Category: Liturgy and Virtues

  • When a Stranger Offends the Liturgical Aesthetic

    “The service was over, but the ritual was not. Jim had unexpectedly entered the ritual space and interrupted the silence with his signs and voice. His soiled clothing was adding unwanted shades of grey to the color palate that was otherwise dominated by the hues of golden candlesticks, red marble pillars, velvety green banners, and…

  • Liturgy and Fortitude

    Do we experience our liturgies as (re)empowering our fortitude to resist the temptation of hating the other and / or of responding to hate with hate? Or do our liturgies mask the ways in which we are complicit in generating and maintaining fear and hate in our world?

  • Liturgy and the Virtues: Rooted in Hope

    I’ve slid into a choir stall in the Abbey Church three or four times a day most days for the last two years. I am not vowed to this routine, and there are many times when class or work could keep me plenty occupied. But the liturgy gives me hope, and that hope draws me…

  • Liturgy and the Virtues: Anointing of the Sick and Prudence

    How do I cling to God at the office? How do I engage in self-offering love at school? At home, do I make it my business to help others love more easily? How do I build up the community into a true fellowship, a body for so great a head?