Notre Dame, Chartres

THE LITURGICAL FRAMEWORK

43--Show how our churches, by their location and exterior, invite to prayer.

Larger and more elevated than the surrounding houses, the church is usually built on an eminence. For it is the dwelling place of the Most High, and lofty places particularly invite to prayer. There one is separated from the clamor of the world; and thereby brought nearer to God.

If churches are to be found in the center of cities and towns (of which they are the fairest ornament), it is to recall to our minds that the Good Shepherd dwells in our midst by His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. That is why the church is called "the house of God."

The church usually faces the East; because in it is worshipped Jesus Christ, the Sun of Justice.

The church has the form of a cross, because in it the Sacrifice of the Cross is renewed and the doctrine of the Crucified is preached.

[From 'Your Mass and Your Life', to be continued . . .]