![]() Thanksgiving is a vital part of Christian worship and always will be. “How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?” the psalmist so eloquently asks in Psalm 115. Thanksgiving is our acknowledgement of an infinite debt that we owe to God yet can never completely repay. Thanksgiving is a response to the infinite love of God. God pours out life and grace upon us, even without our asking for it. This means much more than material things, of course, and is primarily concerned with the spiritual life we have in God. We thank our God for all that he has done for us, for all that we are, all that we have. While praise considers God in himself, thanksgiving considers God in relation to us. Thanksgiving is another important element in Catholic liturgy. In any case, the vocal praise, so characteristic of Catholic worship, is a visible sign of praising God day and night, year in and year out. I think we all know what that means, though it is difficult to define it. Our basic attitude in both the Liturgy of the Eucharist (Mass) or the Divine Office is the praise of God. Praise is our total admiration and love for the Creator of heaven and earth. Praise acknowledges that there is Another above and beyond us, to whom we owe our very existence. But we can say it is essentially the unlimited appreciation of God, expressed in words, song, silence and gestures. As Saint Ignatius of Loyola put it: “Man was created to praise, venerate and serve the Lord his God, and in this way to save his soul.” We might ask, though, what is praise? Like most realities and attitudes–life, death, love, and the like–praise is difficult to define precisely. Praise is a fundamental duty of a Christian toward God. There are also elements proper to either the Mass or the Liturgy of the Hours, distinguishing one from the other. There are elements or characteristics in both the Mass and Divine Office that are common to both. The two–the Divine Office and the Eucharist–are meant to exist in harmony, thus mutually enriching the spiritual life of those who participate in both, such as us monks. At the heart and center of the Church’s liturgy, of course, is the Eucharistic liturgy, the Mass.Īn important element of Catholic liturgy is the Divine Office, which is ever-reflecting the liturgical season being celebrated in the Mass: the cycle of Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, etc., as well as the day of the week, the memorials, feasts and solemnities of our Lord, the Blessed Mother and the angels and saints all of which are experienced in the Divine Office as well as the Mass. ![]() The Liturgy of the Hours forms a part of Catholic liturgy as a whole. This is a lamentable reality, but is certainly different for us who consecrate a good part of every day to chanting the Divine Office in chapel or cell. I say theoretically for the entire Church, for you know as well as I that perhaps for the majority of the Catholic faithful the Liturgy of the Hours has little or no place in their piety and prayer life. Theoretically for the entire Church, but certainly for religious who pray the Divine Office in public or in private, there is an intimate link between the Divine Office and the Holy Eucharist. Sayings and Stories from the Desert Fathers.How We Pray and Chant – Monastic life has prayer at its very heart.Abbot’s Archives – Personal reflections from our abbots across the years.Subscriptions – We can add you to our postal or electronic mailing lists for monastery news and homilies. ![]() ![]()
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