LITURGY
“O
Lord, we implore you,
grant to us who take part
in these mysteries,
that as often as the commemoration
of the acceptable sacrifice
is
celebrated,
the work of our salvation
is being accomplished.”
An
ancient prayer by
Saint Leo the Great (+461)
Our
Liturgy
At Saint Mary, the liturgy, especially the Mass, is both the foundation and the highest expression of our faith. All our other actions and activities - our love for God and one another, our very way of life - find their source in the love of Christ poured out for us to the Father. It is this love, the Holy Spirit, in which we truly participate every time we come together to celebrate the liturgy: God’s love and ours for the salvation of the world.
“For the liturgy ‘through which the work of our redemption is accomplished,’ most of all in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.
In the earthly liturgy we take part in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle; we sing a hymn to the Lord’s glory with all the warriors of the heavenly army; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Savior, Our Lord Jesus Christ, until He, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with Him in glory.”
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, par 2 and 8
- Second
Vatican Council