Listening to the Liturgy

A couple of days ago I wrote a post entitled Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi but I realized today that I never explained what that phrase actually means. Bad Pilgrim!

Long before there was the Nicene Creed or the official Biblical canon, there was the worship of the Church. Ever since Pentecost, Christians have gathered together to pray and to celebrate the Sacraments. Therefore, when issues arose in the Church, such as when the canon was being solidified or the creeds were being written, the Bishops would look to the worship of the Church to provide their theological framework in which to address these issues.

It is to this principle that “Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi” refers. It is a Latin phrase which means:

“The law (‘lex’) of prayer (‘orandi’) is the law of belief (‘credendi’)”

This phrase is first found in the works of a Fifth Century Christian writer called Prosper, who was a disciple of St. Augustine:

“Let us consider the sacraments of priestly prayers which, having been handed down by the apostles, are celebrated uniformly throughout the whole world and in every catholic Church so that the law of praying might establish the law of believing“ – Prosper of Aquitaine

It’s a bit like the phrase “You are what you eat”, maybe something like “You believe what you pray”.  This is why liturgy was so important to the ancient Church and it’s why it’s important today.

I’ll admit, it took me a long to really wrap my head around why Catholics put such an emphasis on what happens on Sunday mornings. It was only when I started studying the worship of the Early Church that I began to realize its importance and begin to understand the teaching and creedal role of the liturgy.  Our liturgy demonstrates what is important to us. It expresses (among other things) what we believe about God, how we understand ourselves and the Church.

So why am I bringing this up? Well, yesterday afternoon I went to Vespers at my Byzantine parish and noticed a couple of things in  the liturgy that got me excited which I wanted to share…

(i) God Save The Pope!

During the liturgy of Vespers there are some prayers said in the “narthex” (foyer) of the church. At this point in the liturgy yesterday I noted that our priest prayed for Pope Francis, both for his health and for his salvation.

It struck me that such a prayer would sound very strange to many of the non-Catholics I speak to online. Unfortunately, many have cultivated an idea that Catholics think that the Pope is some kind of all-perfect, super Catholic with God-like powers. However, yesterday’s prayer for the Pope’s salvation shows very clearly that the Church understands he is a man like any other, dependent upon the grace of God.

(ii) Why were there tongues at Pentecost?

The other moment came when we sang the Aposticha Doxastikon hymn for Pentecost Vigil:

Aposticha Doxastikon
In the days of old, pride brought confusion to the tongues to the builders of the Tower of Babel, but now the diversity of tongues enlighted the minds and gave knowledge for the glory of God. Then, God punished the impious for their sin; now, Christ enlighten fishermen through his Spirit. Then, confusion of tongues was for the sake of punishment; now, there was variety so that voices could be joined in harmony for the salvation of our souls

How rich is this text?! It expresses an ancient teaching of the Church which sees a parallel between the cacophony of voices at the Tower of Babel and the proclamation of the Gospel in many tongues at Pentecost.

So, if you want to grow in your Catholic faith, I’d invite you to pay close attention to the prayers which are prayed in the liturgy. They are profound and insightful, revealing the riches of the Catholic Church: Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi.

The article Listening to the Liturgy first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net