The summit of Christian worship, as recognized for centuries, is the sacred liturgy; it is the action that calls us to the worship of God, raises us into the midst of the angels who proclaim His glory, and fixes our entire beings ad æternum. As Christians, we ought to lavish these celebrations with the most elaborate of embellishments and ornamentations.
The rites of the Eastern Churches (emerging from the cities of Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople as well as the ancient country of Armenia) and all authentic rites of the Universal Church, have achieved this through the use of sacred signs. Elements that draw us closer to the mystery of God and further away from our daily lives. The use of chant, incense, sacred languages, elaborately decorated vestments, gold gilding, and a harrowing level of artwork and imagery lend to the enthrallment of all of our human senses toward the separate, the sacred, and the divine.
The objection that may be heard ringing out from all those who find fault with this is thus: the Roman Rite has this too. While yes, the Western liturgical rites, as celebrated throughout much of the Latin Church, can in principle contain these aspects of worship as well, they often, tragically, do not.
Following the reform of the liturgy in the 1950s and 60s came a drastic lessening of adornment and a queer idea seemingly infecting the Church, that the use of elaborate art, intricately inlaid liturgical instruments, grand and breathtaking marble altars, and ornate and beautiful vestments were bad, too complicated, or distracting. This was implemented both in the construction of new Churches but also the remodeling of old ones.
The average Mass celebrated today contains next to no Latin, chant, or incense if any at all. Instead of ordaining the priest who acts in Persona Christi with fittingly ordained and ornamented vestments, he is likely wearing something closer to a tablecloth fitted to the color of the liturgical season. Instead of inlaying the vessels that are set to contain God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, with gold or silver, they may probably be made out of any other metal, or worse still, glass or plastic. Things in the liturgy that used to be required to facilitate a most great reverence to almighty God, are now optional, and in many cases, seldom seen.
This is in great contrast to the East who have largely maintained the embellishment of the liturgy alive and kept it in its authentic form. Sadly some changes in the East have been made such as an implementation of the vernacular, however, this is present mainly in the United States. The great tragedy is that changes like these are made by Eastern Prelates (both in Eastern Churches in communion and out of communion with Rome) to conform to the liturgy of the modern day and may fall into the same mistake as the West. The lesson here is that we ought to be emulating the East, not the other way around.
Many of the post-conciliar Popes have urged the Eastern Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Particular Churches to return to their liturgical heritage and remove any and all changes that were enforced on them in the past by the West. Ironically, this has now been often discouraged by the same Popes and Prelates for the Churches of the West.
The point that should be understood is that a return to serious liturgy is the revival that the modern Church so desperately needs, and a restoration of many authentic elements of Christian worship can be found in the Liturgies and celebrations of the Eastern Churches. What many modern Catholics may not be aware of is that they may not have to go far to find these liturgical elements and that an uncovering of our own patrimony of ritual may be far more fruitful and spiritually fulfilling for them as Roman Rite Catholics.
Born and Raised to Jewish parents in New York City, Kai Breskin is a recent convert to the Catholic Faith. A member of the Boston College class of 2026, he is studying Political Science, Philosophy, and History. His intellectual passions include Christian theology, history, and liturgical study. His hobbies include sailing, playing the piano, and singing, with a specific focus in Gregorian Chant.
- The Canonization of Saints - December 9, 2024
- Sancta Unctio Cæli: The Most Forgotten Sacrament - December 9, 2024
- Saint of the Issue: St. Nicholas - December 9, 2024