Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi: Renewing the Heart of Liturgical Ministry

10/6/2025

Written by Bishop William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary.

This weekend marked the beginning of the third year of our Diocesan Renewal… You are Called, You Matter, and You Belong. It also coincided with a Worship Conference for liturgical ministry coordinators entitled The Church at Worship, held at St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. Mary’s High School.

Those who attended the two-day gathering participated in a solemn Evening Prayer, the celebration of the Eucharist, three conferences delivered by Fr. Frank Scalia of the Archdiocese of Montreal, and several practical workshops, all designed to renew the heart of liturgical ministry. The Conference focused on deepening our understanding of the Church’s liturgical worship through prayer and the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist. General liturgical principles were introduced to guide our celebrations and to reflect on the various forms of liturgical leadership that serve the Body of Christ in our parishes.

On Friday evening, participants gathered at the Cathedral for a chanted Evening Prayer that began with the Service of Light, or lucernarium. In the silence of the darkened church, the assembly gathered in procession with the Easter Candle, as the proclamation of light was chanted, “The Light of Christ – Thanks be to God.” The sharing of the flame among the assembly became a powerful symbol of our faith in Christ’s resurrection and triumph over death.

Fr. Scalia’s reflections were both rich and instructive. On Friday evening he offered a foundational vision of liturgical worship, emphasizing that the Church’s liturgy is a spiritual and sacramental encounter with the living Lord in His Paschal Mystery. He reminded participants that the rites and prayers of the Church, handed down through the generations, have become the language of our Faith, enabling us to know it, celebrate it, and live it. Lex orandi: the way we pray together informs, lex credendi: the way we understand and believe the Faith, and leads to lex vivendi: the way we live as baptized Christians and missionary disciples of Jesus Christ.

On Saturday, Fr. Scalia outlined the principles of liturgy that form the foundation of renewal, drawing upon the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. He emphasized that the Eucharist is the sacramental reality that makes present the one and same sacrifice of Christ offered for our salvation. To celebrate this sacred mystery with dignity, devotion, and adoration, several principles must guide us:

Noble Simplicity: A celebration that removes what is non-essential and redundant, incorporating instead noble solemnity, beauty, and prayerful devotion.
Sacramental Realism: A Spirit-filled expression of faith that signifies a real and living encounter with Christ, avoiding empty ritual or routine.
Source and Summit: The sacred liturgy, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist, is both the source of the Church’s life and the goal toward which it journeys.
Full, Conscious, and Active Participation: As members of the Body of Christ, we are called to enter into the mystery of the Eucharist with heart, mind, soul, and body, that we may be nourished as branches on the vine and bear much fruit.

In his final conference, Fr. Scalia reflected on the meaning of liturgical leadership, drawing from several Gospel passages where Christ reveals the deeper truth of Christian leadership, a love expressed in service that seeks the good of others. He reminded participants that every liturgical role, whether visible or unseen, must always be exercised as a form of service for the good of God’s People gathered in worship.

This spirit of service prepared participants for the Saturday afternoon workshops, which focused on the specific ministries that contribute to the beauty and reverence of our liturgical celebrations: altar servers, sacristans, lectors, choir members, hospitality ministers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, liturgical environment, and liturgical committees. These sessions were led by lay representatives, permanent deacons, and priests of our Diocese, fostering dialogue, learning, and collaboration… a true sign of the fruits of our ongoing Renewal.

As we continue to implement parish pastoral plans and sustain our Diocesan Renewal, we must always return to the primacy of grace received through the Church’s liturgical life, in prayer, the Sacraments, and most especially in the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of the Christian life.