|
Sacramentals are things that remind us of God, or His actions in our
life, such as statues, pictures, crucifixes, and medals. They may also
be articles that are used in ceremonies. Like everything else in our
faith, or even in your relationship, Sacramentals remind us of love.
Candles
Fire has for centuries reminded people of God because it provided
warmth, direction on a dark night, and safety against wild animals. It
is both powerful and vulnerable. The flame of a candle changes that
candle's shape, as the hand of God changes the very shape of our lives.
No one can meet Christ and stay the same! The large candle near the
altar is called the "Christ candle" and is a symbol of God's presence
in our parish.
Candles also represent us. For example, after praying for a few moments
in the Church, a person might light a candle before leaving. The lit
candle would then represent the person as if they were still in Church
praying. These candles are often placed in special areas or chapels
reserved for quiet prayer.
You might want to have the Unity Candle at your ceremony. That large
beautiful candle represents your two loves, joined together to make one
flame. It will also change its shape as it burns, just as you have
changed since falling in love. You might recall how much different you
are now since meeting your fiancée, ...and how much God, and love
affect us. Perhaps like Christ, no one can meet your fiancée and remain
the same!
Churches are no longer made of stone like the cathedrals of old. Today
they are made of materials that burn, and so Fire Departments have
increasingly regulated the use of unattended flames, and some counties
have banned them altogether.
Incense
At special or more solemn ceremonies, powdered incense is put into an
ornamental charcoal burner, and then emits richly scented smoke that
can quickly fill the church with its aroma. It is a very pleasing scent
and that is the very reason it is used. For thousands of years people
have used incense because it seemed to give a place a sense of
sacredness by using the sense of smell, just as stained glass creates a
sense of awe using special light for our sense of sight.
We still use our sense of smell for special occasions. The whole
perfume and after-shave industry affirms our desire to associate
pleasing experiences with pleasing scents. They make any event more
powerfully memorable. It is often used at Funerals, where it is a sign
of the pleasing fragrance of Heaven. It is used at solemn Masses to
bless the altar and the offertory gifts of bread and wine. In general,
it is another example of the desire people have to use all our senses
in giving glory to God.
Holy Water
Flowing water is the action of Baptism, when a Catholic first begins
following Christ publicly. Flowing water recalls the amazing rescue of
the Israelites when Moses parted the Red Sea. Baptism is our rescue
from a life without God. For most people, that happened as infants when
our family spoke for us. For adults it is an important and often very
emotional moment that is never forgotten. Adult Christians would often
walk by the Baptism Fountain on the way into Church on Sunday morning
and touch it or bless themselves with the water as a remembrance of
their first public commitment to Christ. Now smaller versions of that
Baptism font are placed at all the doors of the church. It is still the
custom to touch the water, as a reminder of the promises made at
Baptism.
You might remember the first time and place you met your fiancée.
Perhaps it was a restau-rant, or at a party, or maybe even at work.
Maybe that place is still special to you. Many couples still consider
those places as powerful reminders of their love and where their love
began. They even return to it on anniversaries to renew their feelings
for each other. For Christians and God, it is the altar and the Baptism
Font that are places where we have experienced the Lord.
Water is also sometimes sprinkled on people at Catholic ceremonies for
the same reason. Holy Water is always a renewal of our promise to
follow Christ. He rescues us from selfishness. This water is used at
your wedding to bless your wedding rings. You can see how everything we
use at Mass returns us to Christ! He knew the best way to love. Your
commitment to each other will grow if it is based in a desire to live
and love like Christ lived, ...and loves you now!
The Sign of the Cross
Christians follow Christ. It is our simplest definition. To more easily
remember that simple thought, we make the Sign of the Cross on
ourselves as we start and end each prayer. We are literally placing the
instrument of Christ's supreme act of love directly on us. It shows we
understand what He did for us, and our desire to love others,
especially our spouse.
Many couples have little signs they give each other that no one else
knows that indicate very personal messages of love. It may be a certain
look, a wink, or gesture that both know means something intimate and
reveals their feelings about each other. What is personal and secret
for you becomes public in the sign of the cross. It is our visible
gesture that reveals we know what Jesus did for us out of His intense,
personal, and deep care for each of us, even lasting until today.
We pray "In the Name of ...". This means our words are the kinds of
words that person named would also pray. Our thoughts, words, and
feelings are of the same kind that Christ Himself would pray, so we can
pray then, " In His Name...". It is an important reminder to make sure
our prayers are loving. We can be tempted to pray selfishly, for
example, wishing for revenge or maybe excessive wealth. The Sign of the
Cross reminds us that we want Christ to pray through us to the Father
in Heaven.
The Rosary
No one is sure when the Rosary began, but somewhere several centuries
ago people started the custom of counting prayers on a beaded string.
The monks in their monasteries had the habit of going to Church every
three hours throughout the day to pray and sing some of the 150 Psalms
from the Old Testament. It was a way of keeping the whole day holy, and
having an every-three-hour reminder of God's presence in their lives.
The townspeople liked this custom and imitated this prayer, but said
Hail Mary's and Our Father's instead of the psalms. They counted the
number of their prayers on beads originally formed from crushed and
scented rose petals (hence the name "rosary").
The rosary is a prayer-aid. The constant repetition of prayers is meant
to actually lull a person into a peaceful meditative state so that our
deeper thoughts can freely roam over some spiritual topic. If you don't
know what to think about, the Church has provided 15 suggested scenes
from the life of Christ. These are the 15 mysteries (or profound
events) from his life. They are divided up into the emotional
categories of The Sorrowful, The Joyous, and The Glorious Mysteries.
The rosary is meant to be a prayerful aid to actually thinking more
deeply about some spiritual issues while you are repetitively saying
Hail Mary's and Our Father’s over and over.
Works of Art in the Church
God inspires. God inspires people in personal ways that are very deep
and profoundly life-changing. People express that experience by taking
ordinary elements like paint or clay and making something beautiful.
Statues, paintings, stained glass, even furniture, are works of art
that inspire faith, and are inspired by faith. When found in a museum,
art is admired for its own sake. In Church, its value is its ability to
inspire faith.
Art appeals to our emotions as well as our intellect. Our Catholic
Faith draws on the whole human person for its expression. All of our
senses, feelings, intelligence, and behavior combine to respond to the
presence of God in Church. A work of art combines all those aspects of
the artist in the very object he or she creates. We are the work of art
created in the image of God. We in turn can create something that says
a lot about us. Art can draw out a powerful re-sponse from those who
see it as well.
Statues
Statues are aids to prayer. Just as a photograph of your fiancée helps
to bring that person to mind in a special way, so can a statue of
Christ help your prayer by bringing Christ to mind. Of course, you
don't need the picture to remember, but it's a nice help. In prayer we
are thinking about and talking to God, and statues or pictures can make
the experience more vivid. We know they are still only things. A statue
is only an object. But it does have religious value by en-hancing our
worship of God. That is always good!
Statues and paintings and mosaics were teaching devices in the early
days of the church. Be-fore the time of printing and books, a teacher
would simply point to a painting of a biblical scene or a statue of a
famous Christian to bring out the lesson. Saints are those who became
almost world famous for living a life just like Christ’s. You might
know some who also live that way today, but are just not as well known.
They are also the real “saints” in your world.
Those are the kind of people we call on for wisdom and even prayer.
Just as you might ask your fiancée to pray for you to Jesus, so too do
we ask the saints to pray to Jesus for us. A statue of that saint, like
the picture of your fiancée simply makes the experience more vivid and
real.
These objects of marble and wood are also art. The artist has a message
to share through the work and so great art can add a wonderful
dimension to our spiritual life that is beyond ordinary book learning.
Stained Glass
This art form has two purposes. Like statues, stained glass can help
focus our attention on the works of God and so make it easier to pray.
Pictures of God or of famous Christians of the past can inspire us to
pray in a better way. They can remind us of some hero from the past,
with a character worth imitating, like a St. Francis.
The colors of the glass can also make a beautiful environment inside
the church building. The different hues of reds, blues, and other
colors can create a special aura of sacredness on the people gathered
inside. Once again, it appeals to our emotions, as does all great art.
Stations of the Cross
Around the walls of the church are placed fourteen paintings or
sculptures showing events of the day Christ died. Some are events taken
from the scriptural account. Others are events taken from traditions or
legends that have been passed down to us about that solemn day, but are
not verified historically. By walking to each station in the Church,
Christians can imagine in a prayerful way that they are "following
Jesus" on His Way of the Cross. They are identifying with Christ, and
His command to "take up your cross, come, and follow me." The different
stations are an arbitrary division of the day into fourteen separate
moments and are opportunities for reflection on the actions of Christ.
They majestically reveal how much Jesus loved us. They show the terror
of sin, and what He went through for us to get the message of love.
They reveal the "path" we should walk as well.
The Crucifix
The largest symbol in the church is the crucifix. It is the main symbol
of our faith above all others, and has been so from the very beginning
of the Church. Jesus on the cross shows us the results of sin, of
selfishness, of manipulating power. The cross is really a kind of
mirror, for it reveals what our own human selfishness can look like. We
can learn a lot from the cross.
How many relationships have you seen that are based on one person
controlling another? They are terrible to see! Yet how secure do we
feel when our fiancée is having a good time away from us? How secure do
we feel when we must leave the other alone with others? Jealousy and
insecurity are the great killers of relationships. We know it is
difficult to trust, yet trying to control or dominate another is the
very sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They tried to be
all-powerful and self sufficient by eating the fruit that would make
them gods. Yet God created them equal, good, and to be helpmates to
each other. God created them to love each other. That is our real human
nature. They showed only love of themselves. They forgot everything!
Yet Jesus showed a different love. His vulnerability on the cross was
the opposite of the arrogant pride of Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden, when they tried to be gods themselves (Gen. 3:5). His
resurrection was proof that His way of love truly brings a full gift of
freedom and life! His is the only way to real happiness.
The cross reminds us to respect our fiancée. Our love desires not to
dominate the other, but to free our fiancée to grow and mature. We
cannot and should not control our partner and run their life. The love
Jesus shows on the cross is the love of service, of vulnerability, of
trust, and respect for another's freedom. This love saves us from the
selfish love of Adam and Eve. No wonder the cross is so important! No
wonder it is everywhere in the Church.
Gazing at the cross, at the suffering Lord, engenders compassion within
our hearts. We are moved that Christ would die to show us the results
of selfishness. We are moved that Christ loved us that much. We are
moved to change our own lives and live unselfishly for others. We are
moved to open ourselves, to be vulnerable, and love. We are moved to
never treat anyone as Christ was treated. Compassion is the most human
of traits. The cross of Christ returns us to our true human
nature--love and compassion for one another--and love of the one God of
the universe.
Only the Son of God could have done this. Only Jesus could act in a way
powerful enough to change such stubborn people as us humans! The cross
reminds us that, like any good car, we work best when operated
according to the manufacturer’s instructions. We were designed to love
and our life will get great “miles per gallon” if we love as He did.
All of Christ's actions on earth return us to our true human nature,
which is to love God and one another.
The Sanctuary
The area around the altar is called the sanctuary. It is often higher
than the rest of the Church so that people can see the actions of the
priest. In our early history, all Churches were round. After all,
Christians were one family gathered around our Lord in the Eucharist.
The round churches encouraged everyone to feel a bond with each other
and to pray together. There was an almost physical sense of Christ
being in the center of everything. The very style of the building
enhanced the truth of being one with God and each other. After all,
people felt they were part of the action of the Mass. That is
important. You know how wonderful your re-ception will be if everyone
comes and participates and has a good time. You don’t want to invite
just spectators! Participation is the key to any gathering.
Architectural styles changed however, and now the altar is often at one
end of the building. This change has made a very important effect on
our faith...
This makes it look like a stage, unfortunately, with actors, lines, and
a show to put on! Worse still, it makes the Christians look like
spectators (hoping the "show" is interesting)! Some Christians come to
Mass and just watch the priest do all the actions. They are waiting,
perhaps for some good actions and maybe a good sermon, (and God is
waiting for the same thing from them!).
The audience ... is God. He is looking down at both the Priest and the
people waiting to hear from both. If you hope the priest is not boring,
God hopes you are not either!
We do not have all the time in the world to live. Our life will one day
come to an end, so let us always use our time well, especially with our
spouse, and especially with Our Lord in Church.
« BACK NEXT »
|
