Carolyn Pirtle

Carolyn Pirtle
As Program Director of the Center for Liturgy, Carolyn oversees the planning and facilitation of the Center’s signature events, particularly the annual symposium, Liturgy Week, as well as the McGrath Institute’s annual International Crèche Exhibit and Pilgrimage, and the Marian Procession and May Crowning. Additionally, Carolyn assists with liturgical planning for the entire McGrath Institute, collaborates in the liturgical and musical formation of MICL program participants, and is a contributing member of the editorial board for Church Life Journal, where she writes on liturgical music, aesthetics, devotional practice, and popular culture.

Recent Posts

Music to Celebrate the Easter Season

Posted by Carolyn Pirtle on Apr 6, 2021 3:25:55 PM

Every year, I find myself struggling to keep my Easter joy alive for the entire season. For some reason, it’s easier for me to sustain my Lenten observances for forty days than it is for me to celebrate Easter for fifty. 

If this sounds familiar to you, first, know that you’re not alone in the struggle, and second, here’s something that might help us both: a Spotify playlist to help you enter into the joy of the season through music, which is a key component of both the Church’s liturgical life and of daily life (remembering of course that the liturgical life is meant to overflow into and transform daily life). 

Read More

Topics: Easter, liturgical music, liturgical year, playlist

The Triduum in Art: Easter

Posted by Carolyn Pirtle on Apr 4, 2021 7:20:00 AM

“‘O truly blessed Night,’ sings the Exultet of the Easter Vigil, ‘which alone deserved to know the time and the hour when Christ rose from the realm of the dead!’ But no one was an eyewitness to Christ’s Resurrection and no evangelist describes it. No one can say how it came about physically.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, §647)

Read More

Topics: art, Easter, Lent, Paschal Triduum

The Triduum in Art: Holy Saturday

Posted by Carolyn Pirtle on Apr 3, 2021 11:19:00 AM

“‘By the grace of God’ Jesus tasted death ‘for everyone.’ In his plan of salvation, God ordained that his Son should not only ‘die for our sins’ but should also ‘taste death,’ experience the condition of death, the separation of his soul from his body, between the time he expired on the cross and the time he was raised from the dead. The state of the dead Christ is the mystery of the tomb and the descent into hell. It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ, lying in the tomb, reveals God’s great sabbath rest after the fulfillment of man’s salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, §624)

Read More

Topics: art, Holy Saturday, Lent, Paschal Triduum

The Triduum in Art: Good Friday

Posted by Carolyn Pirtle on Apr 2, 2021 8:14:00 AM

In this extraordinary work, Pacino di Bonaguida (1280–1340) depicts the Cross of Jesus as the Tree of Life (ca. 1305–1310). In a cave at the root of the tree lies the devil (his image was scratched out sometime in the 15th century), and at ground level, the Genesis narrative of the creation and fall unfolds, indicating that Christ’s Death upon this Cross, this tree, sprouted from the seed of Adam and Eve’s sin. Twelve branches sprout from the trunk, symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve Apostles of Jesus. Hanging from these branches are the fruits of the Crucifixion, and each fruit depicts a scene from the life of Christ. 

Read More

Topics: art, Easter, Lent, Paschal Triduum, Good Friday

The Triduum in Art: Holy Thursday

Posted by Carolyn Pirtle on Apr 1, 2021 10:13:13 AM

On Holy Thursday, we celebrate the last night in the life of Christ, when he “gave the supreme expression of his free offering of himself,” and “transformed [the] Last Supper with the apostles into the memorial of his voluntary offering to the Father for the salvation of [all]” (CCC, §610). Jesus, in offering his Body and Blood under the veil of bread and wine, anticipates the complete gift of self he will make on the Cross the next day. In the fathomless grace of the Eucharist, by the working of the Holy Spirit, Jesus draws all who receive him into unity with himself and with one another, and in this communion, he offers them to the Father. 

Read More

Topics: art, Holy Thursday, Lent, Paschal Triduum

Living and Handing on the Faith

The McGrath Institute Blog helps Catholics live and hand on their faith in Jesus Christ, especially in the family, home and parish, and cultivates and inspires everyday leaders to live out the fullness and richness of their faith in the simple, little ways that make up Church life.

Connect with us!

Subscribe Here

Most Popular

Posts by Tag

See all