What does the word sacred mean?

Here’s my best guess, with a hat tip to Josef Pieper and his book In Search of the Sacred.

The word sacred is used to mean certain tangible objects, spaces, times and actions of this world that possess the specific quality of being distinct from the ordinary and therefore possessing a special and unique dignity: the majesty of death, the dignity of a solemn oath, the ideals of a country, the grave of a war hero. This dignity stands out from the daily flow of reality, explicitly sets itself apart from the ordinary and is entitled to special forms of respect, honor, reverence, protection or veneration.

In relation to religion, the sacred is used to mean those tangible objects, spaces, times and actions that are set apart (with all the above characteristics) because they are directed toward the transcendent, that glimpse of another reality beyond the ordinary: the experience of awe, the experience of the majesty, energy, and mystery of the wholly other. Religious beliefs express the nature of sacred things and religious rites define how we act in relationship to sacred things.

Tags: loss of the sacred, Pieper