How to Start Living Liturgically
Updated: Jul 11, 2020
Liturgical living during Quarantine has been absolutely delightful, I'm home for the summer and that can make it a lot easier to organize things. It feels like I have all the time in the world to sit down and meal plan, order groceries, invite friends over, and intentionally pray! This may be a really good time for you to begin too while life is a little slower. Despite my tendency to want to lounge for hours on end and watch my program, I have actually been able to motivate myself to organize all the liturgical living that we do without all the extra hustle and bustle. Starting off we had a lot of traditions to work with which was great, the Aquila family had already established so much and we were tremendously grateful to have that gift. I also had ideas of what I wanted our family to be in the routine of doing and so we were very committed to establishing two things for ourselves; tradition and prayer. However, I know that this can also be a very overwhelming endeavor especially if you are trying to get started because there is just so much information out there.
Create Long Lasting Traditions
Many associate liturgical living with catechetical crafts or activities to do on a saint's feast day, even I have resource lists filled with them. These adorable, catchy, and fun ideas are perfect for littles and young children learning about our faith, but I also like to remind people of something that I believe is absolutely key! Traditions are based on things that we value or believe to be supremely good so we hope to repeat them and pass it down for generations. They embrace the entire family or community in that shared value and elevate all of our hearts to God. These are things that your small children play a part in, your teenagers look forward to, and your adult children come back home for. To create something that withstands the test of time, think about what will bring joy and togetherness for your family and friends, then add in the cute and fun stuff.
I Bet Your're Doing it Already!
You're probably already living liturgically if you put up a Christmas tree, dye Easter eggs, or send a Valentine's day cards! See, I knew it! All we have to do now is create a deeper awareness of festivity and prayer (just like with Christmas and Easter) throughout our daily life. When I made this shift in mentality I couldn't help but ask myself, why am I only living the joy of these feast days three times a year? The Church wants us to experience the brilliance of our faith all the time! Life can become so routine, ordinary, and boring without bringing it to life with our love for God and holy people.
"...feasts reach them all. The Church's teaching affects the mind primarily; her feasts affect both mind and heart and have a salutary effect upon man's whole nature." -Pope Piux XI
Where Do I Start?
To organize ALL THE THINGS I started by looking at a few foundational pieces that I think would be good to consider when trying to take the first steps. You can make this your own and personalize it to fit your family! Remember, this is not a list of things to do entirely, but a place to get your thoughts going.