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1192 Sacred images in our churches and
homes are intended to awaken and nourish ourfaith in the
mystery of Christ. Through the icon of Christ and his
works of salvation it is he whom we adore. Through
sacred images of the holy Mother of God, of the angels and
of the saints, we venerate the persons represented.
1193 Sunday, the ‘Lord’s Day’, is the
principal dayfor the celebration of the Eucharist because
it is the day of the Resurrection. It is the pre-eminent
day of the liturgical assembly, the day ofthe Christian
family, and the day ofjoy and rest from work. Sunday is
‘the foundation and kernel of the whole liturgical
year’ (SC io6). 1194 The Church, ‘in the course of the
year,... unfolds the whole mystery
of Christ from his Incarnation and Nativity through his
Ascension, to Pentecost and the expectation of the blessed
hope of the coming of the Lord’ (SC 102
§ 2). 1195 By keeping the memorials of the saints
—first of all the holy Mother of God, then the
apostles, the martyrs and other saints — on fixed
days of the liturgical year, the Church on earth shows
that she is united with the liturgy of heaven. She gives
glory to Christfor having accomplished his salvation in
his glor(fled members; their example encourages her on her
way to the Father. 1196 The faithful who celebrate the Liturgy of the
Hours are united to Christ our high
priest, by the prayer ofthe Psalms, meditation on the Word
of God, and canticles and blessings,
in order to be joined with his unceasing and
universal prayer that gives glory to the Father and implores
the gjft of the Holy Spirit on the
whole world. 1197 Christ is the true temple of God, ‘the
place where his glory dwells’; by the grace of God,
Christians also become temples of the Holy Spirit, living
stones out of which the Church is built. 1,98 In her earthly state the Church needs places
where the community can gather together. Our visible
churches, holy places, are images of the holy city, the
heavenly Jerusalem, towards which we are making our way on
pilgrimage. 1199 It is in these
churches that the Church celebrates public worship to the
glory of the Holy Trinity, hears the word of God and sings
his praise, l~fls up her prayer, and offers the sacr~Jice of
Christ sacramentally present in the midst of the assembly.
These churches are also places of recollection and
personal prayer. Liturgical traditions and the catholicity of the Church 1200 From the first community ofJerusalem until the Parousia, it |
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