It may take a childlike humility to do as the Church asks in the celebration of the Liturgy. True love is never proud. “Priests who faithfully celebrate Mass according to the liturgical norms, and communities which conform to these norms, quietly but eloquently demonstrate their love for the Church” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 52).

This is the first of two articles that will treat the meaning of bodily gestures at liturgy.

In December 1962, the Second Vatican Council opened the door for the use of the vernacular in the Liturgy. The principle was solid. The use of the mother tongue promotes better understanding of what the Church is praying. Gradually over the years, Latin has virtually disappeared from the Liturgy. However, the Council then and the Church today never deleted Latin as the language of the Latin rite.