Thursday, October 18, 2012

The Powerful Role of Good Traditions

San Marco Cathedral - Photo:  Tetraktys
On a recent trip to Italy my wife and I attended Sunday mass at two 14th century cathedrals in Venice. (Full disclosure: We attended the first mass because we wanted be in a worship service on Sunday and the second because we wanted to get in free to see the cathedral.) Since neither of us speaks a word of Italian we were mostly lost, however, there was something comforting in the liturgy. Sitting in the gorgeous surroundings of the Renaissance era buildings we felt a connection to the ancient roots of Christianity. We were sharing with the people around us traditions that have been passed down for hundreds of years from generation to generation. I imagine the first congregation who sat in the Basilica De Sanmarco in 832 AD had a very similar experience to ours in 1400 years later. There is a power in that connection. Read more

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