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and interwoven with Dogma and their
clear-cut constructed phrases are full
of interior enlightenment. In common,
if prayer is to prove beneficial to the
majority, it must be primarily directed
by thought and not by feeling. Prayer
is beneficial only when it rests on the
bedrock of Truth. Truth, or Dogma,
impregnates prayer with that austere,
protective strength without which it
degenerates into weakness. Dogmatic
thought brings release from the thralldom
of individual caprice, and from
the uncertainty and sluggishness which
follow in the wake of emotion. It makes
prayer intelligible and causes it to rank
as a potent factor of life. In any form of
prayer, therefore, which is intended
for the ultimate use of a corporate
body, the whole fullness of religious
Truth must be included.
The Liturgy is ART!
It is BEAUTY! It is TRUTH!
The Liturgy does not say “I” but “WE.”
It is not celebrated by the individual,
but the body of the faithful. This is
composed not merely of the persons
who may be present in the Church, it
is not the assembled congregation; on
the contrary, it reaches out beyond the
bounds of space to embrace all the
faithful on earth. Simultaneously, it
reaches beyond the bounds of time to
the extent that the body which is praying
upon earth knows itself to be one with
those for whom time no longer exists,
who being perfected exist in Eternity.
The faithful are united by a vital and
fundamental principle common to them
all. That principle is Christ Himself; His
Life is ours; we are incorporated in Him,
we are His Body. The individual has to
renounce his own ideas and ways. He
must surrender his independence to
Christ. He must pray with others,
obeying, instead of freely disposing of
himself. He must ask for things which
do not directly concern him, but which
espouse and plead for the cause of the
community at large. The requirements
of the Liturgy may be summed up in
one word, HUMILITY: Humility by
renunciation ~ by the abdication of
self-rule and self-sufficiency. The
acceptance of the spiritual principles
which the Liturgy offers, transcends
the little world of our individual
experience.
The Liturgy is no mere commemoration
of what once existed, but is living and
real! It is the enduring Life of Christ in
us, and that of the believer in Christ,
eternally God and eternally Man. It
creates an entire spiritual world in
which the soul can live according to
its nature. It does not exist for the
sake of humanity; the Liturgy exists
for the sake of God! In our world where
nothing stands firm, everything is
altered, everything is a constant struggle,
change and flux, the Liturgy stands
strong, a bulwark of Truth, Charity and
Love. The Truth shall set you free!
Dogma, the face of absolute Truth,
inflexible and eternal, entirely
independent as a basis of practicality,
is something inex pressibly great.
Dogma is the guardian of all existence,
actually; it is really the rock upon which
the universe rests. It is a constant: TODAY,
YESTERDAY and TOMORROW. Those who
live by it, will be true and spiritually
sound, at peace to the depths of their
being and, when they leave its sacred
confines to eternal life, they will be
men of courage!