission.
The organization of this prayer both reveals and supports the rich theological content. In the next section, I will provide an overview of the major theological themes embedded in this text.
Theological Overview
Prayer texts, like preaching texts, reflect theological and pastoral commitments. In this section, I will
Continued from TENEBRAE, page 4
and taken to the sacristy. The petitions and the Lord’s Prayer are chanted, and then all kneel in silence before the strepitus is sounded (we opt to slam the door to the sacristy). Finally, the seventh candle is returned to its place and the prayer to conclude the office is chanted, followed by the blessing and dismissal. To keep with tradition, the officiant only wears surplice and stole (omitting the cope).
When we first started offering these offices during the Triduum, I wondered if many people would come to more than one service a day (i.e., the Tenebrae service and the Mass of the day). But, our attendance has increased every year to about 50 people. Celebrating these offices each day of the Triduum has had a great spiritual impact on those who attend, and on me personally, since it allows the days of the Triduum to receive an even greater attention and significance, which really was the intention behind this service in the traditional sense.
“ What should be avoided is turning this service into an entirely choral event, like a concert, which would divorce the service from its real purpose as an office of the Liturgy of the Hours. ”
Practical Simplicity
The difficulty parishes will have in preparing these services is the limited resources available, particularly for the chanted office. The settings we use are composed and printed in-house, but not all parishes will have the ability to make their own settings. The Mundelein Psalter provides simple settings which can be used for Lauds, but this text does not provide settings for Office of Readings. One approach that could be taken would be
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Adrienne Von Speyr’s “Before the Sermon” invokes the preaching ministry of Jesus and prays for the preacher, the assembly, for unity, transformation, remembrance and edification, and empowerment for mission. It is, in other words, a more than suitable prayer to hear a homily at Mass more fruitfully.
explore the theological depths of Von Speyr’s prayer, “Before the Sermon.” The prayer’s structure provides the basis for this exploration. The opening of the text is rooted in the Christological image of Jesus the Preacher. Von Speyr begins with Christ, who reveals the face of the Father and proclaims the profound mystery of his identity and mission in the categories of daily life. She offers an implicit homiletical Christology in which Jesus reaches hearts, moves or transforms them, and invites the hearers to discipleship and mission.
At the very beginning of this prayer, Von Speyr proclaims the power of Jesus’ preaching and, by extension, proposes the power of liturgical preaching.
The power of liturgical preaching, which is not the only form of preaching in the Church, is exercised by those who have received the mission to preach through the sacrament of Holy Orders. The theological framework that Von Speyr commences with Christology now moves into the theology of ministry and Orders. In asking for the blessing of the preacher, the prayer appeals for three “forgettings.” The prayer begs for the preacher to have the grace to forget himself, forget his unworthiness, and forget his goals and plans. In forgetting himself, the preacher joins with St. John the Baptist who seeks to decrease
for the office hymn to be taken from the newlypublished Divine Office Hymnal (GIA). The psalmody at the Office of Readings can easily be sung to a straight-tone. In fact, this is already the custom in many monasteries that regularly chant the office commonly. If parishes do not have the resources to find or chant the more difficult settings of the responsories, these could also be sung to a straight-tone. Alternatively, the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours provides leeway for these texts to be replaced. It could be possible for a parish choir to sing some motet or hymn instead, provided the text is appropriate.
Then, the Mundelein Psalter could be utilized for the remainder of the office, which could emphasize the role of Lauds as one of the two hinges of the day, giving it a greater dignity by using more elaborate psalm tones, while still remaining approachable to non-musicians who will attend. What should be avoided is turning this service into an entirely choral event, like a concert, which would divorce the service from its real purpose as an office of the Liturgy of the Hours. If a choral service is preferred, it would be better for parishes to plan a more para-liturgical service, perhaps utilizing the structure given above.
It should also be noted that the Congregation for Divine Worship published a schema several years ago which provides a two-year cycle for the lessons at Office of Readings.* In this schema, the alternative scripture passages given for the Triduum are taken from the Lamentations of Jeremiah, thus preserving the custom of hearing from this unique scriptural text during Holy Week. We make use of these alternative readings in our celebration of Tenebrae in the parish.
Though the office of Tenebrae has a certain dramatic character, I would caution against the temptation to make this service into a light-show, using electronic spotlights or other novel ideas.
so that Christ may increase. In forgetting his own unworthiness, the preacher stands with St. Juan Diego at Tepeyac, St. Bernadette at Lourdes, with St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Augustine, and every preacher who has gazed with reverential fear at the prospect of speaking the Word of the Lord. Homiletical humility is not a virtue limited to the sacrament of Orders, but one that must certainly be exercised by those in Orders. Extending the forgetting of self and unworthiness, Von Speyr petitions for the preacher to forget his goals, plans, and intentions. The preacher is invited to join with St. Joseph, with Our Lady, with St. Luke, St. Peter, St. Paul, and all those whose lives and plans have been interrupted and transformed by the call of God. The mission to preach requires a frequent and personal renunciation of power because the words preached are surrendered to the hearers for their reception and interpretation. The grace of forgetting oneself, one’s unworthiness, and one’s goals, plans, and intentions is begged of Jesus and made possible by the gift of the Spirit.
The invocation of the Spirit, located near the center of the prayer, links the prayer for the preacher and the prayer for the hearers. Von Speyr invites the Spirit to “pervade” the preacher to become “a true mediator.” In this Pneumatological (Spirit-focused) section, she appeals for “a good spirit” for the hearers so that they may listen to the word and engage in their own acts of “forgetting.” The acts of the hearers correspond to the acts of forgetting by the preacher examined above.
With the petition for the hearers, Von Speyr transitions from Pneumatology to the theology of the assembly, part of ecclesiology. As the Church responds to the kenotic (self-emptying) gift of Christ, the hearers respond to the kenotic gift of the preacher to receive the preached word. To be truly receptive, the members of the assembly must forget their criticism, their preferences, and even their opinion of the preacher.
Please see PREACH, page 6
We should remember that this is an ancient service of the Church, and in many ways it is the simplicity of the service that gives Tenebrae its appeal. Celebrating the office deliberately and with simplicity gives it a noble character, and corresponds to the solemn nature of all the Triduum liturgies.
Shadows and Light
Just as our churches are stripped more and more of external decoration during the Triduum liturgies, the simplicity of Tenebrae and the continual plunging into darkness is another way we can shed off the more elaborate and decorative forms of worship used during the year, so we can better enter into the mystery of the Lord’s Passion.
In many ways, by attending this ancient service, the faithful can take their own part in following Our Lord to Calvary and to the tomb. We can imagine ourselves in Gethsemane, in the house of Caiaphas, and in the tomb—stripped of everything he had. Our Lord’s Passion was underscored by his loneliness—but also by his constant connection to the Father. In the same way, by celebrating this service reverently, we can also participate in the last moments of Our Lord’s earthly life and focus on what is most important—the Lord’s work of redemption, his sacrifice, and the love of the Father.
Father Aaron Williams is a priest of the Diocese of Jackson, MS. He is a graduate of Notre Dame Seminary (New Orleans, LA) and the Liturgical Institute (Mundelein, IL), and holds a Masters in Liturgical Studies. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for Catholic Liturgy.
* For more information, see https://www.vaticannews.va/it/vaticano/ news/2024-12/roche-giubileo-formazione-preghiera-chiesa.html and http://notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/pdf/notitiae-1976-office-of-readings-2-year-cycle.pdf
The hearers engage in a frequent and personal renunciation of preference in order to receive the words of the sermon.
The personal renunciation of the preacher and the hearers allows them to be united in the Spirit. A theology of unity, also within the scope of ecclesiology, reflects the unity of the hearers and the preacher, who are configured to Christ and to each other through their two participations in the one priesthood of Christ. In a similar way to the royal priests and the ministerial priest joining together to offer the sacrifice on the altar, the royal priests and the ministerial priest are united in the homiletical act. Preaching is relational and builds the relationship between the preacher and the hearers.
In the relationship between the hearers and the preacher, the hearers engage in active reception. The hearers welcome the Word. The Word works within them. They carry the word and that builds the Church in their lives. While Von Speyr does not make a specific reference here to Our Lady, these are certainly Marian dispositions and actions. Von Speyr’s Mariological move in this prayer unites the spiritual and the concrete. The words of the sermon spoken by the preacher are received and incarnated in the daily lives of the hearers. The grace of the sermon extends through the week.
The extension of sermonic grace continues through memory. The theological importance of memory includes the liturgical anamnesis and the memory of homiletical content. Reflection and memory precede building. It is important to note that, for Von Speyr, the memory that builds is the memory not of knowledge, but of love. The memory of the love experienced in the homily is what builds.
The concluding section of the prayer demonstrates both a theology of mission and eschatology. Von Speyr prays for present light, future glory, and for this homily to deepen faith and strengthen prayer and service in love.
Von Speyr offers an abundance of theological riches in this prayer. From the Christological starting point to the concluding focus on the Church’s mission here on earth and our ultimate destiny in the afterlife, several of the great themes of systematic theology dwell in this oration. The theological categories resident in this prayer offer several insights for development in the theology of preaching.
Theology of Preaching
The systematic theologian performs the task of rendering intelligible the data of divine revelation and magisterial teaching. The homiletical theologian seeks to render those same sources preachable and receivable. In her prayer “Before the Sermon,” Von Speyr provides a banquet for the homiletical theological feast. Among the main dishes on the table are the role of the preacher, the role of the hearer, and the mission and potential of the homily.
The role of the preacher occupies a critical space in the theology of preaching. There are questions of identity, authority, technique, training, mission, and a myriad of other issues. The preacher envisioned in this prayer is blessed by an encounter with Christ which is facilitated by continual personal renunciation. The preacher divests himself of his privileged position in order to offer an acceptable sacrifice in the sermon. The preacher speaks a word that is awaited in hope and “laden with…love” and “filled with…wisdom.” The preacher possesses, as one who has stewardship, the love of Christ and the wisdom of the Spirit. The preacher speaks a word of hope from the pulpit because his ministry beyond the pulpit cultivates hope. The preacher envisioned and expected in Von Speyr’s prayer is a priest or deacon filled with a love that flows from encountering Christ and his people. He is filled with love through kenotic renunciation that conforms him and confirms him in hope. This preacher, a man burning with hope, offers words that are received in hope by the hearers.
The role of the hearers also holds a central place in the theology of preaching. As Von Speyr prays, the hearer holds the position of control. The hearer determines what content will be received and what aspects of presentation will be effective. The petition for the hearers and for unity, transformation, and mission all hinge on homiletical receptivity. This means that a critical component of homiletical effectiveness or fruitfulness is within the control of the hearer. And that also means that the hearer must be respected, honored, and loved if the preacher expects his words to be heard,
The mission to preach requires a frequent and personal renunciation of power because the words preached are surrendered to the hearers for their reception and interpretation. The grace of forgetting oneself, one’s unworthiness, and one’s goals, plans, and intentions is begged of Jesus and made possible by the gift of the Spirit.
Christ reveals the face of the Father and proclaims the profound mystery of his identity and mission in the categories of daily life. Jesus reaches hearts, moves or transforms them, and invites the hearers to discipleship and mission.
received, accepted, and effective. The hearer, envisioned and expected in Von Speyr’s prayer, receives in hope the words of the homily, which are offered in love.
The homily offers words of hope flowing through love. The nature, mission, and power of the homily, as expressed throughout this prayer text, is to unify, edify, vivify, and sanctify. The homily has the power to bring a community together, especially in moments of crisis. Preaching can build a community and bring life. Ultimately, the homily and the ministry of preaching leads to holiness, to a deeper union with Christ, a more fervent participation in the sacraments, and a more expansive expression of charity. The power that preaching has is the power for which Von Speyr prays.
Invitation to Mystery
The prayer of Adrienne Von Speyr, “Before the Sermon,” invites us into the mystery of preaching. She provides us with a rich feast of theological delicacies and offers us an encounter with the preacher, the hearers, and the anticipated fruits of the homily. Her prayer presents another source for theological reflection on the ministry and mystery of preaching. When we pray with her, and make her words our own, we can hear the echo of the preaching of Jesus Christ who invites us to follow and live for him.
Father Benjamin Roberts, a priest of the Diocese of Charlotte, NC, ordained in 2009, is pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Monroe, NC. He holds a DMin in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, MO, and currently serves as the President of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics. He is the author of The Voice of the Bridegroom: Preaching as an Expression of Spousal Love from Wipf & Stock.
Before the Sermon
By Adrienne Von Speyr
When you preached on earth, Lord you found the divine words that were able to reach the hearts of your hearers. Your truth moved them deeply and prompted them to follow you and to live for you.
Lord, bless now the words of the preacher. Allow him to forget himself, his mediocrity, the effect he would like to produce, so that he can speak solely and in all truth of you and your doctrine.
So that he can say the things all his listeners await, something that truly comes from you, laden with your love, filled with your wisdom, which is not the wisdom of this world.
Grant, Lord, that the Holy Spirit may pervade him, so that he may become a true mediator of your word. But give to us, his hearers, a good spirit, so that we may really hear your word and not simply indulge our mania for criticism— in our irritation at the mediocrity of what he has said and at the faulty manner in which he expressed it— to the point where we see only the preacher and his weakness, and nothing more of your word and Spirit.
Instead, let this hour become a holy hour in which the mediator and the hearer are united in your Spirit.
Help us to welcome your word as the living word of God and allow it to work in us, so that we may take it home with us; so that a bit of the Church may spring up wherever we are; so that our week may be filled with the gift your grace gives us today.
Let us not forget what we have heard but rather build on it; give us the love it takes to build, let this love work in us.
Remain the light of our days, become the goal of our love, and bestow on us through this homily a new life in your faith, a life that is both prayer and work in your love. Amen.
AB/WIKIPEDIA. SERMON ON THE MOUNT (1877), BY CARL BLOCH
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How to Battle for the Paschal Mystery: From Lent to Easter
By Christopher Carstens
Contend, O Lord, with my contenders; fight those who fight me.
—Entrance antiphon for Monday of Holy Week
Less than four months after the successful Allied D-Day landing on the beaches of Normandy, Operation Market Garden drove ground forces through occupied Netherlands and, with the help of British and American paratroopers, seized a number of bridges along the way—and ultimately battled for the Arnhem bridge over the Rhine into Germany. It was an ambitious plan, carried out bravely, with battles won and lives lost. But its goal, capturing the Rhine’s bridge into Germany, was unsuccessful. It was, as one British general feared, “a bridge too far.”
Lent’s battle for the paschal bridge appears equally ambitious. We are in a life-and-death struggle—a “stupendous combat” (Easter Sequence). Our victory lies on the other side of an arduous climb (“the Holy mountain of Easter,” Paschalis Sollemnitatis, 6). We are bombarded at every moment with the deadly temptation to succumb, to wonder if we, too, are attempting a bridge too far, with the Devil constantly standing in our way. Spanning the abyss of hell is dangerous work, and the stakes are never higher than during Lent’s lead-up to Easter.
Yet we have a Captain leading our division against the opposing legions. Indeed, He has done, and continues to do, the majority of the bridge-securing work. He knows what He is doing and where He is going with the perfect battle plan. As we will eventually pray after Easter during the Mass for the Ascension of the Lord, “where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope.”1 In addition to our Captain, a heavenly host of angels and an army of victorious saints accompany us, allied in our fight and flanking us on either side. We are also equipped by the Church with “weapons of self-restraint” (as the Opening Prayer for Ash Wednesday says), with fasting, with almsgiving, with prayer, and—perhaps most important—with the sacraments and sacramentals.
Ours is not a bridge too far—if we follow the plan laid out for us by the Church during Lent and, especially, during Holy Week. Christ and the members of his Mystical Body, aided by our self-discipline and sacramental weapons, will help us win through to the end. Let’s look at each of these combat-ready components of the liturgy generally and how they appear during Lent.
Angels, Saints, and Sinners
Jesus truly is my personal Lord and Savior, but He fulfills this role in a corporate capacity, since He came to serve all and has made us each related to one another through him. Each of us is an individual cell of a larger corpus, or body, the Mystical Body. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle recognized that man by nature is a social animal. Christian faith recognizes the same truth: individuals are born into a body and are saved as members of a body. Thus, we can rely on several communities to help us reach salvation—the hierarchy of angels, the Communion of Saints, and our own sacred society here on earth.
As for the first of these, the angels, as purely spiritual creatures, possess minds and wills and constantly behold the face of God, worshiping him, honoring him, and serving him. They possess an extraordinary track record as God’s commandos in the field. In the Old Covenant, for example, “they closed the earthly paradise; protected Lot; saved Hagar and her child; stayed Abraham’s hand; communicated the law by their ministry; led the People of God; announced births and callings; and assisted the prophets” (CCC, 332).2 But their work continued into the New Testament as well, bringing great tidings to the shepherds and Mary and even poor, dumbfounded Zechariah, St. John the Baptist’s father. Fortunately for us, they also show up for regular duty throughout Lent, in the same way they came to Christ’s aid during his forty days in the desert. We hear in the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent that after Jesus resists the Devil’s three temptations, “angels came and ministered to him” (Matthew 4:11; Mark 1:13). At Lent’s end, the Church recounts how an angel appears to strengthen Christ in his agony in the garden (see Luke 22:43).
Saints also accompany Jesus during his earthly journey to the Paschal Mystery, just as they support us during our liturgical celebration of the same mystery. His parents, for one, were particularly holy. For example, Mary, who, following the announcement by Gabriel (another angel!), offered her fiat and ushered in a new creation, is the pinnacle of human holiness. Likewise, the “just man” (see Matthew 1:19) Joseph was found worthy and thus chosen by God to wed Mary and to guard and protect the incarnate Son of God. We can’t forget Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, whom the Lord proclaimed to be “the greatest ever born of women” (see Matthew 11:11; Luke 7:28). The
struggling along the way—are a constant support to each other. In this world, the Church will always be a mixed bag of saints and sinners—but mostly sinners. Our mutual assistance should be a great comfort for us, just as it was for Jesus, as we travel with others in the Mystical Body. Indeed, liturgically speaking, we form a bond with our fellow pilgrims and, as the Catechism notes, “in the celebration of the sacraments it is thus the whole assembly that is leitourgos, each according to his function, but in the ‘unity of the Spirit’ who acts in all” (CCC, 1144). Every man, woman, and child is enlisted as a unified army in retaking the paschal bridge. No one who is successful goes it alone.
“Spanning the abyss of hell is dangerous work, and the stakes are never higher than during Lent’s lead-up to Easter.”
Penance: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving
Now let’s look at some of the most effective weapons at our disposal during our Lenten battle. The Opening Prayer for Ash Wednesday makes clear the struggle opening before us, as well as the means to win through to the end. The priest prays: “Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.”3 Why will fasting and self-restraint serve us as sacred weapons as we push to the Paschal Mystery? Once again, we look to Jesus. The Lenten liturgy recounts how Christ’s saving work begins with
“Every man, woman, and child is enlisted as a unified army in retaking the paschal bridge. No one who is successful goes it alone.”
apostles, too, served as dependable aides-de-camp for Christ during his mission on earth. Despite their slow learning (see Matthew 13:36; Luke 24:25), human weakness, and alternate bouts of fear and rashness in the face of danger, these twelve men served as supreme confidants of Christ. As saints in the making, they should remind us of ourselves, and after Pentecost they should inspire us to be men and women with a passion for mission. Moses and Elijah, as we’ve already seen, also appear in cameos to “game-plan” with Jesus on Mount Tabor. Such a cast of supporting Gospel characters shows that holy people radiate God and thus show the way to heavenly brilliance.
But even those not yet perfectly holy—those of us
fasting and prayer. On the First Sunday of Lent, we hear that “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry” (Matthew 4:1–2; Luke 4:1–2). Returning to Mass for Ash Wednesday, we hear the Church recall the prophet Joel’s prescription to return to God “with fasting, and weeping, and mourning” in its First Reading (Joel 2:12), only to listen to Jesus elaborate on the penitential practices of prayer and fasting in the Gospel (Matthew 6:1–6, 16–18). Thus, as Jesus has done, so we do.
The Christian’s three principal penitential practices, especially during Lent, are fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, “which express conversion in relation to oneself [i.e., fasting], to God [prayer], and to others [almsgiving]” (CCC, 1434). But the Church offers many more ways of expressing interior penance, including: “efforts at reconciliation with one’s neighbor, tears of repentance, concern for the salvation of one’s neighbor, the intercession of
We hear in the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent that after Jesus resists the Devil’s three temptations, “angels came and ministered to him.” At Lent’s end, the Church recounts how an angel appears to strengthen Christ in his agony in the garden.
AB/WIKIART. CHRIST IN THE WILDERNESS (1872), BY IVAN KRAMSKOY
The Church offers many more ways of expressing interior penance besides prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, including: “concern for the salvation of one’s neighbor, the intercession of the saints, the practice of charity, gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor.” The Catechism also includes reading Scripture, and praying the Liturgy of the Hours and the Lord's Prayer.
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the saints, and the practice of charity, …gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise and defense of justice and right (cf. Amos 5:24; Isaiah 1:17), …the admission of faults to one’s brethren, fraternal correction, revision of life, examination of conscience, spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering, endurance of persecution for the sake of righteousness” (CCC, 1434–1435).
The Catechism also includes the surest way of penance: “Taking up one’s cross each day and following Jesus,” as well as reading Scripture, and praying the Liturgy of the Hours and the Lord’s Prayer (CCC, 1435, 1437). These penitential acts and many more besides serve as effective means by which man defends himself and gains ground in the battle against Satan. It may be strange to think that we have the ability to go on the offensive against the Devil, but as our discussion that follows will show, penance allied to the sacraments serve as a one-two punch to the diabolical. There are, in other words, a multitude of penitential practices to punish the legion of demons who stand in the way of our taking heaven’s gate.
Sacraments and Sacramentals
Curiously enough, the Catechism also includes the Eucharist as a means of penance, “for in it is made present the sacrifice of Christ which has reconciled us with God” (CCC, 1436). Of course, the most obvious weapon at hand is the sacrament of penance, a particularly privileged means to encounter Christ and receive his forgiveness and saving grace. Both the sacrament of the Eucharist and the sacrament of penance throw the enemy into retreat mode.
Spiritual battle is largely a matter of ballistics training, for as Christians we have within our grasp those things we can hurl before the enemy to clear our path to holiness. Ballistic finds its origin in the Greek root ballein, which means “to hurl, toss, or throw,” and it is a word that has landed in our Christian vocabulary in several ways. For instance, the Devil “is the one who ‘throws himself across’ God’s plan and his work of salvation accomplished in Christ”—he is dia-bolos (CCC, 2851). But we ought not to fear, because the Greek word also shows up in the term for exorcism in the New Testament: Christ himself will “throw the Devil out”—ex ballein. And this same power to cast out the diabolical and win heaven shows up in a third example, the sacraments, which are a type of supernatural symbol that “throws together”—symballein—heaven and earth in sensible signs.
With all these ballistics careening around in Scripture, however, it is most important to remember that the Paschal Christ, his Mystical Body of angels, saints, and sinners, and our own expressions of interior penance all exist today sacramentally. That is, each of these otherwise invisible and undetectable realities are “thrown together”—symbolized—in what can be seen, heard, felt, smelt, and tasted. That the sacraments come
to us in such a human way, though, is no accident, for our present age, occurring after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and before Christ’s Second Coming, is called “the Age of the Church.” In this age, the Catechism explains, “Christ now lives and acts in and with his Church, in a new way appropriate to this new age. He acts through the sacraments” (1076).
“ There are a multitude of penitential practices to punish the legion of demons who stand in the way of our taking heaven’s gate.”
The first “sacrament” of his presence, however, is not one of the seven we find in our catechism; rather, it—quite literally—embodies all of them: the Mystical Body. Invoking a prayer used during the Easter Vigil, the Second Vatican Council reminds us that “it was from the side of Christ as He slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth ‘the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.’”4 That is to say: as the first Adam lay sleeping in a garden and his side was opened and Eve, the mother of all the natural-born living, was taken forth, so now Jesus, the Second Adam, as he lies sleeping on a tree, has his side opened only to see emerge the Church, the mother of all of those born into a new supernatural life in Christ. For this reason, the Church is Jesus’ “sacrament” in this age, his Body in Mystery, carrying on his saving work of throwing together heaven and earth in symbolic sacraments.
But, as we’ve noted, the Mystical Body as the main sacrament of Christ doesn’t imply that we’ve thrown out the traditional seven sacraments. These, too, are filled with Jesus. Doctor of the Church St. Leo the Great (d. 461) tells us in a homily on Jesus’ Ascension that “our Redeemer’s visible presence has passed into the sacraments.”5 Another Doctor of the Church, St. Albert the Great (d. 1280), likened the Eucharist (and, by extension, the other sacraments) to the “the fruit of the tree of life”—that is, the Cross.6 Like the Mystical Body, then, the sacraments join Jesus to us, giving us his very life and power, for our journey into the Easter Mystery. The same is true in a lesser way when it comes to the Church’s sacramentals (e.g., blessed ashes, holy water, and palms) and her devotions (e.g., the Stations of the Cross). Even “sacramental things”—candles, words, church windows, feast days, bells, sacred music, vestments, liturgical colors—join us to Christ and his Church. Whether in the form of sacraments, sacramentals, or sacramental things, each of these symbols in its own way makes Christ’s paschal action present today so that “the faithful are enabled to lay hold upon them and become filled with saving grace.”7
As any Catholic well practiced in the liturgy knows, everything we’ve discussed so far—the saints, penitential practices, and sacraments—are present in the life of faith and its liturgical expression generally. But as our Lenten march through the desert draws to a close, we come to see how they truly come to life during the Holy Week liturgies, beginning with Palm Sunday.
Conclusion
In a series of radio broadcasts during the Second World War, C. S. Lewis described our world as “enemyoccupied territory,” and Christianity as “the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”8 He has landed indeed, infiltrating Satan’s battle lines, and in his body—his “chariot,” as St. Ephrem said—he is on a mission to conquer hell and reclaim man and all creation for his Father.
“Our Redeemer’s visible presence has passed into the sacraments ”
Holy Week makes Christ’s saving mission present. Its liturgies are our chance to aid him as his soldiers. Following Christ, accompanied by his angels and saints, fortified by penance, and armed with sacramental signs, we battle with him unto his victory, and ours.
“Our pilgrimage on earth,” St. Augustine says, “cannot be exempt from trial. We progress by means of trial. No one knows himself except through trial, or receives a crown except after victory, or strives except against an enemy or temptations.”9 Christ’s enemy is engaged during Holy Week, and the battle against him is won at the zenith of the Paschal Triduum’s bridge.
The above text is an excerpt from Christopher Carstens’s A Devotional Journey into the Easter Mystery, available from Sophia Institute Press.
Christopher Carstens is editor of Adoremus Bulletin.
1. Roman Missal, Collect for the Ascension for the Mass during the day.
2. See Job 38:7 (where angels are called “sons of God”); Gen. 3:24; 19; 21:17; 22:11; Acts 7:53; Exod. 23:20–23; Judg. 13; 6:11–24; Isa. 6:6; 1 Kings 19:5.
3. Roman Missal, Collect for Ash Wednesday.
4. Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium (December 4, 1963), no. 5.
5. St. Leo the Great, Office of Readings for Friday, Easter Week VI, vol. II, 937.
6. St. Albert the Great, Office of Readings for November 15 (St. Albert’s feast day), vol. IV, 1560.
7. Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 102.
8. These broadcasts formed the basis of what he would later publish in his 1952 book, Mere Christianity (Westwood, NJ: Barbour, 1952). The quote here comes from page 40 of the text.
9. St. Augustine, Office of Readings for Sunday, Lent Week I, vol. II, 87.
In a series of radio broadcasts during the Second World War, C. S. Lewis described our world as “enemy-occupied territory,” and Christianity as “the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.” He has landed indeed, infiltrating Satan’s battle lines, and in his body he is on a mission to conquer hell and reclaim man and all creation for his Father. Holy Week makes Christ’s saving mission present.
The Baptismal Font: Christian Pilgrimage in the Year of Jubilee
free-standing baptistery of San Giovanni in the Piazza del Duomo,
in shape and adorned with the
17-foot-tall
is
edifice—and even more modest ones consisting of varying designs, sizes, and degrees of gran
deur—proclaim the profound nature of the sacrament of
and provide an opportunity for further reflection on the nature of Christian pilgrimage.
By Michael Raia
When thinking of baptismal fonts as a source for Christian pilgrimage, many Catholics undoubtedly are at a loss connecting the idea of a pool of water to the great tradition of undertaking a holy journey, whether it be along the Camino de Santiago Compostela in Spain or the yearly journey of faithful Catholics to St. Peter’s in Rome. Yet, this is exactly what Pope Francis has in mind. In his recent Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025, Spes Non Confundit (Hope Does Not Disappoint), the Holy Father writes at length about the traditional octagonal baptismal fonts and cites the example of the font found in St. John Lateran in Rome. This octagonal shape, Pope Francis writes, “was intended to symbolize that Baptism is the dawn of the ‘eighth day,’ the day of the resurrection, a day that transcends the normal, weekly passage of time, opening it to the dimension of eternity and to life everlasting: the goal to which we tend on our earthly pilgrimage (cf. Romans 6:22).” The font in the cathedral of Rome and others like it of many designs, sizes, and varying degrees of grandeur in churches around the world, proclaim the profound nature of the sacrament of Baptism as the beginning of all Christian pilgrimage.
Pilgrim Church
Indeed, this aspect of beginning, genesis, is intentionally woven throughout the rites and links the pilgrimage in faith of every Christian to our first father, Adam, and the new Adam, Jesus Christ. The Church is constantly and simultaneously looking back in history and forward to eternity, as all is in the divine present of the liturgy; not only is beginning a theme, but entrance, or initiation, which implies a final destination and a journey as well. The theological and Scriptural language of the baptismal rites, as well as the buildings and furnishings in and around which they take place, draw from a rich typological tradition the Church has formed from this perspective. From the Pauline image of entering into Christ’s death in the hope of also sharing in the life of his Resurrection, since the earliest centuries of the faith, the baptistry has called to mind the Garden of Eden: a place of harmony with the Creator until sin led to humanity’s banishment. With the gates of paradise closed, mankind was left to wander in waiting for a savior who would deny death that final word and offer a new kind of journey back into communion. O felix culpa—O happy fault!
The theology of baptism is inextricably linked to the creation accounts spanning seven days as a first bookend to the unfolding salvation history, and eternity, described in the book of Revelation as the eighth day. As Pope Francis puts it, because we are baptized into new life in Christ, death does not have the final word: “The reality of death, as a painful separation from those dearest to us, cannot be mitigated by empty rhetoric. The Jubilee, however, offers us the opportunity to appreciate anew, and with immense gratitude, the gift of the new life that we have received in baptism, a life capable of
transfiguring death’s drama.” Through baptism, we return to the primal innocence of our first parents in Eden. Indeed, the Garden is one of the primary images of a baptistry in a church, not merely a depiction from a chronological or mythological past, but restored and with access reopened by the Paschal Mystery of Christ as paradise, awaiting those to whom baptism and the life of faith that hinge on that great mystery is bestowed. Death and life are seen side by side: the watery grave and the waters of chaos through which the Savior leads his people to new life. Creator and creation are in harmony once again, with the liturgy providing a look ahead to the restoration of all creation by way of a new heaven and new earth yet to come.
The notion of baptism as a kind of pilgrimage is also suggested in other typological images of passage offered in the Order of Baptism and especially linked to water: the Great Flood, the crossing of the Red Sea by Moses, the baptism of the Lord in the Jordan by John, and the piercing of his heart on the cross after his death which produced a flow of blood and water, from which, according to St. John Chrysostom, the Church was born. In addition, the Great Commission serves as a foundational pilgrimage of the Christian life here on earth, as baptism is only the beginning of the life of faith that must be lived. Evangelization as a kind of pilgrimage is not only implied, it is commanded: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Each time seeing a baptismal font is an opportunity to remember the tremendous gift of our own baptism, that we have been rejoined to friendship with God the Father in Jesus Christ and made heirs to eternity in paradise. We are also dutybound to extend this gift and an invitation to the wedding feast of the Lamb to all who will hear, and these encounters help frame the picture of our lives as Christian pilgrims. The Jubilee Year celebrations will help us remember this aspect of baptism. In the Preamble for the Rite of the Opening of the Jubilee Year in Various Churches, the instructions state: “Having crossed the threshold, the bishop makes his way with the ministers towards the baptismal font where he leads the rite of the memorial of baptism while the faithful assemble in the nave facing the font…. The bishop then goes in procession with the ministers towards the altar; the faithful take their places. The sprinkling with water is a living remembrance of Baptism which is the gate of entry in the journey of sacramental initiation and into the Church.”
A few ways to be mindful of these rich pilgrimage images of our baptism include making a little prayer when making the sign of the cross with holy water upon entering a church, especially when passing the baptismal font. These same prayers can be said aloud when blessing children. New parents or newly baptized adult Christians can save bottles of the baptismal water and pray for special reminders of the things promised and expected by baptism: divine sonship of the Father in Christ, a royal inheritance, a destiny of eternity, a duty to proclaim his mercy, and a call to make disciples of all nations. Special symbols
on the baptismal candle and gown may also be worthy of examination: the ubiquitous symbol of the scallop shell is tied to pilgrimages to holy sites such as the Camino de Santiago, for instance. The last several popes have also encouraged the faithful to know and celebrate the date on which they are baptized, which offers another opportunity to journey with these truths more deeply every year.
Designed Pilgrimage
Some of the images that have been offered here may be especially pertinent in new places to be visited for the 2025 Year of Jubilee pilgrimage, such as on the occasion of weddings, funerals, baptisms, and the like. The theology is layered and the tradition is vast. While many older churches emphasize a separate chapel-like setting with rich symbolism to recall the creation story and a mystical re-entry to the restored Garden, a common theme in newer churches emphasizes the aspect of pilgrimage, especially by way of relationship between the font and the altar. In this arrangement, where the font is in the narthex or rear of the nave, the font is conspicuously linked to the altar by a central axis and path of travel for the faithful entering the church and especially taking part in the communion procession. Elaborate flooring designs are often seen, sometimes with stories and symbols depicting events from salvation history, and other times in geometric patterns that recount the image of the crystal sea from Revelation or the river flowing from the Temple. The implication is that the journey begun by baptism is sustained by the heavenly food of the Holy Eucharist, anticipating and making present by way of foretaste the banquet of the heavenly liturgy which we will experience, God willing, at the end of time. The font and the altar are often of the same material, another indicator that participation in the Mass is both the right and the duty of the baptized (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14), that the pilgrimage in faith begun by baptism is not complete until we reach the new Jerusalem, the destination of our heavenly home (SC, 8).
For those in the United States, this year is not only a Jubilee, but also the third year of the Eucharistic Revival. In his 2007 Post-Synodal Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI urged mystagogical catechesis, an often-underdeveloped aspect of the Initiation of Christians, both as children and as adults, to understand the signs and symbols of the liturgy, and their connection to the events of salvation history and their application to everyday life. As we reflect on signs and symbols of the Eucharist, the anticipation of the end of our earthly journey in faith, may we likewise strive—by a planned pilgrimage to a holy site, taking part in a baptism, or simply walking past a baptismal font—to reflect more deeply upon our baptism, the start of our journey as pilgrims toward our heavenly home.
Michael Raia is the president of Studio io Liturgical Design & Consulting, Austin, TX, which serves Catholic clients across the US, and is an adjunct faculty member teaching Sacred Art, Architecture, and Aesthetics for the School of Pastoral Leadership and Evangelization at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, IL. He lives in Austin, TX with his wife and two daughters.
The
Florence,
octagonal
famed
“Gates of Paradise” by Lorenzo Ghiberti. This
-
baptism
The Great Commission serves as a foundational pilgrimage of the Christian life here on earth, as baptism is only the beginning of the life of faith that must be lived. Evangelization as a kind of pilgrimage is not only implied, it is commanded: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
AB/MICHAEL RAIA
AB/WIKIPEDIA
Liturgical Books Currently in Use
Editor’s note: The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy not only called for the reform and renewal of the Church’s liturgical books, but also allowed for their translation into vernacular languages. While most of the Latin typical editions have been revised by now, bringing them into a “form that both testifies to the stability achieved and is worthy of the mysteries being celebrated” (Vicesimus quintus annus, 20) is an ongoing task being taken up by bishops’ conferences. But keeping track of the current liturgical books is the job for bishops, priests, and those liturgists who assist them. Adoremus is grateful to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship for providing this up-to-date list of liturgical books for the dioceses in the U.S.
By the Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship
The dates in italics refer to the current Latin editiones typicæ or to the years of the most recent emendations of the books, but do not necessarily reflect dates of more recent reprintings. There are a few books that could have been included but are not listed, especially those from the early years of the liturgical reform that have been subsumed into later books. Years in parenthesis refer to earlier U.S. editions, and the years in bold refer to the current U.S. English edition. Information on Spanishlanguage books appears further below.
For the Eucharist
• Roman Missal (including General Instruction & Calendar)
Other liturgical books
• Roman Martyrology 2004
2008 (1974; 1985) 2011
• Excerpts from the Roman Missal (“Book of the Chair”) 2018
• Lectionary for Mass 1981 (1970) 1998/2002
• Lectionary for Mass Supplement 2017
• Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary 1987 (1992) 2012
• Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest (1988; 2007) 2012
• Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children 2002 (1985) 2011
• Lectionary for Masses with Children 1993
Principal books of music for the Eucharist
• Graduale Simplex (simpler Gregorian chants of Mass parts and propers) 1975
• Ordo cantus Missae (Gregorian chants of Mass parts and propers,cross-referenced to the pre-Conciliar Graduale Romanum) 1988
• Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ 1989 (1971) 1998
• Graduale Romanum (Gregorian chants of Mass parts and propers) 1974
• Liber Cantualis (assorted Gregorian chants) 1983
• Ordo Missae in Cantu (Gregorian chants for the Order of Mass) 2012
(Note that the final three items were published by Solesmes Abbey. Other publications contain various excerpts of these books in different forms.)
For the other sacraments and sacramentals
As of February 2025, four English ritual books approved by the USCCB are awaiting confirmation from the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments—an excerpt of rites for use by the laity in ministry to the sick, the Order of Blessing of an Abbot or an Abbess, the Order of Consecration of Virgins, and the Order of Crowning an Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. New English translations are also in process for the following: the Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition, the Lectionary for Mass, and the Institution of Lectors, Acolytes, and Catechists
• Roman Pontifical (1978) 2012
o Ordination of a Bishop, of Priests, and of Deacons
o Order of Confirmation
1989 (1978; 2003; 2012) 2021
2003 (1978; 2012) 2015
o Order of the Blessing of Oils and the Consecration 1971 (1985; 2012) of Chrism 2019
o Order of the Dedication of a Church and an Altar 1977 (1989) 2018
o Order of Blessing of Abbots and Abbesses 2010 (1978) 2012
o Order of the Consecration of Virgins
o Institution of Lectors and Acolytes
1970 (1978) 2012
1972 (1978) 2012
o Institution of Catechists 2021
• Roman Ritual
o Order of Baptism of Children
o Order of Christian Initiation of Adults
2003 (1970) 2020
1972 (1974; 1988) 2024
o Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharistic 1974 (1976) 2024 Mystery Outside Mass
o Order of Celebrating Matrimony
o Order of Penance
2008 (1970) 2016
1974 (1975; 2010) 2023
o Order of the Anointing of the Sick and of their 1972 (1974; 1983) Pastoral Care 2026
o Book of Blessings
o Order of Christian Funerals
o Order of Religious Profession
o Exorcisms and Related Supplications
1994; 1989
1969 (1971) 1989
1970; (1989) 2025
2005; 2017
• Ceremonial of Bishops 2008; 1989
• Order of Crowning an Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary 1981; 1987
• Liturgy of the Hours 2000; 1975/1976
• The Abbey Psalms and Canticles 2020
• Ordo cantus Officii (chants for the Office) 2015
• Liber Hymnarius (hymns, invitatories, and responsories for the Office) 1983
• Antiphonale Romanum I (Lauds of Sundays, Solemnities, and Feasts) 2020
• Antiphonale Romanum II (Vespers of Sundays, Solemnities, and Feasts) 2009
(Note that the final three items were published by Solesmes Abbey.)
Conference-approved texts containing excerpts of ritual books
• Order for the Solemn Exposition of the Holy Eucharist 1993
• Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers (1988; 2007) 2020
• Blessing on the Fifteenth Birthday (bilingual) 2008
• Blessing of a Child in the Womb (bilingual) 2012
(In addition, assorted fascicles with rites for lay ministry to the sick and dying have also been published.)
Ritual books in Spanish
Seven Spanish-language liturgical books and two fascicles have been confirmed for liturgical use in the United States. In addition, two books in Spanish are pending: the Bendicional and Liturgia de las Horas: Textos propios y adaptaciones para las diócesis de los Estados Unidos de América are awaiting confirmation by the Holy See.
• Misal Romano (includes the Rito para la bendición de los óleos y la consagración del Crisma) 2008; 2018
• Celebraciones dominicales en ausencia de presbítero (bilingual) 2007
• Ritual para el Bautismo de los niños 2003; 2009
• Ritual de la Iniciación cristiana de adultos 1972 (1993) 2024
• Ritual del Matrimonio 2008; 2010
• Ritual de la Unción de los enfermos y de su atención pastoral 1972; 2026
• Ritual de exequias cristianas 1969; 2002
• Bendición al cumplir quince años (bilingual) 2008
• Bendición de una criatura en el vientre materno (bilingual) 2012
For other rites that do not have a confirmed U.S. Spanish edition—for example, the Leccionario, rituals for Penance, Ordination, etc.—any Spanish translation lawfully approved by another Conference of Bishops may be used. Ritual books from Mexico tend to be the most popular in this country, and many of them are available through Liturgical Press or from the Mexican publishing house Buena Prensa.
Excerpted from the April 2022 Newsletter of the Committee on Divine Worship, updated January 2025
1. a. The Council of Nicaea (325). The Council of Nicaea met from May to July in 325 in modernday Turkey. Its principal accomplishment was the definition of Christ as God, “one-in-being”—or consubstantialem in Latin, homo-ousious in Greek— with God the Father, contrary to the heresy put forward by Arius that claimed that Christ was only similar to God (homoi-ousious—that iota makes all the difference!) and, ultimately, a creature. But in addition to settling this most important of questions, the Council determined that the date of Easter would henceforth be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. This formulation took into account the desires of Pope Anicetus (d.168) and others like him who insisted that the resurrection of the Lord ought always to be celebrated on a Sunday, as well as the wishes of St. Polycarp of Smyrna (d.155) and the “Quartodecimans” (roughly the “Fourteeners”) who held that Christ’s return to life should coincide with 14 Nisan, the date of the Jewish Passover each year, that began with the full moon on the 14th day of the springtime month of Nisan (equivalent to today’s March-April). The reason that today’s Latin and Orthodox Churches often see Easter fall on different days (although—providentially—not in 2025, the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea) is not due to a rejection of Nicaea but a recalculating of secular calendars: the Orthodox system still relies on the Julian Calendar begun in 46 B.C., while the Latin Church uses the Gregorian Calendar (an updated version of the Julian) begun in 1582.
2. False. Instructions on the use of the organ during the seasons of Advent and Lent are found in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), 313: “In Advent the use of the organ and other musical instruments should be marked by a moderation suited to the character of this time of year, without expressing in anticipation the full joy of the Nativity of the Lord. In Lent the playing of the organ and musical instruments is allowed only in order to support the singing. Exceptions, however, are Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent), Solemnities, and Feasts” (emphasis added). The GIRM also indicates how the altar should be decorated (or not) during these seasons: “During Advent the floral decoration of the altar should be marked by a moderation suited to the character of this time of year, without expressing in anticipation the full joy of the Nativity of the Lord. During Lent it is forbidden for the altar to be decorated with flowers. Exceptions, however, are Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent), Solemnities, and Feasts” (305, emphasis added).
3. c. Before the Fifth Sunday of Lent. The preconciliar calendar refers to the 5th Sunday of Lent as “Passion Sunday” and the 6th Sunday of Lent as “Palm Sunday.” Passion Sunday—and the two weeks that follow it before Easter, called “Passiontide”—finds the Church entering more seriously and proximately into the Lord’s suffering and death, realities that are marked in part by the veiling of crosses. This covering of the crosses from Passion Sunday became official practice in the 17th century, although the custom appeared in the centuries prior. In a way contrary to what might seem obvious, covering the crosses has the effect of drawing our attention to the cross—the same cross that we adore on Good Friday. But when exactly to cover crosses has not always been clear in the decades following the Second Vatican Council. The previous Sacramentary (1985) contained a short rubric that followed the Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent—not the most obvious of places—that stated: “The practice of covering crosses and images in the church may be observed, if the episcopal conference decides” [N.B.: The U.S. Bishops’ conference never decided until 2011]. In the current Roman Missal, a similar rubric appears at the beginning of the Fifth Sunday of Lent—a more conspicuous location: “In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from this Sunday may be observed. Crosses remain covered until the end of the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.”
4. b. The birth of the priesthood. In addition to the bishop’s blessing of the Oil of the Catechumens, the Oil of the Sick, and the consecration of the Holy Chrism, the Chrism Mass celebrates the priesthood of Christ—not only as it is shared among all of the baptized, but especially as it manifests itself in the ordained priesthood. The entrance antiphon for
READER’S QUIZ ANSWERS
the Mass recalls this priestly mystery: “Jesus Christ has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father. To him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:6). At the beginning of the Renewal of Priestly promises, the bishop recalls “the anniversary of that day when Christ our Lord conferred his priesthood on his Apostles and on us.” The Mass’s preface, “The Priesthood of Christ and the Ministry of Priests,” proclaims that “Christ not only adorns with a royal priesthood the people he has made his own, but with a brother’s kindness he also chooses men to become sharers in his sacred ministry through the laying on of hands.” In these and other ways—not least of which is the Chrism Mass’s connection (normally celebrated on the same day, Holy Thursday) with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper—the Chrism Mass expresses the Church’s gratitude for the priesthood and prays for her priests.
5. After the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The Roman Missal makes no mention of emptying holy water stoups, and the lack of direction may have accounted for peculiar practices in the past. In fact, the Holy See responded to the misguided practice of emptying holy water from fonts at Lent’s beginning (and, in some cases, replacing holy water with sand or other material). It is in this response that the Church directs holy water to be absent only between the end of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper until it is replaced at the Easter Vigil. The reply from March 2014 reads: “This Dicastery is able to respond that the removing of Holy Water from the fonts during the season of Lent is not permitted, in particular, for two reasons: 1) The liturgical legislation in force does not foresee this innovation, which in addition to being praeter legem [outside the law] is contrary to a balanced understanding of the season of Lent, which though truly being a season of penance, is also a season rich in the symbolism of water and baptism, constantly evoked in liturgical texts. 2) The encouragement of the Church that the faithful avail themselves frequently of her sacraments and sacramentals is to be understood to apply also to the season of Lent. The ‘fast’ and ‘abstinence’ which the faithful embrace in this season does not extend to abstaining from the sacraments or sacramentals of the Church. The practice of the Church has been to empty the Holy Water fonts on the days of the Sacred Triduum in preparation of the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil, and it corresponds to those days on which the Eucharist is not celebrated (i.e., Good Friday and Holy Saturday).”
6. c. 3 p.m. A rubric appears at the beginning of the Good Friday liturgy in the Roman Missal instructing that “On the afternoon of this day, about three o’clock (unless a later hour is chosen for a pastoral reason), there takes place the celebration of the Lord’s Passion consisting of three parts, namely, the Liturgy of the Word, the Adoration of the Cross, and Holy Communion.” The 1988 circular letter “On the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts” (Paschalis Sollemnitatis) gives broader guidelines: “The Celebration of the Lord’s Passion is to take place in the afternoon, at about three o’clock. The time will be chosen which seems most appropriate for pastoral reasons in order to allow the people to assemble more easily, for example shortly after midday, or in the late evening, however not later than nine o’clock” (63).
7. d. He may remove his shoes. The third edition of the Roman Missal incorporates instructions from other ritual texts that had been published since the Missal’s predecessor had been published (the Sacramentary) in 1985. In particular, the Ceremonial of Bishops (typical edition published in 1984, unofficial English translation published in 1989) adds ritual details at a number of places in the current Missal—especially for the celebrations of Holy Week. On Good Friday, for example, the Ceremonial of Bishops gives the following details of a bishop’s adoration: “For the veneration of the cross, the bishop lays aside miter, chasuble, and, as circumstances suggest, his shoes, and, with head uncovered, goes first to the cross. He kneels before it and kisses it. He then returns to the chair (cathedra), where he puts on his shoes and the chasuble, then sits without the miter” (322). This instruction has been adapted for priests and introduced into the current missal in this form: “For the Adoration of the Cross, first the Priest Celebrant alone approaches, with the chasuble and his shoes removed, if appropriate” (Good Friday, rubric 17).
8. One only. The 1985 Sacramentary permitted more than one cross to be used: “In the United States, if pastoral reasons suggest that there be individual veneration even though the number of people if very large, a second or third cross may be used” (Good Friday, rubric 18). But subsequent instructions have removed this option. The 1988 Circular Letter “On the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts” (Paschalis Sollemnitatis) directs that “Only one cross should be used for the veneration, as this contributes to the full symbolism of the rite” (69)—the full symbolism being that of the Lord’s cross alone (and not those of the flanking thieves). The current Roman Missal says similarly, “Only one Cross should be offered for adoration,” but goes on to add, “If, because of the large number of people, it is not possible for all to approach individually, the Priest, after some of the clergy and faithful have adored, takes the Cross and, standing in the middle before the altar, invites the people in a few words to adore the Holy Cross and afterwards holds the Cross elevated higher for a brief time, for the faithful to adore it in silence” (Good Friday, rubric 19).
9. False. The procession into the church building at the beginning of the Easter Vigil recalls in sacramental signs that first exodus from Egypt: lead by a pillar of cloud (incense) and a pillar of fire (Paschal Candle), Moses (in the person of the priest), leads the Israelites (now, members of his Church) into a promised land (symbolized by the church building). In other words, the priest-celebrant has his own sacramental role to play in the procession and is consequently unavailable to bear the Pillar of Fire into the church. Whereas the 1985 Sacramentary directed the priest to carry the candle in the absence of a deacon, the 2011 Roman Missal instructs that “if there is no Deacon, another suitable minister” carries the Paschal Candle after the thurifer but before the priest and people.
10. e. During the Easter octave and at Pentecost. The penultimate rubric concluding the Easter Vigil directs that the double alleluia “is observed throughout the Octave of Easter” (rubric 69). The double alleluia appears next at the conclusion of Masses for Pentecost Sunday. Similarly, the Liturgy of the Hours instructs the same conclusion to be used at Lauds and Vespers “from Easter Sunday to the Second Sunday of Easter, inclusive” (Volume II, ordinary), as well as on Pentecost (Volume II, Proper of Time).
MEMORIAL FOR Fr. John Grigus, OFM Conv. from Therese Ruedig
Leslie Leger from Zona, Shelli, Lance, and grandchildren
Fr. Vernon Robertson from Mr. and Mrs. Kevin R. Field
Ronald George Simon from John and Mira Simon
IN THANKSGIVING
The Fick Family from David and Diana Bruce
New Book Puts Liturgy to Work for a Catholic (Agri)Culture
The Liturgy of the Land: Cultivating a Catholic Homestead by Jason M. Craig and Thomas D. Van Horn. Gastonia, NC: TAN Books, 2023. 257 pp. ISBN: 978-1-5051-2832-1. $29.87 Hardcover.
By Carmina Chapp
In The Liturgy of the Land: Cultivating a Catholic Homestead, Jason Craig and Thomas Van Horn offer a wealth of insight into the rich meaning of the Catholic homestead. Considering the somewhat recent interest in farming and moving back to the land expressed by this younger generation of Catholics, the authors explore the anthropological, sociological, and spiritual aspects of homesteading, providing a thorough and integrated study of the movement.
The authors propose that homesteading can be easily romanticized because it is, in fact, romantic. They call it the “natural place and work that lends itself uniquely to growth in virtue and holiness” that “can help orient us more fully and simply toward our true and lasting happiness, which is God Himself” (1-2). Indeed, the title of the book references liturgy, a work done for and with others, ultimately connecting production in and through God’s creation and the worship of God. “The worship of God cannot be imagined without a connection to the earth from which it gathers the necessary elements for the sacraments” (51). Life on the Catholic homestead requires a sacramental worldview if it is to fulfill its true purpose.
Part 1 (Chapter 1-10, Conclusion) of the text addresses the argument for the Catholic homestead being the life most conducive to natural family life, as understood from a Catholic perspective. Such a life integrates prayer, work, study, and rest within a community rooted in the love of God. Modern challenges to this life are presented. It serves as a mirror for the reader to reveal just how inculcated the culture can become in one’s life, and how difficult it can be to break free from it.
Part 2 (Appendix) offers practical information helpful in discerning the move to the homestead. It lays out the reality of the work and what is needed by means of land and structures to accomplish it. It is a wake-up call to dreamers who think homesteading is easy.
Unfamiliar Territory
In Chapter 1, “Back to the Homestead,” the authors show that the move away from small family farms and homesteads was not organic, but intentionally orchestrated by government policy. There was a shift from families as producers for themselves within small communities to households as consumers, completely dependent of structures outside the home for their sustenance. The family dynamic of working together for a common goal was replaced with members of the family competing for time and money to do the things each want or need. All aspects of life, from education to exercise, were outsourced to others, creating an unnatural relationship between parent and child, and even husband and wife. The authors show how the balancing of activities—of work, land, family, leisure, and home—becomes an integration of them on the homestead.
Chapter 2, “From Division of Labor to Integrated Work,” discusses the dignity of work and division of labor, exploring the relationship between man and woman, parent and child. Here the authors contrast the Marxist view of labor with the biblical view of creation and the consequences of the Fall on human labor. A theological understanding of the sexes is beautifully done here, emphasizing the complementarity of men and women and the shared work of parenting children to maturity, which necessarily involves growing in competency and confidence.
Chapter 3, “From Time Clocks to Seasons,” turns to the subject of time, noting that clocks were invented in monasteries for the purpose of marking time for prayer. “To tune ourselves to the liturgy of the land, we will need to both recover a Catholic spirit of rest and redefine the very purpose of marking the time” (49). Here the authors take a Benedictine view of time and apply it to life on the homestead. The distinction is made between spending time and offering it to God. The daily routine of chores integrates prayer
throughout. The seasons, both natural and liturgical, guide the work and complement each other. The practice of rest is presented in its fruitfulness, both for man and the land itself.
In Chapter 4, “From Artificial to Natural,” the authors explore the spectrum between natural and artificial, with “artisan” the preferred term for man’s cooperation with nature. Modern artificial means of work are a hinderance to the experience of God. “Surely, we live in a time of foolishness, a time that doesn’t see God in nature because it doesn’t see nature” (73). The example of a family gathered around the hearth for warmth provided by wood gathered locally is compared to the use of a thermostat to maintain the perfect temperature in separate rooms year-round. The experience of God providing through nature (in this instance, warmth), and the family coming together to experience it, is lacking in the modern household, where each can be in his own space and be warm.
Economic Roots
Chapter 5, “From Artificial Economy to Natural Economy,” tackles the economics of a homestead. The authors are realistic about the economic challenges of making the change. Here, they insist on what St. Thomas Aquinas calls the natural economy as a requirement for living the liturgy of the land, an economy ordered to the management of the home. It involves the community, with members bartering for goods and sharing excess. This is contrasted to the artificial economy of trade, wherein money makes money. Such wealth, though it can serve a good purpose, can be easily disordered. It causes one to ponder, what is money for?
In Chapter 6, “From Wages to Private Property,” the authors turn to Hilaire Belloc’s thought on the wide distribution of land ownership and the sustaining of local villages through local production, with the warning that industrialization would eventually lead to government control over land and, eventually, socialism. Here they argue for the Church’s teaching on the private ownership of property, and respond to the Marxist call for collective ownership. Owning the land on which one is living and working, amongst others who are doing likewise, is the proper vision.
Chapter 7, “From Anywhere to Somewhere,” addresses the question of where to make one’s homestead. Modern society values a freedom of movement, to leave the nest, to go where the job takes you, but the authors insist that “part of learning to live the liturgy of the land is to relearn the value of rooting down” (103). The homesteader is contrasted with the cosmopolitan who, rather than making a commitment to one place and one community, sees himself as a citizen of the world, of all humanity. The benefits of rootedness, and its relationship to the natural economy, are laid out. Choices facing the potential homesteader regarding place—the amount of land needed, close to home and an established community or somewhere far off away from family and friends, to rent or to own—are examined, aiding the discernment process.
Chapter 8, “From Extracting to Cultivating,” explores the issue of man’s relationship to nature, pointing out the erroneous positions that pit them against each other. The proper theological understanding of dominion is explained, God’s commandment to “till and keep.” A comparison is made to the concept of grace building on nature, and St. Thomas Aquinas is evoked, “Gratia non tollit naturam, sed perficit.” Man builds on nature, working with it to enable it to reach its greatest fruitfulness.
Prosperity Liturgy
In Chapter 9, “From Controlling Scarcity to Generous Abundance,” brings together concepts from previous chapters about modern ideas of wealth and of man as the enemy of nature that suggest that there are simply not enough resources to go around, with the responsible response to this scarcity of
goods being smaller families. “There’s a connection between how we see the earth’s fertility and how we see our own family’s fertility.” In rejecting these positions, the authors remind us of the Dust Bowl having been a man-made catastrophe, the result of mechanized farming, intending to create abundance, failing to respect the needs of the land. The Catholic homesteader understands how to work the land as God would have it done and so experience the Lord’s generosity.
Chapter. 10, “Discerning a Place between Suburbia and the Village,” contrasts life in suburbia versus life on a homestead. It takes the reader through several important issues, including the need for income, a culture formed by personal interest, integrated work, time together as a family, seasonal differences, household needs supplied by the land, access to land, and competency in manual skills. Each section describes how suburban life naturally differs from homesteading, helping the discerner to grasp the challenges ahead, some of which may be unforeseen and unexpected. The authors then provide four possible scenarios for those desiring to make the move to homesteading, each with varying levels of change necessary, from backyard gardener to full-time homesteader.
The conclusion of Part 1 is called “From Independence to Interdependence.” It reminds the reader that Catholic homesteaders are not embracing the life in order to escape society, to cut themselves off from the world. They are not “preppers” seeking to be completely independent when the Apocalypse happens. Rather, they embrace—do not reject— being a social being in need of others. There is an acknowledgement of the interdependence human beings have with the land and with each other. Communities form around these needs of the land which produces an abundance for the community. The ultimate dependence is on God.
Part 2, the Appendix, could be its own publication, though is best appreciated on the stage that was set in Part 1. It is a guide to discerning which homesteading enterprises, from having a kitchen garden, to raising pigs, to beekeeping, to dairy cows, to having horses, are feasible for a family in a variety of circumstances. It is both encouraging and cautious. For each possible enterprise, the time requirements, start-up expenses, family friendliness, cash value, learning curve, acreage requirement, seasonal variance, production expense, harvest equipment, and bartering value are rated on a scale of 1-10. The Appendix is extremely helpful for those serious about embarking on the homestead adventure.
A Catholic Landscape
The Liturgy of the Land is a valuable contribution to the literature of Catholic social teaching, Catholic environmental ethics, and even Catholic economics. The authors draw from a variety of sources within the Tradition, from Scripture, St. Augustine and (as noted above) St Thomas Aquinas, to 19th- and 20th-century popes, to more current Catholic influencers such as Father Vincent McNabb, G.K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc, Josef Pieper, and John Senior. It is a brief walk through the history of the industrial age and the Church’s response to it.
While it is worthwhile for its academic contribution, it is also valuable as a practical guide for those Catholics serious about moving to a homestead. The text offers realistic information regarding the feasibility of farming and animal husbandry—this only after setting up the proper motivation and mindset for doing so. The authors are very good at explaining theological and philosophical concepts in ways comprehensible to the non-academic.
The physical book itself is quite beautiful in its presentation, with vibrant colorful photographs of the homesteading life. Sprinkled throughout are personal stories from each author of their experiences—both their successes and their failures—in making the transition to homesteading and creating a viable living from it. Overall, The Liturgy of the Land is a very enjoyable book to read, even for those not interested in homesteading, for its critique of modern suburban life and the gentle ways the authors encourage living a liturgical life even in the midst of it, to whatever extent is possible.
Carmina Chapp, Ph.D. is a Catholic theologian, Oblate of St. Benedict, and Catholic Worker. She lives on the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Farm in northeastern Pennsylvania.
