Christopher Carstens
Christopher Carstens
Christopher Carstens is Director of the Office for Sacred Worship in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, instructor at Mundelein’s Liturgical Institute, editor of the Adoremus Bulletin, and a voice on The Liturgy Guys Podcast.
Unrolling the Paschal Mystery
Shawn Tribe at Liturgical Arts Journal recalls the medieval use of the “Exsultet roll” by the deacon when singing the praises of the Paschal Candle—and the bees who helped make it—at the Easter Vigil. Even if not in use today (but why couldn’t it be?), these rolls are a reminder of how even books are a beautiful element of the liturgy’s sacramental tapestry.
Behold the Wood of the Cross!
The Liturgical Institute podcast, The Liturgy Guys—Denis McNamara, Jesse Weiler, and Adoremus editor, Christopher Carstens—offer some mystagogical meanings about the Cross. As we meditate upon Christ’s Cross during the Paschal Triduum, see if these insights let the Cross stand out more fully in its glory.
The Passion of the Christ—Coming to a Church Near You
Mel Gibson’s 2004 The Passion of the Christ is an awesome award-winning epic, but as Pope Francis reminds us-the Mass is the real blockbuster.
Q: What is the liturgy?
A: Perhaps the most noteworthy definition for us today is that given by the Second Vatican Council in its Constitution…
Q: What are the Church’s norms about the Paschal Candle?
A: The most succinct directives for the Easter Candle are from the 1988 document of the Congregation for Divine Worship,…
Come Along and Enter with a Liturgical Spirit into The Spirit of the Liturgy
Back in 2002, while still a professor at the University of Munich, Father Gerhard Müller asked the Church a provocative question: “Can mankind understand the spirit of the liturgy anymore?” This expression, “the spirit of the liturgy,” is not, of course, a nod to some pseudo-spirit of the Second Vatican Council, but to that substantial spirit spoken of by Romano Guardini in 1918 and, later, by Joseph Ratzinger in 2000.
Q: What is the current status of the translation document Liturgiam Authenticam?
The answer to this question—if, indeed, there is a clear answer—requires some preliminary groundwork.
In This Place for All Times: What the One Has to Do with the Many and Why Both Are Essential to Catholic Liturgy
Tug of War– The push and pull of Roman centralization versus local adaptation is nothing but a consequence of the One Christ come to redeem every person. Pope Francis adds his own weight to the struggle with the his recent letter on liturgical translations.
Q: Why is Monday, December 25, 2017 a Holy Day of Obligation, while a week later, Monday, January 1, 2018 not a Holy Day of Obligation?
A: First of all, it is helpful to understand which days are considered days of “obligation,” when the faithful attend…
What’s Right with the Liturgy? I AM.
It’s true that the logic of “professional liturgists” isn’t universally appreciated. On account of this fact, liturgists have even merited their own corner on the joke circuit. Many are familiar with the gag that suggests liturgists and terrorists are equally unreasonable.
