In a world full of so much ugliness, liturgy should be a rest for the soul, a repose where the soul can breathe. Beauty is not aestheticism. It is not an aim in itself It is a glimpse of God’s glory.
Heaven opens in liturgy. Beauty in liturgy cost’s time, love, care, commitment. We must take time for preparing the liturgy, looking for the beauty of the flowers, the songs, the space, candles. All this has nothing to do with pure aestheticism, but is an expression of love. The faithful feel whether in a Church there is a love of God.
Wherever you have a beautiful liturgy, people come. People are attracted, and rightly. We should not say that this is only a superficial attraction. Beauty is one way to God. It should never be separated from goodness and truth.
Christopher Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna
via Orchestral Masses, (shared with me originally by Lisa Dahill)