Liturgy is essential for life at Catholic colleges and universities

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The liturgy plays a central role in the life of the Church. The Second Vatican Council famously called the Eucharist the “source and summit” of the Church’s life (cf. Lumen Gentium, No. 11). This is no different at Catholic colleges and universities today. Whether in theology courses or in other disciplines, the study of the liturgy is an important aspect of any fundamentally Catholic education.

At Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, the life of faith is incorporated into every discipline. Whether biology, political science, psychology or any other course of study, everything is seen through the lens of the Catholic faith. The liturgy is approached as more than just a theological discipline or a matter of theoretical interest.

“It is presented as the gift of God whereby he makes the saving events of Christ present to us, enabling us to participate in them,” said Stephen Hildebrand, chair of the department of theology. “Christ comes to us in the liturgy and takes us with him to the Father.”

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The way of beauty helps reveal “the liturgy as God’s ultimate expression of love for us and our worship of thanksgiving back to him,” said Gabriella Duo, senior theology major at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Students at Franciscan learn about the Eucharist through the prayers and order of the Mass, but always in tandem with the beauty of the visible, tangible aspects of the liturgy, such as sacred art, vestments, architecture and music.

“By understanding the liturgy in this way, we not only learn about the liturgy itself, but we also learn to see how the liturgy reveals God’s love for us, what he sacrifices for our love,” Duo said.

Students at Franciscan begin by learning to really engage with the liturgy. “Before we can get into the practicalities of how the liturgy is celebrated, we must first enter into the mystery of what the sacred liturgy is,” said James Pauley, professor of theology and catechetics at Franciscan. Students learn that “the liturgy is celebrated by Jesus himself, head and members, as the very best way to offer glory to the Father and to intercede for the sanctification of the world.”

The liturgy is the place of maximum encounter with God, Pauley said, “and is therefore the source of the life of the disciple.” It is meant to change us, to form us more and more to better love the Father and to better love our neighbor with the love of Jesus himself, he said. “The more that we pray in Christ, through the liturgy, the more a fruitful living of the Christian life becomes possible.”

The study of the liturgy at Franciscan is deeply rooted in the liturgical experience. Students study the actual texts of the Roman Missal, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Second Vatican Council and esteemed liturgical theologians like Romano Guardini, among others.

“Joining ourselves intentionally into liturgical prayer prepares us for our heavenly life like nothing else can,” Pauley said. “And such an experience also prepares us to live our lives on earth with deep missionary joy. Such a life, both now and in eternity, is the vocation of every human person.”

Daily access to liturgy

Wyoming Catholic College sits in the vast expanse of northwest Wyoming wilderness. Here, as at Franciscan and so many other Catholic colleges and universities, the Faith is incorporated into all courses of study and the very fabric of campus life. “Not only do we go over the practicality of our faith, but our faith is sewn into our daily experiences and throughout our other courses,” said Braden Licciardi, a junior liberal arts major. “Theology is not meant to remain intellectual.”

Ash Wednesday Mass
Students and campus staff gather for an Ash Wednesday Mass on March 2, at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y. CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz

“The liturgy has always been present in class discussions,” said Andrea Callaway, a senior liberal arts major at Wyoming Catholic College. “It is impossible to address the New Testament, the unchangeability of God, or anything else in theology without it bearing some relevance to the liturgy. It flows naturally in and out of our discussions.”

More than simply a theoretical exploration, students have access to daily Mass and adoration, vespers, compline and confession, allowing them to live the liturgy, rather than merely learning it. “The way that liturgy and faith are discussed in theology excites you to go to Mass and more fully embrace Christ,” Callaway said.

“One of our main goals is to show the unity of all knowledge,” said Jeremy Holmes, associate professor of theology. “The real world does not come in discrete bins of biological things, ethical things, theological things, and so on; one and the same real thing can be biological and ethical and theological.”

“In an integrated curriculum, the truths of faith do not have to be incorporated into various disciplines as though they were a foreign element,” Holmes added. “They enter naturally because they already permeate the world.”

The liturgy is directly addressed in theology classes primarily in the fall of senior year, in the course on the Church. But due to the integrated curriculum, the liturgy is addressed in many other courses, as well. For example, Latin students read and study classic hymns, and music students read magisterial texts on sacred music and explore the great liturgical music down through the centuries.

The work of redemption

Theology courses at Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee, incorporate instruction on the liturgy in ways that are both practical and appealing, according to Sister Agnes Rose MacKellar, O.P., a junior secondary education and history major. In Scripture courses, professors highlight the Biblical roots of the Mass, she said; in a class on the Church Fathers, students learned about how the liturgy developed in the first centuries of the Church.

NEWMAN CENTER ARIZONA ADVENT
A student takes a note after the homily during Mass at Holy Trinity Newman Center on the campus of Northern Arizona State University in 2019. CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec

“The courses have not only helped to deepen my own participation in the liturgy but have provided means of teaching others about the Mass and the sacraments, particularly the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist,” Sister MacKellar said. Classes in other disciplines, such as philosophy, English and history, similarly seek to “foster a love for the liturgy in students,” she said.

Father Mark Chrismer, lecturer in theology and chaplain at Aquinas College, said that theology is paramount at Aquinas and unites all disciplines. “The harmonious union of faith and reason underscores all subjects,” he said. And “the liturgy is a principal source of theological and spiritual formation.” In class, the goal is not only to gain a deeper understanding of the liturgy but also to gain wisdom from the prayers that are offered.

“Ultimately, education should give us light and the greatest light we can receive is God’s revelation of himself to us,” Father Chrismer said. “And knowledge of the sacred liturgy is indispensable for this education because it is where the work of our redemption in Christ is brought to fruition.”

Aquinas College is specifically geared towards the formation of teachers, with an emphasis on preparing graduates for teaching in Catholic schools. “Sharing, thereby, in the evangelizing mission of the Church, students are engaged in a curriculum that is rich in liberal arts and is always presented in the light of the Gospel,” said Sister Elizabeth Anne Allen, O.P., director of the Center for Catholic Education at Aquinas College.

The theology of liturgy is taught in theology, catechetics and education classes, but it is also a component of the life of the school. Most of the students at Aquinas are consecrated religious, but all receive an education steeped in faith, including the sacramental life, Liturgy of the Hours and Mass, Sister Elizabeth said. “The object of knowing faith is for the knowing to lead to love of faith and to the living it out in our daily lives so that, through God’s grace, we attain our ultimate goal of heaven.”

Paul Senz writes from Oklahoma.

Paul Senz

Paul Senz writes from Oklahoma.