I once knew a Benedictine Abbot [who] was quite a gifted and spiritual man. . . He sometimes used to read the Code of Canon Law of the Church as spiritual reading and a background to his mental prayer. . .

There is one section of the Code which has the title “Sacred Places.”  The mere existence of such a section is reassuring when we are saddened to hear some people arguing that there is no distinction between the sacred and the profane.  There definitely are places which the Church defines as “Sacred.”  Such places include Churches, Chapels, and Christian Burial Grounds.  Among the laws regulating our attitude and conduct in sacred places, there is one which states that “in a sacred place, only those things are permitted which serve to exercise or promote worship, piety and religion.  Anything out of harmony with the holiness of the place is forbidden.” . . .

There definitely are holy places on earth—the Catholic Church says so—and such places are holy even if the Blessed Sacrament is not reserved in them.  If this is so, then when in a sacred place we also have the Real Presence of Our Divine Lord in the tabernacle, then the actual holiness and sacredness of the place is increased beyond anything we can imagine.  So it is a very consoling truth that there are very many sacred places which we can visit whenever we like. . . You may not realize it, but it is a very remarkable thing to enter a Church in faith, even before we begin to do anything specific there. . .

Perhaps if we meditated on the present day law of the Church about sacred places, we might be moved, not by a sense of being regulated and told what to do or not do, but by a sense of wonder, a sense of awe. . .

When we enter a Church for a devout reason, even if we are not feeling very fervent, we enter the atmosphere of God, and we cannot help absorbing something of the sweetness and brightness and joy of God, even if we do not experience it emotionally, but only know it by faith.  A visit to any sacred place, as long as what we do is “to exercise or promote worship, piety and religion, and do nothing out of harmony with the holiness of the place,” such a visit inevitably improves us, and we leave that place better than we entered it. . .

How often, I wonder, do we thank God for our holy places?  How often do we pass them without a moment’s visit?  Thank God for His Sanctuaries on earth.  They are the gates to heaven.  Let us love our churches and adorn them, and cheer ourselves at the spiritual beauty of God’s House when we are tempted to think of ugly or saddening things.

There is another section in the Code of Canon Law to help us in our troubled world or troubled inner state of soul . . . The other section of the Code which I want to mention is called:  “Sacred Times.”

There is at least one Feast Day or Sunday each week and an occasional Holy Day of Obligation.  There is also in almost every week a day of Penance and some special times of more protracted penance.  So we have two sacred times, Sunday and Friday, and they are of great importance to us, and in order to know how to behave properly at these times, we have to listen to the Church as we did with Sacred Places and do in all other matters connected with the sacred.  For us, God has set aside both Friday and Sunday, and we lose a great deal if we forget that fact or do not seek the blessings which God has added to those times.  Worship is always extremely valuable and daily Mass a great blessing, but a special blessing is attached to Sunday and Holy Day worship.  Penance is always valuable and necessary, but a special blessing and value is attached to Friday Penance and, of course, Lenten penance also.
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