96five Sunday Celebration host Alex Milne recently sat down with Professor Clare Johnson to find out more about the importance of the liturgy within the Catholic tradition.
Clare is based at the Australian Catholic University’s Melbourne Campus, where she is Director of the ACU Centre for Liturgy and Professor of Liturgical Studies and Sacramental Theology.
Having undertaken extensive study in both music and theology, Professor Johnson has a deep understanding of the role of liturgy; the formal worship component of a Catholic service.
“The prayers in a liturgy naturally lend themselves to being sung, so for example at Christmas or at Easter, the priest will sing the invitation and the congregation will respond in song.
“In addition to that we have songs that will be sung during the rest of the liturgy; they could be accompanying a procession or when people go up to receive communion.”
Professor Johnson heads up the ACU Centre for Liturgy, where much of her work involves how to better incorporate the liturgy into Catholic life.
“Different parts of the liturgy have different meanings, and there’s a lot of history thats involved with understanding what we do and what the Church has understood it to mean over the centuries.”
“There’s also particular legislation that the Church enacts to help maintain the liturgical tradition and to keep that tradition intact.
“Music is also a key aspect in the liturgy, but we also look at liturgical architecture – the spaces in which we gather and how they can support the worship of God.
“Art also plays a role in those spaces as well and that too can be a large part of liturgical studies.”
Listen to the full interview with Professor Clare Johnson in the audio player above.
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