Liturgy and Seven Sacraments Online Catholic Resources

by Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio

When the Second Vatican Council proclaimed the Roman Catholic liturgy as the "Source and Summit" of Christian life, they were of course refering most especially to the Eucharist.  But in a wider way, they were referring to the seven sacraments and entire liturgical life of the Catholic Church, the public, official prayer of the entire Body of Christ. Vatican II taught that indeed "every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the Priest and of his Body, which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others. No other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree." (SC 7).

Devotional prayers, such as the Rosary and Stations of the Cross, are indeed wonderful aids to spiritual growth.  But in this section of the Crossroads on-line resource library, we are concerned with the official, public prayer of the Catholic church which includes:

• the seven 7 sacraments of the Catholic Church 
• the liturgy of the hours (Divine Office)
• the sacramentals or official blessings of the Catholic Church
• the Roman Catholic liturgical year (each Catholic Church or Rite such as Roman, Byzantine, and Maronite, has its own distinct Catholic liturgical calendar)

The articles and documents below are designed to help individual Catholics and Catholic educators unpack the riches of the Roman Catholic liturgy.  In fact the entire Crossroads website is at the service of liturgy-based religious education since it includes not only teaching about the sacraments and other dimensions of Roman Catholic liturgy, but also articles on how to get the most out of the liturgical seasons such as Lent, Eastertide, Christmas, and the Roman Catholic Advent Season. 

In addition, the library contains short reflections on the readings for every Sunday of the Year for lectionary cycles A and C, following the Roman Catholic liturgical Calendar.  We are currently adding these commentaries for cycle B of the Roman Catholic liturgical year several days before the Sunday for which the commenary is written.  The articles are archived on this site by topic and are also listed under the author category of Marcellino D'Ambrosio.  To receive these reflections free of charge as you make your way through the Roman Catholic liturgical year, sign-up for the weekly Crossroads email.  These resources for liturgy-based religious education may be downloaded as pdf files for no charge and duplicated for use as religious education handouts in families, study groups, and religious education classes for ages 12 through adult.

For more Catholic resources to feed your faith, visit the Crossroads Initiative Home Page