Liturgical Books that guide our Celebrations

The liturgical books cover a wide range of rituals from sacramental celebrations through to blessings for particular occasions. The texts for liturgy are called rites since they detail the way of celebration.

The following are the main rites:

• New members are welcomed into the community through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults or the Order of Infant Baptism. For adults this includes Baptism, Confirmation and participation in the Eucharist through Communion.

• The Order of Confirmation continues the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and leads to full initiation in the Eucharist.

• The celebration of Eucharist is the core of all the rites. The Roman Missal is divided into the Sacramentary and the Lectionaries. The Sacramentary contains all the prayers for use by the priest at Mass on Sundays, weekdays, and feasts. It also includes the texts for sacramental celebrations, funerals, anniversaries of death, votive Masses, and for Masses for peace, a good harvest, thanksgiving etc. This last section is a great resource when preparing for special occasions.

• The readings for all Masses are published in the Lectionary in three volumes; a Lectionary for Masses with Children is a separate book.

• Bishops, priests and deacons are ordained using the relevant section of the Order of Ordination.

• Couples witness to their loving union in Christ through the Order of Celebrating Matrimony.

• The Rite of Penance renews the fervour of the baptised through forgiveness of sin in the name of the Church.

• Pastoral Care of the Sick: Rites of Anointing and Viaticum witnesses to the healing ministry of Christ in the Church to the sick and dying.

• The Order of Christian Funerals provides all the texts to pray for the baptised as they are called to the fullness of their Baptism. This is a rich source of prayer to support the mourners and has great pastoral use in the many demands of preparing funeral rituals, including those of children, victims of accidents and suicide or who die in old age.

• The Book of Blessings deserves to be well known and used.

‍The blessings instituted by the Church are included among those signs perceptible to the senses by which human sanctification in Christ and the glorification of God are signified and brought about in ways proper to each of these signs (BB 9).The Book of Blessings contains sections for blessings directly related to people (eg wedding anniversaries), for buildings such as a new gymnasium, various forms of human activity (eg blessings for meals), for objects used in Churches (eg the cross), for religious articles such as rosary beads, for feasts and seasons (eg a Christmas tree), and for various needs and occasions (eg pastoral service).Blessings "refer first and foremost to God, whose majesty and goodness they extol, and since they indicate the communication of God's favour, they also involve human beings, whom he governs and in his providence protects" (BB 7).This is a most valuable resource for many kinds of celebration. While an ordained minister (priest or deacon) is the preferred celebrant, many of the rituals may be led by a non-ordained person so long as they note the relevant instructions and do not usurp the role of the ordained minister. "Whenever there is no assembly of the faithful for the celebration, the person who wishes to bless God's name or to ask God's favour and the minister who presides should still keep in mind that they represent the Church in the celebration (BB 17).If the faithful come together and unite their hearts and voices in the Liturgy of the Hours, they manifest the Church celebrating the mystery of Christ (GILH 22).

• The Liturgy of the Hours is one of the most ancient formal prayers of the Church.

The importance of the Liturgy of the Hours is evidenced by the fact that the General Norms for the Liturgical Year name the beginning and ending of seasons and feasts as starting from evening prayer and concluding with evening prayer. This ancient prayer based around the psalms is variously called: the Breviary, the Divine Office, the Prayer of the People of God, Matins, Lauds, Vespers, Compline. "Enriched with readings, it  is principally a prayer of praise and supplication, indeed it is the prayer of the Church with Christ and to Christ" (GILH 2). Its purpose is to sanctify the hours of the day in response to Jesus' words to "pray always". We read in the Acts of the Apostles that the community met daily for the "breaking of the bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42). We also know that Jesus, as a good Jew, used the psalms in his prayer. Thus the early Christian community followed this pattern. Over the centuries, due to illiteracy and the use of Latin this prayer became the preserve of the educated people of the Church: clergy and those in monasteries. The Second Vatican Council revised the Liturgy of the Hours hoping that it would become more widely prayed. While it is often celebrated alone by clergy "the Liturgy of the Hours, like the other liturgical services, is not a private function, but pertains to the whole body of the Church" (GILH 20). Therefore communal celebration in parishes, families, small groups, and schools is to be encouraged. Some recent publications have tried to make this prayer more accessible to the lay faithful in a simplified form. Children's Daily Prayer under the Southern Cross is designed to introduce this prayer form to children in the classroom.

• Holy Communion and the Worship of Eucharist outside Mass​

The Eucharistic Sacrifice is the source and culmination of the whole Christian life. Both private and public devotion toward  the Eucharist, therefore, including the devotion outside Mass, are strongly encouraged when celebrated according to the regulations of lawful authority. In the arrangement of devotional exercises of this kind, the liturgical seasons should be taken into account. Devotions should be in harmony with the sacred liturgy in some sense, take their origin from the liturgy, and lead the people back to the liturgy (HCWEM 79).​While it speaks of personal prayer before the Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle, this rite allows for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with a liturgy of the word concluding with a benediction (blessing with the sacrament displayed in the monstrance) as well as providing guidelines for Eucharistic processions through the streets and for congresses. This document covers the distribution of Communion outside Mass. This is commonly, but mistakenly called a "Communion Service": it is really a liturgy of the word with distribution of Communion. It is the basis for "Sunday celebrations in the absence of the priest". It is important that there is a noticeable distinction between these kinds of celebration and the celebration of Eucharist.