The Beauty of Catholic Liturgy

A New Year Reflection

Today is the first day of a new calendar year. It is also the feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, and in some traditions it is known as the the Solemnity of Mary. In celebration of this day of obligation, I attended both a Roman Catholic Latin Mass and a Serbian Orthodox Vespers liturgy. Both liturgies were glorious, beginning the year with an atmosphere of holiness—something our Western culture has all but lost.

In way of reflection on my time: I was deeply edified today, not simply because each liturgy I attended was truly an encounter with the Divine, but also because both liturgies demonstrated the profound (and providential) unity of catholic liturgy. My primary language is English. I cannot speak or read Latin fluently. My Serbian is even worse. However, despite this fact, I knew exactly where I was in both liturgies based solely on the consistent pattern and liturgical movements that unite all catholic traditions. It is a timeless and changeless reality; Very much reflective of the nature of God.

Whether you are Anglo-Catholic; Orthodox; Roman; Assyrian; or even Lutheran, the liturgies we use all bear a level of consistency and unity that transcend the language, culture, and even churchmanship that defines the tradition. The Mass is the Mass. The Divine Offices are the Divine Offices. All differences between these liturgies are ones of particular culture and ritual, not substance or structure. This is a strikingly beautiful thing for Christians to behold and revel in. Our great God, through his Holy Church, has given us unity in worship that transcends the many differences that cultures and peoples have; so much so that an American man such as myself can enter into a Latin and Serbian liturgy in wholehearted worship without difficulty.

If I were to define catholicity it would be as follows: the unity of liturgy. Though I am partial to the Book of Common Prayer, I love that I can slip into these other spaces of worship and feel at home. Despite the issues that divide our many communions, I do not feel like one on the outside as some might think, instead, I feel like a Catholic Christian among other Catholic Christians, worshipping the Triune God through our common liturgical heritage.

This year, I find myself especially grateful for that stability.

May the Holy Church be one.