The Spirit of the Liturgy

[Von Geist der Liturgie]
Year: 
1918
Public: 
Tags: 
Publisher: 
Parlux
Year of publication: 
2018
Pages: 
86
Moral assessment: 
Type: Thought
Nothing inappropriate.
Requires prior general knowledge of the subject.
Readers with knowledgeable about the subject matter.
Contains doctrinal errors of some importance.
Whilst not being explicitly against the faith, the general approach or its main points are ambiguous or opposed to the Church’s teachings.
Incompatible with Catholic doctrine.
Literary quality: 
Recommendable: 
Transmits values: 
Sexual content: 
Violent content: 
Vulgar or obscene language: 
Ideas that contradict Church teaching: 
The rating of the different categories comes from the opinion of Delibris' collaborators

The reading of "The Spirit of the Liturgy" helps to better understand the meaning of prayer in the Church, as well as its sense of the communitarian nature that defines the Church.

In fact, the first two chapters of this work by Guardini come to answer these questions. In the following chapters the author deals with those aspects that today we would call "liturgical language". In dealing with these various topics, Guardini not only invokes theological principles, but also makes clear reference to those that come from anthropology and psychology. This way of proceeding makes Herwegen (of the Benedictine Abbey of Maria Laach) say, quite rightly: "The author's aim was to arrive at a practical consequence for the real man and his capacity for liturgical life" (...) He explains the relationship between the liturgy and the interior life.

In other words, we could say that, thanks to Guardini's intellectual disposition, with The Spirit of the Liturgy we find ourselves before an apology - formulated on the basis of modern thought - of the nature of liturgical life and its proper way of expressing itself. Recovering the "spirit" of this work of Guardini is always instructive for those who seek to deepen the nature of the liturgy as the life of the Church.

Author: Vicente Huerta, Spain
Update on: Jan 2024