Christian Worship through the lens of Beauty

Being a member of the Roman Catholic Church, I have been exposed to the concept of the liturgy all of my life, as it is the “Church’s public and lawful act of worship” (Guardini 19). This includes both the Catholic mass and its sacraments. However, like many, I have fallen into a trap of misunderstanding the true nature of the liturgy, and the beauty that can be found within it. All of my life, I have looked forward to Sunday mass because I viewed it as an opportunity to self reflect, and be with Christ alone. But this is not the purpose of the liturgy at all. As Guardini explains, through the liturgy “the Church is a ‘liturgical entity’ that indefinitely outnumbers the mere congregation… the faithful are actively united by a vital fundamental principle, Christ himself” (Guardini 11). Therefore my previous understanding of the liturgy as a mere escape and place to reflect individually is entirely incorrect. In fact, the liturgy is about the congregation as ONE being, not a sum of individuals. We must be reminded that “behind the liturgy is the Bible” (Sacred Signs 6). With our previous understanding of beauty being akin to truth, therefore, the liturgy is inherently beautiful- in the playful, symbolic, and festive aspects alike.

The purest beauty under the lens of Gadamer is unquestionably found in the form of liturgy. Guardini confirms this in stating that “beauty is the splendid perfection which dwells in the revelation of essential truth and goodness” (Guardini 77). It is through the mass and sacraments that all truth and goodness have the chance to be revealed to us. Many argue that the liturgy has too much “form” and does not allow for the freedom of personal expression and connection to Christ. It “gives a thousand strict and careful directions on the quality of language, gestures, colors, garments, and instruments (Guardini 70). But it is in this liturgical form that we can be grounded in the totality of Christ’s love for us despite the sometimes inescapable mundaneness of this life. The structured nature of the liturgy serves as guidance for us to pursue a prayerful personal life on our own time. However, “in the liturgy man is no longer concerned with himself; his gaze is directed towards God”, and the liturgy is an “end in itself”(Guardini 66). Without the guidance of the liturgy, we would stray too far from Christ himself. It is in this sense of communal, instructive and rule based celebration of the liturgy that we find the playfulness Gadamer speaks of.

Play, as we know, is the pure autonomous regulation of movement with intention. It regards an object or idea as “intended as something, even if it is not conceptual, useful or purposive” (Gadamer 24). Is this not what we have just previously defined the liturgy as? It has no purpose in the human eye, because it “does not exist for the sake of humanity, but for the sake of God” (Guardini 66). We find this to be true in many of our own experiences with the liturgy, as well as the experiences shared by others across the span of time. For instance, in the ancient times of the Cyril of Jerusalem, we learn that the catechumens would stand facing west in order to renounce satan at the time of their baptism (Catecheses 1.2–3). This is the mere definition of intentional action. The act of facing west was clearly intentional in the desire to renounce satan. This intentional act also served to provide a physical understanding that what they were doing was “the very same thing that was done in the past” (O’Malley). This idea of intentional movement can also be drawn from the visions of Gertrude of Helfta, in which she has numerous encounters with Christ. In each of these encounters, she sees herself being very purposeful with every interaction she has with Christ. In one instance, it is written in “The Herald of God’s Loving Kindness” that she “fell at the Lord’s feet and was kissing the wound of his left foot for the amendment of all the sins ever committed by the universal church” (Gertrude 110). One might ask, well how does this religious woman’s visions have to do with the playfulness of the liturgy? Well that question can simply be answered: for it is through contemplation of the liturgy that these visions were brought upon her. The intentional movement of Gertrude in these visions, in kissing the Lord’s left hand, was inspired by the nature of the liturgy. Both “physical and spiritual senses are channels through which believers can approach and encounter the divine” (Gertrude 133). It is through these senses that we encounter the symbolic nature of the liturgy as well.

Symbols are not merely objects that are allegorical in nature. Rather, “the significance of the symbol and symbolic lay in a paradoxical kind of reference that embodies and even vouchesafes its meaning” (Gadamer 37). We return to Gadamer’s idea of the symbolic in order to understand how it displays the beauty of the liturgy we experience today. Symbols can be in the form of objects, direction, dimension, time & space, and most obviously art. Through the liturgical contemplation of Guardini in his “Sacred Senses”, we learn of the symbolic importance of so many aspects of the liturgy, from the sign of the cross, the bread and wine of communion, to specific times of day. It is in the veiled and unveiled aspects of symbol that the liturgy truly shines. Most remarkably to me was Guardini’s analysis of the candle’s importance to the liturgy. “It stands so unwavering in its place, so erect, so clear… in perfect readiness to be of service” (Sacred Signs 26). Guardini spends time analyzing the physical nature of the candle, and what its intentions seem to be, as it “stands before God”. However, he is careful to note that “the candle is unconscious of what it does… but we can give it a soul by making it an expression of our own attitude”(Sacred Signs 26). It is in liturgical experiences such as these that it becomes symbolic. Guardini puts this simply: “a symbol may be said to originate when that which is interior and spiritual finds expression in that which is exterior and material” (Guardini 57). We must become one with the candle as we become one with Christ in the liturgy. The candle gives us an opportunity to recognize something we know well, but interpret it in a new way. This same oneness becomes abundantly clear in the sacred sign of the gifts of bread and wine. It is through the gifts of bread and wine, and ultimately Christ’s sacrifice, that “brings life in intoxicating excess, both to possess and impart” (Sacred Signs 38). We must remember that we are not to experience the liturgy on an individual level, but rather as a community.

This is where festivity arises in the human experiences of the liturgy. Festivity as defined by Gadamer: “something that happens in its own time and at the proper time, that is not subject to the abstract calculation of temporal duration” (Gadamer 41). It is through the contemplation of the liturgy that this festivity unfolds its true meaning: the goal of salvation of the living person (Guardini 83). It is in this nature that liturgy brings about the seriousness of festivity. However, this salvation cannot be reached by the means of an individual, but rather requires the encounter of God in the presence of others, but as one entity in the Church. In her “Herald of Divine Love”, Gertrude describes the liturgy as a “heavenly banquet… for the welfare of all” (Gertrude 175). Here we are reminded of the ability of the liturgy to transcend time, and its intention for ALL. Christ did not suffer, die and rise again for the sake of an individual, but rather humanity in a holistic sense.

Through these various liturgical contemplations, we can confirm that liturgical beauty is inherently playful, symbolic, and festive. Let us continue to be active participants in the gifts of liturgy so that we can grow stronger as one being in Christ. As Guardini mentions “what fire does in an instant, time is doing to everything that lives” (Guardini 32). Let us use that time wisely.