The Catechetical Review - Communicating Christ for a New Evangelization

Sacred Signs: Sacred Space

Authored by Romano Guardini in Issue #34.3 of The Sower
This liturgical mediation is taken from Romano Guardini's book, Sacred Signs. Natural space has three directions or dimensions as we know. They signify that we have orderly space and no chaos. The ordering is of things side by side, above and below, before and behind one another. The effects are that life can be built up in a rational way and can move; that we can construct and shape our dwellings, and live in them. Supernatural space, sacred space, also has its due order. It is founded on mystery. The Church is built from west to east, looking towards the rising sun; the chord of the sun’s arc, the zodiac, runs through it; it is intended to catch the first rays and the last. Christ is the sun of the sacred world; the direction of His course is the order of sacred space, of all building and shaping that is rightly ordered towards eternal life.

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This article is from The Sower and may be copied for catechetical purposes only. It may not be reprinted in another published work without the permission of Maryvale Institute. Contact [email protected]

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