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Recovering the Baptismal Priesthood: Foundation of Active Participation - Adoremus

Widespread confusion about the meaning of “active participation” in the liturgy persists more than 60 years after the promulgation of Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) at the Second Vatican Council. Three distortions routinely obscure the true meaning of active participation: activism, ritualism, and moralism. Activism reduces participation to external activity, neglecting interior transformation through the Paschal Mystery as the purpose of liturgy. Ritualism confines participation to mere rubrical adherence and attendance at Mass, neglecting the living encounter with Christ’s saving work. The erroneous tendency of moralism treats participation as an ethical performance apart from grace rather than a baptismal immersion into Christ’s own self-offering.
In contrast, authentic participation unites the interior and exterior dimensions: it is sacramentally ordered, centered on the Eucharistic sacrifice, and measured not by what one does but by who one becomes in Christ. Thus, authentic active …

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Joy as a Fruit of the Eucharist - Adoremus

For many Catholics, one of the most recognizable liturgical orations is the Collect for Corpus Christi, also used at the conclusion of Benediction:
O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament
have left us a memorial of your Passion,
grant us, we pray,
so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood
that we may always experience in ourselves
the fruits of your redemption.
Who live and reign…1
This prayer asks the Lord Jesus to allow us, members of the Church, to revere the Eucharist so that we may “always experience in ourselves the fruits of [his] redemption.” The Catholic faith is experiential and sacramental. Indeed, the Church uses material objects (such as bread, wine, and water) to point to and make present God’s unimaginable power and grace. This oration requests a direct experience of the fruits of Christ’s redemption.
As Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) states, “In the liturgy, the sanctification of man is signified by signs perceptible to the senses…” (7). While worship is …

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A Universal Song: New Book Offers Reflections on Sacred Music and Divine Worship - Adoremus

Beautiful churches such as Notre-Dame in Paris, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, or St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City capture our attention in ways that few things can. The sheer size of these structures inspires us, lifting our gazes heavenward. The artwork, altarpieces, furnishings, murals, and other appointments stun with their complexity, radiant beauty, and artistic majesty. The cultural significance of these structures is clear, as seen in the case of Notre-Dame, which suffered a fire in 2019 followed by a process of reconstruction that fascinated a global audience. These buildings stand as monuments of culture and religion, testaments to the ingenuity and hard work of our forebears in the faith. But for the universal Church, which possesses arguably the vastest array of artistic works in the world, you might be surprised to know that these aren’t its crowning jewel of art.
That great privilege belongs to the Church’s treasury of sacred music, as affirmed by the Fathers of …

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Lord, Teach Us to Pray! - Adoremus

“Nothing is to be preferred to the work of God.” This summarizes well the teaching that St. Benedict (ca. 480-547) left his monks regarding the liturgy, especially what we now call the Liturgy of the Hours or the Divine Office. Today, everyone in religious orders and all ordained ministers of the Church are required to pray the Office every day, and the laity are urged to join in this liturgical prayer when possible. In my experience as a monk and spiritual director of priests and seminarians, the central challenge in praying the Divine Office is how to move beyond experiencing it primarily as an obligation, so that it becomes truly life-giving prayer. What follows is mostly meant to assist priests and deacons, but should be of use also to laypersons who wish to pray the Divine Office well.
One entryway is through the words of St. Benedict that began this essay. The phrase “work of God” (opus Dei in Latin) yields more than one meaning. It can be understood as the work that we do for God…

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A New Look at Familiar Texts: Adoremus Announces New Educational Venture in Partnership with St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore - Adoremus