Liturgy

Have you ever been fascinated by a wooden lectern holding a ponderous, ancient tome? Fine objects, today lecterns are not only a prerogative of churches. We can find wooden or even plexiglass lecterns in libraries, museums, restaurants and even private homes. What is a lectern…

Each time we get sprinkled with holy Water, dipping our fingers in a holy water font and cross ourselves, we remember our Baptism. Since we were children, they taught us that each time we enter a Church, it is important that we dip our fingers…

Chalices, pyxes and patens. In short: sacred objects. They have always been fundamental elements of Liturgy, and have evolved throughout centuries but never essentially changed their primary concept: storing Christ’s body and blood in a worthy way. There are specific rules that define the use…

Blessings we should know, some are famous, some others are curious. Instruments of faith and grace to let the Holy Spirit descend on those who are worthy. Blessings have always been part of devotees’ lives with ancient formulas, rituals made of gestures that we often…

Communion is the highest and solemn moment in a Mass, when bread turns into Christ’s Body. Here are a few mistakes we should avoid when approaching Eucharist. Eucharist. The most Holy Sacrament. Communion. Any way we wish to call it, this is surely the highest…

The Bishop is among the priests, one of the most important and invested figures with meaning for the faithful. In his role of “supervisor” (from the greek επίσκοπος, episkopos) he embodies in himself the value of souls pastor, the supreme minister of religion, teacher and…

Light has always had a very deep and essential meaning for men. There is no religion that hasn’t made it a key element in its mythology, no civilization that hasn’t celebrated it as an assimilable, if not overlapping, element to the very concept of life.…

The term liturgical clothes, or  liturgical vestments, generally indicates the clothing used by priests of various ranks in the context of religious ceremonies and festivals. These clothes differ in various characteristics and, in particular, vary in colour, depending on the time of year and the…

The term ‘censer‘ comes from the Latin thus, Thuris “incense.” This is also the origin of censer’s synonym is derived: it is sometimes called ‘incense‘. In Latin, it was also referred to as thymiaterium, incensorium, and fumigatorium. The thurible is a metal container, usually a…

Religious clothes have always been considered a sort of ‘uniform’ requested to priests to differentiate themselves from the common people. This is because since the origins of religion, there was the need to identify members of their communities even based on specific clothing. In particular,…

The candle holder is a church supply in every church and placed on the altar. It is a candle holder intended to support a single candle. Its use dates back to the very origins of the church, and is clearly linked and indissoluble to the…

The liturgical stoles are a vestment worn by deacons, priests and bishops just under the chasuble. In particular, the deacons wear the liturgical stoles on the shoulders, passing on the left shoulder and tying them under the right arm; priests and bishops wear them simply…

Processional crosses are mounted on long beams, which allow you to carry them in procession; are carried by an altar boy or a minor priest and usually lead the procession. In most cases, once you enter the church and reach the presbytery, processional crosses are set…

The host is the unleavened bread that symbolizes the body of Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist, the celebration which started by Jesus during the Last Supper. In fact, the host is not just a vehicle between us and Jesus, but, after the consecration it becomes…

The feast of Corpus Christi (“Body of Christ”) ends the festival that follows after Easter. It is celebrated on Thursday after the celebration of the Holy Trinity, although in many countries it falls on the following Sunday. The feast of Corpus Christi celebrates the real…

The Christ-Light axiom is one of the most recurring in the Catholic religion. From the origins of the Liturgy, light from lamps and candles was used as symbol of light of the Resurrection of Jesus: a light, which can dissipate the darkness of the darkest…

The Via Crucis or Way of the Cross, traces the Passion of Christ and his path towards Mount Golgotha to be crucified. Pilgrims visiting Jerusalem since ancient times celebrated this ritual: they covered the route from Pilate Palace to the mountain and to the Holy…

The smell of incense has always been tied to the field of spirituality and ritual, not only in the Catholic Christian religion, but in all religions. The act of burning incense, precious material, reserved for altars of the gods and for the table of the…