St. Martin of Tours Valley City, a community committed to Liturgy |
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| MASSES: | the river of the water of life... flowing from the throne of God and of The Lamb |
 Liturgy is an "action" of the whole Christ (Christus totus). Those who even now celebrate it without signs are already in the heavenly liturgy, where celebration is wholly communion and feast. The book of Revelation of St. John, read in the Church's liturgy first reveals to us, " A throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne": the LORD God." It then shows the Lamb , "standing as though it had been slain": Christ crucified and risen, the one high priest of the true sanctuary, the same one "who offers and is offered, who gives and is given." Finally it presents " the river of the water of life... flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ," one of the most beautiful symbols of the Holy Spirit. It is the whole community, the Body of Christ united with its Head,
that celebrates. "Liturgical services are not private functions but are
celebrations of the Church which is "the sacrament of unity, namely, the
holy people united and organized under the authority of the Bishops.
Therefore liturgical services pertain |
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to the whole body of the Church.
They manifest it, and have effects upon it. But they touch individual
members of the Church in different ways, depending on their orders,
their role in the liturgical services and their actual participation in
them." For this reason, " rites which are meant to be celebrated in
common with the faithful present and actively participating, should as
far as possible be celebrated in that way rather than by an individual
and quasi-privately."