Blog 3

Christian worship, specifically through the liturgy is inherently playful, symbolic, and festive. These attributes, previously contemplated with regard to beauty in art, can similarly be applied to Christian worship and more specifically through the Eucharist.

Romano Guardini explains the liturgy as “an entity consisting of the unified body of the faithful” (Guardini 19). Liturgy, therefore, embodies the Church. It is official and regulated with respect to generations of theological reflection on the nature of God. Moreover, elements of the playful symbolic and festive can be seen in the nature of liturgy. Through the liturgy, we enter into divine life sharing in the fullness of human life. Prayer and Christian worship points to this beauty. Worship and liturgy require one to be fully immersed in contemplation, to participate intentionally, to enter into the timelessness of the festivity of joy and symbolically to experience Christ’s presence specifically in the Eucharist.

One particular example from Sacred Signs that resonated with me was the excerpt on bells. Guardini reminds us that the house of God is ordered towards the divine. Naturally, we can see the playful aspect through many bells housed high in the steeple. They call us to holiness and invite one to contemplate God through its melodic tones in an intentional manner. “Bells send the sound straight up to the zenith, the listener, feels his heart expand beyond its usual narrow limits” (Guardini 49). Bells are an excellent example in which Christian worship used in the liturgy enhances this experience. During many masses I have attended, bells are rung during the celebration of the Eucharist to symbolize the transubstantiation of bread to the Body of Christ. This is a powerful example of exalting and embracing liturgy as it points to Christ’s salvation. Furthermore, just as bells are contained within the context of the steeple, the Church itself is self-contained but calls for individuals to take part. Thus, this individuality is taken outside of one’s self and we are called to take this contemplation in an outward way for others to become Christ to all.

Another example from Cyril of Jerusalem focuses on Sacramental effects which can similarly be understood through the Eucharist. Through Transubstantiation, that is, the transformation of the substance of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, we can understand these are not just ordinary objects. “For just as the bread is related to the body, so also is the word well-fitted to the soul” (Procatechesis 4.5). They allow us to participate in the mystery of Christ’s salvation, wholly and completely. We learn to taste and see the Lord by recognizing one’s identity to Christ to participate in the wedding feast. In other words, we experience a sanctification of our senses, giving them new meaning to represent Christ truly and presently. These gifts, freely given, help us share in Christ through the materiality of the Eucharist. A common theme through throughout the liturgy is that beauty is derived from the divine but must be contemplated through the physical as it leads us to the spiritual. The Eucharist encapsulates this beauty such that it allows us to participate in Christ’s death, resurrection, and eternal salvation to elevate Christian worship in a new way through a sensory experience, contemplation and joy.

Gertrude of Helfta likewise expresses an intimate experience with the Eucharist. “As often as a person looks with devout desire upon the Host, he increases his reward in heaven” (Gertrude 136). Christian worship, in this way, is sensorially rich and self-aware. Gertrude acknowledges the unworthiness of humanity to receive eternal salvation. However, we are called to receive this gift in a physical act to better understand the spiritual. We are called to contemplate this mystery because it helps elevate the senses and understand beauty in a higher order. This helps us necessarily contemplate God’s gift of Himself to enrich us to True beauty which is encountered in Christian worship. Reception, then, becomes an aesthetic act and relates through the image of the Eucharist to make sense of the act. In this way, these images are not separate entities, but a union of rite and devotion. Gertrude encourages us to participate fully in the mystery of this gift in order to elevate the senses towards God and Beauty.

Through each author, we can see all elements of play, symbol and festival presented through the liturgy in order to understand beauty in a new way. Christian worship, emphasized through the Eucharist allows us to more fully enter into these elements in a sensory, tangible way to better know the divine.