The interior disposition of each priest, and of each consecrated person, must be that of “putting nothing before the divine Office” [Rorate Note: this same expression of the Rule of Saint Benedict, «ut operi Dei nihil praeponatur», was quoted by the Holy Father in the introductory words of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum].
The beauty of this inner attitude will find expression in the beauty of the liturgy, so that wherever we join in singing, praising, exalting and worshiping God, a little bit of heaven will become present on earth.
Truly it would not be presumptuous to say that, in a liturgy completely centered on God, we can see, in its rituals and chant, an image of eternity. Otherwise, how could our forefathers, hundreds of years ago, have built a sacred edifice as solemn as this? Here the architecture itself draws all our senses upwards, towards “what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined: what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9).
In all our efforts on behalf of the liturgy, the determining factor must always be our looking to God. We stand before God – he speaks to us and we speak to him. Whenever in our thinking we are only concerned about making the liturgy attractive, interesting and beautiful, the battle is already lost. Either it is Opus Dei, with God as its specific subject, or it is not.
In light of this, I ask you to celebrate the sacred liturgy with your gaze fixed upon God within the Communion of Saints, the living Church of every time and place, so that it will truly be an expression of the sublime beauty of the God who has called men and women to be his friends.
Benedict XVI
Address to the Abbot and Monks of Heiligenkreuz
September 9, 2007
Address to the Abbot and Monks of Heiligenkreuz
September 9, 2007
