The Christian Experience
Church: Space and Spirit
For Christians, the word “church” refers both to Christian communities (ranging from single congregations to all of the religion’s adherents across time and space) and to the buildings where they gather to worship, pray, and fellowship together. These...
The Cross and the Icon
The shape of the cross informs the architecture of many churches, and the symbol’s frequent appearance in the decoration of Christian spaces stands for the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus. For Orthodox Christians, other important images include...
Sharing the Bread of Life
The central Christian rite is the Eucharist, a shared meal of bread and wine. For some Christians, the bread and wine, consecrated by a priest, are the real body and blood of Jesus; for others, the sacraments are powerful symbolic reminders of the meal...
Psalms and Songs of Praise
The biblical book of Psalms contains texts that serve as the basis for many Christian songs of praise. Musical traditions based on monastic chants often accompany these verses when they are sung during worship services. Download (PDF) Additional Content...
Gospel Music
Gospel music developed among Black Christians in the United States. Informed by the “ring-shouts” of enslaved people, the gospel genre moved into urban centers during the 20th century and became increasingly popular in both religious and secular contexts...
The Power of Prayer
From Pentecostals speaking in tongues to silent monastic contemplation, prayer is central to Christian life. Prayer can be communal or individual; it might consist of well-established texts, like the Lord’s Prayer, or spontaneous thoughts. Through varied...
Service and Mission
Many Christians understand their faith to be a profound call to action for social justice. Some Christians choose to live this call by becoming members of a “mission” community, going into the world to create new church communities, address political and...
Advent and Christmas
Advent is a four-week season of preparation for Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ. The prominence of Christmas in American culture has led to the popularization of Christmas carols, the figure of Santa Claus, and the practice of exchanging...
Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday
Lent is a period of forty days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. It is a time of penitence and preparation, during which many Christians strengthen their faith through study, prayer, fasting or abstinence. The restriction and solemnity of Lent contrast...
Easter Pilgrimage to Chimayó
Santuario de Chimayó is a church north of Santa Fe that draws tens of thousands of penitentes, penitential pilgrims, in the week before Easter. The pilgrims seek to participate in Christ’s journey to Calvary, and often take dirt from the church’s...
Baptism by Water and Spirit
Modeled on Christ’s baptism by John the Baptist in the River Jordan, the rite of baptism involves the partial or full immersion of a person into water as a sign of their rebirth into Christianity. Some denominations baptize infants, while others require...
Devotion to the Virgin Mary
Global devotion to Jesus’s mother, the Virgin Mary, includes shrines across the world. For American and particularly Latine Catholics, special reverence is often afforded to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mary’s manifestation as an indigenous Madonna in Mexico...
Festival of St. Anthony
Every August, more than 100,000 people go to the North End of Boston to participate in the Festival of St. Anthony, which, like other festas in the United States, is organized by an Italian American mutual aid society. The festival is a celebration of...
