When it comes to prayer some Christians may look to and admire the practices of other religious faiths that pray throughout the day. As Catholics, we are called to pray and echoing the words of St. Paul, we are called to “pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).” The liturgy of the hours is precisely the Church’s response to this call for all Christians to pray without ceasing. Most Catholics would even be surprised at the fact that as a Universal Church are consistently praying without ceasing throughout the world each day through the Liturgy of the Hours. In the following essay I would like to present a brief history along with some changes that were made to the Divine Office and end with the many reasons every Catholic and especially …show more content…
Most people do not know that there are actually two parts of the Catholic Church’s official public worship. The Mass being part one and the Liturgy of the Hours being part two. The Church categorizes it in its own separate category of prayer as it is different from many other private devotions such as the chaplet of Divine mercy or the rosary. Prior to seminary, I, like many people out there, believed that the Liturgy of the Hours was just meant to be used by monks or nuns in a monastery. That is far from the truth. Yes, it is true that priests and religious do have an obligation to pray it daily, but it is not strictly for them. The laity is allowed and even encouraged to do the Liturgy of the hours. The Church has made strides to help with this encouragement as there was a revision of the breviary that helped make using it easier. Pope Paul VI expressed the wish that the revised Liturgy of the Hours would become the prayer of the whole people of God recommending that it be prayed in parishes and by individuals at home. Pope Benedict also urged lay Catholics to pray the Liturgy of Hours when he said, “I would like to renew my call to everyone to pray the Psalms, to become accustomed to the Liturgy of the Hours, Lauds, Vespers, and …show more content…
But there are many other reasons for praying the Divine Office. First of all, it is liturgical, even though many people may think that it is some sort of private devotion or personal prayer. Because the Church gave the laity the ability to pray the Divine Office it is not just a private devotion but an action and privilege that the Church granted. This point brings us to another reason we should pray the Liturgy of the Hours. By the Church allowing and encouraging the laity to pray the Hours, we unite ourselves to the Universal Church. When one prays the Divine Office, they are united in prayer with the millions of Catholics of the Universal
highlights the importance of the sacraments and the clergy, can be seen as a response on
The term liturgy has its basis in Greek mythology. It can be defined as a form of worship that is that is done according to particular beliefs and practices that are held by a certain group of people. The beliefs and the rituals are usually practiced by the whole group. It may be understood as a ritual that is usually elaborate. Ritual on the other hand refers to a number of activities that are performed in a sequential manner and which more often are prescribed by specific communities. Liturgy plays different functions depending on their nature. To begin with, the catholic liturgy expresses certain religious beliefs towards a Supreme Being and therefore done in a manner that is an expression of worship to the Supreme Being. The term ritual
Of course, as a Catholic, I am not opposed to the Church’s traditions, nor do I see them as inadequate. Since the Church is a human institution meant to represent the divine and is not divine itself, however, I feel that there must be room for improvement. For example, I recently became curious as to why women were still not allowed to become priests, so I decided to find out. I questioned two priests, my religion teacher, and numerous other practicing Catholics, and the best answer anyone could give me was, “That’s just the way we’ve always done it.” While traditions provide stability and unity within a group of people, to be unquestionably planted in tradition can restrict growth. How often do traditions that once held deep meaning fade to become mundane tasks too difficult to let go? Too often, I see the congregation of a church monotonously reciting the Lord’s prayer, a prayer which Catholics believe was spoken directly from the mouth of God, with little regard for its meaning, or singing a joyful song such as the “Alleluia” with a positively depressing expression. No fault lies within these traditions themselves, but only in the way we view them. The Church must remind its members of the purpose of every prayer, every symbol, and every law so that Catholics do not lose the meaning of their religion.
During this movement, the church tried to simplify its processes for everyday use. For instance, the Church translated some parts of the Mass from Latin to the language of the country of where the church resided. The priesthood also went through advanced training to ensure that they could properly execute every aspect of the Mass. This effort by the Christian churches established they wanted people and the community to have motivation to preach and worship their particular faith.”
Furthermore, one of the main parts of the Mass is the liturgy of the Word, the Word of God that nourishes and help us to live a holy
From the Catholic observation point, the Church presents two parts: One representing its divine nature as the untarnished body of Christ, and one direc...
The Mass has to be important to the Priest because it is the main purpose of his ministry. In the Mass the Priest has to become like Jesus Christ Himself in order for him to give and pass the graces from the Mass to the people. Jesus and His apostles were gathered together, because Jesus knew it was His last meal with them before He died. During the meal He said, “This is My body, which is to be given up for you,” and then He said: “This is My blood of the new testament, which is to be shed for many to remission of sins.” Saying this He is saying what was going to happen the following day. Jesus wanting us to remember this ultimate sacrifice He said “Do this for a commemoration of Me”. The Mass is the best gift in the Priest’s ministry; if the Priest does not put his whole mind, heart, and soul into the Mass; imagine how he is going to be outside in the
The doctrine of the Catholic Church relies on the fear installed in its people to appeal to religious duty. For example, upon arriving late to church, Florence is berated by Father Byrnes. He is made to hold his arms out like Christ for the duration of the service in penance for his mistake (Franklin, “Bless Me Ultima”). This is a relatively strict and demeaning. Overall, the Catholic Church is controlled by a strict
Many things in our culture today deal with rituals of the people that lived before us. There are many parallels between World Religions, one of them being the rituals of worship. One Religion that is specifically known for its rituals is the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church has many different rituals that its followers use to practice their faith. Without these rituals of faith the religion would have no unity of worship and be in shambles.
The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved February 21, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org
Through the various calls for response made by the priests, “let us be attentive”, “let us pray to the Lord”, “peace be with you” and “servant of God” tradition is linguistically demonstrated. Each of these and other prayers was concluded with a response or “Amen” typically by the priest or the choir. Also, we saw reminders of God’s beauty in the images of those who loved and served the Lord throughout the ages as painting on the ceilings and walls.
The Importance of a Catholic Regularly Attending Mass Catholics attend mass for many reasons, although there are many. different reasons for going to mass, there is one thing that all people want from mass, and that is some sort of help or advice from. God. I will be with you. Some people may think it is impossible to go to mass and return with advice from God, but people deal with mass in different ways and can take from it what they are willing to give back, not just to the church, but to all of the people they love and care for.
Our affections cling to self and to worldly objectives; our prayers cannot rise above their level, no matter what words we use. In Luke 11:1 it says, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” We should be taught to pray either from the church or from the people around us. Taught in a sense of listening, not actually taking lessons from it. We need to pray because prayer is the most important part of the thankfulness that God requires of us.
1. Two categories of services that the Roman Catholic church offer are: offices, which is a series of services that is celebrated at different of the day in monasteries and convents and mass, which is a reenactment of the sacrifice of Christ. Mass is the most formal and dignified ritual of the Catholic church and is a service that is attended by public worshippers. Proper and ordinary texts were the collection of prayers that make up the Mass. Proper texts were passages that differed from day to day throughout the church year. These passages were determined on the feasts that were being honored. Because the ordinary were passages that remained the same in every mass, composers focussed their musical settings on this particular prayer, which
The Mass is celebrated in order for us, his followers, to receive God’s grace within a place of worship. The Mass serves as a form of intimate unification between God and all of his worshippers and disciples that make up the Mystical Body of Christ. This is only possible