Liturgy
Hidden Power of Silence in the Mass - A Guide to Encountering Christ in the Liturgy
In this game-changing book, Fr. Boniface Hicks, O.S.B., reveals how you can actively listen and open yourself to receive God's personal love for you in the Mass, where our Lord waits to quench your deepest longing and heal your wounds. Drawing from the wisdom of the saints, modern-day spiritual giants, and his own penetrating reflections, you will learn how to quiet your mind, stretch your heart, and become childlike in the sense of experiencing the sacred mysteries with wonder and awe.
The Mass, as most Catholics are aware, consists of words and gestures through which the Church worships the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. But as far fewer Catholics know, the periods of silence are more than pauses or empty spaces, as Fr. Hicks explains. They are beautifully textured with prescribed prayers spoken quietly by the priest, meaningful images such as incense and chalice veils, and expectant faith ready to surrender or receive from God in particular ways. Learning how to attune our hearts to these silences can greatly increase the fruitfulness of our reception of grace at Mass.
In these soul-enriching pages, you will explore the various textures of silence in general, the ways in which silence affects your interior life, and how silence can draw you into more intimate prayer. You will also find:
Fr. Hicks further guides you through each of the nine silent (secreto) prayers of the priest, the silent gestures in the Mass, such as the use of incense and the unveiling of the chalice, and the intentional periods of silence, including during the Liturgy of the Word and after receiving Holy Communion.
You will discover the pattern through which divine life came to earth and how the fire of Christ's merciful love comes to the soul. Moreover, you will come to understand how your physical silence at Mass fosters your spiritual silence and becomes an "act of love" through self-offering, adoration, communion, and resting in the inexpressible mystery.
Each chapter includes reflection questions designed to foster group discussions so parish members can reflect on and grow together in the way they pray during Mass.
Through such intimate encounter, you will learn to enjoy praying at Mass with your whole heart, mind, and soul and will arrive at a more conscious, active, and fruitful participation in the sacred liturgy.
Living Liturgy(TM) 2026 provides practical and engaging content from expert authors to enrich your communal prayer and ministry. Trusted by parishes around the country (and world!), Living Liturgy offers Scripture readings, insightful reflections, robust liturgical formation, and contextual background information for Sundays, solemnities, and additional liturgical celebrations. This best-selling annual resource is ideal for parish ministers, liturgists, liturgical ministers, pastors, planning committees, adult faith formation groups, and anyone who wishes to explore the connections between liturgy and life.
An entirely new resource created for each liturgical year, Living Liturgy gives your team the spiritual preparation they need to serve in their ministries, integrating daily living, prayer, and study in an inviting and easy-to-use format. Art by Martin Erspamer, OSB, complements the text and invites further reflection on the gospel of the day. This indispensable guide deepens a liturgical spirituality and strengthens the worship experience for the whole parish.
Featured Liturgical Texts
- Collect
- First Reading
- Responsorial Psalm
- Second Reading
- Gospel Acclamation
- Gospel
Featured Content
- Reflecting on the Gospel
- Preparing to Proclaim
- Psalmist Preparation
- Making Connections
- Homily Points
- Model Penitential Act
- Model Universal Prayer (Prayer of the Faithful)
- Liturgy and Music
- Living Liturgy
- Prompts for Faith-Sharing
Additional Features
- Calendar-dated
- Pronunciation guide
- Full text of readings in sense lines
- Key words and phrases that focus on the gospel
Anyone called upon to read from the Lectionary at Mass will appreciate LTP’s Pronunciation Guide for the Lectionary. Like the first edition, it includes words from the full Lectionary for Mass-- Sundays, weekdays, ritual, and votive Masses. But LTP has added to this second edition the names of recently canonized saints for the United States and Canada and additional words suggested by readers. The easy-to-understand pronunciation aids have been updated. This resource will enrich anyone who reads, studies, and prays the Scriptures privately, but it will be especially helpful to liturgical ministers who proclaim the Word in the liturgy: readers, deacons, priests, and masters of ceremony. Knowing how to pronounce the words gives readers the confidence and freedom to be fully present to their ministries—to be a clear channel for God’s Word to the assembly. Although readers who proclaim at Sunday Masses are usually assigned far ahead and expected to prepare their proclamations, weekday readers sometimes have less time to prepare. To make things more challenging, weekday readings often include difficult place names and personal names. Providing a copy of Pronunciation Guide for the Lectionary in the sacristy could be a great service to weekday readers—and to everyone else. Those who lead Bible study groups in parishes would also find this guide invaluable. Anyone who loves to read and discuss Scripture will want a copy handy at home.
Michael R. Prendergast, Susan E. Myers, and Timothy M. Milinovich contributed to this resource.