What Cloth Must Go On The Altar?
A sacristan recently told me about a priest who refuses to cover the altar with a full-sized cloth because he doesn’t like “fancy decorations”. I was brought up to believe that the altar must...
Category: Liturgy
Pope: We Need to Change Hearts, not Just Books, to Improve Liturgy
The sacred liturgy is meant to help the people of God conform their heart, mind and actions more closely to Christ, Pope Francis said. “We know that it is not enough to change liturgical...
Priest: People Deserve Better Liturgy
For all the reasons we can muster to explain why people stop coming to Mass, “There comes a point when we have to stop and ask ourselves an important question: what is the quality...
Mikyle Adams’ Passion is the Organ
By Theo Lawrence & Mary Leveson – Cape Town’s St Mary’s cathedral is fast becoming fertile ground for young organists. Its resident organist, Dale de Windt, is a teenager, and lately another young Catholic with...
19th Sunday of the Year Reflection
What does it mean to have life until the age to come? All of us live as though we have more time; more time to do things; more time to be with loved ones...
18th Sunday of the Year Reflection
In today’s gospel story, we are given a great example of such incomprehension. The crowds that have gathered around Jesus don’t understand and look for a sign such as their ancestors received. The...
17th Sunday of the Year Reflection
Fr John Allen Green OFM – I recently had lunch with someone I have known for almost five decades. He shuffled around the kitchen complaining of this and that, bemoaning how “things are not...
Ordinary Time is Anything But Ordinary
I have a difficulty regarding the naming of one part of the liturgical year which I would like to share with Southern Cross readers, to discover whether I am alone with this problem. That difficulty is the use of the word “ordinary” as in “Ordinary Time”.
How Music Can Call Back Ex-Catholics
Music in churches should be “beautiful and magnificent”, but also hospitable and accessible to everyone, according to an expert in liturgy.
Advent is Waiting for Christmas but includes lots of Feasts
During the four weeks of Advent, the worldwide Church is not idle – here are some of the feasts that are celebrated. It celebrates plenty of major feasts with lots of customs, traditions and even special foods during the month of December.
Why Our Statues Are Not Idols
We know that images and statues of Christ and the saints are nothing more than plaster, wood or paint. As such they have no magical powers.
Pope: Stop taking Smartphone Snapshots during Mass
The Mass is not a show, but a beautiful, transformative encounter with the true loving presence of Christ, Pope Francis said
