When we first look at it, our liturgy seems to be a mass of words. Everything seems to be laden with text and more text. Certainly when we attend liturgy, we feel the weight of words before us. Nevertheless, we tend to ignore the most obvious factor in liturgy: movement.

Movement is such a central element in liturgy that we simply aren't aware of it. We get caught up the excitement of speech. However, in liturgy, while there is no word without movement, there is movement without word.

Whenever we speak, even if we stand as still as we can, we still must move. Here's a short list: mouth, neck muscles, eyes, chest cavity and lungs, and, if anyone's at all nervous, the cursed twitching leg or shaking hand. Even in silence, we move to breathe. And often, in silence, we move by walking to and fro, by lifting up and setting down. Even when we think we are still, we move - in order to survive, we must breathe.

Whenever movement happens before us, we see it. Whether or not we actually focus on it, we are influenced by it. Our liturgy influences us first by our involvement in its movement: as movers or as witnesses to movement. This influence is, at times, subtle. At times, powerful - our response to a quickened heart, breath and strong voice which proclaims, "Glory to God in the highest" may very well be a quickened heart, breath and strong voice.

Movement in liturgy is a primary vehicle for Word. Movement helps us or hinders us in our celebrating. Movement lets us follow or lets us lead. It gives shape to our attention. It provides an outlet for our spoken or gestic prayer.

Well executed movement uplifts and easily guides our prayer experience. Every time we feel confident in our joyful response, "We have lifted them up to the Lord," rest assured that we have moved with conviction, prompted and excited by an authentic moving stimulant.

Improperly executed, movement distracts us, leading us away from prayer, from receiving the Word of God, from Eucharist. For instance, rapid, nervous, agitated breathing and gesture from an ill-prepared minister speaks far more powerfully than "word" because it gives shape to that word. How else does the detective in bad American mystery novels know when the bad guy is lying? We can sense distress with more acumen than the best lie detectors.

Conversely, our own distress can be high enough to get in the way of prayer. It diminishes our capacity to receive the Spirit. We can be physically too wound up to receive anything. Our overall movement - breathing, composure - is too tight. We can come to liturgy walled up, unable to relax enough to move freely in prayer. Nevertheless, we can be saved from ourselves by movement as well.

How Movement Works

Lifting up our hands expresses our joy by movement. This movement can also generate joy. Movement can act both as celebrator and critique. Movement can lift us up or draw us down.

In everyday life, we use movement to relax. When we're tense or stressed, we exercise with long, stretching motions to relax our muscles and calm our mind. When we're in trauma, we breathe slowly and long to calm ourselves down.

We also use movement to excite ourselves. When we are relaxed, we take short, choppy, bursts of breath to get ourselves excited. In a dangerous situation, we tense our muscles and become agitated by means of quick bursts of flexing and breathing. We do so instinctively to become fully aware of danger.

In Liturgy

Movement both expresses and elicits our feelings and responses to the world around us. In the same way, movement governs our experience at liturgy. We ignore it at our peril (Documents on Liturgy, para. 2837). A community at peace celebrates through movement. A community in need of reconciliation finds it through movement. As individuals under the stress of sin at liturgy, we can find new life with the help of movement. Movement helps the process of incarnation. It puts God into action.

Movement Hinders

Ministers who become too rigid upon dressing for liturgy distract us. A dignified poise ought to be in keeping with one's character otherwise the assembly gets mixed signals. We have trouble figuring out who it is that stands or moves before us. If we have trouble seeing our minister, we will have great trouble witnessing the incarnate Word.

The assembly ignores entrances that are too small or quick. We becomes confused as to what's happening. Similarly, rapid hand washing makes us wonder. In face of a mass of people, movement must be slower and larger in order to do its job.

Glossing over the preparation of the gifts by singing ignores the assembly's sense and identity of collection, giving and offering. True participation involves our giving of bread, wine, food, and money - we actually must DO IT. We must see that we take up and deliver what we have given. We must see and hear how these gifts are received and what is done with them. Anything less than that removes our participation and our sense of participation.

Movement Helps

In some cases, introducing a movement is the only way to give incarnational support to our prayer. For instance, the parish which ignores a fully executed offertory procession, complete with bread, wine, and collection, weakens the true participation of the people of God in thanksgiving. Without an offertory procession, the "...we bring you these gifts," of Eucharistic Prayer III is largely a matter for our imagination.

Procession gathers our focus. Lifting our hands, especially in song, gives expression to our joy and thanks. Passing money or food lets us experience sharing. These movements help us with incarnation when they do their job well.

For instance, not just any procession works. The procession must actually collect our attention. It does so through a myriad a factors best discovered in practice. Nevertheless, some of these are: adequate pacing, well shaped stops and starts, confident movement, appropriate presentation of sacred objects, most of which we have discussed in other issues.

Since all movement says something in liturgy, how do we give shape to movement? Not all movement is important. If we are giving off erroneous unconscious signals, we begin to allow aberrations to creep into liturgy. Because whether we like it or not, all movement says something. Let's become aware of what we are doing.