Holy Senses

We are called to live with blind faith, yet that is something we are not very good at.  We want to be able to see it, feel it, and experience it before we really believe it.  It is fitting, therefore, that God would choose to perform the work of sanctification through the signs of sacramental matter and intent.  Those are the aspects of our faith that jump out to me:  awareness of the prefigurements from the Old Covenant and the use of sacred art, furnishings, sounds, and scents.

One example that I have more recently come to appreciate are the altars that are set up with the tabernacle directly behind it.  Above the tabernacle is the crucifix and on each side are three or four candles.  To me, this imagery helps bring to life the fulfillment of the temple, the menorah, the holy of holies, and other components of the Old Covenant. 

That is what proper art, furnishings, sounds, and scents can do.  It can help enliven the faith in our spirituality.  Conversely, I was recently in a church that kind of felt like it was an old Dollar General, complete with the 1960's drop tile ceiling and florescent bulbs.  It was a very difficult Mass for me to engage in.

I love the Byzantine approach to this topic.  Every icon in a Byzantine church has a specific purpose of helping us to engage in the Divine.  The Divine Liturgy of the Byzantine rite is full of chanting, incense, and other sacramentals that help to engage all our senses in the act of worship.

While I enjoy attending an occasional Byzantine Liturgy as a liturgical treat, I don't need that elaborate of an environment.  However, I think there are some things that we can be mindful of in the Latin Rite.  Is the Eucharist front and center (or at least in a prominent spot)?  Is the rest of the art and furnishings tasteful and engaging on the spiritual level?  Are there opportunities to more properly engage the other sense?  Can we expand the use of incense?  Are we ringing the altar bells appropriately during consecration?  Do we chant the Kyrie Eleison, the Gospel Acclimation, the Agnus Dei, and the Dismissal?  Are we allowing for appropriate reflectiveness and moments of silence through the liturgy?

I believe the more we can enable our parishioners to engage in the Liturgy through all of their senses, the more they will get out of it and the closer they will ultimately grow to the Lord.