The Dignity of the Liturgy

Father Enrico Finotti

The liturgy must uphold certain characteristics:

1. SERIOUSNESS
   Those participating in the liturgy must feel that it is important, valuable, and of great significance. Efforts must be made to resist trivialization, excessive informality, routine, or cheap familiarity, which transform the liturgy into a subjective and low-level expression.

2. NOBILITY
   The liturgy must exhibit nobility in gestures, texts, hymns, music, symbols, vestments, and the environment. It must never be detached from authentic art. The liturgy should educate Christians in nobility in their relationship with God and must never indulge in low-quality expressions, language, or symbols in the name of so-called pastoral relevance.

3. SACREDNESS
   In the liturgy, God is present and acts; heaven descends to earth, and humanity is elevated to heavenly realities. This must be expressed and perceived through signs, gestures, and symbols that create an atmosphere of silence, respect, adoration, and awe. A secularized liturgy—reduced to human, sociological assemblies or mere commonplace expressions—fails to lift the soul toward the sacred, thereby neglecting the supernatural dimension at work within it. The liturgy must place the Church before the mystery, which transcends and is incomparable (sense of the mystery).

4. SOLEMNITY
   Although not every liturgical act can be characterized by solemnity, solemn liturgy is necessary for major solemnities and liturgical days when required. Solemnity emphasizes the importance of specific mysteries of faith. Without solemn days and celebrations, liturgy risks becoming flattened and monotonous.

It is essential to distinguish between:

• Ferial liturgy (weekday liturgy)

• Festive liturgy (Sunday and feast day liturgy)

• Solemn liturgy (for solemnities).

Unfortunately, in many parishes, there is insufficient differentiation between a solemnity and an ordinary Sunday or even between Sunday and a weekday. Solemnity is expressed through elements such as:

• The number of ministers;

• Richness of symbols (vestments, furnishings, incense, candles);

• Sacred and high-quality hymns (sacred polyphony);

• Elaborate rites and gestures (processions, distinctive rituals);

• Use of the organ and the ringing of bells.

A solemn liturgy cannot exist without the three scholae:

• Schola of acolytes (servers),

• Schola of lectors,

• Schola cantorum (choir).

Each rite should be marked by its specific character (ferial, festive, solemn). For example, Mass could be ferial (on weekdays), festive (on Sundays and feast days), or solemn (on solemnities). If a rite is to be celebrated solemnly, it must meet the requirements of solemnity (bells, choir, liturgical vestments, incense, candles, decorations).

Solemnity is necessary to express the Majesty of God, which remains ineffable even as He has drawn us into familiarity through the Incarnation of the Word. Solemnity fully expresses the characteristics of the liturgy: seriousness, sacredness, and nobility. Furthermore, it fosters true religious celebration, not the banal joy of a fair, but the liturgical solemnity that anticipates the Kingdom in line with the visions of the Apocalypse.

For liturgical solemnity to be realized in parishes, it must not only be mandated by liturgical books but also supported by the parish community with the necessary tools for solemnity, as attested by centuries of tradition. It is not irrelevant whether a parish has or lacks an organ, bells, more solemn vestments, or precious furnishings. In this area, one should not speak of poverty; rather, each community, in accordance with its social circumstances, must elevate the quality and artistry of what serves the liturgy.

For the poor, the excesses of our homes and private Christian lives must first be curtailed, rather than reducing the solemnity of God’s house in the name of supposed poverty. Such exceptions should be extraordinary and rare. The Christian community can address both the needs of the poor and the solemnity of the liturgy without diminishing either.

Liturgical solemnity expresses direct adoration of God and love for Him above all else. Charity toward the poor loves the neighbor and God in them. But the love of God cannot be reduced solely to love of neighbor. Both are necessary and intertwined. Celebrating the liturgy worthily, devoutly, and solemnly is the highest act of love for God and holds intrinsic value as an expression of the first Commandment. Solemn liturgy is the ultimate manifestation of love for God, celebrated with dignity and devotion.

Christianity cannot be reduced to indirect love for God through neighbor alone; it also and primarily requires direct love for God, expressed through prayer and its highest and most complete form: the liturgy. This is analogous to the primacy of contemplative life in the Church. The crisis of the liturgy parallels the crisis of contemplative orders.

The liturgy is not primarily functional to charity toward neighbor but is an absolute value in itself, as a necessary act of love, adoration, and intimacy with God. The purpose of human life is this: to know, love, and serve God in this life to enjoy Him in eternity. Christian life cannot exist solely through works of fraternal charity; it must also, and above all, love God directly through the liturgy with all one’s heart, soul, and strength.

5. ECCLESIALITY
   The liturgy belongs to the Church, and those who serve in it must respect the rite and be humble, competent servants. In this way, the faithful will feel at home in the celebrations, which are the common heritage of the Church, and will not be disturbed by the arbitrary actions of sacred ministers.

Photo by Liturgical Legos on Unsplash