In everyday Church life, tradition is not perceived as abstract knowledge but is embodied in concrete actions, worship services, and the prayer life of believers.

Embodied Tradition in Liturgical Life

In everyday Church life, tradition is not perceived as abstract knowledge but is embodied in concrete actions, worship services, and the prayer life of believers. It is not so much a “secondary source” after Scripture as it is a living, creative reality permeating the entire life of the Church. This is manifested through the practical application of Revelation—through the sacraments, liturgical rites, church canonical order, and, above all, through worship actions in which a person, through prayer and participation in the Eucharist, opens himself to the work of God.

For example, one source emphasizes that “the liturgical life, the prayer practice of Christians, is the human form in which the Divine content of Tradition is actualized” (source: link txt). This clearly indicates that participation in liturgy and prayer itself is a way of embodying tradition, with the sacrament of the Eucharist taking center stage and filling the life of the Church with sacred action.

Another source notes that “Tradition includes the practice of the Eucharist as a central element of Christian life” (source: link txt). This testifies that through the sacraments, including Baptism and Communion, tradition is realized through concrete church rituals.

It is also stressed that tradition is expressed in a wide range of church actions—from routine prayers to complex liturgical forms, such as conducting worship services, reading the Gospel, making the sign of the cross, and in the sacred order of celebrating the sacraments (source: link txt). These actions become a kind of “identity of knowing Christ” that is passed down from generation to generation, thereby ensuring the unity of doctrine and the spiritual life of the Church.

Equally important is the observation that “only in worship can one truly feel the presence of tradition,” which is confirmed by the words of Saint Basil the Great—through the observance of cherished dogmas and the sacraments, the Church preserves the continuity of apostolic tradition (source: link txt). This indicates that tradition is transmitted not only in the form of oral or written accounts but also lives in every act of worship, serving as an undeniable testimony of God's presence in the life of the Church.

Thus, tradition manifests itself in the everyday life of the Church through sacramental and liturgical actions, through prayerful communion, and through the observance of established rituals and sacraments, which together form a complete and living spiritual practice that is the foundation for the unity and renewal of the Church.

Supporting citation(s):
"For our topic it is very important to note that when the ancient church writers speak of apostolic traditions, distinguished from apostolic writings, they primarily refer to the practical aspects of church life. Most of the 'traditions' mentioned in early Christian sources pertain to the liturgical life of the Church. The discussion of traditions is conducted in the context of liturgical theology.

And what is liturgical theology?

– It is a narrative about those actions that a person must perform in order to open himself and his world to the working of God. The liturgical life, the prayer practice of Christians – this is the human form in which the Divine content of Tradition is manifested." (source: link txt)

"Tradition includes the practice of the Eucharist as a central element of Christian life." (source: link txt)

"And this sacrament is realized in an innumerable number of actions of a Christian. Monastic tonsure, burial, reading of the Gospel, and the sign of the cross are also sacraments. And there is also the sacrament of conversion. A sacrament is any action performed by a person as a member of the Church, a bearer of the universal priesthood of all Christians, and which invokes the grace of God." (source: link txt)

"Only in worship can one truly feel the presence of tradition. Saint Basil the Great, in his 28th letter to Amphilochius of Iconium, noted the enormous importance of worship services for the preservation of Tradition, saying: 'From the dogmas observed in the Church and the teachings, some we have from written instruction, and some received from apostolic tradition through secret succession.'" (source: link txt)