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Catholic liturgy means the whole complex of official liturgical worship, including all the rites, ceremonies, prayers, and sacraments of the Catholic Church, as opposed to private or collective devotions. In this sense the arrangement of all these services in certain set forms (including the canonical hours, administration of sacraments, etc.) is meant. Liturgy encompasses the entire service: prayer, reading and proclamation of the scriptures, singing, gestures, movement and , liturgical colours, symbols and symbolic actions, the administration of and .
The Catholic Church understands liturgy not only to mean the celebration of the Holy Mass, but also the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, bible services,Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, published on 4 December 1963, accessed on 6 July 2025 and the administration of and many .
At the Second Vatican Council, the Council Fathers proclaimed the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. There it says:
The liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ.
In the liturgy, the whole public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and His members.
The principle of cultural adaptation was put forward in the constitution, whereby "the genius and talents of the various races and peoples" are recognised, studied sympathetically and (where appropriate) reflected in local liturgical practices.
Numerous ecclesiastical documents call the Eucharist and the celebration of the Holy Mass the supreme act of worship and as the center of the liturgical life of the Church, as Jesus Christ is the center of Catholic life and worship. The Council called the Eucharist the center and the summit: "The celebration of Mass, as the action of Christ and of the People of God arrayed hierarchically, is the center of the whole of Christian life for the Church both universal and local, as well as for each of the faithful individually."Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, No. 41; Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium, No. 11; Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, Presbyterorum ordinis, Nos. 2, 5, 6; Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops, Christus Dominus, No. 30
The General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours states that, "as well as praising God, the Church's liturgy expresses the hopes and prayers of all the Christian faithful and intercedes before Christ and through him before the Father for the salvation of the whole world.General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours, No. 17
As a result, the Catholic understanding of liturgy is not primarily about the precise regulation of individual sequences of rites, but rather about the essence of the church. Thus the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy directs that The Codex Iuris Canonici, reflecting key principles from the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, expresses this in the following way:
The Directory on popular piety and the liturgy sees liturgy and life as inseparable, "Were the Liturgy not to have its effects on life, it would become void and displeasing to God". Directory on popular piety and the liturgy, No. 2 The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:
Apart from the liturgical seasons of the church year, the catholic liturgy knows ember days, rogation days and processions, services in the Roman Station days, and the feasts of Christ and his saints.
Since the days of the apostles, singing has always transfigured the Christian liturgy. Gregorian chant, which "bears the stamp of holiness", is typical of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Pius X and Pope Pius XI encouraged the singing of Gregorian chant by the people, "in order that the faithful may more actively participate in divine worship".Anselm Schott OSB, Das Meßbuch der heiligen Kirche, Verlag Herder Freiburg, 1952, p. 58
The 1967 document Musicam sacram, which implemented the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, repeatedly mentions facilitating the full, active participation of the congregation as called for by the Council, so that "unity of hearts is more profoundly achieved by the union of voices". Musicam Sacram states: "One cannot find anything more religious and more joyful in sacred celebrations than a whole congregation expressing its faith and devotion in song. Therefore the active participation of the whole people, which is shown in singing, is to be carefully promoted." It calls for fostering this congregational participation through attention to choice of song directors, to choice of songs, and to the nature of the congregation. It mentions the duty to achieve this participation on the part of choirs, choirs directors, pastors, organists, and instrumentalists.
To achieve full, active participation of the congregation, great restraint in introducing new hymns has proven most helpful. To this end also, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal recommends use of seasonal responsorial psalms and also keeping to a song that all can sing while processing to Communion, to "express the communicants' union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices, to show joy of heart, and to highlight more clearly the 'communitarian' nature of the procession to receive Communion".
Members of the consecrated life are officially assigned by the church to intone the liturgy of the hours. They, as well as bishops, priests, and deacons, are obliged to pray at least the main parts of the Liturgy of the Hours vicariously for the faithful. Communities of Contemplation orders are obliged to pray the liturgy of hours in choir.
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