Wednesday, April 11, 2018

“Active and Contemplative Participation in the Liturgy” : Lecture in NYC by Fr Innocent Smith, April 28

The Catholic Artists Society proudly presents Fr Innocent Smith, O.P., for this season’s final lecture of its Art of the Beautiful lecture series. The talk is entitled “How Can I Keep From Singing? Active and Contemplative Participation in the Liturgy.”

The lecture takes place Saturday, April 28, 7:30 pm, at the Catholic Center at New York University, located at 238 Thompson St., just south of Washington Square Park. A reception and sung Compline will follow. (RSVP by clicking to this Google document. Reservations will be kept until 7:20 PM. Admission for Sustaining Members: FREE. Suggested donation for non-members: $10)

For more than a century, the Church has repeatedly insisted on the importance of cultivating active participation in the liturgy. In practice, some modes of advancing this goal leave little room for a “contemplative” mode of participation. In this talk, Fr. Innocent will describe the need for both active and contemplative participation, focusing on the realm of music in the liturgy. Through a careful balance of vocal and auditory participation, members of the Church can more effectively join their minds as well as their voices to the Heavenly Liturgy.

Fr. Innocent Smith, O.P., is a Dominican Friar of the Province of St Joseph. Born in California and raised in Indiana, he attend St Gregory’s Academy and the University of Notre Dame before entering the Order of Preachers in 2008. He received an S.T.L. in 2015 at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., writing a thesis on the liturgical theology of Thomas Aquinas. At present he is assigned to the Priory of St Vincent Ferrer in New York City, where he serves as parochial vicar at the Parish of St Vincent Ferrer and St Catherine of Siena.

The Catholic Artists Society seeks to encourage the ongoing artistic and spiritual development of artists and media professionals, so that their work may more perfectly reflect God’s glory, enriching and ennobling men and women, our society, and our culture.

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