Source and Summit
by Joseph Malzone | 07/19/2025 | Liturgy and Worship ReflectionsA couple of weeks ago, I attended a conference hosted by the Archdiocese of San Francisco entitled “Fons et Culmen”, which is a manner that the document Sacrosanctum Concilium from the Second Vatican Council used to describe the Sacred Liturgy. "Fons et Culmen”, Latin for "Source and Summit”, designates the liturgy as the "summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed" and the "font from which all her power flows." This means that the liturgy is central to the Church's mission and life, serving as the primary means through which the faithful encounter God. It is through the Eucharistic celebration that believers are united with Christ and each other, receiving grace and strength to live out their faith.
At this conference, which was attended by three Cardinals of the Church and multiple Bishops, we explored and reflected on the history of the Sacred Liturgy, and what the Church and her bishops have taught concerning its celebration, in a line of continuity from the apostles through the Counter-Reformation, into the Second Vatican Council, and to today. Through these presentations, discussions, and reflections, we discerned ways that the members of this conference from around the world can move forward and help to implement in our parishes what the Church has perennially called for in the celebration of the source and summit of our faith.
To quote Sacrosanctum Concilium again, “when the Church prays or sings or acts, the faith of those taking part is nourished and their minds are raised to God, so that they may offer Him their rational service and more abundantly receive His Grace.” This was reiterated at the conference when we were reminded that the liturgies in our parishes should not be putting the focus of the mass inward towards ourselves, as Pope Francis often decried, but rather orienting us all ad-Deum, towards God, and the higher things of his Heavenly Kingdom.
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