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172 • Part II. The Sacraments: The Faith Celebrated
reading emphasize its dignity: the use of a beautiful book, a procession
with the Book of the Gospels including incense and candles, an effec-
tive reading of the Scripture, a homily that breaks open the word, silent
reflection, and a prayerful response from the assembly. The combination
of word and action helps make visible the invisible action of Christ and
the Holy Spirit to open the hearts of the assembly to the grace of the
particular sacramental celebration.
Liturgical Traditions and the Catholicity
of the Church
The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church
are the Latin (principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of
certain local churches such as the Ambrosian rite, centered
in Milan, Italy, or those of certain religious orders) and the
Byzantine, Alexandrian or Coptic, Syrian, Armenian, Maronite,
and Chaldean rites. In “faithful obedience to tradition the
sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all law-
fully recognized rites to be of equal right and dignity, and that
she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in
every way.” (CCC, no. 1203, citing SC, no. 4)
The rich variety of ecclesiastical disciplines, liturgical rites, and
theological and spiritual heritages proper to the local churches,
“unified in a common effort, shows all the more resplendently
the catholicity of the undivided Church.” (CCC, no. 835, citing
LG, no. 23)
When Do We Celebrate?
The Lord’s Day
Central to the Church’s liturgical life is Sunday, the day of Christ’s
Resurrection. The observance begins with the evening of the preceding
day. It is a day when all Catholics are obliged to take part in the Mass.
“The Lord’s Supper is its center, for there the whole community of the
faithful encounters the risen Lord who invites them to his banquet”