In templo Domini – Liturgies in the Basilicas
Irini Ensemble
Maria Nostra
13-14th century Mediterranean Marian devotional songs
Fish live in the sea, and they are silent. Animals on earth below bark and bray. But the birds who inhabit the heavens sing. […] Man has a share in all three, for within himself he bears the depths of the sea, the burden of the earth and the heights of heaven. Hence he possesses all three properties: silence, bellowing and singing. […] True liturgy gives man once again his completeness. It instructs him once again in silence and in singing by opening for him the depths of the sea and by teaching him to fly—the existence of the angels. […]Indeed, we could now actually say that true liturgy can be recognized by the fact that it liberates from everyday activity and restores to us both the depths and the heights: silence and singing. True liturgy is recognizable because it is cosmic. It sings with the angels, and is silent with the expectant depths of the universe. And thus true liturgy redeems the earth. (Joseph Ratzinger)
