THE DIDACTIC AND PASTORAL NATURE OF THE LITURGY

PAUL GALEA

A Dissertatiom presented to the Institute of Religious Studies (Faculty of Theology) of the

University of Malta as partial requirement for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Rel. Stud.).

Malta, June 1990

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank all those who in any way have been of assistance to me in this work, and in particular Rev. Prof. John Frendo O.P., S.Th.D., S.Lit.Mag.(Paris), my moderator, who besides his advice and encouragement, even made available to me relevant books on the subject.

Abbreviations for Sources

AAS -Acta Apostolicæ Sedis, Rome, 1909.......

M.D. -Mediator Dei, encyclical letter issued in 1947 by Pope Pius XII.

S.C. -Sacrosanctum Concilium, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Vatican Council II.

INTRODUCTION

Although in recent years there has been great progress in the liturgical life of the Church, there are still many who refer to the liturgy as if it were something which does not concern them, or that it concerns only the hierarchy of the Church. It is true that the hierarchy regulates the liturgy, as by its nature the liturgy must be the official prayer of the whole Church; but precisely because it is the official prayer of the whole Church, it must not only interest every christian, but, every christian should make the liturgy his own prayer, so that with one voice and one accord they will give praise and glory to God.

As the official prayer of the Church, the liturgy is first of all a prayer, and its characteristics, especially its pastoral and didactic character, must be the consequence of prayer. In fact every extra-liturgical activity of the Church, whether pastoral or catechetical, should lead to the liturgy, and especially to the Eucharist, sacrifice and sacrament.

By its pastoral nature, the liturgy brings together the faithful of all categories and walks of life to give praise to God in every phase and circumstance of their lives. The sacraments, which are received at important points of one's life, serve to show more clearly God's loving care which concerns itself with the individual needs of each Christian, and that every single person is unique in the sight of God. The sacrament of penance shows God's boundless love for man, as He is always ready to forgive his ingratitude. In the Eucharist, God gives Himself to each one of us.

The Liturgy of the Hours sanctifies the whole day and helps Christians to keep their minds and hearts continuously attuned to God. Moreover, throughout the liturgical year, the Church presents the mysteries of Christ, centred on the paschal mystery, which is relived every Sunday and renewed in every celebration of the Mass, and offers them as a model for our imitation. To this end, it also presents to us the saints, who have imitated Christ, so that with St. Augustine, we may be encouraged to say, that as they have succeeded we also can succeed to imitate Christ.

The liturgy expresses the concern and care which God has for every individual through the prayers and Scripture readings, and so it nourishes the faith of the Christians. Thus, it serves also to teach, and especially in the homily it not only endeavours to explain what is prayed and read, but more exactly to help the Christians integrate in their lives, what they hear and pray, so that their hearts may be raised and more readily be able to offer themselves completely to God.

Thus what is prayed may be lived in the concrete situations of one's life in whatever circumstance one finds himself.

Chapter 1

The Nature and Values of the Liturgy

Definition

The Liturgy is that act of worship to God containing "prayers and rites traditionally canonized by the Church as her own prayer and worship".[1] St. Thomas Aquinas defined the Liturgy as "common worship that is offered to God by ministers of the Church in the person of all the faithful".[2]

Pope Pius XII defined the liturgy as "the public worship which our Redeemer as Head of the Church renders to the Father, as well as the worship which the community of the faithful renders to its founder, and through Him to the heavenly Father. In short, it is the integral worship of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, of Head and members".[3] "The liturgy is nothing more nor less than the exercise of this priestly function of Christ".[4]

Public worship, then is what the whole church does in and through a concrete worshipping community as opposed to what an individual or groups of individuals do on their own accord and in their own name.[5] "Liturgical services are not private functions, but are celebrations of the Church ..... (and they) pertain to the whole body of the Church; they manifest it and affect it".[6]

Properties

Though properties are inherent in any nature, it will be well to make more explicit the qualities that flow essentially from the liturgy. The Church's worship is christian, heirarchical, social, sanctifying, traditional yet pastoral and didactic.[7]

Nature

The liturgy is the place where the work of salvation that was accomplished by Christ in his paschal mystery and is continued by the Church is applied.[8] "Christ ..... willed that the work of salvation ..... should be set in train through the sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical life revolves",[9] As a result, Christ is present in the liturgy in many ways: in the assembly of the baptized, in the person of the celebrant, in the proclamation of God's Word, and in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.

"The liturgy, then is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. It involves the presentation of men's sanctification under the guise of signs perceptible by the senses and its accomplishment in ways appropriate to each of these signs. In it full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ ..... It follows that every liturgical celebration ..... is a sacred action surpassing all others".[10] It is therefore, a participation in the heavenly liturgy and provides a foretaste of this.[11]

Although it is not the sole activity of the Church, it is "the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fount from which all the Church's power flows".[12]

Values

The liturgy, in its turn, moves the faithful filled with "the paschal sacraments" to be "one in holiness". It prays that "they hold fast in their lives to what they have grasped by their faith". The renewal in the Eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the faithful and sets them aflame with Christ's insistent love. From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, grace is poured forth upon us as from a fountain, and the sanctification of man in Christ and the glorification of God to which all other activities of the Church are directed, as toward their end, are achieved with maximum effectiveness.[13]

Interior and Exterior

As worship of the Church, the liturgy implies two elements essential to its nature. It must be both exterior and interior. It is exterior because the nature of man requires it to be so; he is composed of body and soul and cannot express the sentiments of his soul to other men except through the senses of his body.

The exterior quality of the Church's worship, however is not sufficient of itself. The chief element in worship must be interior in order to ensure the integrity and sincerity of its external forms.[14] "In order that the liturgy may be able to produce its full effects it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds be attuned to their voices, and that they cooperate with heavenly grace lest they receive it in vain".[15]

By its nature, therefore, the liturgy calls for a "full, conscious, and active participation" in its celebrations of all the faithfull, to which they being by baptism members of the priestly and kingly people, have the "right and duty" to take the part that is properly theirs in each liturgy.[16]

Sacramental Worship

Both exterior and interior elements must be intimately linked together in the liturgy, not only from the viewpoint of the individual's participation but also from the viewpoint of the ritual actions themselves. All liturgical actions are sacramental, that is, they are signs and symbols that give expression to the conferring of divine life by Christ on His Church and of the offering to the Father, through Christ, of the homage and worship of His people. It is precisely in the sacramental, liturgical worship of the Church that man is assimilated into Christ's risen body.[17]

For this reason "pastors of souls must, therefore, realize that, when the liturgy is celebrated. something more is required than the laws governing valid and lawful celebration. It is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite and enriched by it".[18]

Twofold Function

The liturgy has a twofold function in the Church: to constitute the Church and to express the Church. The first is the work chiefly of the sacramental liturgy, the second, that of the liturgy of praise, which follows the rhythms of time. The Eucharistic liturgy is par excellence the sacrament of the ecclesial mystery: "a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among all men".[19]

In liturgical action human beings exercise fully the power given to them through baptism, namely, to be active members of a community in which the reign of God is proclaimed and begun. Consequently, the christian liturgy has no place for passive spectators.[20] As soon as the liturgical function begins, all who take part in it are in the official service of God as persons who have been regenerated in the innermost depths of their being and have been led as by a new act of creation into the divine world of which they are now citizens.[21] The sacraments "not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen, and express it; that is why they are called "sacraments of faith".[22]

Along the Centuries

From apostolic age down the centuries, the Church has always lived her liturgical life. She did so with great spontaneity and creativeness during the first centuries. At various intervals of her history she has also experienced the need for liturgical reform. The Council of Trent initiated a liturgical reform which was continued by Pope Pius V. At that time it was found necessary in the context of a universal reform of Church traditions, to unify the existing liturgical trends.

Unification and stabilisation, however, resulted in uniformity and formalism. The progressive clericalisation of the liturgy and an individualistic approach obscured the traditional doctrine that conscious and active participation by the people of God is required if they are to derive profit from the Church's liturgical life.[23]

Since the Middle Ages, the liturgy was an action mainly performed by the clergy, at which the people were spectators. Even the choristers or choir boys had to be attached to the clergy in order to take part in the cult. Slowly the laity relearned that they were "fitted for the cult", not simply pasive dumb spectators, but active participants in the celebration.

During the thirty years preceding the Second Vatican Council, although the liturgical law had not changed, every possible way was sought to use the language of the people in the bible readings, to translate these in a manner understood by the people, to involve the people in singing and responses, explain the meaning of the rites and prayers, restore the sacraments to their rightful place at the centre of the liturgy.[24]

Never before had the Church experienced such a deep current of liturgical renewal as she has known this century. This renewal has been sanctioned by the Second Vatican Council.[25] The pastoral considerations underlying the liturgical renewal gave them the data on the needs and capacities of the faithful today in liturgical life; they wanted to understand, they had a certain taste of simplicity, they expected to be able to participate actively, and they disliked outworn symbolisms.[26]

[1]L. Bouyer, Life and Liturgy, Sheed & Ward, London, 1965, p.1.

[2]S. Theol., II - IIæ q.83 a.12.

[3]Mediator Dei, 20. (AAS 39 (1947) 521 ff.)

[4]Ibid., 22. (See no. 3 "In obedience, therefore to her founder's behest, the Church prolongs the priestly mission of Jesus Christ mainly by means of the sacred liturgy.")

-See also S.C., 7, 26.

[5]New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed., s.v. "Liturgy."

[6]Sacrosanctum Concilium, 26.

[7]New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed., s.v. "Liturgy."

[8]A.G. Martimort, The Church at Prayer, Liturgical Press, Minnesota, 1987, Vol. I, p.77.

[9]S.C., 6.

[10]Ibid., 7.

[11]Ibid., 8.

[12]Ibid., 10.

[13]Ibid.

[14]New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed., s.v. "Liturgy."

[15]S.C., 11.

[16]Ibid., 14.

[17]New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed., s.v. "Liturgy."

[18]S.C., 11

[19]Lumen Gentium, 1.

[20]S.C., 11, 14, etc.

[21]A.G. Martimort, op. cit., pp. 242 - 243.

[22]S.C., 59.

[23]J. Neuner & Dupuis, The Christian Faith, Collins, London, 1983, pp. 335 - 336.

[24]J. Gelineau, The Liturgy Today and Tomorrow, Anchor Press, London, 1978, pp. 12 - 13.

[25]J. Neuner & Dupuis, op. cit., p. 335.

[26]J. Gelineau, op. cit., p. 14.

Chapter 2

Pastoral and Catechetical Values

according to "Sacrosanctum Concilium"

Pastoral Values

In conformity with the stated aims of the Second Vatican Council, the Constution on the Sacred Liturgy is primarily a pastoral document. It is concerned with the broad principles which are to govern the adaptation of the liturgy so that it may become again a form of worship and sanctification which generally corresponds to the needs of christians.[1]

Adaptation to the Cultures

Outstanding are the provisions for the adaptation of the liturgy to different peoples and cultures. It is stated that "in certain places and circumstances, however, an even more radical adaptation of the liturgy is needed, and this entails greater difficulties. For this reason"[2] it lays down careful rules to be followed and allows "experiments to be undertaken for a limited period of time among certain groups suitable for the purpose".[3] The problem of adaptation occurs particularly in missionary countries.

The early Church embodied its worship in cultural forms that today differentiate the various liturgical families of East and West. So "even in the liturgy the Church does not wish to impose a rigid uniformity in matters which do not involve the faith or the good of the whole community. Rather does she respect and foster the qualities and talents of the various races and nations. Anything in these people's way of life which is not indissolubly bound up with superstition and error she studies with sympathy, and, if possible, preserves intact. She sometimes even admits such things into the liturgy itself, provided they harmonize with its true and authentic spirit."[4]

Liturgico-Pastoral Theology

Except for the ritual, the rubrics in the liturgical books of the Tridentine reform simply gave a detailed description of how the rite was to be performed; they seemed almost to ignore the possible presence of the Christian people at the celebration. Vatican II, on the contrary, wanted a liturgico-pastoral theology to be included in the legislation. The rubrics must provide for the part to be played by the faithful[5]; the latter, moreover, have a right to a catechesis of the rites from their pastors, especially since the liturgy is by its nature a source of rich instruction for the people.[6] "It is, therefore, of the greatest importance that the faithful should easily understand the sacramental signs".[7] Therefore, "with zeal and patience pastors of souls must promote the liturgical instruction of the faithful".[8]

In addition "provision shall be made, when revising the liturgical books, for legitimate variations and adaptations to different groups, regions and peoples, especially in mission countries. This should be borne in mind when drawing up the rites and determining rubrics".[9] "The Christian people, as far as possible, should be able to understand them with ease and take part in them fully, actively and as a community".[10]

Adaptation of Text and Ritual

For this reason, "in this restoration both texts and rites should be drawn up so as to express more clearly the holy things which they signify".[11] "The rites should be distinguished by a noble simplicity. They should be short, clear and free from useless repetitions. They should be within the people's power of comprehension, and normally should not require much explanation."[12] Besides, "in sacred celebrations a more ample, more varied and more suitable reading from sacred scripture should be restored."[13]

Obviously the various rites will express their meaning more clearly if they are in the language of the congregation, and so a wide concession has been made for the translation of the liturgy into modern languages.[14]

Mass

"The rite of Mass is to be revised" with a view to greater simplicity as to enable the congregation to take a fuller part.[15]

The Other Sacraments

In the chapter on the sacraments emphasis is again given to the need for the people to understand: "It is of the greatest importance that the faithful should understand the sacramental signs".[16]

The restoration of the catechumenate with its stages clearly marked by the successive rites pertaining to it, the stress laid on confirmation as part of Christian initiation, the statement that the anointing of the sick is to be so called and that it comes before Viaticum, the promised reform of the rites of penance and of funerals, are all signs that the Council has appreciated to the full the pastoral inadequacies of the Rituale Romanum.[17]

Liturgy of the Hours

"The divine office, ....., is so divised that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praise of God."[18] "So that the day may be truly sanctified and that the hours themselves may be recited with spiritual advantage, it is best that each of them be prayed at that time which corresponds most closely with its canonical time."[19]

Lauds and Vespers are the principal Hours. "Pastors of souls should see to it that the principal hours, especially Vespers, are celebrated in common in Church on Sundays and on the more solemn feast. The laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually."[20] Matins is to "be so adapted that it may be recited at any hour of the day, and it shall be made up of fewer psalms and longer readings."[21]

"The psalms are no longer to be distributed throughout one week but through a longer period",[22] and there shall be a better selection of the readings.[23]

Liturgical Year

"The Liturgical year is to be revised so that the traditional customs and disciplines of the sacred seasons shall be preserved or restored to suit the conditions of modern times. Their specific character is to be retained so that they duly nourish the piety of the faithful who celebrate the mysteries of the Christian redemtption and, above all, the paschal mystery."[24]

"Lest the feasts of the saints should take precedence over the feasts which commemorate the very mysteries of salvation, many of them should be left to be celebrated by a particular church, or nation, or family of religious. Only those should be extended to the universal church which commemorate saints who are truly of universal importance."[25] In this way the celebration of the seasonal liturgy will be emphasized with the Sunday and the ferial office predominating over that of the saints. "The Proper of the Time shall be given due preference over the feasts of the saints so that the entire cycle of the mysteries of salvation may be suitably recalled."[26]

Catechesis

During the liturgical year the church has many opportunities to help the faithful live the christian life. "In the various seasons of the year ..... the church completes the formation of the faithful by means of pious practices for soul and body, by instruction, prayer, and works of penance and mercy."[27]

The catechism will be more attractive if it is presented during the liturgical year according to the particular seasons.[28] "The two elements which are especially characteristic of Lent - the recalling of baptism or the preparation for it and penance - should be given greater emphasis in the liturgy and in liturgical catechesis. It is by means of them that the Church prepares the faithful for the celebration of Easter, while they hear God's word more frequently and devote more time to prayer."[29] "During Lent, penance should be not only internal and individual but also external and social."[30]

"To believers also the Church must ever preach faith and penance; she must prepare them for the sacraments, teach them to observe all that Christ has commanded, and encourage them to engage in all works of charity, piety and the apostolate".[31]

Faithful's Participation

"All the faithful should be led to that full, conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy, and to which the christian people, 'a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people' (1 Pt. 2:9, 4-5) has a right and obligation by reason of their baptism..... (This) "is the aim to be considered before all else, for it is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true christian spirit.

"Therefore, in all apostolic activities, pastors of souls should energetically set about achieving it through the requisite pedagogy."[32]

Liturgical Instruction of the Clergy

"Yet it would be futile to entertain any hope of realizing this unless pastors of souls, in the first place, themselves become fully imbued with the spirit and power of the liturgy and capable of giving instruction about it. Thus it is absolutely essential, first of all, that steps be taken to ensure the liturgical training of the clergy. For this reason "the sacred Council"[33] set out several enactments.[34]

Internal and External Participation

"With zeal and patience pastors of souls must promote the liturgical instruction of the faithful and also their active participation, both internal and external, taking into account their age, condition, way of life and standard of religious culture."[35]

Participation in the liturgy cannot be exclusively internal. The very nature of the action demands that participation be also external. But simple - so called 'passive' - attendance at Mass or simple reception of the sacraments are already in themselves external participation. Without doubt the pastoral aim of the Church is that such minimal external participation should be developed to the fullest degree possible. The full potentialities of the liturgy as an action of common worship could be realised only if all the faithful participated fully in the ritual; and each of the faithful should make this his aim. But such an ideal is hardly compatible with the vastly differentiated character of the individuals who make up 'the faithful'. It will be for local bishops to decide, taking account of the Council's wishes, in what measure external participation will be helpful to the majority of their people.[36]

Celebration of the Word of God

The rules deriving from the didactic and pastoral character of the liturgy[37] serve to emphasize that the liturgy is a celebration of the Word of God in which God speaks through Christ and the people respond to his invitation. The prayers of the community and the symbolic actions performed are all meant to speak to the minds and hearts of the participants, and to encourage them to render intelligent and willing service to God.

"Although the sacred liturgy is principally the worship of the divine majesty it likewise contains much instruction for the faithful. For in the liturgy God speaks to his people and Christ is still proclaiming his Gospel. And the people reply to God both by song and prayer. ..... Thus not only when things are read 'which were written for our instruction' (Rom. 15:4), but also when the church prays and sings or acts, the faith of those taking part is nourished, and their minds are raised to God so that they may offer him their spiritual homage and receive his grace more abundantly."[38]

Such a purpose obviously cannot be achieved if the people do not understand what is going on; whence the need for simplicity and brevity in the ritual.[39] It is in this context that the question of Latin is considered. The rule guiding the adaptation of the liturgy is the faithful's power of understanding. The necessary qualification, "in so far as possible"[40] is added; for the liturgy is in the final analysis a mystery.[41]

Chapter 3

Pastoral Liturgy

Pastoral

We can define pastoral as the art of leading and conducting the people to Christ and Christ to the people, within the structure of the Church, through the means indicated by Christ Himself together with those determined by the Church, and with those which may perchance be imposed or which may seem advisable by the very nature or by the de facto condition of the people.

Pastoral tries to achieve the most perfect degree of sanctification possible. It seeks, therefore, not only to snatch away the people from mortal sin so as they will live in the state of grace, but likewise to lead them to the fullest possible development of his grace.

Pastoral presupposes that God deals with man in accord with the law of salvation in community in which God deals with man through other men and that God himself has determined, up to a certain point, the modality of His encounter with man and has left further determination of it to the Church.[42]

Union between Pastoral and Liturgy

It can rightly be assumed that there should be a close relationship between worship and pastoral care. Both of them edify and build up the Christian community, help to form Christian identity and are involved in the process of personal transformation. Many significant themes such as guilt, grace, reconciliation, dialogue, communication, new beginnings and healing are shared by worship and pastoral care. Both pastoral care and worship focus on relationship between people and between people and God.

Pastoral situations frequently occasion liturgical rites. All acts of worship have pastoral implications and effects. Thus poor worship can vitiate pastoral action while good worship can enhance it. The Eucharist helps the Christian fellowship to grow together in grace and to be formed into the image of Christ. Baptism, confirmation, marriages and furnerals occur at naturally important transition points in the lives of individuals and communities, and can be educative, formative, supportive and indeed reconciliatory.

The sacrament of penance is integrally linked to the pastoral task of reconciliation, and rites like anointing and the laying on of hands relate closely to the healing aspect of pastoral care. Ordination affirms the close relationship between liturgical and pastoral roles in ministry, while the recitation of daily office allows the opportunity for pastoral intercession and the nurture of pastoral care itself.[43]

Liturgy as Source of Pastoral

Pastoral, in order to achieve its end, cannot do without the liturgy.[44] The Second Vatican Council had a decisive word to say about the union between liturgy and pastoral. In fact, its assertion that the liturgy, even while it does not exhaust the whole activity of the Church[45], is nonetheless the summit toward which this activity is directed and the font from which all her power flows[46], is understood by the Council not only in relation to the spiritual life of the faithful in general[47], but also and directly in relation to the ministry of pastors.[48] There is a reaffirmation of this in the "Instructions" of 26 September 1964.[49]

It is proper to say that the liturgy in its concrete reality, is the apex and font of the life of the Church, and in a special way of her pastoral activity, even if it is not such in an equal way in all its parts, but formally, because of the Eucharist, for the Eucharist pertains to the liturgy not only in a substantial and not in an accidental way, but straightforwardly in such a way that it is the heart and focal point thereof, or the determining part in respect to the other components of the liturgy.

Moreover, the other parts of the liturgy are first of all the other sacraments. But even by means of these the liturgy is the summit and font of the whole supernatural life of the Church, since the sacraments achieve their effects of the sanctification of men and the glorification of God 'ex opere operato'.

The sacramentals themselves, although they have not the same end nor efficacy nor importance as the sacraments, and so much the less when it is a question of the Eucharist, nevertheless achieve those effects 'ex opere operantis Ecclesiæ'.[50]

That is why in the liturgy "the worship rendered to God by the Church in union with the divine Head is the most efficacious means of achieving sanctity".[51] It is because of this that the liturgy, by its very nature, is the centre, apex, and font of every pastoral activity; and it ought to be said that the end of pastoral activity is achieved not precisely by means of the liturgy, but, more exactly, in the liturgy.

This implies that the liturgy ought not to be conceived as a means ordered to extraliturgical activities, but, on the contrary, extraliturgical activities are to be regarded as means ordered to the liturgy and as effects deriving from the liturgy.[52] There is no absorption or disparagement of extraliturgical activities by the liturgy, but nevertheless it is necessary that they be directed in a unified way to the liturgy and that they be qualitatively subordinated to the liturgy as to the reality in which the aim of all pastoral is fully realised.[53]

The Liturgical Movement has never ceased reminding us of this truth, especially in view of the importance of its clearly pastoral bearing.[54]

Goal of Liturgical Pastoral

The end of liturgical pastoral is to guide and conduct the people to Christ and Christ to the people in the liturgy, and to realize and maintain the encounter between the people and Christ in the liturgy. To this end, the pastoral effort will consist in conducting the people to the liturgy and the liturgy to the people.

But we know that the sun and centre of the liturgy is the sacrifice of the Mass, the place of maximum encounter between man and God in Christ Jesus, where God in Christ sanctifies man in the highest degree. Sun and centre of the liturgy, the Mass is therefore necessarily sun and centre of the liturgical pastoral, the primary purpose of which is to conduct the people to the Mass and the Mass to the people.[55]

Plenary Participation[56]

The goal of liturgical pastoral is plenary participation, i.e. that participation in which the catholic, responding with perfect attunement to the given objective of the celebration, displays in full the possibilities of the supernatural activities included in his supernatural existence as a man deputed to the worship of God in Christ.

Sacrosanctum Concilium insists repeatedly on the concept of full participation as the goal of liturgical pastoral[57] just as much as it is the goal of the reform itself of the liturgy.[58]

Active Participation[59]

The intrinsic nature of the liturgy as action and the intrinsic nature of the catholic as having been clothed, by means of his very baptism, with the "royal priesthood" by which he is deputed to make that liturgical action his own are such that the catholic does not participate perfectly in the liturgy if he does not participate not only internally as well as externally, but also actively, vitally, and consciously.

Without active participation the liturgy does not endow the one who so assists with its full psychological moral effect; and there is a cessation or at least a considerable diminution of what is, from the didactic educative point of view, the liturgy's principal characteristic - its being a concrete vital instruction by means of the action itself, in which the vital posture is transmitted not so much by concepts and reasoning as by living and actualizing a sacred situation with one's whole person at the very moment of its enactment.

Communitarian Participation[60]

Liturgical pastoral strives so that external and internal, active and conscious participation be at the same time a communitarian participation.[61] In the liturgy, the vital religious posture is transmitted to the believer not merely inasmuch as he lives the sacred action actively and with his whole person, but also and in greatest measure because he lives actively in the community of which he forms a part. It is there that the psychological force of the influence of the atmosphere of the community and of the masses comes into play in the creation and in the strengthening of the ordered behaviour vital to man. The existence of this influence has been ably demonstrated by social and mass psychology,[62] and the psychologico-phenomenological analysis of worship, in its social and communitarian aspect, has been especially illuminating in the case of the liturgy itself.[63]

Liturgical pastoral is concerned with persuading the faithful to respond in the most perfect way possible even in their internal and external subjectivity to the necessarily social and communitarian character of the liturgical actions. This response, as social and comunitarian as possible, is within the normal exigencies intrinsic to the liturgy itself.

Hence liturgical pastoral has not a goal of arriving at a merely valid celebration of the liturgy on the part of the priest celebrant and of persuading the faithful to a merely minimal participation therein in order to obtain some sort of spiritual fruit from it or to satisfy the possible juridic obligations which they have of attending; rather, it necessarily proposes to persuade both priest and the people in the liturgical act to that ideal of full life which is achieved only when all the possibilities of being nourished by the divine life which the liturgy offers are exploited to the fullest, in a way that is connatural to the spirit itself which shapes the liturgy - all this in view of fostering as much as possible the union of those participating in the liturgy with Christ, and among themselves in Christ.

Hierarchically Structured Participation[64]

Nevertheless, the active participation of the faithful in the liturgical action as their own action, to which liturgical pastoral aims, does not involve any confusion between the specific role of priest celebrant and the role of the faithful in the liturgical action. Each has an active role in the liturgical action, but each in his own way.[65]

Participation of All the People[66]

The pastoral which is centred on the liturgy depends upon the laws of general pastoral, one of which is that it must tend first of all to the common masses of the people. The liturgy, therefore, tends to be primarily and by its inmost nature popular, and enbraces a participation of the peoples as popular community. A situation, the practical result of which active and communitarian participation in the liturgy will be confined to a select group of the faithful, is necessarily viewed by liturgical pastoral as a situation to be avoided.

Importance of Song in the Liturgy[67]

Once there is more than a small group of people, song alone makes it possible for an assembly to express itself as one. Song is regarded as a means of manifesting a unanimity of outlook, because by its rhythm and melody it produces such a fusion of voices that there seems to be but a single singer.[68]

Following the advice of St. Paul the early Christians made song a normal expression of liturgical prayer. The Fathers also emphasize the point that song makes words more forceful and intelligible and thus allows the participants to give a more intense assent to them and to meditate on them.[69] Music, whether vocal or instrumental, can create a festive atmosphere and lend an air of triumph to certain manifestations.

Participation Convergent in the Diocese or in the Parish[70]

Finally, in the pastoral centred on the liturgy, everything converges, on the local level, on the diocese as focal point and, within the habitual reach of each of the faithful, on the parish.[71]

Liturgical pastoral must address itself to the achievement of active, full, and communitarian participation of the whole people of God in liturgical celebrations and particularly in the celebration of the Eucharist centred around the bishop of the diocese.[72] However, "As it is impossible for the bishop always and everywhere to preside over the whole flock in his Church, he must of necessity establish ..... parishes".[73]

Basis of Liturgical Pastoral[74]

Formation of the Clergy[75]

"Yet it would be futile to entertain any hope of realizing this (of leading the faithful to full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations), unless pastors of souls, in the first place, themselves become fully imbued with the spirit and power of the liturgy and capable of giving instruction about it. Thus it is absolutely essential, first of all, that steps be taken to ensure the liturgical training of the clergy."[76]

Clear Diagnosis of the People[77]

After seeing to his own formation, the first rule for the pastor who will have to lead his people to their liturgical goal will be to have an exact idea, indeed, a perception as acute as possible, of the actual state of the people with whom he must deal in the concrete in regard to the present condition and actual possibilities of their external and internal, active, communitarian, parrochial participation in the liturgy.[78] It is necessary to take the people as they are and where they are in order to elevate them afterwards to the goal proposed.[79]

Progressiveness[80]

It is quite clear that in the business of the liturgical elevation of the people, pastors cannot take comfort in the thought of their prudence if they refuse to concern themselves with entering joyfully and wholeheartedly into the spirit of the directives imparted by the Church in the Second Vatican Council.

Scope of Liturgical Pastoral[81]

The whole pastoral labour centred on the liturgy unfolds substantially in two directions: bringing the people to the liturgy as it is today and bringing the liturgy to the people. This means making a wise selection among the various forms of liturgical celebrations permitted by current legislation, choosing those which are better suited to the active participation of the people in their specific circumstances, as well as trying to obtain and studiously requesting, through proper channels, with proper respect and proper obedience, from the competent authorities, the reforms of the liturgy itself deemed useful for the achievement of its goal.

Elevating the People to the Liturgy[82]

To elevate the people to active participation in the liturgy as it is today is by far the most urgent task of liturgical pastoral, a task of which it will never be absolved. People will always have need of being instructed and catechized in regard to the vital theological meaning of the liturgical assembly and of its individual rites.

The Scriptures remain always and necessarily one of the more essential points of the whole liturgical structure, whether as direct catechetical reading; or as a formula of prayer; or as the general expression from which the other liturgical compositions take their cue and with the spirit of which they are imbued. Now the Scriptures remain always a world apart to which the people have need of being elevated, whether because of what is said therein or because of the way in which these thhings are conceived and expressed.

Every generation must necessarily be guided and introduced to those traditional forms which they simply do not find spontaneous to them. Habituated use itself brings it about that once the novelty of a form of religious expression has worn off, its significance naturally tends to be effaced in the awareness of the faithful, thus making a necessity of continual labouring for revivification and rekindling of attention; and this brings with it anew the necessity of a continual elevating of the people to the liturgical form.

Bringing the Liturgy to the People[83]

The ecclesiastical laws themselves in force today leave to the priest, always under the surveillance of the bishop, a certain margin of free choice among diverse forms of liturgical celebrations of various rites, and primarily of the Mass, a margin considerably greater than is generally appreciated. Liturgical pastoral makes it the duty of every priest to use this margin wisely, choosing the forms better suited in a specific set of circumstances to bring the liturgy as close as possible to the people; and it indicates at the same time the right way to achieve this result.

Missionary Value of the Liturgy[84]

Pastoral necessarily has at one and the same time two different aspects, one of conquest which is its missionary aspect and one of preservation or of perfecting. Admiting that by its very nature the liturgy looks primarily to the faithful who already follow the life of the Church, nevertheless, the pastoral missionary force of the liturgy proceeds primarily from the fact that the liturgy is not only preeminently suitable to create a vital catholic atmosphere, but from the fact also that it is itself necessarily the centre and the focal point of that vital catholic atmosphere, with the whole dynamism of attraction and expansion which this implies.

It has been shown that the liturgy can be fitted into the programme of parrochial missionary renewal.[85] This has been well understood by those who, stirred by the missionary problem, whether in the nominally christian locals or in those of the foreign missions, have believed that in order to achieve their purpose, one of their primary duties is precisely to bring the people to the liturgy and the liturgy to the people.[86]

Liturgical Pastoral is Centred around the Mass[87]

The intrinsic ordering of all the sacraments towards the Eucharist is taught quite forcefully by St. Thomas. He declares that the Eucharist is the greatest among all the sacraments not only because the other sacraments contain only an instrumental power derived from Christ, while in the Eucharist Christ Himself is contained substantially and in person, but also because of the reciprocal relationship among the sacraments themselves.[88]

Thus while certainly it remains true that the administration of the sacraments in immediate union with the Mass is not required for the validity for any of them, nevertheless, their connection with communion in the Eucharistic sacrifice is so close that the profound mind of the liturgy and its natural bent, lends itself to the expression of this even in the rites. It follows from this that everyone, insofar as it depends upon himself, ought to guard against frustrating the mind of the liturgy, lest he deprive the people of opportunity to perceive and live its profound significance. What is at stake is the understanding of the mystery of Christ and its practical efficacy in the lives of Christian people.

All that has been said of the sacraments, that they are ordained to the Eucharistic sacrifice, can be said with even greater reason about all those rites in the liturgy which are of ecclesiastical institution. It is after all only natural that a sense of propriety has led the Church to celebrate even those rites which she herself instituted, in a special way the divine office and the sacramentals and in particular the more important among the various blessings and consecrations, in intimate connection with the sacrifice of the Mass.

Chapter 4

Catechetical Elements

Didactic Efficacy of the Liturgy

"The liturgical apostolate should be closely linked with other pastoral activities. It is especially necessary that there be close links between liturgy, catechesis, religious instruction and preaching".[89] The liturgy is the fundamental means of the instruction of the people in the christian faith and life.[90] "For in the liturgy God speaks to his people and Christ is still proclaiming his gospel".[91]

The singular didactic psychological efficacy of the liturgy proceeds essentially from the fact that the liturgy, in its totality, is not an abstract catechesis, but is by right and by nature, a catechesis-action in which knowledge is conveyed not only by means of abstract communication of concepts but by actually doing something. This is the more efficacious way when the end is not the simple transmission of a series of impersonal concepts, but the communication of a total vital posture; and this is precisely the case with pastoral, which seeks to provoke and maintain the vital encounter of the people with Christ.[92] Liturgical catechesis is the most important task of liturgical pastoral.[93]

Catechesis in Action

The liturgy is catechesis in action. It celebrates and expresses the mystery of Christ as a mystery of salvation that is realized today in the church, in a sacramental, significative, and efficacious action. A lively participation in the liturgical action enables believers to penetrate even more deeply into the mystery of Christ and to comprehend its extension and its wondrous unity.[94]

The liturgy appears as the principal means of the Church for causing her view of the world to penetrate vitally into the minds of the faithful, even if, in its complexus, it is a means of communication of doctrine less direct, less conceptually precise, and less intellectual than the other means which the magisterium habitually uses. It is the principal means in the sense that it is more vitally effective, more continual, more intuitive and penetrating, more popular and universal.[95] It is "the most important organ of the Church in the ordinary exercise of its teaching office".[96]

Expression of Orthodox Faith

The catechetical value of the liturgy and its ecclesial and active character have led the Church in every period to introduce into its celebrations the themes it considers most important in defending orthodoxy against the threats of heretical deviation and safeguarding the most decisive gains made by the common faith.

At Rome, developments in doctrine or devotion were given plenty of room in the creation of new feasts or the addition of new formularies and rites to the ancient heritage. In the East, the important theological developments produced by the Christological and Trinitarian controversies helped greatly in giving the liturgy of the Church of Constantinople the doctrinal wealth that makes it a catechesis that is always in touch with the people and at the same time focuses on the most essential points of the Christian faith.[97]

Faith is Essential in Worship[98]

It is clear, indeed, that this exercise of the magisterium of the Church in the liturgy is utterly real, inasmuch as the liturgy involves, among other things, also a teaching of the magisterium, as well as an expression of the adherence which the faithful give to this teaching and by which, in its turn, it can be recognised.

While the teaching of the magisterium in general is specifically directed to enkindling the faith, in the liturgy this teaching has for its proper end that of arousing in the believer here and now the act of faith, with a view to offering it 'hic et nunc' in homage to God in the cultic action. Thus the faith is not only a presupposition of the liturgy, but forms part of the substance itself of the liturgical action: the liturgical action consists in part in offering to God 'hic et nunc', through sensible and efficacious signs, acts of faith as homage due to Him as Creator and universal Providor, and it is to evoke these acts that in the liturgy itself the magisterium teaches and exhorts. The teaching of the magisterium aims essentially, therefore, in the liturgy, at activating in the faithful here and now faith, hope and especially charity, with a view to offering each to God in the present act of worship as homage due to Him.

The liturgy is neither a catechism, nor a sermon, nor a manual of theology, nor an encyclical, nor a pastoral letter. In other words, in the liturgy the concern is first of all to make the christian people pray here and now in community, in an act of worship, and not simply to instruct them.

This, of course, does not prevent some parts or rites in the liturgy from being more directly didactic. But all this does not change the fundamental fact that by the very nature of things the instruction imparted in the liturgy is a function proceeding directly and immediately from prayer. And this is true even in the parts of the liturgy which are more didactic than the rest, such as the homilies, the lessons, the direct exhortations, the professions of faith, especially in the first part of the Mass. Then in the other parts of the liturgy - sacrifice, prayer, expecially the prayer of the Divine Office, administration and reception of the sacraments and the sacramentals - the didactic aspect is much less direct and explicit. In them, by contrast, the aspect of sanctification and the aspect of worship predominate over the aspect of teaching.

Salvation History in Act

The ordinary magisterium has a strong voice of its own in the liturgy, in which the whole of revelation is presented and viewed as sacred salvation history ever in act and under the veil of sensible and efficacious signs of the sanctification and worship of the Church.

The characteristic of liturgical teaching is to make one realize the relevance for today of the events contained in the Word of God. Liturgical teaching, therefore, is a mode of teaching intended to lift the hearer to the plane of history so that he may discover that this history ends in the person of Christ. It is in the present liturgical assembly that the events of the Old Testament and even of the Gospel are actually accomplished in mystery.

When the holy Word of God is proclaimed in the liturgy, it must be first and foremost a call to situate oneself in the history of salvation. Therefore, the preoccupation of liturgical teaching is with making the faithful understand that these events are their own in the liturgical mystery and calls them to that type of faith which realizes that they are in the last times. Today they profit by the lordly power of Christ, contained in the miraculous events of his life and in the words of his discourses.[99]

Ongoing Catechesis[100]

The proper function of the liturgy is not to teach but to enable its participants to live out the mystery of salvation. It is, therefore, the model for all cathecesis, since catechesis has for its purpose not simply to pass on correct doctrine, but above all to initiate its recipients into a living faith. The liturgy concentrates on bringing out the fundamental elements of this mystery of salvation, relating them to the paschal mystery.

The Scripture readings and psalmody, which are the basic elements of every christian liturgy, keep the faithful in direct contact with the present source of nourishment for their faith. The arrangement of these readings in the liturgical cycle, and the parallels established between the sacred books, especially of the Old and New Testament, help the faithful to understand their deeper meaning in the light of Christ. The songs, prayers, and rites serve as a continuous commentary on the sacred texts.

By leading the faithful to the kind of prayer that suits each situation of Christian life, the liturgy establishes the basis for a dialogue between God and human beings in which each participant sees himself assigned his proper place. By reason of its communal character, the liturgy gives an intense experience of ecclesial communion and thus of the communion found in the kingdom of God, the definite form of which it announces and anticipates in sacramental symbols.

Catechesis by reason of the Word of God[101]

The liturgy is catechesis by reason of the Word of God which it transmits. As the vehicle of the Word of God, the liturgy forms the normal introduction to the Bible and it is by means of the passages proclaimed in the liturgical assembly that people are normally to be led to a taste for and an understanding of the Scriptures. For this reason, "in sacrerd celebrations a more ample, more varied, and more suitable reading from sacred scripture should be restored; ..... the sermon should draw its content mainly from scriptural and liturgical sources; and ..... biblical services should be encouraged".[102]

Article 24 of Sacrosanctum Concilium stresses the place of scripture in the liturgy: The scriptures are not simply the material source from which the text of the liturgy is drawn, either directly or indirectly. The liturgy, because it is the activation of the mystery of Christ, is a sacramental celebration of the scriptures. The word of the liturgy is the word of the scriptures; and in the liturgy the scriptures acquire new saving effectiveness because Christ is present and active in a special way in these church actions.

Article 35 of Sacrosanctum Concilium returns to this theme, showing how the homily also, if based on the scriptures and the liturgy, becomes a proclamation of God's wonderful works in the history of salvation or in the mystery of Christ ever made present and active within us, especially in the celebration of the liturgy.[103] "By means of the homily the mysteries of the faith and the guiding principles of the christian life are expounded from the sacred text during the course of the liturgical year".[104] By its nature, the sermon has its starting point in the celebration and leads to a more enlightened and united celebration.

The liturgy is close in character to the scriptures, of which it is the living interpreter. The Sacred books are the collective work of the people of God; the liturgy is the ecclesial witness to the fact that sacred history continues to exert its influence in the church.[105]

Duty of the Clergy

"Priests, therefore, to whom is entrusted the task of securing the eternal salvation of the faithful, having first studied the Sacred Pages with earnestness and diligence and assimilated them by prayer and meditation, must zealously display the supernatural riches of the word of God in their sermons, homilies, and exhortations. Let them corroborate christian teaching by passages from the Sacred Books, illustrate it by outstanding examples from sacred history and especially from the Gospel of Christ our Lord; and while they carefully avoid those arbitrary and far fetched accomodations which are an abuse rather than a use of the word of God, let their exposition be so eloquent and so lucid that the faithful will not only be moved to resolve upon the amendment of their lives, but also conceive in their minds a deep veneration for Sacred Scriptures".[106]

Catechesis through Rites[107]

Again, the liturgy is catechesis through its rites, and through the gestures and attitudes that it requires of the community. "The rites should be within the people's power of comprehension".[108] These convey a spirit, they direct the development of the religious mentality in individuals and communities. They are the primary form, anterior to words, of the total christian mentality. Thus the liturgy is a catechesis which embraces the whole being. Through liturgical observance doctrinal values are in some sort verified because they are apprehended in an experience. The liturgy is the royal road maintaining a close link between doctrine and life.

The liturgy leads to a moral commitment. It places us in an attitude of listening, offering and obedience in relation to God, of fellowship in relation to our brothers. It disposes us to act in a christian way, and this without moralism. The liturgy imbues us with the fundamental themes of the faith by making us live in that relationship which it establishes between God and us. In its festive aspect the liturgy sets before us doctrinal truths in the most suitable way to motivate christian joy.

Year by year the liturgy educates us to a further deepening of our understanding of the fundamental Christian truths and values, to thanksgiving and to our approach to God through Christ. That is why Christianity has been able to survive atr periods when there was no preaching or reading, and it continues still to exist in vast regions where the liturgical celebrations are the only means of religious activity. There is no Christian truth that is not expressed in one way or another by the liturgy.

As the rites of the church play an important part in the adherence and awakening to the faith, Vatican II lays down that the Catechumenate for adults is to be restored and to comprise several distinct stages. "In this way, the time of the Catechumenate, which is intended to be a period of suitable instruction, may be sanctified by sacred rites"[109] which are to be celebrated at definite intervals during the period of preparation for baptism.

Liturgical Catechesis

Pastors have a golden opportunity for liturgical catechesis whitin the liturgy itself. They can make use of admonitions at important parts of the liturgical action. "Instruction which is more explicitly liturgical should also be given ..... within the rites themselves. But they should be given only at suitable moments and in prescribed words or their equivalent."[110] They can give a brief introduction to the celebration inserting it into the liturgical year of the Church, indicating what attitude the particular service is trying to inculcate in the people. They can also situate the readings for the people.

The homily provides a special time for instruction and enlightenment.[111] "The sermon should draw its content mainly from scriptural and liturgical sources".[112] Indeed, it is quite natural and necessary that preaching, since it is directly liturgical catechesis should frequently have for its object the liturgy itself, or better, the very mystery of Christ ever in act as it is concretized in the liturgy: in its rites, in its formulas, in its readings, in its feasts, in its cycles; and that by properly starting from the liturgy, preaching may bring its audience to rediscover that same mystery of Christ which it must always explain.[113] Pastors can clarify liturgical signs and actions, inculcating in their people liturgical attitudes and enabling them to apply the liturgy to their lives.

Apart from the celebration, the greatest way to impart liturgical catechesis is by seeing that the liturgies are well prepared. Tailoring the Eucharistic celebrations to one's community by taking full advantage of the options that are built into the liturgy, precisely for this purpose. This means everything from choosing the right hymns for the community to composing truly relevant petitions for the Prayer of the Faithful - petitions that will be appreciated by the community in question for they affect that community.[114]

Teaching in the Act of Worship[115]

However, the direct didactic style does not predominate in the liturgy. The very points of a more didactic nature are intermixed as a general rule with chants and prayers, as if to translate the teaching received into an act of worship at once.

In the liturgy there is a notable predominance over the means of expression which are meant to communicate or simply to express clear and distinct concepts of a ratiocinative type with the immediate aim of enriching the intellect, of those which are in immediate connection with the will and the feeling in all its shadings, with a view to creating or expressing complex affective and intuitive satates of mind more than simply conceptual states. It is for this reason also that in every liturgy a lyrical and rhetorical tone predominates, with greater or lesser sobriety, over mere exposition.

All this proves that the liturgy is not so much concerned with simply communicating clear and distinct concepts or with teaching as with attuning the whole concrete man and immersing him in a general environment of prayer and of surrender to God, in that environment of devotion which is the soul of worship. Now, to create such an environment, teaching together with clear and distinct concepts can be used only in a certain measure and sparingly. This is the law of religious psychology on which the mystics recommended that meditation should not exhaust itself completely in intellectual considerations and in reasoning, but must take care to put the will into motion and make the feelings cooperate. They also warn a person to be on guard against becoming preoccupied with making clear and distinct acts of intellect or even of will in prayer, and that if the Spirit so moves them, they be content with a simple loving glance, because in prayer, in respect to the distinct acts of the faculties, this simple loving glance is the end not the means.[116]

This is also the principal argument which was once used by the opponents of the vernacular in the liturgy when they said that it is essential for the liturgy to preserve a certain character of indistinct mysteriousness, a character which would be lost if it were performed in a language understood by all. This same argument may now aid us to understand that the liturgy is not only, nor even principally, the teaching of a doctrine but an act of worship, a prayer.

As worship, the liturgy has for its primary aim to make the people pray, and if it does not succeed in this, it is emptied of its true force.

Chapter 5

Living the Liturgy

Aim of the Liturgy

"The essence of religion is to imitate Him whom you worship."[117] The ultimate purpose of any liturgical celebration is that it be lived - that it is not left behind in church when the people return home. It should help bring Christ into their everyday lives. The truths that are made known to our minds must move our hearts and our wills and bring them into line with God's saving plan. They must inculcate in us a kind of liturgical spirituality.[118]

Theological Value of the Liturgy

The Fathers are interested in the liturgy from the point of view of its spiritual or theological value. For them, this is rather intimately connected with catechetical, ascetical, hortatory-moral, or even mystical purposes. They sought above all to address the faithful and explain to them the theological significance which the liturgy has for the believer who practices it, as well as its ascetical-moral value.[119]

Nor can the pastoral aspect in the liturgy be but the consequence of the theological aspect discovered with the aid of historical inquiry. When the communitarian character of the Mass is discovered, there flows from it spontaneously a series of questions on how to lead the great body of the faithful back to living the Mass again as a communitarian act.[120]

The Mass is the Centre of the Liturgy[121]

It must be noted that if it is true that the other sacraments are ordained to the sacrifice of the Mass and that they derive from it their sanctifying power and value as worship rendered to God, with even greater reason is it true that everything else in the Church that is outside the strictly liturgical area has its sanctifying power and its value as glory rendered to God only in reference to the sacrifice of the Mass, either as preparation thereto or consequence thereof, and through a certain desire for the sacrifice of the Mass.

The ultimate theological reason for this is that the end of the sacraments is the sanctification of man and the tendering of worship to God in Christ, which is achieved by coming in contact with and by participating in Golgotha.[122] The Mass, however, is the sacramental extension of Golgotha in which man participates fully through the reception of communion. It is the Eucharist, therefore, sacrament and sacrifice, which realizes to the fullest the common notion and end of all the sacraments.

The Eucharist is the Source of Christian Spirit

"It is from the Eucharist that all of us receive the grace and strength for daily living - to live real christian lives, in the joy of knowing that God loves us, that Christ died for us, and that the Holy Spirit lives in us.

"Our full participation in the Eucharist is the real source of the Christian spirit that we wish to see in our personal lives and in all aspects of society. Whether we serve in politics, in the economic, cultural, social, or scientific field - no matter what our occupation is - the Eucharist is a challenge to our daily lives .....

"Our union with Christ in the Eucharist must be expressed in the truth of our lives today - in our actions, in our behaviour, in our life style, and in our relationships with others. For each one of us the Euchartist is a call to ever greater effort, so that we may live as true followers of Jesus: truthful in our speach, generous in our deeds, concerned, respectful of the dignity and rights of all persons, whatever their rank or income, self-sacrificing, fair and just, kind, considerate, compassionate and self-controlled - looking to the well-being of our families, our young people, our country, Europe and the world.

"The truth of our union with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is tested by whether or not we really love our fellow men and women; it is tested by how we treat others; especially our families; husbands and wives, children and parents, brothers and sisters. It is tested by whether or not we try to be reconciled with our enemies, on whether or not we forgive those who hurt us or offend us. It is tested by whether we practice in life what our faith teaches us."[123]

Presentation of the Mysteries of Christ

"The ideal of Christian life is the close and uninterrupted union of everyone with God. Therefore the worship which the Church pays to Almighty God and which is founded mainly upon the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the use of the Sacraments, is so arranged that by means of the Divine Office it takes within its scope every hour of the day, every week, and the whole course of the year, all the seasons and all the various phases of human life".[124]

"All the year round the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the recitation of the Divine Office revolve, as it were, about the Person of Jesus Christ; the cycle being contrived as to be wholly dominated by our Saviour in the mysteries of His humiliation, His redemption, and His triumph".[125] "In thus reminding the faithful of these mysteries of Jesus Christ, the sacred liturgy seeks to make them share them in such a way that the divine Head of the Mystical Body lives by His perfect holiness in each of His members".[126]

"The Doctors of the Church tell us that the mysteries of Christ's life are at the same time most excellent models of virtue for us to imitate".[127] "The Church, in proposing the mysteries of our Redeemer to us for our contemplation, also prays that her children may receive the supernatural gifts which, by the power of Christ, will fill them with the spirit of those same mysteries. By His inspiration and grace it becomes possible for us, through our own co-operation, to receive into ourselves the sort of life-giving energy that branches receive from the tree and members from the head, and we thus become able gradually and labouriously to attain to that 'maturity which is proportioned to the completed growth of Christ'[128]".[129]

"The feasts of the Saints in heaven are also celebrated in the course of the liturgical year. ..... The aim of the Church is always to set models before the faithful which may lead them to cultivate in themselves the virtues of the divine Redeemer. In the virtues of the Saints the virtue of Jesus Christ is variously reflected, and we must imitate them as they imitated Christ."[130]

Aid to Christian Living

"Conformably with this scheme and purpose, whereby the liturgy at fixed times sets the life of Jesus Christ before us for our meditation, the Church holds up examples for our imitation and exhibits the treasures of holiness that we must make our own: for what the voice sings[131] the heart must believe, and what the heart believes, private and public conduct must reflect".[132] "The liturgical year ..... demands that we should strive seriously and systematically to increase our knowledge and praise of our divine Redeemer; it requires of us also an earnest and powerful effort and unremitting practice, that we may imitate the mysteries of His life, follow willingly in the way of His sufferings, and so at last share His glory and everlasting happiness".[133]

"The most necessary thing of all is that christians should live the liturgical life, and nourish and foster the liturgical spirit in themselves".[134]

[1]A. Flannery, ed., Liturgy: renewal and adaptation, Scepter Books, Dublin, 1968, p.19.

[2] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 40.

[3]Ibid., 40 (2).

[4]Ibid., 37.

[5]cfr,Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 31.

[6]cfr.Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14, 19, 33 - 36.

[7]Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 59.

[8]Ibid., 18.

[9]Ibid., 38.

[10]Ibid., 21.

[11]Ibid., 21.

[12]Ibid., 34.

[13]Ibid., 35 (1).

[14]cfr. Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 36.

[15]cfr.Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 50 - 56.

[16] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 59.

[17]Priests of St. Severin (Paris) and St. Joseph (Nice), What is the Liturgical Movement?, Burns and Oates, London, 1964, p. 134.

[18] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 84.

[19]Ibid., 94.

[20]Ibid., 100.

[21]Ibid., 89.

[22]Ibid., 91. (at present it is four weeks)

[23]cfr.Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 50 - 56.

[24] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 107.

[25]Ibid., 111.

[26]Ibid., 108.

[27]Ibid., 105.

[28]cfr. G. Frendo, Is-Sena Lituríika, Lux Press, Malta, 1983, p. 11.

[29] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 109.

[30]Ibid., 110.

[31]Ibid., 9.

[32]Ibid., 14.

-cfr. P.M.GY, OP, "La Formation Liturgique et la Participation Active" in La Maison Dieu, 77, 1964, pp. 33 - 34.

[33] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14.

[34]cfr.Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 15 - 18.

[35] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 19.

[36]A. Flannery, ed., op. cit., p. 29.

[37]cfr. Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 33 - 36.

[38] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 33.

[39]cfr.Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 33 - 34.

[40] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 21.

[41]A. Flannery, ed., op. cit., pp. 29 - 31.

[42]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., p. 805.

[43]J.G. Davies, ed., A New Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship, SCM Press, London, 1986, pp. 426 - 428.

[44]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., p. 811.

[45]cfr.Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 9.

[46]cfr. Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10.

[47]cfr. Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 11 - 13.

[48]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., p. 811.

[49]AAS. 56 (1964) 5 - 8, pp. 878 - 879.

[50]cfr. Pius XII, Encyclical, Mediator Dei, 26; also S.C., 10.

[51]cfr. M.D., 26.

[52]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., p. 815.

[53]Ibid., p. 821.

[54]See L. Bouyer, "Quelques mises au point sur le sens et le role de la liturgie", in Etudes de pastorale liturgique,, (lex orandi I), Paris, 1944, p. 384, Nos. III - IV.

-See also, :"A propos de la liturgie missionaire", in Paroisse et liturgie, Vol. 32, 1950, pp. 11 - 24, articles by Cherviot de Meester, de Feligonde.

-On the same theme: the whole of No. 40, 1954, of 'La Maison Dieu', with the conclusion of the Congress of S. Genevieve de Versailles, 1954, pp. 165 - 168.

[55]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., p. 838.

[56]Ibid., pp. 838 - 839.

[57]cfr. Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14: "Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebration which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy, and to which the christian people, 'a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people' (1 Pt. 2:9; see 2:4 - 5) have a right and obligation by reason of their baptism".

[58]cfr.Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14: "In the restoration and promotion of the sacred liturgy the full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else, for it is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true christian spirit. Therefore, in all their apostolic activity pastors ,of souls should energetically set about achieving it through the requisite pedagogy".

-cfr. Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 21: "In this restoration both texts and rites should be drawn up so as to express more clearly the holy things which they signify. The christian people as far as it is possible, should be able to understand them with ease and to take part in them fully, actively, and as a community".

-See also Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 41.

[59]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., pp. 839 - 840.

[60]Ibid., pp. 840 - 842.

[61]cfr. Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 26: "Liturgical services are not private functions but are celebrations of the church which is the 'sacrament of unity', namely 'the holy people united and arranged under their bishop'. Therefore, liturgical services pertain to the whole Body of the Church. They manifest it, and have effects upon it. But they also, touch individual members of the church in different ways, depending on their orders, their role in the liturgical services, and their actual participation in them".

[62]cfr. J. Froebes, Lehrbuch der experimenteller Psychologie, Freiburg in Br., 1929, Vol. 2, pp. 508 ff.

[63]cfr. R. Will, "Les formes du culte", Le Culte, Paris, 1929, Vol 2.

[64]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., p. 842.

[65]cfr. Pius XII, Encyclical, Mediator Dei, 92 - 93, 98 (Lat. 91 - 92, 97).

-See also Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 48.

[66]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., pp. 843 - 844.

[67]A.G. Martimort, op. cit., pp. 143 - 144.

[68]cfr. Rom. 15:6; St. Clement of Rome, letter to the Corinthians 34, 7: "We too, being dutifully assembled with one accord, should, as with one voice, cry out to Him earnestly" (trans. J.A. Kleist, the Epistles of St. Clement of Rome and St. Ignatius of Antioch (Ancient Christian Writers I; Westminster Mch: Newman, 1946), 30); St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ephes. 4, 1 - 2; St. John Chrysostome, Homilies on 1 Cor. 36, 6 (PG 61:315).

[69]e.g., St. Augustine, Confessions, IX, 6, ed P. de Lebriolle, 2, 1926, p. 220; X, 33, 49 - 50, pp. 276 - 278.

-See also St. Pius X, Motu Proprio, Tra le Sollecitudini I, 1: "Since its (liturgical music) principal office is to clothe with befitting melody the liturgical text, in order that by means of it the faithful may be the more easily moved to devotion and better disposed to receive the fruits of grace associated with the celebration of the most holy mysteries" (text in A. Bugnini, Documenta pontificia ad instaurationem liturgicam spectantia I (Rome: Edizioni Liturgiche, 1953), 14; translation in J.J. Megivern (ed.), Official Catholic Teachings: Worship and Liturgy (Wilmington, N.C., McGrath, 1978), No. 30).

[70]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., pp. 844 - 847.

[71]cfr.Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 41.

[72]cfr.,Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 41.

[73] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 42.

[74]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., pp. 848 - 851.

[75]Ibid., p. 848.

[76] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14; cfr. S.C., 15 -.18.

[77]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., pp. 849 - 850.

[78]Bishop van Bekkun, The Liturgical Revival in the Service of the Missions, The Assisi Papers, Collegeville, 1957, p. 96.

[79]In this matter it will be necessary to apply to the liturgy the technique of observation now employed in recognizing the social situation within a specific milieu.

-cfr. G. Le Bres, "Liturgie et sociologie", in Melanges en l'honneur de Mgr. M. Andrieu, Strasbourg, 1956, pp. 291 - 304; "Inchiesta circa la frequenza alla Messa domenicale nel commune di Bologna", in Piccolo sinodi diocesano, Bologna, 1961, pp. 223 - 276.

[80]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., p. 851.

[81]Ibid., pp. 851 - 853.

[82]Ibid., pp. 852 - 853.

[83]Ibid., p. 853.

[84]Ibid., pp. 824 - 830.

[85]cfr. Abbe' G. Micheneau, Paroisse, Communaute' missionaire, well known in English under the title "Revolution in a city Parish"; This has been called an eye-opener about the modern parish.

[86]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., pp. 835 - 836.

[87]Ibid., pp. 171 - 175.

[88]cfr. S. Theol. III q. 65 a. 3c.

[89]Sacred Congregation of Rites, Inter Oecumenici, 26 September 1964.

[90]Assertion made by a catholic conference held in Malines, Belgium in 1909.

[91] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 33.

[92]C. Vaggaggini OSB, op. cit., p. 823.

[93]Ibid., pp. 847 - 854.

[94]A.M. Buono, Liturgy - Our School of Faith, Alba House, New York, 1982, p. 75.

[95]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., p. 158.

-cfr. Quas Primas, (AAS 17 (1952) 603.); in Bugnini, Documenta, p. 57, No. 2. Quite rightly Pope Pius XI observed: "To pervade the faithful and to elevate them thus to the happiness of the interior life, the annual celebrations of the sacred mysteries have an efficacy far greater than that of any other kind of document of the ecclessiastical magisterium, even those of the gravest import. These latter documents, in fact, for the most part reach only a few persons and those the more learned, while the former, the liturgical celebrations, strike home and instruct all the faithful. The latter speak only once, while the former, if you will, speak every year and perpetually. The latter address themselves primarily to the intellect, whereas the former influence in a salutary way the intellect and the soul, that is, the whole man".

[96]Said by Pope Pius XI at an audience granted to Dom B. Capelle, abbot of Mont Cesar in Louvain, and reported by the latter in his article, "Le Saint - Siege et le mouvement liturgique", QL 21 (1936) 134 f.

-See especially S.C., 33: "The liturgy contains rich instruction for the faithful".

-cfr. A.G. Martimort, op. cit., p. 274.

[97]A.G. Martimort, op. cit., p. 276 - 277.

[98]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., pp. 515 - 517.

[99]Michael Michels, "An Approach to Liturgical Catechesis", Worship, Vol. 39 No. 7 (1965), pp. 418 - 424.

[100]A.G. Martimort, op. cit., p. 276.

[101]Priests of St. Severin (Paris) and St. Joseph (Nice), op. cit., pp. 64 - 65.

[102 Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 35.

[103]A. Flannery, ed., op. cit., pp. 29 - 30.

[104]Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 52.

[105]J. Danielou, "The Sacraments and the History of Salvation", in The Liturgy and the Word of God, Collegeville, Liturgical Press, 1959, pp. 21 - 22.

[106]Divino Afflante Spiritu, 52, in Selected Letters and Addresses of Pius XII, C.T.S., London, 1949, pp. 140 - 141.

[107]Priests of St. Severin (Paris) and St. Joseph (Nice), op. cit., pp. 65 - 66.

[108] Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 34.

[109] Ibid., 64.

[110] Ibid., 35 (3).

[111]A.M. Buono, op. cit., p. 78.

[112]Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 35 (2).

[113]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., pp. 886 - 887.

[114]A.M. Buono, op. cit., p.78 - 79.

[115]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., pp. 515 - 517.

[116]See for example, St. John of the Cross, Living Flame of Love, 3, 30 - 62; St. Theresa, Life, 15, Nos. 6 ff: "But if doctrine is of great help before and after prayer, it sems to me that during prayer it should be of very little help, so as not to weaken the will".

[117]St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, Bk. viii, Ch. 17.

[118]A.M. Buono, op. cit., p.79.

[119]C. Vagaggini OSB, op. cit., pp. 596 - 598.

[120]Ibid., p. 642.

[121]Ibid., pp. 173 - 174.

[122]St. Thomas, De Veritate, q.27 a.4 : The humanity of Christ is the instrumental cause of justification.

[123]From the homily delivered by Pope John Paul II at Phoenix Park, Dublin, September 29, 1979.

-cfr. A.M. Buono, op. cit., p.9.

[124] Pius XII, Encyclical, Mediator Dei, 146. (cfr. C.T.S., Selected Letters and Addresses of Pius XII, London, 1949, pp.169 - 249.)

[125]Ibid., p. 162.

[126]Ibid., p. 163.

[127]Ibid., p. 176.

[128]Eph., 4:13.

[129] Pius XII, Encyclical, Mediator Dei, 177.

[130]Ibid., p. 178 - 179.

[131]cfr. St. Augustine, Confessions, Bk. ix, Ch. 6, (trans. F.J. Sheed): "I wept at the beauty of your hymns and canticles, and was powerfully moved at the sweet sound of your Church's singing. Thus sound flowed into my ears, and the truth streamed into my heart; so that my feeling of devotion overflowed, and tears ran from my eyes, and I was happy in them."

[132] Pius XII, Encyclical, Mediator Dei, 164.

[133]Ibid., p. 172.

[134]Ibid., p. 210.

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