Liturgical Living

How living out the liturgical seasons can re-sacralize day-to-day life.

(Originally just a section in Easter Day Reflections)

My friend Sanfedisti wrote a short essay entitled Living Integralism wherein he asserts that, “Integralism, at its core, is an assent to the idea that the claims made by the Church are real, that we truly live in a reality which reflects those claims, and that there exists no reality outside of the purview of the claims made by the Church.” This, of course, has political implications, but reality is more than politics. It applies to all aspects of life. Yet, we live in a secular society. As such, it is not uncommon to hear talk of the need for life to be re-sacralized” or for “re-enchantment.” Touching on this in his essay, Sanfedisti says, “Cultivating a return to the sacred, a life lived which looks in awe upon eternity and our connection to it, is then key to returning to an authentic life.”

I couldn’t agree more! He then asks, “How do we articulate or live with a genuine sacramental spirit? How do we realize a genuine conception of ourselves as existing inside of a world where soul and spirit are as real as the walls around our hearths?” This is an extremely important question to ask and is perhaps the question for Catholics to be pondering right now. Sanfedisti notes that the answer, the Integralism he speaks of, must be “living,” that is, it cannot exist only in the mind, but must really be practiced and lived out every day.

What, then, can a Catholic do to live integrally, to conceive of the world as sacred, and to cultivate a sacramental spirit?

I would posit that one of the chief ways to accomplish this is by observing and really taking seriously the liturgical seasons. We must begin to live liturgically.

In Pascal’s Pensées Chapter III Section III, number 233, he says to the non-believer who wishes to believe:

You would like to attain faith, and do not know the way; you would like to cure yourself of unbelief, and ask the remedy for it. Learn of those who have been bound like you, and who now stake all their possessions. These are people who know the way which you would follow, and who are cured of an ill of which you would be cured. Follow the way by which they began; by acting as if they believed, taking the holy water, having masses said, etc. Even this will naturally make you believe, and deaden your acuteness.

We can apply this principle to the observance of the liturgical seasons. Perhaps the days and seasons mean little to you now. Fine. Begin to live and act as if they do, and eventually, they really will.

Let me give an example. If, for instance, some great solemnity is approaching, and you ordinarily would do nothing special for it, now, make every effort to observe it, whether by praying, by feasting in some way, by attending a mass, and so on. At first this may feel somewhat artificial. It may feel as if you are really having to work at it to make it seem special. But over time it will become habit, and then something you hardly notice but do automatically. Now, it is not necessarily the goal that your spiritual life become unconscious; actually, it is preferable that you be quite conscious of it. Rather, the goal is for it to become natural, to become an integrated part of your day-to-day life.

There are really easy and tangible ways to put this into practice. First and foremost, we must really begin to treat the Lord’s Day with the respect it deserves. This does not just mean going to church, but actually resting, taking time to pray outside church, and also just enjoying the day! Eat something special or have a treat. It’s Sunday! Rejoice! Obviously not everyone has the most ideal circumstances, but whatever your situation, really make an effort to observe the Lord’s Day.

A necessary part of living liturgically is to begin keeping up with the liturgical calendar. There are many online resources that make this easy, and also physical calendars that you can purchase. Watch for feast days, know what season it is, and actually make an effort to understand the symbols and colors of the season. Going to mass, whether on Sunday or weekdays, and understanding the way it is celebrated in accordance with the season is vital in this endeavor. Using a Missal helps a lot in this regard, and is a way you can keep up with the daily liturgy even if you can’t attend.

Living liturgically does not merely entail going to mass either. For instance, praying the rosary daily will eventually cause you to associate each day with some mystery. Sunday is Glorious, Monday is Joyful, Tuesday is Sorrowful, Thursday is Luminous, and so on.

Another way to live liturgically is to observe Fridays as days of penance (in fact, they always have been and still are). In the United States, Friday is a day of penance and while abstinence from meat is not a requirement, it is actually highly encouraged as the norm. Therefore, abstaining from meat on Fridays even outside of Lent is a really good idea. If this is not your preference, make every effort to do something penitential on Friday. Maybe give up something you normally eat or drink, or wake up earlier, or don’t indulge in an activity you normally would. However you accomplish it, making Friday a day of penance will further sacralize your week.

I also believe we should revive the practice of Ember Days. Ember Days are days of fasting and prayer, and only fell out of observance in the 1960s. It takes a bit to explain them, so if you want to learn more, click here.

The Angelus is another way to mark your day by prayer. You can pray it in the morning, at noon, and in the evening.

Finally, I must suggest what I believe to be one of the greatest ways to live liturgically: praying the Liturgy of the Hours (LOTH). It’s in the name! By praying the LOTH, you are, in a sense, sanctifying every hour. The LOTH is a liturgy that any Christian can celebrate whether alone or in a group (I would really love a renaissance of group prayer of the LOTH). The most important hours are Morning and Evening prayer. There’s also an Office of Readings for each day, and Night Prayer, which is very short and is only on a one week cycle. The LOTH is prayed by all priests and religious around the world, and also by lay men and women. Therefore, when you pray it, you are joining in a universal prayer, just as you do when you celebrate mass. The LOTH incorporates feasts and solemnities, has a four week Psalter, daily scripture readings and readings from the saints, as well as various other prayers that change depending on the liturgical season.

I have noticed that when I am really making a habit of praying morning and evening prayer, it begins to affect the way I think about the day going forward. I cannot quite find the words to explain, but it really does just infuse your daily life with this spiritual element that normally wouldn’t be there. Morning and evening prayer are sort of like spiritual bookends that keep the whole day ordered; the day begins in prayer and ends in it, and everything in between happens within this context. To further accomplish this, I try to avoid looking at my phone until after I’ve done morning prayer.

I am sure there are many more ways to live liturgically, but there are just some practical steps to begin doing so. Once you begin to live liturgically, you find that temporal life begins to take on new meaning. Your activities now take place alongside this spiritual order, your weeks and months gain new meaning, and you are given more opportunities to celebrate and feast, and also to fast and do penance.

I believe liturgical living is not just possible, but actually already exists for many Catholics for at least part of the year. Lent and Easter are probably the most palpable liturgical seasons, followed by Advent, and for good reason. Lent is marked by Ash Wednesday, a very physical liturgy, and then every following liturgy is shaped by the season; the Gloria is omitted and the mass is changed ever so slightly here and there. By Holy Saturday, you are itching to sing the Gloria again! You really begin to feel the gloom of Lent as it goes on, just by going to mass every Sunday. Plus, if you’ve given things up and stick with that, you really feel the effects of your sacrifice with each passing week. Then there’s the Triduum, with its special liturgies. Holy Thursday may include the washing of feet, then the stripping of the altars. Good Friday is a really unique liturgy as there is actually no mass. The cross is venerated. The Easter Vigil is without comparison; it’s long, but it’s very impactful. Finally, Easter Sunday is just exuberant.

Unfortunately, once Easter is over, it is easy to slip out of that liturgical living. The goal, then, must be to continue living liturgically even past Easter, and to do so all year. I believe that if we as Catholics and Christians can live in this way all the time, we will slowly but surely begin to conceive of the world in a new way, and put ourselves on the path to re-sacralizing our existence.

Oh, one last think, I would like to note how the liturgical seasons often correspond nicely to the natural seasons, thus, if you begin to live liturgically, you will also live harmoniously with nature and the temporal world. It’s as if the created world and the spiritual world were not meant to be entirely divorced, and as if God ordered things in such a way that the calendar of the Church and the calendar of the earth went hand in hand!

Take time, then, to think about how you can begin to live liturgically over the coming days and weeks.

CHRISTUS SURREXIT!