What, Then, Is Liturgy

. What the two conciliar documents seem to say is that liturgical spirituality is the only spirituality for all, because it directly gushes forth from the cross of Christ. It is from this spirituality that particular types of spirituality evolve. The Benedictine, Dominican, Franciscan, Jesuit, Augustinian, Carmelite, and Salesian, to name a few, are interpretative variations of the Church’s foundational spirituality. After all, no form of spirituality is possible without the liturgy of the Eucharist, sacraments, sacramentals, liturgical year, and the Liturgy of the Hours.

ccording to the Constitution on Liturgy, the celebration of liturgical worship is the fountainhead of spirituality: the liturgy is “the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fount from which all her power flows” (10)