Tuesday, October 20, 2020

The Beauty of the Liturgy

 From The Catholic World Report:

Fr. James Jackson is a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, and the author of Nothing Superfluous: An Explanation of the Symbolism of the Rite of St. Gregory the Great (Redbrush, 2017). In that book (and elsewhere), he writes eloquently and illuminatingly about the rituals and symbols of the Traditional Latin Mass, demonstrating that every gesture, every symbol, every second of silence, is packed with meaning and profound intent.

Fr. Jackson recently corresponded with Catholic World Report about beauty, its evangelizing power, and the special and important role of beauty in the Sacred Liturgy.

CWR: Why are we attracted to beautiful things?

Fr. James Jackson, FSSP: This is an essential question. It may be answered first by a practical explanation. The ancient Babylonians and later the Greeks came up with notions about a “golden ratio” and a “golden rectangle.” It makes for some fascinating reading. Few read about these things; they see credit cards and television screens and books and iPods shaped in rectangles, but rarely question why some many things are in that shape. Researchers have noticed that people process information inside rectangles – like text in a paragraph – readily and efficiently. They speak of a lighter cognitive load, so a book looks to us as if it is easy to read.

This is also all over nature. Fractals – irregular and self-similar geometry – occur everywhere in nature, from coastlines to snowflakes and leaf veins. They are even in our lungs. We respond to these patterns so well that just looking at them can reduce our stress levels as much as 60%. (Read more.)
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