MEDIATOR
DEI
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII
ON THE SACRED LITURGY
TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN, THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHIOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE
Venerable Brethren,
Health and Apostolic Benediction.
Mediator between God and men[1] and High Priest
who has gone before us into heaven, Jesus the Son of God[2] quite
clearly had one aim in view when He undertook the mission of mercy
which was to endow mankind with the rich blessings of supernatural
grace. Sin had disturbed the right relationship between man and
his Creator; the Son of God would restore it. The children of
Adam were wretched heirs to the infection of original sin; He
would bring them back to their heavenly Father, the primal source
and final destiny of all things. For this reason He was not content,
while He dwelt with us on earth, merely to give notice that redemption
had begun, and to proclaim the long-awaited Kingdom of God, but
gave Himself besides in prayer and sacrifice to the task of saving
souls, even to the point of offering Himself, as He hung from
the cross, a Victim unspotted unto God, to purify our conscience
of dead works, to serve the living God.[3] Thus happily were all
men summoned back from the byways leading them down to ruin and
disaster, to be set squarely once again upon the path that leads
to God. Thanks to the shedding of the blood of the Immaculate
Lamb, now each might set about the personal task of achieving
his own sanctification, so rendering to God the glory due to Him.
2. But what is more, the divine Redeemer has
so willed it that the priestly life begun with the supplication
and sacrifice of His mortal body should continue without intermission
down the ages in His Mystical Body which is the Church. That is
why He established a visible priesthood to offer everywhere the
clean oblation[4] which would enable men from East to West, freed
from the shackles of sin, to offer God that unconstrained and
voluntary homage which their conscience dictates.
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. She does this in the first
place at the altar, where constantly the sacrifice of the cross
is represented[5] and with a single difference in the manner of
its offering, renewed.[6] She does it next by means of the sacraments,
those special channels through which men are made partakers in
the supernatural life. She does it, finally, by offering to God,
all Good and Great, the daily tribute of her prayer of praise.
"What a spectacle for heaven and earth," observes Our
predecessor of happy memory, Pius XI, "is not the Church
at prayer! For centuries without interruption, from midnight to
midnight, the divine psalmody of the inspired canticles is repeated
on earth; there is no hour of the day that is not hallowed by
its special liturgy; there is no state of human life that has
not its part in the thanksgiving, praise, supplication and reparation
of this common prayer of the Mystical Body of Christ which is
His Church!"[7]
4. You are of course familiar with the fact,
Venerable Brethren, that a remarkably widespread revival of scholarly
interest in the sacred liturgy took place towards the end of the
last century and has continued through the early years of this
one. The movement owed its rise to commendable private initiative
and more particularly to the zealous and persistent labor of several
monasteries within the distinguished Order of Saint Benedict.
Thus there developed in this field among many European nations,
and in lands beyond the seas as well, a rivalry as welcome as
it was productive of results. Indeed, the salutary fruits of this
rivalry among the scholars were plain for all to see, both in
the sphere of the sacred sciences, where the liturgical rites
of the Western and Eastern Church were made the object of extensive
research and profound study, and in the spiritual life of considerable
numbers of individual Christians.
5. The majestic ceremonies of the sacrifice of
the altar became better known, understood and appreciated. With
more widespread and more frequent reception of the sacraments,
with the beauty of the liturgical prayers more fully savored,
the worship of the Eucharist came to be regarded for what it really
is: the fountain-head of genuine Christian devotion. Bolder relief
was given likewise to the fact that all the faithful make up a
single and very compact body with Christ for its Head, and that
the Christian community is in duty bound to participate in the
liturgical rites according to their station.
6. You are surely well aware that this Apostolic
See has always made careful provision for the schooling of the
people committed to its charge in the correct spirit and practice
of the liturgy; and that it has been no less careful to insist
that the sacred rites should be performed with due external dignity.
In this connection We ourselves, in the course of our traditional
address to the Lenten preachers of this gracious city of Rome
in 1943, urged them warmly to exhort their respective hearers
to more faithful participation in the eucharistic sacrifice. Only
a short while previously, with the design of rendering the prayers
of the liturgy more correctly understood and their truth and unction
more easy to perceive, We arranged to have the Book of Psalms,
which forms such an important part of these prayers in the Catholic
Church, translated again into Latin from their original text.[8]
7. But while We derive no little satisfaction
from the wholesome results of the movement just described, duty
obliges Us to give serious attention to this "revival"
as it is advocated in some quarters, and to take proper steps
to preserve it at the outset from excess or outright perversion.
8. Indeed, though we are sorely grieved to note,
on the one hand, that there are places where the spirit, understanding
or practice of the sacred liturgy is defective, or all but inexistent,
We observe with considerable anxiety and some misgiving, that
elsewhere certain enthusiasts, over-eager in their search for
novelty, are straying beyond the path of sound doctrine and prudence.
Not seldom, in fact, they interlard their plans and hopes for
a revival of the sacred liturgy with principles which compromise
this holiest of causes in theory or practice, and sometimes even
taint it with errors touching Catholic faith and ascetical doctrine.
9. Yet the integrity of faith and morals ought
to be the special criterion of this sacred science, which must
conform exactly to what the Church out of the abundance of her
wisdom teaches and prescribes. It is, consequently, Our prerogative
to commend and approve whatever is done properly, and to check
or censure any aberration from the path of truth and rectitude.
10. Let not the apathetic or half-hearted imagine,
however, that We agree with them when We reprove the erring and
restrain the overbold. No more must the imprudent think that we
are commending them when We correct the faults of those who are
negligent and sluggish.
11. If in this encyclical letter We treat chiefly
of the Latin liturgy, it is not because We esteem less highly
the venerable liturgies of the Eastern Church, whose ancient and
honorable ritual traditions are just as dear to Us. The reason
lies rather in a special situation prevailing in the Western Church,
of sufficient importance, it would seem, to require this exercise
of Our authority.
12. With docile hearts, then, let all Christians
hearken to the voice of their Common Father, who would have them,
each and every one, intimately united with him as they approach
the altar of God, professing the same faith, obedient to the same
law, sharing in the same Sacrifice with a single intention and
one sole desire. This is a duty imposed, of course, by the honor
due to God. But the needs of our day and age demand it as well.
After a long and cruel war which has rent whole peoples asunder
with it rivalry and slaughter, men of good will are spending themselves
in the effort to find the best possible way to restore peace to
the world. It is, notwithstanding, Our belief that no plan or
initiative can offer better prospect of success than that fervent
religious spirit and zeal by which Christians must be formed and
guided; in this way their common and whole-hearted acceptance
of the same truth, along with their united obedience and loyalty
to their appointed pastors, while rendering to God the worship
due to Him, makes of them one brotherhood: "for we, being
many, are one body: all that partake of one bread."[9]
13. It is unquestionably the fundamental duty
of man to orientate his person and his life towards God. "For
He it is to whom we must first be bound, as to an unfailing principle;
to whom even our free choice must be directed as to an ultimate
objective. It is He, too, whom we lose when carelessly we sin.
It is He whom we must recover by our faith and trust."[10]
But man turns properly to God when he acknowledges His Supreme
majesty and supreme authority; when he accepts divinely revealed
truths with a submissive mind; when he scrupulously obeys divine
law, centering in God his every act and aspiration; when he accords,
in short, due worship to the One True God by practicing the virtue
of religion.
14. This duty is incumbent, first of all, on
men as individuals. But it also binds the whole community of human
beings, grouped together by mutual social ties: mankind, too,
depends on the sovereign authority of God.
15. It should be noted, moreover, that men are
bound by his obligation in a special way in virtue of the fact
that God has raised them to the supernatural order.
16. Thus we observe that when God institutes
the Old Law, He makes provision besides for sacred rites, and
determines in exact detail the rules to be observed by His people
in rendering Him the worship He ordains. To this end He established
various kinds of sacrifice and designated the ceremonies with
which they were to be offered to Him. His enactments on all matters
relating to the Ark of the Covenant, the Temple and the holy days
are minute and clear. He established a sacerdotal tribe with its
high priest, selected and described the vestments with which the
sacred ministers were to be clothed, and every function in any
way pertaining to divine worship.[11] Yet this was nothing more
than a faint foreshadowing[12] of the worship which the High Priest
of the New Testament was to render to the Father in heaven.
17. No sooner, in fact, "is the Word made
flesh"[13] than he shows Himself to the world vested with
a priestly office, making to the Eternal Father an act of submission
which will continue uninterruptedly as long as He lives: "When
He cometh into the world he saith. . . 'behold I come . . . to
do Thy Will."[14] This act He was to consummate admirably
in the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross: "It is in this will
we are sanctified by the oblation of the Body of Jesus Christ
once."[15] He plans His active life among men with no other
purpose in view. As a child He is presented to the Lord in the
Temple. To the Temple He returns as a grown boy, and often afterwards
to instruct the people and to pray. He fasts for forty days before
beginning His public ministry. His counsel and example summon
all to prayer, daily and at night as well. As Teacher of the truth
He "enlighteneth every man"[16] to the end that mortals
may duly acknowledge the immortal God, "not withdrawing unto
perdition, but faithful to the saving of the soul."[17] As
Shepherd He watches over His flock, leads it to life-giving pasture,
lays down a law that none shall wander from His side, off the
straight path He has pointed out, and that all shall lead holy
lives imbued with His spirit and moved by His active aid. At the
Last Supper He celebrates a new Pasch with solemn rite and ceremonial,
and provides for its continuance through the divine institution
of the Eucharist. On the morrow, lifted up between heaven and
earth, He offers the saving sacrifice of His life, and pours forth,
as it were, from His pierced Heart the sacraments destined to
impart the treasures of redemption to the souls of men. All this
He does with but a single aim: the glory of His Father and man's
ever greater sanctification.
18. But it is His will, besides, that the worship
He instituted and practiced during His life on earth shall continue
ever afterwards without intermission. For he has not left mankind
an orphan. He still offers us the support of His powerful, unfailing
intercession, acting as our "advocate with the Father."[18]
He aids us likewise through His Church, where He is present indefectibly
as the ages run their course: through the Church which He constituted
"the pillar of truth"[19] and dispenser of grace, and
which by His sacrifice on the cross, He founded, consecrated and
confirmed forever.[20]
19. The Church has, therefore, in common with
the Word Incarnate the aim, the obligation and the function of
teaching all men the truth, of governing and directing them aright,
of offering to God the pleasing and acceptable sacrifice; in this
way the Church re-establishes between the Creator and His creatures
that unity and harmony to which the Apostle of the Gentiles alludes
in these words: "Now, therefore, you are no more strangers
and foreigners; but you are fellow citizens with the saints and
domestics of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone; in
whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into
a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together
in a habitation of God in the Spirit."[21] Thus the society
founded by the divine Redeemer, whether in her doctrine and government,
or in the sacrifice and sacraments instituted by Him, or finally,
in the ministry, which He has confided to her charge with the
outpouring of His prayer and the shedding of His blood, has no
other goal or purpose than to increase ever in strength and unity.
20. This result is, in fact, achieved when Christ
lives and thrives, as it were, in the hearts of men, and when
men's hearts in turn are fashioned and expanded as though by Christ.
This makes it possible for the sacred temple, where the Divine
Majesty receives the acceptable worship which His law prescribes,
to increase and prosper day by day in this land of exile of earth.
Along with the Church, therefore, her Divine Founder is present
at every liturgical function: Christ is present at the august
sacrifice of the altar both in the person of His minister and
above all under the eucharistic species. He is present in the
sacraments, infusing into them the power which makes them ready
instruments of sanctification. He is present, finally, in prayer
of praise and petition we direct to God, as it is written: "Where
there are two or three gathered together in My Name, there am
I in the midst of them."[22] The sacred liturgy is, consequently,
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. It is, in short, the worship rendered by the Mystical
Body of Christ in the entirety of its Head and members.
21. Liturgical practice begins with the very
founding of the Church. The first Christians, in fact, "were
persevering in the doctrine of the apostles and in the communication
of the breaking of bread and in prayers."[23] Whenever their
pastors can summon a little group of the faithful together, they
set up an altar on which they proceed to offer the sacrifice,
and around which are ranged all the other rites appropriate for
the saving of souls and for the honor due to God. Among these
latter rites, the first place is reserved for the sacraments,
namely, the seven principal founts of salvation. There follows
the celebration of the divine praises in which the faithful also
join, obeying the behest of the Apostle Paul, "In all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual
canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God."[24] Next
comes the reading of the Law, the prophets, the gospel and the
apostolic epistles; and last of all the homily or sermon in which
the official head of the congregation recalls and explains the
practical bearing of the commandments of the divine Master and
the chief events of His life, combining instruction with appropriate
exhortation and illustration of the benefit of all his listeners.
22. As circumstances and the needs of Christians warrant, public
worship is organized, developed and enriched by new rites, ceremonies
and regulations, always with the single end in view, "that
we may use these external signs to keep us alert, learn from them
what distance we have come along the road, and by them be heartened
to go on further with more eager step; for the effect will be
more precious the warmer the affection which precedes it."[25]
Here then is a better and more suitable way to raise the heart
to God. Thenceforth the priesthood of Jesus Christ is a living
and continuous reality through all the ages to the end of time,
since the liturgy is nothing more nor less than the exercise of
this priestly function. Like her divine Head, the Church is forever
present in the midst of her children. She aids and exhorts them
to holiness, so that they may one day return to the Father in
heaven clothed in that beauteous raiment of the supernatural.
To all who are born to life on earth she gives a second, supernatural
kind of birth. She arms them with the Holy Spirit for the struggle
against the implacable enemy. She gathers all Christians about
her altars, inviting and urging them repeatedly to take part in
the celebration of the Mass, feeding them with the Bread of angels
to make them ever stronger. She purifies and consoles the hearts
that sin has wounded and soiled. Solemnly she consecrates those
whom God has called to the priestly ministry. She fortifies with
new gifts of grace the chaste nupitals of those who are destined
to found and bring up a Christian family. When as last she has
soothed and refreshed the closing hours of this earthly life by
holy Viaticum and extreme unction, with the utmost affection she
accompanies the mortal remains of her children to the grave, lays
them reverently to rest, and confides them to the protection of
the cross, against the day when they will triumph over death and
rise again. She has a further solemn blessing and invocation for
those of her children who dedicate themselves to the service of
God in the life of religious perfection. Finally, she extends
to the souls in purgatory, who implore her intercession and her
prayers, the helping hand which may lead them happily at last
to eternal blessedness in heaven.
23. The worship rendered by the Church to God must be, in its
entirety, interior as well as exterior. It is exterior because
the nature of man as a composite of body and soul requires it
to be so. Likewise, because divine Providence has disposed that
"while we recognize God visibly, we may be drawn by Him to
love of things unseen."[26] Every impulse of the human heart,
besides, expresses itself naturally through the senses; and the
worship of God, being the concern not merely of individuals but
of the whole community of mankind, must therefore be social as
well. This obviously it cannot be unless religious activity is
also organized and manifested outwardly. Exterior worship, finally,
reveals and emphasizes the unity of the mystical Body, feeds new
fuel to its holy zeal, fortifies its energy, intensifies its action
day by day: "for although the ceremonies themselves can claim
no perfection or sanctity in their won right, they are, nevertheless,
the outward acts of religion, designed to rouse the heart, like
signals of a sort, to veneration of the sacred realities, and
to raise the mind to meditation on the supernatural. They serve
to foster piety, to kindle the flame of charity, to increase our
faith and deepen our devotion. They provide instruction for simple
folk, decoration for divine worship, continuity of religious practice.
They make it possible to tell genuine Christians from their false
or heretical counterparts."[27]
24. But the chief element of divine worship must be interior.
For we must always live in Christ and give ourselves to Him completely,
so that in Him, with Him and through Him the heavenly Father may
be duly glorified. The sacred liturgy requires, however, that
both of these elements be intimately linked with each another.
This recommendation the liturgy itself is careful to repeat, as
often as it prescribes an exterior act of worship. Thus we are
urged, when there is question of fasting, for example, "to
give interior effect to our outward observance."[28] Otherwise
religion clearly amounts to mere formalism, without meaning and
without content. You recall, Venerable Brethren, how the divine
Master expels from the sacred temple, as unworthily to worship
there, people who pretend to honor God with nothing but neat and
wellturned phrases, like actors in a theater, and think themselves
perfectly capable of working out their eternal salvation without
plucking their inveterate vices from their hearts.[29] It is,
therefore, the keen desire of the Church that all of the faithful
kneel at the feet of the Redeemer to tell Him how much they venerate
and love Him. She wants them present in crowds - like the children
whose joyous cries accompanied His entry into Jerusalem - to sing
their hymns and chant their song of praise and thanksgiving to
Him who is King of Kings and Source of every blessing. She would
have them move their lips in prayer, sometimes in petition, sometimes
in joy and gratitude, and in this way experience His merciful
aid and power like the apostles at the lakeside of Tiberias, or
abandon themselves totally, like Peter on Mount Tabor, to mystic
union with the eternal God in contemplation.
25. It is an error, consequently, and a mistake to think of the
sacred liturgy as merely the outward or visible part of divine
worship or as an ornamental ceremonial. No less erroneous is the
notion that it consists solely in a list of laws and prescriptions
according to which the ecclesiastical hierarchy orders the sacred
rites to be performed.
26. It should be clear to all, then, that God cannot be honored
worthily unless the mind and heart turn to Him in quest of the
perfect life, and that the worship rendered to God by the Church
in union with her divine Head is the most efficacious means of
achieving sanctity.
27. This efficacy, where there is question of the eucharistic
sacrifice and the sacraments, derives first of all and principally
from the act itself (ex opere operato). But if one considers the
part which the Immaculate Spouse of Jesus Christ takes in the
action, embellishing the sacrifice and sacraments with prayer
and sacred ceremonies, or if one refers to the "sacramentals"
and the other rites instituted by the hierarchy of the Church,
then its effectiveness is due rather to the action of the church
(ex opere operantis Ecclesiae), inasmuch as she is holy and acts
always in closest union with her Head.
28. In this connection, Venerable Brethren, We desire to direct
your attention to certain recent theories touching a so-called
"objective" piety. While these theories attempt, it
is true, to throw light on the mystery of the Mystical Body, on
the effective reality of sanctifying grace, on the action of God
in the sacraments and in the Mass, it is nonetheless apparent
that they tend to belittle, or pass over in silence, what they
call "subjective," or "personal" piety.
29. It is an unquestionable fact that the work of our redemption
is continued, and that its fruits are imparted to us, during the
celebration of the liturgy, notable in the august sacrifice of
the altar. Christ acts each day to save us, in the sacraments
and in His holy sacrifice. By means of them He is constantly atoning
for the sins of mankind, constantly consecrating it to God. Sacraments
and sacrifice do, then, possess that "objective" power
to make us really and personally sharers in the divine life of
Jesus Christ. Not from any ability of our own, but by the power
of God, are they endowed with the capacity to unite the piety
of members with that of the head, and to make this, in a sense,
the action of the whole community. From these profund considerations
some are led to conclude that all Christian piety must be centered
in the mystery of the Mystical Body of Christ, with no regard
for what is "personal" or "subjective, as they
would have it. As a result they feel that all other religious
exercises not directly connected with the sacred liturgy, and
performed outside public worship should be omitted.
30. But though the principles set forth above are excellent, it
must be plain to everyone that the conclusions drawn from them
respecting two sorts of piety are false, insidious and quite pernicious.
31. Very truly, the sacraments and the sacrifice of the altar,
being Christ's own actions, must be held to be capable in themselves
of conveying and dispensing grace from the divine Head to the
members of the Mystical Body. But if they are to produce their
proper effect, it is absolutely necessary that our hearts be properly
disposed to receive them. Hence the warning of Paul the Apostle
with reference to holy communion, "But let a man first prove
himself; and then let him eat of this bread and drink of the chalice."[30]
This explains why the Church in a brief and significant phrase
calls the various acts of mortification, especially those practiced
during the season of Lent, "the Christian army's defenses."[31]
They represent, in fact, the personal effort and activity of members
who desire, as grace urges and aids them, to join forces with
their Captain - "that we may discover . . . in our Captain,"
to borrow St. Augustine's words, "the fountain of grace itself."[32]
But observe that these members are alive, endowed and equipped
with an intelligence and will of their own. It follows that they
are strictly required to put their own lips to the fountain, imbibe
and absorb for themselves the life-giving water, and rid themselves
personally of anything that might hinder its nutritive effect
in their souls. Emphatically, therefore, the work of redemption,
which in itself is independent of our will, requires a serious
interior effort on our part if we are to achieve eternal salvation.
32. If the private and interior devotion of individuals were to
neglect the august sacrifice of the altar and the sacraments,
and to withdraw them from the stream of vital energy that flows
from Head to members, it would indeed be sterile, and deserve
to be condemned. But when devotional exercises, and pious practices
in general, not strictly connected with the sacred liturgy, confine
themselves to merely human acts, with the express purpose of directing
these latter to the Father in heaven, of rousing people to repentance
and holy fear of God, of weaning them from the seductions of the
world and its vice, and leading them back to the difficult path
of perfection, then certainly such practices are not only highly
praiseworthy but absolutely indispensable, because they expose
the dangers threatening the spiritual life; because they promote
the acquisition of virtue; and because they increase the fervor
and generosity with which we are bound to dedicate all that we
are and all that we have to the service of Jesus Christ. Genuine
and real piety, which the Angelic Doctor calls "devotion,"
and which is the principal act of the virtue of religion - that
act which correctly relates and fitly directs men to God; and
by which they freely and spontaneously give themselves to the
worship of God in its fullest sense[33] - piety of this authentic
sort needs meditation on the supernatural realities and spiritual
exercises, if it is to be nurtured, stimulated and sustained,
and if it is to prompt us to lead a more perfect life. For the
Christian religion, practiced as it should be, demands that the
will especially be consecrated to God and exert its influence
on all the other spiritual faculties. But every act of the will
presupposes an act of the intelligence, and before one can express
the desire and the intention of offering oneself in sacrifice
to the eternal Godhead, a knowledge of the facts and truths which
make religion a duty is altogether necessary. One must first know,
for instance, man's last end and the supremacy of the Divine Majesty;
after that, our common duty of submission to our Creator; and,
finally, the inexhaustible treasures of love with which God yearns
to enrich us, as well as the necessity of supernatural grace for
the achievement of our destiny, and that special path marked out
for us by divine Providence in virtue of the fact that we have
been united, one and all, like members of a body, to Jesus Christ
the Head. But further, since our hearts, disturbed as they are
at times by the lower appetites, do not always respond to motives
of love, it is also extremely helpful to let consideration and
contemplation of the justice of God provoke us on occasion to
salutary fear, and guide us thence to Christian humility, repentance
and amendment.
33. But it will not do to possess these facts and truths after
the fashion of an abstract memory lesson or lifeless commentary.
They must lead to practical results. They must impel us to subject
our senses and their faculties to reason, as illuminated by the
Catholic faith. They must help to cleanse and purify the heart,
uniting it to Christ more intimately every day, growing ever more
to His likeness, and drawing from Him the divine inspiration and
strength of which it stands in need. They must serve as increasingly
effective incentives to action: urging men to produce good fruit,
to perform their individual duties faithfully, to give themselves
eagerly to the regular practice of their religion and the energetic
exercise of virtue. "You are Christ's, and Christ is God's."[34]
Let everything, therefore, have its proper place and arrangement;
let everything be "theocentric," so to speak, if we
really wish to direct everything to the glory of God through the
life and power which flow from the divine Head into our hearts:
"Having therefore, brethren, a confidence in the entering
into the holies by the blood of Christ, a new and living way which
He both dedicated for us through the veil, that is to say, His
flesh, and a high priest over the house of God; let us draw near
with a true heart, in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with clean water,
let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering .
. . and let us consider one another, to provoke unto charity and
to good works."[35]
34. Here is the source of the harmony and equilibrium which prevails
among the members of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. When the
Church teaches us our Catholic faith and exhorts us to obey the
commandments of Christ, she is paving a way for her priestly,
sanctifying action in its highest sense; she disposes us likewise
for more serious meditation on the life of the divine Redeemer
and guides us to profounder knowledge of the mysteries of faith
where we may draw the supernatural sustenance, strength and vitality
that enable us to progress safely, through Christ, towards a more
perfect life. Not only through her ministers but with the help
of the faithful individually, who have imbibed in this fashion
the spirit of Christ, the Church endeavors to permeate with this
same spirit the life and labors of men - their private and family
life, their social, even economic and political life - that all
who are called God's children may reach more readily the end He
has proposed for them.
35. Such action on the part of individual Christians, then, along
with the ascetic effort promoting them to purify their hearts,
actually stimulates in the faithful those energies which enable
them to participate in the august sacrifice of the altar with
better dispositions. They now can receive the sacraments with
more abundant fruit, and come from the celebration of the sacred
rites more eager, more firmly resolved to pray and deny themselves
like Christians, to answer the inspirations and invitation of
divine grace and to imitate daily more closely the virtues of
our Redeemer. And all of this not simply for their own advantage,
but for that of the whole Church, where whatever good is accomplished
proceeds from the power of her Head and redounds to the advancement
of all her members.
36. In the spiritual life, consequently, there can be no opposition
between the action of God, who pours forth His grace into men's
hearts so that the work of the redemption may always abide, and
the tireless collaboration of man, who must not render vain the
gift of God.[36] No more can the efficacy of the external administration
of the sacraments, which comes from the rite itself (ex opere
operato), be opposed to the meritorious action of their ministers
of recipients, which we call the agent's action (opus operantis).
Similarly, no conflict exists between public prayer and prayers
in private, between morality and contemplation, between the ascetical
life and devotion to the liturgy. Finally, there is no opposition
between the jurisdiction and teaching office of the ecclesiastical
hierarchy, and the specifically priestly power exercised in the
sacred ministry.
37. Considering their special designation to perform the liturgical
functions of the holy sacrifice and divine office, the Church
has serious reason for prescribing that the ministers she assigns
to the service of the sanctuary and members of religious institutes
betake themselves at stated times to mental prayer, to examination
of conscience, and to various other spiritual exercises.[37] Unquestionably,
liturgical prayer, being the public supplication of the illustrious
Spouse of Jesus Christ, is superior in excellence to private prayers.
But this superior worth does not at all imply contrast or incompatibility
between these two kinds of prayer. For both merge harmoniously
in the single spirit which animates them, "Christ is all
and in all."[38] Both tend to the same objective: until Christ
be formed in us.[39]
38. For a better and more accurate understanding of the sacred
liturgy another of its characteristic features, no less important,
needs to be considered.
39. The Church is a society, and as such requires an authority
and hierarchy of her own. Though it is true that all the members
of the Mystical Body partake of the same blessings and pursue
the same objective, they do not all enjoy the same powers, nor
are they all qualified to perform the same acts. The divine Redeemer
has willed, as a matter of fact, that His Kingdom should be built
and solidly supported, as it were, on a holy order, which resembles
in some sort the heavenly hierarchy.
40. Only to the apostles, and thenceforth to those on whom their
successors have imposed hands, is granted the power of the priesthood,
in virtue of which they represent the person of Jesus Christ before
their people, acting at the same time as representatives of their
people before God. This priesthood is not transmitted by heredity
or human descent. It does not emanate from the Christian community.
It is not a delegation from the people. Prior to acting as representative
of the community before the throne of God, the priest is the ambassador
of the divine Redeemer. He is God's vice-gerent in the midst of
his flock precisely because Jesus Christ is Head of that body
of which Christians are the members. The power entrusted to him,
therefore, bears no natural resemblance to anything human. It
is entirely supernatural. It comes from God. "As the Father
hath sent me, I also send you [40]. . . he that heareth you heareth
me [41]. . . go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel
to every creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved."[42]
41. That is why the visible, external priesthood of Jesus Christ
is not handed down indiscriminately to all members of the Church
in general, but is conferred on designated men, through what may
be called the spiritual generation of holy orders.
42. This latter, one of the seven sacraments, not only imparts
the grace appropriate to the clerical function and state of life,
but imparts an indelible "character" besides, indicating
the sacred ministers' conformity to Jesus Christ the Priest and
qualifying them to perform those official acts of religion by
which men are sanctified and God is duly glorified in keeping
with the divine laws and regulations.
43. In the same way, actually that baptism is the distinctive
mark of all Christians, and serves to differentiate them from
those who have not been cleansed in this purifying stream and
consequently are not members of Christ, the sacrament of holy
orders sets the priest apart from the rest of the faithful who
have not received this consecration. For they alone, in answer
to an inward supernatural call, have entered the august ministry,
where they are assigned to service in the sanctuary and become,
as it were, the instruments God uses to communicate supernatural
life from on high to the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. Add to
this, as We have noted above, the fact that they alone have been
marked with the indelible sign "conforming" them to
Christ the Priest, and that their hands alone have been consecrated
"in order that whatever they bless may be blessed, whatever
they consecrate may become sacred and holy, in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ"[43] Let all, then, who would live in Christ
flock to their priests. By them they will be supplied with the
comforts and food of the spiritual life. From them they will procure
the medicine of salvation assuring their cure and happy recovery
from the fatal sickness of their sins. The priest, finally, will
bless their homes, consecrate their families and help them, as
they breathe their last, across the threshold of eternal happiness.
44. Since, therefore, it is the priest chiefly who performs the
sacred liturgy in the name of the Church, its organization, regulation
and details cannot but be subject to Church authority. This conclusion,
based on the nature of Christian worship itself, is further confirmed
by the testimony of history.
45. Additional proof of this indefeasible right of the ecclesiastical
hierarchy lies in the circumstances that the sacred liturgy is
intimately bound up with doctrinal propositions which the Church
proposes to be perfectly true and certain, and must as a consequence
conform to the decrees respecting Catholic faith issued by the
supreme teaching authority of the Church with a view to safeguarding
the integrity of the religion revealed by God.
46. On this subject We judge it Our duty to rectify an attitude
with which you are doubtless familiar, Venerable Brethren. We
refer to the error and fallacious reasoning of those who have
claimed that the sacred liturgy is a kind of proving ground for
the truths to be held of faith, meaning by this that the Church
is obliged to declare such a doctrine sound when it is found to
have produced fruits of piety and sanctity through the sacred
rites of the liturgy, and to reject it otherwise. Hence the epigram,
"Lex orandi, lex credendi" - the law for prayer is the
law for faith.
47. But this is not what the Church teaches and enjoins. The worship
she offers to God, all good and great, is a continuous profession
of Catholic faith and a continuous exercise of hope and charity,
as Augustine puts it tersely. "God is to be worshipped,"
he says, "by faith, hope and charity."[44] In the sacred
liturgy we profess the Catholic faith explicitly and openly, not
only by the celebration of the mysteries, and by offering the
holy sacrifice and administering the sacraments, but also by saying
or singing the credo or Symbol of the faith - it is indeed the
sign and badge, as it were, of the Christian - along with other
texts, and likewise by the reading of holy scripture, written
under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. The entire liturgy, therefore,
has the Catholic faith for its content, inasmuch as it bears public
witness to the faith of the Church.
48. For this reason, whenever there was question of defining a
truth revealed by God, the Sovereign Pontiff and the Councils
in their recourse to the "theological sources," as they
are called, have not seldom drawn many an argument from this sacred
science of the liturgy. For an example in point, Our predecessor
of immortal memory, Pius IX, so argued when he proclaimed the
Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Similarly during the
discussion of a doubtful or controversial truth, the Church and
the Holy Fathers have not failed to look to the age-old and age-honored
sacred rites for enlightenment. Hence the well-known and venerable
maxim, "Legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi" - let
the rule for prayer determine the rule of belief.[45] The sacred
liturgy, consequently, does not decide or determine independently
and of itself what is of Catholic faith. More properly, since
the liturgy is also a profession of eternal truths, and subject,
as such, to the supreme teaching authority of the Church, it can
supply proofs and testimony, quite clearly, of no little value,
towards the determination of a particular point of Christian doctrine.
But if one desires to differentiate and describe the relationship
between faith and the sacred liturgy in absolute and general terms,
it is perfectly correct to say, "Lex credendi legem statuat
supplicandi" - let the rule of belief determine the rule
of prayer. The same holds true for the other theological virtues
also, "In . . . fide, spe, caritate continuato desiderio
semper oramus" - we pray always, with constant yearning in
faith, hope and charity.[46]
49. From time immemorial the ecclesiastical hierarchy has exercised
this right in matters liturgical. It has organized and regulated
divine worship, enriching it constantly with new splendor and
beauty, to the glory of God and the spiritual profit of Christians.
What is more, it has not been slow - keeping the substance of
the Mass and sacraments carefully intact - to modify what it deemed
not altogether fitting, and to add what appeared more likely to
increase the honor paid to Jesus Christ and the august Trinity,
and to instruct and stimulate the Christian people to greater
advantage.[47]
50. The sacred liturgy does, in fact, include divine as well as
human elements. The former, instituted as they have been by God,
cannot be changed in any way by men. But the human components
admit of various modifications, as the needs of the age, circumstance
and the good of souls may require, and as the ecclesiastical hierarchy,
under guidance of the Holy Spirit, may have authorized. This will
explain the marvelous variety of Eastern and Western rites. Here
is the reason for the gradual addition, through successive development,
of particular religious customs and practices of piety only faintly
discernible in earlier times. Hence likewise it happens from time
to time that certain devotions long since forgotten are revived
and practiced anew. All these developments attest the abiding
life of the immaculate Spouse of Jesus Christ through these many
centuries. They are the sacred language she uses, as the ages
run their course, to profess to her divine Spouse her own faith
along with that of the nations committed to her charge, and her
own unfailing love. They furnish proof, besides, of the wisdom
of the teaching method she employs to arouse and nourish constantly
the "Christian instinct."
51. Several causes, really have been instrumental in the progress
and development of the sacred liturgy during the long and glorious
life of the Church.
52. Thus, for example, as Catholic doctrine on the Incarnate Word
of God, the eucharistic sacrament and sacrifice, and Mary the
Virgin Mother of God came to be determined with greater certitude
and clarity, new ritual forms were introduced through which the
acts of the liturgy proceeded to reproduce this brighter light
issuing from the decrees of the teaching authority of the Church,
and to reflect it, in a sense so that it might reach the minds
and hearts of Christ's people more readily.
53. The subsequent advances in ecclesiastical discipline for the
administering of the sacraments, that of penance for example;
the institution and later suppression of the catechumenate; and
again, the practice of eucharistic communion under a single species,
adopted in the Latin Church; these developments were assuredly
responsible in no little measure for the modification of the ancient
ritual in the course of time, and for the gradual introduction
of new rites considered more in accord with prevailing discipline
in these matters.
54. Just as notable a contribution to this progressive transformation
was made by devotional trends and practices not directly related
to the sacred liturgy, which began to appear, by God's wonderful
design, in later periods, and grew to be so popular. We may instance
the spread and ever mounting ardor of devotion to the Blessed
Eucharist, devotion to the most bitter passion of our Redeemer,
devotion to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, to the Virgin Mother
of God and to her most chaste spouse.
55. Other manifestations of piety have also played their circumstantial
part in this same liturgical development. Among them may be cited
the public pilgrimages to the tombs of the martyrs prompted by
motives of devotion, the special periods of fasting instituted
for the same reason, and lastly, in this gracious city of Rome,
the penitential recitation of the litanies during the "station"
processions, in which even the Sovereign Pontiff frequently joined.
56. It is likewise easy to understand that the progress of the
fine arts, those of architecture, painting and music above all,
has exerted considerable influence on the choice and disposition
of the various external features of the sacred liturgy.
57. The Church has further used her right of control over liturgical
observance to protect the purity of divine worship against abuse
from dangerous and imprudent innovations introduced by private
individuals and particular churches. Thus it came about - during
the 16th century, when usages and customs of this sort had become
increasingly prevalent and exaggerated, and when private initiative
in matters liturgical threatened to compromise the integrity of
faith and devotion, to the great advantage of heretics and further
spread of their errors - that in the year 1588, Our predecessor
Sixtus V of immortal memory established the Sacred Congregation
of Rites, charged with the defense of the legitimate rites of
the Church and with the prohibition of any spurious innovation.[48]
This body fulfills even today the official function of supervision
and legislation with regard to all matters touching the sacred
liturgy.[49]
58. It follows from this that the Sovereign Pontiff alone enjoys
the right to recognize and establish any practice touching the
worship of God, to introduce and approve new rites, as also to
modify those he judges to require modification.[50] Bishops, for
their part, have the right and duty carefully to watch over the
exact observance of the prescriptions of the sacred canons respecting
divine worship.[51] Private individuals, therefore, even though
they be clerics, may not be left to decide for themselves in these
holy and venerable matters, involving as they do the religious
life of Christian society along with the exercise of the priesthood
of Jesus Christ and worship of God; concerned as they are with
the honor due to the Blessed Trinity, the Word Incarnate and His
august mother and the other saints, and with the salvation of
souls as well. For the same reason no private person has any authority
to regulate external practices of this kind, which are intimately
bound up with Church discipline and with the order, unity and
concord of the Mystical Body and frequently even with the integrity
of Catholic faith itself.
59. The Church is without question a living organism, and as an
organism, in respect of the sacred liturgy also, she grows, matures,
develops, adapts and accommodates herself to temporal needs and
circumstances, provided only that the integrity of her doctrine
be safeguarded. This notwithstanding, the temerity and daring
of those who introduce novel liturgical practices, or call for
the revival of obsolete rites out of harmony with prevailing laws
and rubrics, deserve severe reproof. It has pained Us grievously
to note, Venerable Brethren, that such innovations are actually
being introduced, not merely in minor details but in matters of
major importance as well. We instance, in point of fact, those
who make use of the vernacular in the celebration of the august
eucharistic sacrifice; those who transfer certain feast-days -
which have been appointed and established after mature deliberation
- to other dates; those, finally, who delete from the prayerbooks
approved for public use the sacred texts of the Old Testament,
deeming them little suited and inopportune for modern times.
60. The use of the Latin language, customary in a considerable
portion of the Church, is a manifest and beautiful sign of unity,
as well as an effective antidote for any corruption of doctrinal
truth. In spite of this, the use of the mother tongue in connection
with several of the rites may be of much advantage to the people.
But the Apostolic See alone is empowered to grant this permission.
It is forbidden, therefore, to take any action whatever of this
nature without having requested and obtained such consent, since
the sacred liturgy, as We have said, is entirely subject to the
discretion and approval of the Holy See.
61. The same reasoning holds in the case of some persons who are
bent on the restoration of all the ancient rites and ceremonies
indiscriminately. The liturgy of the early ages is most certainly
worthy of all veneration. But ancient usage must not be esteemed
more suitable and proper, either in its own right or in its significance
for later times and new situations, on the simple ground that
it carries the savor and aroma of antiquity. The more recent liturgical
rites likewise deserve reverence and respect. They, too, owe their
inspiration to the Holy Spirit, who assists the Church in every
age even to the consummation of the world.[52] They are equally
the resources used by the majestic Spouse of Jesus Christ to promote
and procure the sanctity of man.
62. Assuredly it is a wise and most laudable thing to return in
spirit and affection to the sources of the sacred liturgy. For
research in this field of study, by tracing it back to its origins,
contributes valuable assistance towards a more thorough and careful
investigation of the significance of feast-days, and of the meaning
of the texts and sacred ceremonies employed on their occasion.
But it is neither wise nor laudable to reduce everything to antiquity
by every possible device. Thus, to cite some instances, one would
be straying from the straight path were he to wish the altar restored
to its primitive tableform; were he to want black excluded as
a color for the liturgical vestments; were he to forbid the use
of sacred images and statues in Churches; were he to order the
crucifix so designed that the divine Redeemer's body shows no
trace of His cruel sufferings; and lastly were he to disdain and
reject polyphonic music or singing in parts, even where it conforms
to regulations issued by the Holy See.
63. Clearly no sincere Catholic can refuse to accept the formulation
of Christian doctrine more recently elaborated and proclaimed
as dogmas by the Church, under the inspiration and guidance of
the Holy Spirit with abundant fruit for souls, because it pleases
him to hark back to the old formulas. No more can any Catholic
in his right senses repudiate existing legislation of the Church
to revert to prescriptions based on the earliest sources of canon
law. Just as obviously unwise and mistaken is the zeal of one
who in matters liturgical would go back to the rites and usage
of antiquity, discarding the new patterns introduced by disposition
of divine Providence to meet the changes of circumstances and
situation.
64. This way of acting bids fair to revive the exaggerated and
senseless antiquarianism to which the illegal Council of Pistoia
gave rise. It likewise attempts to reinstate a series of errors
which were responsible for the calling of that meeting as well
as for those resulting from it, with grievous harm to souls, and
which the Church, the ever watchful guardian of the "deposit
of faith" committed to her charge by her divine Founder,
had every right and reason to condemn.[53] For perverse designs
and ventures of this sort tend to paralyze and weaken that process
of sanctification by which the sacred liturgy directs the sons
of adoption to their Heavenly Father of their souls' salvation.
65. In every measure taken, then, let proper contact with the
ecclesiastical hierarchy be maintained. Let no one arrogate to
himself the right to make regulations and impose them on others
at will. Only the Sovereign Pontiff, as the successor of Saint
Peter, charged by the divine Redeemer with the feeding of His
entire flock,[54] and with him, in obedience to the Apostolic
See, the bishops "whom the Holy Ghost has placed . . . to
rule the Church of God,"[55] have the right and the duty
to govern the Christian people. Consequently, Venerable Brethren,
whenever you assert your authority - even on occasion with wholesome
severity - you are not merely acquitting yourselves of your duty;
you are defending the very will of the Founder of the Church.
66. The mystery of the most Holy Eucharist which Christ, the High
Priest instituted, and which He commands to be continually renewed
in the Church by His ministers, is the culmination and center,
as it were, of the Christian religion. We consider it opportune
in speaking about the crowning act of the sacred liturgy, to delay
for a little while and call your attention, Venerable Brethren,
to this most important subject.
67. Christ the Lord, "Eternal Priest according to the order
of Melchisedech,"[56] "loving His own who were of the
world,"[57] "at the last supper, on the night He was
betrayed, wishing to leave His beloved Spouse, the Church, a visible
sacrifice such as the nature of men requires, that would re-present
the bloody sacrifice offered once on the cross, and perpetuate
its memory to the end of time, and whose salutary virtue might
be applied in remitting those sins which we daily commit, . .
. offered His body and blood under the species of bread and wine
to God the Father, and under the same species allowed the apostles,
whom he at that time constituted the priests of the New Testament,
to partake thereof; commanding them and their successors in the
priesthood to make the same offering."[58]
68. The august sacrifice of the altar, then, is no mere empty
commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, but a
true and proper act of sacrifice, whereby the High Priest by an
unbloody immolation offers Himself a most acceptable victim to
the Eternal Father, as He did upon the cross. "It is one
and the same victim; the same person now offers it by the ministry
of His priests, who then offered Himself on the cross, the manner
of offering alone being different."[59]
69. The priest is the same, Jesus Christ, whose sacred Person
His minister represents. Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal
consecration which he has received, is made like to the High Priest
and possesses the power of performing actions in virtue of Christ's
very person.[60] Wherefore in his priestly activity he in a certain
manner "lends his tongue, and gives his hand" to Christ.[61]
70. Likewise the victim is the same, namely, our divine Redeemer
in His human nature with His true body and blood. The manner,
however, in which Christ is offered is different. On the cross
He completely offered Himself and all His sufferings to God, and
the immolation of the victim was brought about by the bloody death,
which He underwent of His free will. But on the altar, by reason
of the glorified state of His human nature, "death shall
have no more dominion over Him,"[62] and so the shedding
of His blood is impossible; still, according to the plan of divine
wisdom, the sacrifice of our Redeemer is shown forth in an admirable
manner by external signs which are the symbols of His death. For
by the "transubstantiation" of bread into the body of
Christ and of wine into His blood, His body and blood are both
really present: now the eucharistic species under which He is
present symbolize the actual separation of His body and blood.
Thus the commemorative representation of His death, which actually
took place on Calvary, is repeated in every sacrifice of the altar,
seeing that Jesus Christ is symbolically shown by separate symbols
to be in a state of victimhood.
71. Moreover, the appointed ends are the same. The first of these
is to give glory to the Heavenly Father. From His birth to His
death Jesus Christ burned with zeal for the divine glory; and
the offering of His blood upon the cross rose to heaven in an
odor of sweetness. To perpetuate this praise, the members of the
Mystical Body are united with their divine Head in the eucharistic
sacrifice, and with Him, together with the Angels and Archangels,
they sing immortal praise to God[63] and give all honor and glory
to the Father Almighty.[64]
72. The second end is duly to give thanks to God. Only the divine
Redeemer, as the eternal Father's most beloved Son whose immense
love He knew, could offer Him a worthy return of gratitude. This
was His intention and desire at the Last Supper when He "gave
thanks."[65] He did not cease to do so when hanging upon
the cross, nor does He fail to do so in the august sacrifice of
the altar, which is an act of thanksgiving or a "eucharistic"
act; since this "is truly meet and just, right and availing
unto salvation."[66]
73. The third end proposed is that of expiation, propitiation
and reconciliation. Certainly, no one was better fitted to make
satisfaction to Almighty God for all the sins of men than was
Christ. Therefore, He desired to be immolated upon the cross "as
a propitiation for our sins, not for ours only but also for those
of the whole world"[67] and likewise He daily offers Himself
upon our altars for our redemption, that we may be rescued from
eternal damnation and admitted into the company of the elect.
This He does, not for us only who are in this mortal life, but
also "for all who rest in Christ, who have gone before us
with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace;"[68]
for whether we live, or whether we die "still we are not
separated from the one and only Christ."[69]
74. The fourth end, finally, is that of impetration. Man, being
the prodigal son, has made bad use of and dissipated the goods
which he received from his heavenly Father. Accordingly, he has
been reduced to the utmost poverty and to extreme degradation.
However, Christ on the cross "offering prayers and supplications
with a loud cry and tears, has been heard for His reverence."[70]
Likewise upon the altar He is our mediator with God in the same
efficacious manner, so that we may be filled with every blessing
and grace.
75. It is easy, therefore, to understand why the holy Council
of Trent lays down that by means of the eucharistic sacrifice
the saving virtue of the cross is imparted to us for the remission
of the sins we daily commit.[71]
76. Now the Apostle of the Gentiles proclaims the copious plenitude
and the perfection of the sacrifice of the cross, when he says
that Christ by one oblation has perfected for ever them that are
sanctified.[72] For the merits of this sacrifice, since they are
altogether boundless and immeasurable, know no limits; for they
are meant for all men of every time and place. This follows from
the fact that in this sacrifice the God-Man is the priest and
victim; that His immolation was entirely perfect, as was His obedience
to the will of His eternal Father; and also that He suffered death
as the Head of the human race: "See how we were bought: Christ
hangs upon the cross, see at what a price He makes His purchase
. . . He sheds His blood, He buys with His blood, He buys with
the blood of the Spotless Lamb, He buys with the blood of God's
only Son. He who buys is Christ; the price is His blood; the possession
bought is the world."[73]
77. This purchase, however, does not immediately have its full
effect; since Christ, after redeeming the world at the lavish
cost of His own blood, still must come into complete possession
of the souls of men. Wherefore, that the redemption and salvation
of each person and of future generations unto the end of time
may be effectively accomplished, and be acceptable to God, it
is necessary that-men should individually come into vital contact
with the sacrifice of the cross, so that the merits, which flow
from it, should be imparted to them. In a certain sense it can
be said that on Calvary Christ built a font of purification and
salvation which He filled with the blood He shed; but if men do
not bathe in it and there wash away the stains of their iniquities,
they can never be purified and saved.
78. The cooperation of the faithful is required so that sinners
may be individually purified in the blood of the Lamb. For though,
speaking generally, Christ reconciled by His painful death the
whole human race with the Father, He wished that all should approach
and be drawn to His cross, especially by means of the sacraments
and the eucharistic sacrifice, to obtain the salutary fruits produced
by Him upon it. Through this active and individual participation,
the members of the Mystical Body not only become daily more like
to their divine Head, but the life flowing from the Head is imparted
to the members, so that we can each repeat the words of St. Paul,
"With Christ I am nailed to the cross: I live, now not I,
but Christ liveth in me."[74] We have already explained sufficiently
and of set purpose on another occasion, that Jesus Christ "when
dying on the cross, bestowed upon His Church, as a completely
gratuitous gift, the immense treasure of the redemption. But when
it is a question of distributing this treasure, He not only commits
the work of sanctification to His Immaculate Spouse, but also
wishes that, to a certain extent, sanctity should derive from
her activity."[75]
79. The august sacrifice of the altar is, as it were, the supreme
instrument whereby the merits won by the divine Redeemer upon
the cross are distributed to the faithful: "as often as this
commemorative sacrifice is offered, there is wrought the work
of our Redemption."[76] This, however, so far from lessening
the dignity of the actual sacrifice on Calvary, rather proclaims
and renders more manifest its greatness and its necessity, as
the Council of Trent declares.[77] Its daily immolation reminds
us that there is no salvation except in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ[78] and that God Himself wishes that there should
be a continuation of this sacrifice "from the rising of the
sun till the going down thereof,"[79] so that there may be
no cessation of the hymn of praise and thanksgiving which man
owes to God, seeing that he required His help continually and
has need of the blood of the Redeemer to remit sin which challenges
God's justice.
80. It is, therefore, desirable, Venerable Brethren, that all
the faithful should be aware that to participate in the eucharistic
sacrifice is their chief duty and supreme dignity, and that not
in an inert and negligent fashion, giving way to distractions
and day-dreaming, but with such earnestness and concentration
that they may be united as closely as possible with the High Priest,
according to the Apostle, "Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus."[80] And together with Him and
through Him let them make their oblation, and in union with Him
let them offer up themselves.
81. It is quite true that Christ is a priest; but He is a priest
not for Himself but for us, when in the name of the whole human
race He offers our prayers and religious homage to the eternal
Father; He is also a victim and for us since He substitutes Himself
for sinful man. Now the exhortation of the Apostle, "Let
this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus," requires
that all Christians should possess, as far as is humanly possible,
the same dispositions as those which the divine Redeemer had when
He offered Himself in sacrifice: that is to say, they should in
a humble attitude of mind, pay adoration, honor, praise and thanksgiving
to the supreme majesty of God. Moreover, it means that they must
assume to some extent the character of a victim, that they deny
themselves as the Gospel commands, that freely and of their own
accord they do penance and that each detests and satisfies for
his sins. It means, in a word, that we must all undergo with Christ
a mystical death on the cross so that we can apply to ourselves
the words of St. Paul, "With Christ I am nailed to the cross."[81]
82. The fact, however, that the faithful participate in the eucharistic
sacrifice does not mean that they also are endowed with priestly
power. It is very necessary that you make this quite clear to
your flocks.
83. For there are today, Venerable Brethren, those who, approximating
to errors long since condemned[82] teach that in the New Testament
by the word "priesthood" is meant only that priesthood
which applies to all who have been baptized; and hold that the
command by which Christ gave power to His apostles at the Last
Supper to do what He Himself had done, applies directly to the
entire Christian Church, and that thence, and thence only, arises
the hierarchical priesthood. Hence they assert that the people
are possessed of a true priestly power, while the priest only
acts in virtue of an office committed to him by the community.
Wherefore, they look on the eucharistic sacrifice as a "concelebration,"
in the literal meaning of that term, and consider it more fitting
that priests should "concelebrate" with the people present
than that they should offer the sacrifice privately when the people
are absent.
84. It is superfluous to explain how captious errors of this sort
completely contradict the truths which we have just stated above,
when treating of the place of the priest in the Mystical Body
of Jesus Christ. But we deem it necessary to recall that the priest
acts for the people only because he represents Jesus Christ, who
is Head of all His members and offers Himself in their stead.
Hence, he goes to the altar as the minister of Christ, inferior
to Christ but superior to the people.[83] The people, on the other
hand, since they in no sense represent the divine Redeemer and
are not mediator between themselves and God, can in no way possess
the sacerdotal power.
85. All this has the certitude of faith. However, it must also
be said that the faithful do offer the divine Victim, though in
a different sense.
86. This has already been stated in the clearest terms by some
of Our predecessors and some Doctors of the Church. "Not
only," says Innocent III of immortal memory, "do the
priests offer the sacrifice, but also all the faithful: for what
the priest does personally by virtue of his ministry, the faithful
do collectively by virtue of their intention."[84] We are
happy to recall one of St. Robert Bellarmine's many statements
on this subject. "The sacrifice," he says "is principally
offered in the person of Christ. Thus the oblation that follows
the consecration is a sort of attestation that the whole Church
consents in the oblation made by Christ, and offers it along with
Him."[85]
87. Moreover, the rites and prayers of the eucharistic sacrifice
signify and show no less clearly that the oblation of the Victim
is made by the priests in company with the people. For not only
does the sacred minister, after the oblation of the bread and
wine when he turns to the people, say the significant prayer:
"Pray brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable
to God the Father Almighty;"[86] but also the prayers by
which the divine Victim is offered to God are generally expressed
in the plural number: and in these it is indicated more than once
that the people also participate in this august sacrifice inasmuch
as they offer the same. The following words, for example, are
used: "For whom we offer, or who offer up to Thee . . . We
therefore beseech thee, O Lord, to be appeased and to receive
this offering of our bounded duty, as also of thy whole household.
. . We thy servants, as also thy whole people . . . do offer unto
thy most excellent majesty, of thine own gifts bestowed upon us,
a pure victim, a holy victim, a spotless victim."[87]
88. Nor is it to be wondered at, that the faithful should be raised
to this dignity. By the waters of baptism, as by common right,
Christians are made members of the Mystical Body of Christ the
Priest, and by the "character" which is imprinted on
their souls, they are appointed to give worship to God. Thus they
participate, according to their condition, in the priesthood of
Christ.
89. In every age of the Church's history, the mind of man, enlightened
by faith, has aimed at the greatest possible knowledge of things
divine. It is fitting, then, that the Christian people should
also desire to know in what sense they are said in the canon of
the Mass to offer up the sacrifice. To satisfy such a pious desire,
then, We shall here explain the matter briefly and concisely.
90. First of all the more extrinsic explanations are these: it
frequently happens that the faithful assisting at Mass join their
prayers alternately with those of the priest, and sometimes -
a more frequent occurrence in ancient times - they offer to the
ministers at the altar bread and wine to be changed into the body
and blood of Christ, and, finally, by their alms they get the
priest to offer the divine victim for their intentions.
91. But there is also a more profound reason why all Christians,
especially those who are present at Mass, are said to offer the
sacrifice.
92. In this most important subject it is necessary, in order to
avoid giving rise to a dangerous error, that we define the exact
meaning of the word "offer." The unbloody immolation
at the words of consecration, when Christ is made present upon
the altar in the state of a victim, is performed by the priest
and by him alone, as the representative of Christ and not as the
representative of the faithful. But it is because the priest places
the divine victim upon the altar that he offers it to God the
Father as an oblation for the glory of the Blessed Trinity and
for the good of the whole Church. Now the faithful participate
in the oblation, understood in this limited sense, after their
own fashion and in a twofold manner, namely, because they not
only offer the sacrifice by the hands of the priest, but also,
to a certain extent, in union with him. It is by reason of this
participation that the offering made by the people is also included
in liturgical worship.
93. Now it is clear that the faithful offer the sacrifice by the
hands of the priest from the fact that the minister at the altar,
in offering a sacrifice in the name of all His members, represents
Christ, the Head of the Mystical Body. Hence the whole Church
can rightly be said to offer up the victim through Christ. But
the conclusion that the people offer the sacrifice with the priest
himself is not based on the fact that, being members of the Church
no less than the priest himself, they perform a visible liturgical
rite; for this is the privilege only of the minister who has been
divinely appointed to this office: rather it is based on the fact
that the people unite their hearts in praise, impetration, expiation
and thanksgiving with prayers or intention of the priest, even
of the High Priest himself, so that in the one and same offering
of the victim and according to a visible sacerdotal rite, they
may be presented to God the Father. It is obviously necessary
that the external sacrificial rite should, of its very nature,
signify the internal worship of the heart. Now the sacrifice of
the New Law signifies that supreme worship by which the principal
Offerer himself, who is Christ, and, in union with Him and through
Him, all the members of the Mystical Body pay God the honor and
reverence that are due to Him.
94. We are very pleased to learn that this teaching, thanks to
a more intense study of the liturgy on the part of many, especially
in recent years, has been given full recognition. We must, however,
deeply deplore certain exaggerations and over-statements which
are not in agreement with the true teaching of the Church.
95. Some in fact disapprove altogether of those Masses which are
offered privately and without any congregation, on the ground
that they are a departure from the ancient way of offering the
sacrifice; moreover, there are some who assert that priests cannot
offer Mass at different altars at the same time, because, by doing
so, they separate the community of the faithful and imperil its
unity; while some go so far as to hold that the people must confirm
and ratify the sacrifice if it is to have its proper force and
value.
96. They are mistaken in appealing in this matter to the social
character of the eucharistic sacrifice, for as often as a priest
repeats what the divine Redeemer did at the Last Supper, the sacrifice
is really completed. Moreover, this sacrifice, necessarily and
of its very nature, has always and everywhere the character of
a public and social act, inasmuch as he who offers it acts in
the name of Christ and of the faithful, whose Head is the divine
Redeemer, and he offers it to God for the holy Catholic Church,
and for the living and the dead.[88] This is undoubtedly so, whether
the faithful are present - as we desire and commend them to be
in great numbers and with devotion - or are not present, since
it is in no wise required that the people ratify what the sacred
minister has done.
97. Still, though it is clear from what We have said that the
Mass is offered in the name of Christ and of the Church and that
it is not robbed of its social effects though it be celebrated
by a priest without a server, nonetheless, on account of the dignity
of such an august mystery, it is our earnest desire - as Mother
Church has always commanded - that no priest should say Mass unless
a server is at hand to answer the prayers, as canon 813 prescribes.
98. In order that the oblation by which the faithful offer the
divine Victim in this sacrifice to the heavenly Father may have
its full effect, it is necessary that the people add something
else, namely, the offering of themselves as a victim.
99. This offering in fact is not confined merely to the liturgical
sacrifice. For the Prince of the Apostles wishes us, as living
stones built upon Christ, the cornerstone, to be able as "a
holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ."[89] St. Paul the Apostle addresses
the following words of exhortation to Christians, without distinction
of time, "I beseech you therefore, . . . that you present
your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your
reasonable service."[90] But at that time especially when
the faithful take part in the liturgical service with such piety
and recollection that it can truly be said of them: "whose
faith and devotion is known to Thee,"[91] it is then, with
the High Priest and through Him they offer themselves as a spiritual
sacrifice, that each one's faith ought to become more ready to
work through charity, his piety more real and fervent, and each
one should consecrate himself to the furthering of the divine
glory, desiring to become as like as possible to Christ in His
most grievous sufferings.
100. This we are also taught by those exhortations which the Bishop,
in the Church's name, addresses to priests on the day of their
ordination, "Understand what you do, imitate what you handle,
and since you celebrate the mystery of the Lord's death, take
good care to mortify your members with their vices and concupiscences."[92]
In almost the same manner the sacred books of the liturgy advise
Christians who come to Mass to participate in the sacrifice: "At
this . . . altar let innocence be in honor, let pride be sacrificed,
anger slain, impurity and every evil desire laid low, let the
sacrifice of chastity be offered in place of doves and instead
of the young pigeons the sacrifice of innocence."[93] While
we stand before the altar, then, it is our duty so to transform
our hearts, that every trace of sin may be completely blotted
out, while whatever promotes supernatural life through Christ
may be zealously fostered and strengthened even to the extent
that, in union with the immaculate Victim, we become a victim
acceptable to the eternal Father.
101. The prescriptions in fact of the sacred liturgy aim, by every
means at their disposal, at helping the Church to bring about
this most holy purpose in the most suitable manner possible. This
is the object not only of readings, homilies and other sermons
given by priests, as also the whole cycle of mysteries which are
proposed for our commemoration in the course of the year, but
it is also the purpose of vestments, of sacred rites and their
external splendor. All these things aim at "enhancing the
majesty of this great Sacrifice, and raising the minds of the
faithful by means of these visible signs of religion and piety,
to the contemplation of the sublime truths contained in this sacrifice."[94]
102. All the elements of the liturgy, then, would have us reproduce
in our hearts the likeness of the divine Redeemer through the
mystery of the cross, according to the words of the Apostle of
the Gentiles, "With Christ I am nailed to the cross. I live,
now not I, but Christ liveth in me."[95] Thus we become a
victim, as it were, along with Christ to increase the glory of
the eternal Father.
103. Let this, then, be the intention and aspiration of the faithful,
when they offer up the divine Victim in the Mass. For if, as St.
Augustine writes, our mystery is enacted on the Lord's table,
that is Christ our Lord Himself,[96] who is the Head and symbol
of that union through which we are the body of Christ[97] and
members of His Body;[98] if St. Robert Bellarmine teaches, according
to the mind of the Doctor of Hippo, that in the sacrifice of the
altar there is signified the general sacrifice by which the whole
Mystical Body of Christ, that is, all the city of redeemed, is
offered up to God through Christ, the High Priest:[99] nothing
can be conceived more just or fitting than that all of us in union
with our Head, who suffered for our sake, should also sacrifice
ourselves to the eternal Father. For in the sacrament of the altar,
as the same St. Augustine has it, the Church is made to see that
in what she offers she herself is offered.[100]
104. Let the faithful, therefore, consider to what a high dignity
they are raised by the sacrament of baptism. They should not think
it enough to participate in the eucharistic sacrifice with that
general intention which befits members of Christ and children
of the Church, but let them further, in keeping with the spirit
of the sacred liturgy, be most closely united with the High Priest
and His earthly minister, at the time the consecration of the
divine Victim is enacted, and at that time especially when those
solemn words are pronounced, "By Him and with Him and in
Him is to Thee, God the Father almighty, in the unity of the Holy
Ghost, all honor and glory for ever and ever";[101] to these
words in fact the people answer, "Amen." Nor should
Christians forget to offer themselves, their cares, their sorrows,
their distress and their necessities in union with their divine
Savior upon the cross.
105. Therefore, they are to be praised who, with the idea of getting
the Christian people to take part more easily and more fruitfully
in the Mass, strive to make them familiar with the "Roman
Missal," so that the faithful, united with the priest, may
pray together in the very words and sentiments of the Church.
They also are to be commended who strive to make the liturgy even
in an external way a sacred act in which all who are present may
share. This can be done in more than one way, when, for instance,
the whole congregation, in accordance with the rules of the liturgy,
either answer the priest in an orderly and fitting manner, or
sing hymns suitable to the different parts of the Mass, or do
both, or finally in high Masses when they answer the prayers of
the minister of Jesus Christ and also sing the liturgical chant.
100. These methods of participation in the Mass are to be approved
and recommended when they are in complete agreement with the precepts
of the Church and the rubrics of the liturgy. Their chief aim
is to foster and promote the people's piety and intimate union
with Christ and His visible minister and to arouse those internal
sentiments and dispositions which should make our hearts become
like to that of the High Priest of the New Testament. However,
though they show also in an outward manner that the very nature
of the sacrifice, as offered by the Mediator between God and men,[102]
must be regarded as the act of the whole Mystical Body of Christ,
still they are by no means necessary to constitute it a public
act or to give it a social character. And besides, a "dialogue"
Mass of this kind cannot replace the high Mass, which, as a matter
of fact, though it should be offered with only the sacred ministers
present, possesses its own special dignity due to the impressive
character of its ritual and the magnificence of its ceremonies.
The splendor and grandeur of a high Mass, however, are very much
increased if, as the Church desires, the people are present in
great numbers and with devotion.
107. It is to be observed, also, that they have strayed from the
path of truth and right reason who, led away by false opinions,
make so much of these accidentals as to presume to assert that
without them the Mass cannot fulfill its appointed end.
108. Many of the faithful are unable to use the Roman missal even
though it is written in the vernacular; nor are all capable of
understanding correctly the liturgical rites and formulas. So
varied and diverse are men's talents and characters that it is
impossible for all to be moved and attracted to the same extent
by community prayers, hymns and liturgical services. Moreover,
the needs and inclinations of all are not the same, nor are they
always constant in the same individual. Who, then, would say,
on account of such a prejudice, that all these Christians cannot
participate in the Mass nor share its fruits? On the contrary,
they can adopt some other method which proves easier for certain
people; for instance, they can lovingly meditate on the mysteries
of Jesus Christ or perform other exercises of piety or recite
prayers which, though they differ from the sacred rites, are still
essentially in harmony with them.
109. Wherefore We exhort you, Venerable Brethren, that each in
his diocese or ecclesiastical jurisdiction supervise and regulate
the manner and method in which the people take part in the liturgy,
according to the rubrics of the missal and in keeping with the
injunctions which the Sacred Congregation of Rites and the Code
of canon law have published. Let everything be done with due order
and dignity, and let no one, not even a priest, make use of the
sacred edifices according to his whim to try out experiments.
It is also Our wish that in each diocese an advisory committee
to promote the liturgical apostolate should be established, similar
to that which cares for sacred music and art, so that with your
watchful guidance everything may be carefully carried out in accordance
with the prescriptions of the Apostolic See.
110. In religious communities let all those regulations be accurately
observed which are laid down in their respective constitutions,
nor let any innovations be made which the superiors of these communities
have not previously approved.
111. But however much variety and disparity there may be in the
exterior manner and circumstances in which the Christian laity
participate in the Mass and other liturgical functions, constant
and earnest effort must be made to unite the congregation in spirit
as much as possible with the divine Redeemer, so that their lives
may be daily enriched with more abundant sanctity, and greater
glory be given to the heaven Father.
112. The august sacrifice of the altar is concluded with communion
or the partaking of the divine feast. But, as all know, the integrity
of the sacrifice only requires that the priest partake of the
heavenly food. Although it is most desirable that the people should
also approach the holy table, this is not required for the integrity
of the sacrifice.
113. We wish in this matter to repeat the remarks which Our predecessor
Benedict XIV makes with regard to the definitions of the Council
of Trent: "First We must state that none of the faithful
can hold that private Masses, in which the priest alone receives
holy communion, are therefore unlawful and do not fulfill the
idea of the true, perfect and complete unbloody sacrifice instituted
by Christ our Lord. For the faithful know quite well, or at least
can easily be taught, that the Council of Trent, supported by
the doctrine which the uninterrupted tradition of the Church has
preserved, condemned the new and false opinion of Luther as opposed
to this tradition."[103] "If anyone shall say that Masses
in which the priest only receives communion, are unlawful, and
therefore should be abolished, let him be anathema."[104]
114. They, therefore, err from the path of truth who do not want
to have Masses celebrated unless the faithful communicate; and
those are still more in error who, in holding that it is altogether
necessary for the faithful to receive holy communion as well as
the priest, put forward the captious argument that here there
is question not of a sacrifice merely, but of a sacrifice and
a supper of brotherly union, and consider the general communion
of all present as the culminating point of the whole celebration.
115. Now it cannot be over-emphasized that the eucharistic sacrifice
of its very nature is the unbloody immolation of the divine Victim,
which is made manifest in a mystical manner by the separation
of the sacred species and by their oblation to the eternal Father.
Holy communion pertains to the integrity of the Mass and to the
partaking of the august sacrament; but while it is obligatory
for the priest who says the Mass, it is only something earnestly
recommended to the faithful.
116. The Church, as the teacher of truth, strives by every means
in her power to safeguard the integrity of the Catholic faith,
and like a mother solicitous for the welfare of her children,
she exhorts them most earnestly to partake fervently and frequently
of the richest treasure of our religion.
117. She wishes in the first place that Christians - especially
when they cannot easily receive holy communion - should do so
at least by desire, so that with renewed faith, reverence, humility
and complete trust in the goodness of the divine Redeemer, they
may be united to Him in the spirit of the most ardent charity.
118. But the desire of Mother Church does not stop here. For since
by feasting upon the bread of angels we can by a "sacramental"
communion, as we have already said, also become partakers of the
sacrifice, she repeats the invitation to all her children individually,
"Take and eat. . . Do this in memory of Me"[105] so
that "we may continually experience within us the fruit of
our redemption"[106] in a more efficacious manner. For this
reason the Council of Trent, reechoing, as it were, the invitation
of Christ and His immaculate Spouse, has earnestly exhorted "the
faithful when they attend Mass to communicate not only by a spiritual
communion but also by a sacramental one, so that they may obtain
more abundant fruit from this most holy sacrifice."[107]
Moreover, our predecessor of immortal memory, Benedict XIV, wishing
to emphasize and throw fuller light upon the truth that the faithful
by receiving the Holy Eucharist become partakers of the divine
sacrifice itself, praises the devotion of those who, when attending
Mass, not only elicit a desire to receive holy communion but also
want to be nourished by hosts consecrated during the Mass, even
though, as he himself states, they really and truly take part
in the sacrifice should they receive a host which has been duly
consecrated at a previous Mass. He writes as follows: "And
although in addition to those to whom the celebrant gives a portion
of the Victim he himself has offered in the Mass, they also participate
in the same sacrifice to whom a priest distributes the Blessed
Sacrament that has been reserved; however, the Church has not
for this reason ever forbidden, nor does she now forbid, a celebrant
to satisfy the piety and just request of those who, when present
at Mass, want to become partakers of the same sacrifice, because
they likewise offer it after their own manner, nay more, she approves
of it and desires that it should not be omitted and would reprehend
those priests through whose fault and negligence this participation
would be denied to the faithful."[108]
119. May God grant that all accept these invitations of the Church
freely and with spontaneity. May He grant that they participate
even every day, if possible, in the divine sacrifice, not only
in a spiritual manner, but also by reception of the august sacrament,
receiving the body of Jesus Christ which has been offered for
all to the eternal Father. Arouse Venerable Brethren, in the hearts
of those committed to your care, a great and insatiable hunger
for Jesus Christ. Under your guidance let the children and youth
crowd to the altar rails to offer themselves, their innocence
and their works of zeal to the divine Redeemer. Let husbands and
wives approach the holy table so that nourished on this food they
may learn to make the children entrusted to them conformed to
the mind and heart of Jesus Christ.
120. Let the workers be invited to partake of this sustaining
and never failing nourishment that it may renew their strength
and obtain for their labors an everlasting recompense in heaven;
in a word, invite all men of whatever class and compel them to
come in;[109] since this is the bread of life which all require.
The Church of Jesus Christ needs no other bread than this to satisfy
fully our souls' wants and desires, and to unite us in the most
intimate union with Jesus Christ, to make us "one body,"[110]
to get us to live together as brothers who, breaking the same
bread, sit down to the same heavenly table, to partake of the
elixir of immortality.[111]
121. Now it is very fitting, as the liturgy otherwise lays down,
that the people receive holy communion after the priest has partaken
of the divine repast upon the altar; and, as we have written above,
they should be commended who, when present at Mass, receive hosts
consecrated at the same Mass, so that it is actually verified,
"that as many of us, as, at this altar, shall partake of
and receive the most holy body and blood of thy Son, may be filled
with every heavenly blessing and grace."[112]
122. Still sometimes there may be a reason, and that not infrequently,
why holy communion should be distributed before or after Mass
and even immediately after the priest receives the sacred species
- and even though hosts consecrated at a previous Mass should
be used. In these circumstances - as we have stated above - the
people duly take part in the eucharistic sacrifice and not seldom
they can in this way more conveniently receive holy communion.
Still, though the Church with the kind heart of a mother strives
to meet the spiritual needs of her children, they, for their part,
should not readily neglect the directions of the liturgy and,
as often as there is no reasonable difficulty, should aim that
all their actions at the altar manifest more clearly the living
unity of the Mystical Body.
123. When the Mass, which is subject to special rules of the liturgy,
is over, the person who has received holy communion is not thereby
freed from his duty of thanksgiving; rather, it is most becoming
that, when the Mass is finished, the person who has received the
Eucharist should recollect himself, and in intimate union with
the divine Master hold loving and fruitful converse with Him.
Hence they have departed from the straight way of truth, who,
adhering to the letter rather than the sense, assert and teach
that, when Mass has ended, no such thanksgiving should be added,
not only because the Mass is itself a thanksgiving, but also because
this pertains to a private and personal act of piety and not to
the good of the community.
124. But, on the contrary, the very nature of the sacrament demands
that its reception should produce rich fruits of Christian sanctity.
Admittedly the congregation has been officially dismissed, but
each individual, since he is united with Christ, should not interrupt
the hymn of praise in his own soul, "always returning thanks
for all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father."[113]
The sacred liturgy of the Mass also exhorts us to do this when
it bids us pray in these words, "Grant, we beseech thee,
that we may always continue to offer thanks[114] . . . and may
never cease from praising thee."[115] Wherefore, if there
is no time when we must not offer God thanks, and if we must never
cease from praising Him, who would dare to reprehend or find fault
with the Church, because she advises her priests[116] and faithful
to converse with the divine Redeemer for at least a short while
after holy communion, and inserts in her liturgical books, fitting
prayers, enriched with indulgences, by which the sacred ministers
may make suitable preparation before Mass and holy communion or
may return thanks afterwards? So far is the sacred liturgy from
restricting the interior devotion of individual Christians, that
it actually fosters and promotes it so that they may be rendered
like to Jesus Christ and through Him be brought to the heavenly
Father; wherefore this same discipline of the liturgy demands
that whoever has partaken of the sacrifice of the altar should
return fitting thanks to God. For it is the good pleasure of the
divine Redeemer to hearken to us when we pray, to converse with
us intimately and to offer us a refuge in His loving Heart.
125. Moreover, such personal colloquies are very necessary that
we may all enjoy more fully the supernatural treasures that are
contained in the Eucharist and according to our means, share them
with others, so that Christ our Lord may exert the greatest possible
influence on the souls of all.
126. Why then, Venerable Brethren, should we not approve of those
who, when they receive holy communion, remain on in closest familiarity
with their divine Redeemer even after the congregation has been
officially dismissed, and that not only for the consolation of
conversing with Him, but also to render Him due thanks and praise
and especially to ask help to defend their souls against anything
that may lessen the efficacy of the sacrament and to do everything
in their power to cooperate with the action of Christ who is so
intimately present. We exhort them to do so in a special manner
by carrying out their resolutions, by exercising the Christian
virtues, as also by applying to their own necessities the riches
they have received with royal Liberality. The author of that golden
book The Imitation of Christ certainly speaks in accordance with
the letter and the spirit of the liturgy, when he gives the following
advice to the person who approaches the altar, "Remain on
in secret and take delight in your God; for He is yours whom the
whole world cannot take away from you."[117]
127. Therefore, let us all enter into closest union with Christ
and strive to lose ourselves, as it were, in His most holy soul
and so be united to Him that we may have a share in those acts
with which He adores the Blessed Trinity with a homage that is
most acceptable, and by which He offers to the eternal Father
supreme praise and thanks which find an harmonious echo throughout
the heavens and the earth, according to the words of the prophet,
"All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord."[118] Finally,
in union with these sentiments of Christ, let us ask for heavenly
aid at that moment in which it is supremely fitting to pray for
and obtain help in His name.[119] For it is especially in virtue
of these sentiments that we offer and immolate ourselves as a
victim, saying, "make of us thy eternal offering."[120]
128. The divine Redeemer is ever repeating His pressing invitation,
"Abide in Me."[121] Now by the sacrament of the Eucharist,
Christ remains in us and we in Him, and just as Christ, remaining
in us, lives and works, so should we remain in Christ and live
and work through Him.
129. The Eucharistic Food contains, as all are aware, "truly,
really and substantially the Body and Blood together with soul
and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ."[122] It is no wonder,
then, that the Church, even from the beginning, adored the body
of Christ under the appearance of bread; this is evident from
the very rites of the august sacrifice, which prescribe that the
sacred ministers should adore the most holy sacrament by genuflecting
or by profoundly bowing their heads.
130. The Sacred Councils teach that it is the Church's tradition
right from the beginning, to worship "with the same adoration
the Word Incarnate as well as His own flesh,"[123] and St.
Augustine asserts that, "No one eats that flesh, without
first adoring it," while he adds that "not only do we
not commit a sin by adoring it, but that we do sin by not adoring
it."[124]
131. It is on this doctrinal basis that the cult of adoring the
Eucharist was founded and gradually developed as something distinct
from the sacrifice of the Mass. The reservation of the sacred
species for the sick and those in danger of death introduced the
praiseworthy custom of adoring the blessed Sacrament which is
reserved in our churches. This practice of adoration, in fact,
is based on strong and solid reasons. For the Eucharist is at
once a sacrifice and a sacrament; but it differs from the other
sacraments in this that it not only produces grace, but contains
in a permanent manner the Author of grace Himself. When, therefore,
the Church bids us adore Christ hidden behind the eucharistic
veils and pray to Him for spiritual and temporal favors, of which
we ever stand in need, she manifests living faith in her divine
Spouse who is present beneath these veils, she professes her gratitude
to Him and she enjoys the intimacy of His friendship.
132. Now, the Church in the course of centuries has introduced
various forms of this worship which are ever increasing in beauty
and helpfulness: as, for example, visits of devotion to the tabernacles,
even every day; benediction of the Blessed Sacrament; solemn processions,
especially at the time of Eucharistic Congress, which pass through
cities and villages; and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament publicly
exposed. Sometimes these public acts of adoration are of short
duration. Sometimes they last for one, several and even for forty
hours. In certain places they continue in turn in different churches
throughout the year, while elsewhere adoration is perpetual day
and night, under the care of religious communities, and the faithful
quite often take part in them.
133. These exercises of piety have brought a wonderful increase
in faith and supernatural life to the Church militant upon earth
and they are reechoed to a certain extent by the Church triumphant
in heaven which sings continually a hymn of praise to God and
to the Lamb "who was slain."[125] Wherefore, the Church
not merely approves these pious practices, which in the course
of centuries have spread everywhere throughout the world, but
makes them her own, as it were, and by her authority commends
them.[126] They spring from the inspiration of the liturgy and
if they are performed with due propriety and with faith and piety,
as the liturgical rules of the Church require, they are undoubtedly
of the very greatest assistance in living the life of the liturgy.
134. Nor is it to be admitted that by this Eucharistic cult men
falsely confound the historical Christ, as they say, who once
lived on earth, with the Christ who is present in the august Sacrament
of the altar, and who reigns glorious and triumphant in heaven
and bestows supernatural favors. On the contrary, it can be claimed
that by this devotion the faithful bear witness to and solemnly
avow the faith of the Church that the Word of God is identical
with the Son of the Virgin Mary, who suffered on the cross, who
is present in a hidden manner in the Eucharist and who reigns
upon His heavenly throne. Thus, St. John Chrysostom states: "When
you see It [the Body of Christ] exposed, say to yourself: Thanks
to this body, I am no longer dust and ashes, I am no more a captive
but a freeman: hence I hope to obtain heaven and the good things
that are there in store for me, eternal life, the heritage of
the angels, companionship with Christ; death has not destroyed
this body which was pierced by nails and scourged, . . . this
is that body which was once covered with blood, pierced by a lance,
from which issued saving fountains upon the world, one of blood
and the other of water. . . This body He gave to us to keep and
eat, as a mark of His intense love."[127]
135. That practice in a special manner is to be highly praised
according to which many exercises of piety, customary among the
faithful, and with benediction of the blessed sacrament. For excellent
and of great benefit is that custom which makes the priest raise
aloft the Bread of Angels before congregations with heads bowed
down in adoration, and forming with It the sign of the cross implores
the heavenly Father to deign to look upon His Son who for love
of us was nailed to the cross, and for His sake and through Him
who willed to be our Redeemer and our brother, be pleased to shower
down heavenly favors upon those whom the immaculate blood of the
Lamb has redeemed.[128]
136. Strive then, Venerable Brethren, with your customary devoted
care so the churches, which the faith and piety of Christian peoples
have built in the course of centuries for the purpose of singing
a perpetual hymn of glory to God almighty and of providing a worthy
abode for our Redeemer concealed beneath the eucharistic species,
may be entirely at the disposal of greater numbers of the faithful
who, called to the feet of their Savior, hearken to His most consoling
invitation, "Come to Me all you who labor and are heavily
burdened, and I will refresh you."[129] Let your churches
be the house of God where all who enter to implore blessings rejoice
in obtaining whatever they ask[130] and find there heavenly consolation.
137. Only thus can it be brought about that the whole human family
settling their differences may find peace, and united in mind
and heart may sing this song of hope and charity, "Good Pastor,
truly bread - Jesus have mercy on us - feed us, protect us - bestow
on us the vision of all good things in the land of the living."[131]
138. The ideal of Christian life is that each one be united to
God in the closest and most intimate manner. For this reason,
the worship that the Church renders to God, and which is based
especially on the eucharistic sacrifice and the use of the sacraments,
is directed and arranged in such a way that it embraces by means
of the divine office, the hours of the day, the weeks and the
whole cycle of the year, and reaches all the aspects and phases
of human life.
139. Since the divine Master commanded "that we ought always
to pray and not to faint,"[132] the Church faithfully fulfills
this injunction and never ceases to pray: she urges us in the
words of the Apostle of the Gentiles, "by him Jesus let us
offer the sacrifice of praise always to God "[133]
140. Public and common prayer offered to God by all at the same
time was customary in antiquity only on certain days and at certain
times. Indeed, people prayed to God not only in groups but in
private houses and occasionally with neighbors and friends. But
soon in different parts of the Christian world the practice arose
of setting aside special times for praying, as for example, the
last hour of the day when evening set in and the lamps were lighted;
or the first, heralded, when the night was coming to an end, by
the crowing of the cock and the rising of the morning star. Other
times of the day, as being more suitable for prayer are indicated
in Sacred Scripture, in Hebrew customs or in keeping with the
practice of every-day life. According to the acts of the Apostles,
the disciples of Jesus Christ all came together to pray at the
third hour, when they were all filled with the Holy Ghost;[134]
and before eating, the Prince of the Apostles went up to the higher
parts of the house to pray, about the sixth hour;[135] Peter and
John "went up into the Temple at the ninth hour of prayer"[136]
and at "midnight Paul and Silas praying . . . praised God."[137]
141. Thanks to the work of the monks and those who practice asceticism,
these various prayers in the course of time become ever more perfected
and by the authority of the Church are gradually incorporated
into the sacred liturgy.
142. The divine office is the prayer of the Mystical Body of Jesus
Christ, offered to God in the name and on behalf of all Christians,
when recited by priests and other ministers of the Church and
by religious who are deputed by the Church for this.
143. The character and value of the divine office may be gathered
from the words recommended by the Church to be said before starting
the prayers of the office, namely, that they be said "worthily,
with attention and devotion."
144. By assuming human nature, the Divine Word introduced into
this earthly exile a hymn which is sung in heaven for all eternity.
He unites to Himself the whole human race and with it sings this
hymn to the praise of God. As we must humbly recognize that "we
know not what we should pray for, as we ought, the Spirit Himself
asketh for us with unspeakable groanings."[138] Moreover,
through His Spirit in us, Christ entreats the Father, "God
could not give a greater gift to men . . . [Jesus] prays for us,
as our Priest; He prays in us as our Head; we pray to Him as our
God . . . we recognize in Him our voice and His voice in us .
. . He is prayed to as God, He prays under the appearance of a
servant; in heaven He is Creator; here, created though not changed,
He assumes a created nature which is to be changed and makes us
with Him one complete man, head and body."[139]
145. To this lofty dignity of the Church's prayer, there should
correspond earnest devotion in our souls. For when in prayer the
voice repeats those hymns written under the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost and extols God's infinite perfections, it is necessary
that the interior sentiment of our souls should accompany the
voice so as to make those sentiments our own in which we are elevated
to heaven, adoring and giving due praise and thanks to the Blessed
Trinity; "so let us chant in choir that mind and voice may
accord together."[140] It is not merely a question of recitation
or of singing which, however perfect according to norms of music
and the sacred rites, only reaches the ear, but it is especially
a question of the ascent of the mind and heart to God so that,
united with Christ, we may completely dedicate ourselves and all
our actions to Him.
146. On this depends in no small way the efficacy of our prayers.
These prayers in fact, when they are not addressed directly to
the Word made man, conclude with the phrase "though Jesus
Christ our Lord." As our Mediator with God, He shows to the
heavenly Father His glorified wounds, "always living to make
intercessions for us."[141]
147. The Psalms, as all know, form the chief part of the divine
office. They encompass the full round of the day and sanctify
it. Cassiodorus speaks beautifully about the Psalms as distributed
in his day throughout the divine office: "With the celebration
of matins they bring a blessing on the coming day, they set aside
for us the first hour and consecrate the third hour of the day,
they gladden the sixth hour with the breaking of bread, at the
ninth they terminate our fast, they bring the evening to a close
and at nightfall they shield our minds from darkness."[142]
148. The Psalms recall to mind the truths revealed by God to the
chosen people, which were at one time frightening and at another
filled with wonderful tenderness; they keep repeating and fostering
the hope of the promised Liberator which in ancient times was
kept alive with song, either around the hearth or in the stately
temple; they show forth in splendid light the prophesied glory
of Jesus Christ: first, His supreme and eternal power, then His
lowly coming to this terrestrial exile, His kingly dignity and
priestly power and, finally, His beneficent labors, and the shedding
of His blood for our redemption. In a similar way they express
the joy, the bitterness, the hope and fear of our hearts and our
desire of loving God and hoping in Him alone, and our mystic ascent
to divine tabernacles.
149. "The psalm is . . . a blessing for the people, it is
the praise of God, the tribute of the nation, the common language
and acclamation of all, it is the voice of the Church, the harmonious
confession of faith, signifying deep attachment to authority;
it is the joy of freedom, the expression of happiness, an echo
of bliss."[143]
150. In an earlier age, these canonical prayers were attended
by many of the faithful. But this gradually ceased, and, as We
have already said, their recitation at present is the duty only
of the clergy and of religious. The laity have no obligation in
this matter. Still, it is greatly to be desired that they participate
in reciting or chanting vespers sung in their own parish on feast
days. We earnestly exhort you, Venerable Brethren, to see that
this pious practice is kept up, and that wherever it has ceased
you restore it if possible. This, without doubt, will produce
salutary results when vespers are conducted in a worthy and fitting
manner and with such helps as foster the piety of the faithful.
Let the public and private observance of the feasts of the Church,
which are in a special way dedicated and consecrated to God, be
kept inviolable; and especially the Lord's day which the Apostles,
under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, substituted for the sabbath.
Now, if the order was given to the Jews: "Six days shall
you do work; in the seventh day is the sabbath, the rest holy
to the Lord. Every one that shall do any work on this day, shall
die;"[144] how will these Christians not fear spiritual death
who perform servile work on feast-days, and whose rest on these
days is not devoted to religion and piety but given over to the
allurements of the world? Sundays and holydays, then, must be
made holy by divine worship, which gives homage to God and heavenly
food to the soul. Although the Church only commands the faithful
to abstain from servile work and attend Mass and does not make
it obligatory to attend evening devotions, still she desires this
and recommends it repeatedly. Moreover, the needs of each one
demand it, seeing that all are bound to win the favor of God if
they are to obtain His benefits. Our soul is filled with the greatest
grief when We see how the Christian people of today profane the
afternoon of feast days; public places of amusement and public
games are frequented in great numbers while the churches are not
as full as they should be. All should come to our churches and
there be taught the truth of the Catholic faith, sing the praises
of God, be enriched with benediction of the blessed sacrament
given by the priest and be strengthened with help from heaven
against the adversities of this life. Let all try to learn those
prayers which are recited at vespers and fill their souls with
their meaning. When deeply penetrated by these prayers, they will
experience what St. Augustine said about himself: "How much
did I weep during hymns and verses, greatly moved at the sweet
singing of thy Church. Their sound would penetrate my ears and
their truth melt my heart, sentiments of piety would well up,
tears would flow and that was good for me."[145]
151. Throughout the entire year, the Mass and the divine office
center especially around the person of Jesus Christ. This arrangement
is so suitably disposed that our Savior dominates the scene in
the mysteries of His humiliation, of His redemption and triumph.
152. While the sacred liturgy calls to mind the mysteries of Jesus
Christ, it strives to make all believers take their part in them
so that the divine Head of the mystical Body may live in all the
members with the fullness of His holiness. Let the souls of Christians
be like altars on each one of which a different phase of the sacrifice,
offered by the High priest, comes to life again, as it were: pains
and tears which wipe away and expiate sin; supplication to God
which pierces heaven; dedication and even immolation of oneself
made promptly, generously and earnestly; and, finally, that intimate
union by which we commit ourselves and all we have to God, in
whom we find our rest. "The perfection of religion is to
imitate whom you adore."[146]
153. By these suitable ways and methods in which the liturgy at
stated times proposes the life of Jesus Christ for our meditation,
the Church gives us examples to imitate, points out treasures
of sanctity for us to make our own, since it is fitting that the
mind believes what the lips sing, and that what the mind believes
should be practiced in public and private life.
154. In the period of Advent, for instance, the Church arouses
in us the consciousness of the sins we have had the misfortune
to commit, and urges us, by restraining our desires and practicing
voluntary mortification of the body, to recollect ourselves in
meditation, and experience a longing desire to return to God who
alone can free us by His grace from the stain of sin and from
its evil consequences.
155. With the coming of the birthday of the Redeemer, she would
bring us to the cave of Bethlehem and there teach that we must
be born again and undergo a complete reformation; that will only
happen when we are intimately and vitally united to the Word of
God made man and participate in His divine nature, to which we
have been elevated.
156. At the solemnity of the Epiphany, in putting before us the
call of the Gentiles to the Christian faith, she wishes us daily
to give thanks to the Lord for such a blessing; she wishes us
to seek with lively faith the living and true God, to penetrate
deeply and religiously the things of heaven, to love silence and
meditation in order to perceive and grasp more easily heavenly
gifts.
157. During the days of Septuagesima and Lent, our Holy Mother
the Church over and over again strives to make each of us seriously
consider our misery, so that we may be urged to a practical emendation
of our lives, detest our sins heartily and expiate them by prayer
and penance. For constant prayer and penance done for past sins
obtain for us divine help, without which every work of ours is
useless and unavailing.
158. In Holy Week, when the most bitter sufferings of Jesus Christ
are put before us by the liturgy, the Church invites us to come
to Calvary and follow in the blood-stained footsteps of the divine
Redeemer, to carry the cross willingly with Him, to reproduce
in our own hearts His spirit of expiation and atonement, and to
die together with Him.
159. At the Paschal season, which commemorates the triumph of
Christ, our souls are filled with deep interior joy: we, accordingly,
should also consider that we must rise, in union with the Redeemer,
from our cold and slothful life to one of greater fervor and holiness
by giving ourselves completely and generously to God, and by forgetting
this wretched world in order to aspire only to the things of heaven:
"If you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above
. . . mind the things that are above."[147]
160. Finally, during the time of Pentecost, the Church by her
precept and practice urges us to be more docile to the action
of the Holy Spirit who wishes us to be on fire with divine love
so that we may daily strive to advance more in virtue and thus
become holy as Christ our Lord and His Father are holy.
161. Thus, the liturgical year should be considered as a splendid
hymn of praise offered to the heavenly Father by the Christian
family through Jesus, their perpetual Mediator. Nevertheless,
it requires a diligent and well ordered study on our part to be
able to know and praise our Redeemer ever more and more. It requires
a serious effort and constant practice to imitate His mysteries,
to enter willingly upon His path of sorrow and thus finally share
His glory and eternal happiness.
162. From what We have already explained, Venerable Brethren,
it is perfectly clear how much modern writers are wanting in the
genuine and true liturgical spirit who, deceived by the illusion
of a higher mysticism, dare to assert that attention should be
paid not to the historic Christ but to a "pneumatic"
or glorified Christ. They do not hesitate to assert that a change
has taken place in the piety of the faithful by dethroning, as
it were, Christ from His position; since they say that the glorified
Christ, who liveth and reigneth forever and sitteth at the right
hand of the Father, has been overshadowed and in His place has
been substituted that Christ who lived on earth. For this reason,
some have gone so far as to want to remove from the churches images
of the divine Redeemer suffering on the cross.
163. But these false statements are completely opposed to the
solid doctrine handed down by tradition. "You believe in
Christ born in the flesh," says St. Augustine, "and
you will come to Christ begotten of God."[148] In the sacred
liturgy, the whole Christ is proposed to us in all the circumstances
of His life, as the Word of the eternal Father, as born of the
Virgin Mother of God, as He who teaches us truth, heals the sick,
consoles the afflicted, who endures suffering and who dies; finally,
as He who rose triumphantly from the dead and who, reigning in
the glory of heaven, sends us the Holy Paraclete and who abides
in His Church forever; "Jesus Christ, yesterday and today,
and the same forever."[149] Besides, the liturgy shows us
Christ not only as a model to be imitated but as a master to whom
we should listen readily, a Shepherd whom we should follow, Author
of our salvation, the Source of our holiness and the Head of the
Mystical Body whose members we are, living by His very life.
164. Since His bitter sufferings constitute the principal mystery
of our redemption, it is only fitting that the Catholic faith
should give it the greatest prominence. This mystery is the very
center of divine worship since the Mass represents and renews
it every day and since all the sacraments are most closely united
with the cross.[150]
165. Hence, the liturgical year, devotedly fostered and accompanied
by the Church, is not a cold and lifeless representation of the
events of the past, or a simple and bare record of a former age.
It is rather Christ Himself who is ever living in His Church.
Here He continues that journey of immense mercy which He lovingly
began in His mortal life, going about doing good,[151] with the
design of bringing men to know His mysteries and in a way live
by them. These mysteries are ever present and active not in a
vague and uncertain way as some modern writers hold, but in the
way that Catholic doctrine teaches us. According to the Doctors
of the Church, they are shining examples of Christian perfection,
as well as sources of divine grace, due to the merit and prayers
of Christ; they still influence us because each mystery brings
its own special grace for our salvation. Moreover, our holy Mother
the Church, while proposing for our contemplation the mysteries
of our Redeemer, asks in her prayers for those gifts which would
give her children the greatest possible share in the spirit of
these mysteries through the merits of Christ. By means of His
inspiration and help and through the cooperation of our wills
we can receive from Him living vitality as branches do from the
tree and members from the head; thus slowly and laboriously we
can transform ourselves "unto the measure of the age of the
fullness of Christ."[152]
166. In the course of the liturgical year, besides the mysteries
of Jesus Christ, the feasts of the saints are celebrated. Even
though these feasts are of a lower and subordinate order, the
Church always strives to put before the faithful examples of sanctity
in order to move them to cultivate in themselves the virtues of
the divine Redeemer.
167. We should imitate the virtues of the saints just as they
imitated Christ, for in their virtues there shines forth under
different aspects the splendor of Jesus Christ. Among some of
these saints the zeal of the apostolate stood out, in others courage
prevailed even to the shedding of blood, constant vigilance marked
others out as they kept watch for the divine Redeemer, while in
others the virginal purity of soul was resplendent and their modesty
revealed the beauty of Christian humility; there burned in all
of them the fire of charity towards God and their neighbor. The
sacred liturgy puts all these gems of sanctity before us so that
we may consider them for our salvation, and "rejoicing at
their merits, we may be inflamed by their example."[153]
It is necessary, then, to practice "in simplicity innocence,
in charity concord, in humility modesty, diligence in government,
readiness in helping those who labor, mercy in serving the poor,
in defending truth, constancy, in the strict maintenance of discipline
justice, so that nothing may be wanting in us of the virtues which
have been proposed for our imitation. These are the footprints
left by the saints in their journey homeward, that guided by them
we might follow them into glory."[154] In order that we may
be helped by our senses, also, the Church wishes that images of
the saints be displayed in our churches, always, however, with
the same intention "that we imitate the virtues of those
whose images we venerate."[155]
168. But there is another reason why the Christian people should
honor the saints in heaven, namely, to implore their help and
"that we be aided by the pleadings of those whose praise
is our delight."[156] Hence, it is easy to understand why
the sacred liturgy provides us with many different prayers to
invoke the intercession of the saints.
169. Among the saints in heaven the Virgin Mary Mother of God
is venerated in a special way. Because of the mission she received
from God, her life is most closely linked with the mysteries of
Jesus Christ, and there is no one who has followed in the footsteps
of the Incarnate Word more closely and with more merit than she:
and no one has more grace and power over the most Sacred Heart
of the Son of God and through Him with the Heavenly Father. Holier
than the Cherubim and Seraphim, she enjoys unquestionably greater
glory than all the other saints, for she is "full of grace,"[157]
she is the Mother of God, who happily gave birth to the Redeemer
for us. Since she is therefore, "Mother of mercy, our life,
our sweetness and our hope," let us all cry to her "mourning
and weeping in this vale of tears,"[158] and confidently
place ourselves and all we have under her patronage. She became
our Mother also when the divine Redeemer offered the sacrifice
of Himself; and hence by this title also, we are her children.
She teaches us all the virtues; she gives us her Son and with
Him all the help we need, for God "wished us to have everything
through Mary."[159]
170. Throughout this liturgical journey which begins anew for
us each year under the sanctifying action of the Church, and strengthened
by the help and example of the saints, especially of the Immaculate
Virgin Mary, "let us draw near with a true heart, in fullness
of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,
and our bodies washed with clean water,"[160] let us draw
near to the "High Priest"[161] that with Him we may
share His life and sentiments and by Him penetrate "even
within the veil,"[162] and there honor the heavenly Father
for ever and ever.
171. Such is the nature and the object of the sacred liturgy:
it treats of the Mass, the sacraments, the divine office; it aims
at uniting our souls with Christ and sanctifying them through
the divine Redeemer in order that Christ be honored and, through
Him and in Him, the most Holy Trinity, Glory be to the Father
and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.
172. In order that the errors and inaccuracies, mentioned above,
may be more easily removed from the Church, and that the faithful
following safer norms may be able to use more fruitfully the liturgical
apostolate, We have deemed it opportune, Venerable Brethren, to
add some practical applications of the doctrine which We have
explained.
173. When dealing with genuine and solid piety We stated that
there could be no real opposition between the sacred liturgy and
other religious practices, provided they be kept within legitimate
bounds and performed for a legitimate purpose. In fact, there
are certain exercises of piety which the Church recommends very
much to clergy and religious.
174. It is Our wish also that the faithful, as well, should take
part in these practices. The chief of these are: meditation on
spiritual things, diligent examination of conscience, enclosed
retreats, visits to the blessed sacrament, and those special prayers
in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary among which the rosary, as
all know, has pride of place.[163]
175. From these multiple forms of piety, the inspiration and action
of the Holy Spirit cannot be absent. Their purpose is, in various
ways, to attract and direct our souls to God, purifying them from
their sins, encouraging them to practice virtue and, finally,
stimulating them to advance along the path of sincere piety by
accustoming them to meditate on the eternal truths and disposing
them better to contemplate the mysteries of the human and divine
natures of Christ. Besides, since they develop a deeper spiritual
life of the faithful, they prepare them to take part in sacred
public functions with greater fruit, and they lessen the danger
of liturgical prayers becoming an empty ritualism.
176. In keeping with your pastoral solicitude, Venerable Brethren,
do not cease to recommend and encourage these exercises of piety
from which the faithful, entrusted to your care, cannot but derive
salutary fruit. Above all, do not allow - as some do, who are
deceived under the pretext of restoring the liturgy or who idly
claim that only liturgical rites are of any real value and dignity
- that churches be closed during the hours not appointed for public
functions, as has already happened in some places: where the adoration
of the august sacrament and visits to our Lord in the tabernacles
are neglected; where confession of devotion is discouraged; and
devotion to the Virgin Mother of God, a sign of "predestination"
according to the opinion of holy men, is so neglected, especially
among the young, as to fade away and gradually vanish. Such conduct
most harmful to Christian piety is like poisonous fruit, growing
on the infected branches of a healthy tree, which must be cut
off so that the life-giving sap of the tree may bring forth only
the best fruit.
177. Since the opinions expressed by some about frequent confession
are completely foreign to the spirit of Christ and His Immaculate
Spouse and are also most dangerous to the spiritual life, let
Us call to mind what with sorrow We wrote about this point in
the encyclical on the Mystical Body. We urgently insist once more
that what We expounded in very serious words be proposed by you
for the serious consideration and dutiful obedience of your flock,
especially to students for the priesthood and young clergy.
178. Take special care that as many as possible, not only of the
clergy but of the laity and especially those in religious organizations
and in the ranks of Catholic Action, take part in monthly days
of recollection and in retreats of longer duration made with a
view to growing in virtue. As We have previously stated, such
spiritual exercises are most useful and even necessary to instill
into souls solid virtue, and to strengthen them in sanctity so
as to be able to derive from the sacred liturgy more efficacious
and abundant benefits.
179. As regards the different methods employed in these exercises,
it is perfectly clear to all that in the Church on earth, no less
in the Church in heaven, there are many mansions,[164] and that
asceticism cannot be the monopoly of anyone. It is the same spirit
who breatheth where He will,[165] and who with differing gifts
and in different ways enlightens and guides souls to sanctity.
Let their freedom and the supernatural action of the Holy Spirit
be so sacrosanct that no one presume to disturb or stifle them
for any reason whatsoever.
180. However, it is well known that the spiritual exercise according
to the method and norms of St. Ignatius have been fully approved
and earnestly recommended by Our predecessors on account of their
admirable efficacy. We, too, for the same reason have approved
and commended them and willingly do We repeat this now.
181. Any inspiration to follow and practice extraordinary exercises
of piety must most certainly come from the Father of Lights, from
whom every good and perfect gift descends;[166] and, of course,
the criterion of this will be the effectiveness of these exercises
in making the divine cult loved and spread daily ever more widely,
and in making the faithful approach the sacraments with more longing
desire, and in obtaining for all things holy due respect and honor.
If on the contrary, they are an obstacle to principles and norms
of divine worship, or if they oppose or hinder them, one must
surely conclude that they are not in keeping with prudence and
enlightened zeal.
182. There are, besides, other exercises of piety which, although
not strictly belonging to the sacred liturgy, are, nevertheless,
of special import and dignity, and may be considered in a certain
way to be an addition to the liturgical cult; they have been approved
and praised over and over again by the Apostolic See and by the
bishops. Among these are the prayers usually said during the month
of May in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God, or during
the month of June to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus: also novenas
and triduums, stations of the cross and other similar practices.
183. These devotions make us partakers in a salutary manner of
the liturgical cult, because they urge the faithful to go frequently
to the sacrament of penance, to attend Mass and receive communion
with devotion, and, as well, encourage them to meditate on the
mysteries of our redemption and imitate the example of the saints.
184. Hence, he would do something very wrong and dangerous who
would dare to take on himself to reform all these exercises of
piety and reduce them completely to the methods and norms of liturgical
rites. However, it is necessary that the spirit of the sacred
liturgy and its directives should exercise such a salutary influence
on them that nothing improper be introduced nor anything unworthy
of the dignity of the house of God or detrimental to the sacred
functions or opposed to solid piety.
185. Take care then, Venerable Brethren, that this true and solid
piety increases daily and more under your guidance and bears more
abundant fruit. Above all, do not cease to inculcate into the
minds of all that progress in the Christian life does not consist
in the multiplicity and variety of prayers and exercises of piety,
but rather in their helpfulness towards spiritual progress of
the faithful and constant growth of the Church universal. For
the eternal Father "chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and unspotted in His sight."[167]
All our prayers, then, and all our religious practices should
aim at directing our spiritual energies towards attaining this
most noble and lofty end.
186. We earnestly exhort you, Venerable Brethren, that after errors
and falsehoods have been removed, and anything that is contrary
to truth or moderation has been condemned, you promote a deeper
knowledge among the people of the sacred liturgy so that they
more readily and easily follow the sacred rites and take part
in them with true Christian dispositions.
187. First of all, you must strive that with due reverence and
faith all obey the decrees of the Council of Trent, of the Roman
Pontiffs, and the Sacred Congregation of Rites, and what the liturgical
books ordain concerning external public worship.
188. Three characteristics of which Our predecessor Pius X spoke
should adorn all liturgical services: sacredness, which abhors
any profane influence; nobility, which true and genuine arts should
serve and foster; and universality, which, while safeguarding
local and legitimate custom, reveals the catholic unity of the
Church.[168]
189. We desire to commend and urge the adornment of churches and
altars. Let each one feel moved by the inspired word, "the
zeal of thy house hath eaten me up";[169] and strive as much
as in him lies that everything in the church, including vestments
and liturgical furnishings, even though not rich nor lavish, be
perfectly clean and appropriate, since all is consecrated to the
Divine Majesty. If we have previously disapproved of the error
of those who would wish to outlaw images from churches on the
plea of reviving an ancient tradition, We now deem it Our duty
to censure the inconsiderate zeal of those who propose for veneration
in the Churches and on the altars, without any just reason, a
multitude of sacred images and statues, and also those who display
unauthorized relics, those who emphasize special and insignificant
practices, neglecting essential and necessary things. They thus
bring religion into derision and lessen the dignity of worship.
190. Let us recall, as well, the decree about "not introducing
new forms of worship and devotion."[170] We commend the exact
observance of this decree to your vigilance.
191. As regards music, let the clear and guiding norms of the
Apostolic See be scrupulously observed. Gregorian chant, which
the Roman Church considers her own as handed down from antiquity
and kept under her close tutelage, is proposed to the faithful
as belonging to them also. In certain parts of the liturgy the
Church definitely prescribes it;[171] it makes the celebration
of the sacred mysteries not only more dignified and solemn but
helps very much to increase the faith and devotion of the congregation.
For this reason, Our predecessors of immortal memory, Pius X and
Pius XI, decree - and We are happy to confirm with Our authority
the norms laid down by them - that in seminaries and religious
institutes, Gregorian chant be diligently and zealously promoted,
and moreover that the old Scholae Cantorum be restored, at least
in the principal churches. This has already been done with happy
results in not a few places.[172]
192. Besides, "so that the faithful take a more active part
in divine worship, let Gregorian chant be restored to popular
use in the parts proper to the people. Indeed it is very necessary
that the faithful attend the sacred ceremonies not as if they
were outsiders or mute onlookers, but let them fully appreciate
the beauty of the liturgy and take part in the sacred ceremonies,
alternating their voices with the priest and the choir, according
to the prescribed norms. If, please God, this is done, it will
not happen that the congregation hardly ever or only in a low
murmur answer the prayers in Latin or in the vernacular."[173]
A congregation that is devoutly present at the sacrifice, in which
our Savior together with His children redeemed with His sacred
blood sings the nuptial hymn of His immense love, cannot keep
silent, for "song befits the lover"[174] and, as the
ancient saying has it, "he who sings well prays twice."
Thus the Church militant, faithful as well as clergy, joins in
the hymns of the Church triumphant and with the choirs of angels,
and, all together, sing a wondrous and eternal hymn of praise
to the most Holy Trinity in keeping with words of the preface,
"with whom our voices, too, thou wouldst bid to be admitted."[175]
193. It cannot be said that modem music and singing should be
entirely excluded from Catholic worship. For, if they are not
profane nor unbecoming to the sacredness of the place and function,
and do not spring from a desire of achieving extraordinary and
unusual effects, then our churches must admit them since they
can contribute in no small way to the splendor of the sacred ceremonies,
can lift the mind to higher things and foster true devotion of
soul.
194. We also exhort you, Venerable Brethren, to promote with care
congregational singing, and to see to its accurate execution with
all due dignity, since it easily stirs up and arouses the faith
and piety of large gatherings of the faithful. Let the full harmonious
singing of our people rise to heaven like the bursting of a thunderous
sea[176] and let them testify by the melody of their song to the
unity of their hearts and minds[177], as becomes brothers and
the children of the same Father.
195. What We have said about music, applies to the other fine
arts, especially to architecture, sculpture and painting. Recent
works of art which lend themselves to the materials of modern
composition, should not be universally despised and rejected through
prejudice. Modern art should be given free scope in the due and
reverent service of the church and the sacred rites, provided
that they preserve a correct balance between styles tending neither
to extreme realism nor to excessive "symbolism," and
that the needs of the Christian community are taken into consideration
rather than the particular taste or talent of the individual artist.
Thus modern art will be able to join its voice to that wonderful
choir of praise to which have contributed, in honor of the Catholic
faith, the greatest artists throughout the centuries. Nevertheless,
in keeping with the duty of Our office, We cannot help deploring
and condemning those works of art, recently introduced by some,
which seem to be a distortion and perversion of true art and which
at times openly shock Christian taste, modesty and devotion, and
shamefully offend the true religious sense. These must be entirely
excluded and banished from our churches, like "anything else
that is not in keeping with the sanctity of the place."[178]
196. Keeping in mind, Venerable Brethren, pontifical norms and
decrees, take great care to enlighten and direct the minds and
hearts of the artists to whom is given the task today of restoring
or rebuilding the many churches which have been ruined or completely
destroyed by war. Let them be capable and willing to draw their
inspiration from religion to express what is suitable and more
in keeping with the requirements of worship. Thus the human arts
will shine forth with a wondrous heavenly splendor, and contribute
greatly to human civilization, to the salvation of souls and the
glory of God. The fine arts are really in conformity with religion
when "as noblest handmaids they are at the service of divine
worship."[179]
197. But there is something else of even greater importance, Venerable
Brethren, which We commend to your apostolic zeal, in a very special
manner. Whatever pertains to the external worship has assuredly
its importance; however, the most pressing duty of Christians
is to live the liturgical life, and increase and cherish its supernatural
spirit.
198. Readily provide the young clerical student with facilities
to understand the sacred ceremonies, to appreciate their majesty
and beauty and to learn the rubrics with care, just as you do
when he is trained in ascetics, in dogma and in a canon law and
pastoral theology. This should not be done merely for cultural
reasons and to fit the student to perform religious rites in the
future, correctly and with due dignity, but especially to lead
him into closest union with Christ, the Priest, so that he may
become a holy minister of sanctity.
199. Try in every way, with the means and helps that your prudence
deems best, that the clergy and people become one in mind and
heart, and that the Christian people take such an active part
in the liturgy that it becomes a truly sacred action of due worship
tO the eternal Lord in which the priest, chiefly responsible for
the souls of his parish, and the ordinary faithful are united
together.
200. To attain this purpose, it will greatly help to select carefully
good and upright young boys from all classes of citizens who will
come generously and spontaneously to serve at the altar with careful
zeal and exactness. Parents of higher social standing and culture
should greatly esteem this office for their children. If these
youths, under the watchful guidance of the priests, are properly
trained and encouraged to fulfill the task committed to them punctually,
reverently and constantly, then from their number will readily
come fresh candidates for the priesthood. The clergy will not
then complain - as, alas, sometimes happens even in Catholic places
- that in the celebration of the august sacrifice they find no
one to answer or serve them.
201. Above all, try with your constant zeal to have all the faithful
attend the eucharistic sacrifice from which they may obtain abundant
and salutary fruit; and carefully instruct them in all the legitimate
ways we have described above so that they may devoutly participate
in it. The Mass is the chief act of divine worship; it should
also be the source and center of Christian piety. Never think
that you have satisfied your apostolic zeal until you see your
faithful approach in great numbers the celestial banquet which
is a sacrament of devotion, a sign of unity and a bond of love.[180]
202. By means of suitable sermons and particularly by periodic
conferences and lectures, by special study weeks and the like,
teach the Christian people carefully about the treasures of piety
contained in the sacred liturgy so that they may be able to profit
more abundantly by these supernatural gifts. In this matter, those
who are active in the ranks of Catholic Action will certainly
be a help to you, since they are ever at the service of the hierarchy
in the work of promoting the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
203. But in all these matters, it is essential that you watch
vigilantly lest the enemy come into the field of the Lord and
sow cockle among the wheat;[181] in other words, do not let your
flocks be deceived by the subtle and dangerous errors of false
mysticism or quietism - as you know We have already condemned
these errors;[182] also do not let a certain dangerous "humanism"
lead them astray, nor let there be introduced a false doctrine
destroying the notion of Catholic faith, nor finally an exaggerated
zeal for antiquity in matters liturgical. Watch with like diligence
lest the false teaching of those be propagated who wrongly think
and teach that the glorified human nature of Christ really and
continually dwells in the "just" by His presence and
that one and numerically the same grace, as they say, unites Christ
with the members of His Mystical Body.
204. Never be discouraged by the difficulties that arise, and
never let your pastoral zeal grow cold. "Blow the trumpet
in Sion . . . call an assembly, gather together the people, sanctify
the Church, assemble the ancients, gather together the little
ones, and them that suck at the breasts,"[183] and use every
help to get the faithful everywhere to fill the churches and crowd
around the altars so that they may be restored by the graces of
the sacraments and joined as living members to their divine Head,
and with Him and through Him celebrate together the august sacrifice
that gives due tribute of praise to the Eternal Father.
205. These, Venerable Brethren, are the subjects We desired to
write to you about. We are moved to write that your children,
who are also Ours, may more fully understand and appreciate the
most precious treasures which are contained in the sacred liturgy:
namely, the eucharistic sacrifice, representing and renewing the
sacrifice of the cross, the sacraments which are the streams of
divine grace and of divine life, and the hymn of praise, which
heaven and earth daily offer to God.
206. We cherish the hope that these Our exhortations will not
only arouse the sluggish and recalcitrant to a deeper and more
correct study of the liturgy, but also instill into their daily
lives its supernatural spirit according to the words of the Apostle,
"extinguish not the spirit."[184]
207. To those whom an excessive zeal occasionally led to say and
do certain things which saddened Us and which We could not approve,
we repeat the warning of St. Paul, "But prove all things,
hold fast that which is good."[185] Let Us paternally warn
them to imitate in their thoughts and actions the Christian doctrine
which is in harmony with the precepts of the immaculate Spouse
of Jesus Christ, the mother of saints.
208. Let Us remind all that they must generously and faithfully
obey their holy pastors who possess the right and duty of regulating
the whole life, especially the spiritual life, of the Church.
"Obey your prelates and be subject to them. For they watch
as being to render an account of your souls; that they may do
this with joy and not with grief."[186]
209. May God, whom we worship, and who is "not the God of
dissension but of peace,"[187] graciously grant to us all
that during our earthly exile we may with one mind and one heart
participate in the sacred liturgy which is, as it were, a preparation
and a token of that heavenly liturgy in which we hope one day
to sing together with the most glorious Mother of God and our
most loving Mother, "To Him that sitteth on the throne, and
to the Lamb, benediction and honor, and glory and power for ever
and ever."[188]
210. In this joyous hope, We most lovingly impart to each and
every one of you, Venerable Brethren, and to the flocks confided
to your care, as a pledge of divine gifts and as a witness of
Our special love, the apostolic benediction.
Given at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, on the 20th day of November
in the year 1947, the 9th of Our Pontificate.
PIUS XII
________________________________________
1. 1 Tim. 2:5.
2. Cf. Heb. 4:14.
3. Cf. Heb. 9:14.
4. Cf. Mal.1:11.
5. Cf. Council of Trent Sess. 22, c. 1.
6. Cf. ibid., c. 2.
7. Encyclical Letter Caritate Christi, May 3, 1932.
8. Cf. Apostolic Letter (Motu Proprio) In cotidianis precibus,
March 24, 1945.
9. 1 Cor. 10:17.
10. Saint Thomas, Summa Theologica, IIª IIª³ q.
81, art. 1.
11. Cf. Book of Leviticus.
12. Cf. Heb.10:1.
13. John, 1:14.
14. Heb.10:5-7.
15. Ibid. 10:10.
16. John, 1:9.
17. Heb.10:39.
18. Cf. 1 John, 2:1.
19. Cf. 1 Tim. 3:15.
20. Cf. Boniface IX, Ab origine mundi, October 7, 1391; Callistus
III, Summus Pontifex, January 1, 1456; Pius II, Triumphans Pastor,
April 22, 1459; Innocent XI, Triumphans Pastor, October 3, 1678.
21. Eph. 2:19-22.
22. Matt. 18:20.
23. Acts, 2:42.
24. Col. 3:16.
25. Saint Augustine, Epist. 130, ad Probam, 18.
26. Roman Missal, Preface for Christmas.
27. Giovanni Cardinal Bona, De divina psalmodia, c. 19, par. 3,
1.
28. Roman Missal, Secret for Thursday after the Second Sunday
of Lent.
29. Cf. Mark, 7:6 and Isaias, 29:13.
30. 1 Cor.11:28.
31. Roman Missal, Ash Wednesday; Prayer after the imposition of
ashes.
32. De praedestinatione sanctorum, 31.
33. Cf. Saint Thomas, Summa Theologica, IIª IIª³,
q. 82, art. 1.
34. Cf. 1 Cor. 3:23.
35. Heb. 10:19-24.
36. Cf. 2 Cor. 6:1.
37. Cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 125, 126, 565, 571,595,1367.
38. Col. 3:11.
39. Cf. Gal. 4:19.
40. John, 20:21.
41. Luke, 10:16.
42. Mark, 16:15-16.
43. Roman Pontifical, Ordination of a priest: anointing of hands.
44. Enchiridion, c. 3.
45. De gratia Dei "Indiculus."
46. Saint Augustine, Epist. 130, ad Probam, 18.
47. Cf. Constitution Divini cultus, December 20, 1928.
48. Constitution Immensa, January 22, 1588.
49. Code of Canon Law, can. 253.
50. Cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 1257.
51. Cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 1261.
52. Cf. Matt. 28:20.
53. Cf. Pius VI, Constitution Auctorem fidei, August 28, 1794,
nn. 31-34, 39, 62, 66, 69-74.
54. Cf. John, 21:15-17.
55. Acts, 20:28.
56. Ps.109:4.
57. John, 13:1.
58. Council of Trent, Sess. 22, c. 1.
59. Ibid., c. 2.
60. Cf. Saint Thomas, Summa Theologica, IIIª, q. 22, art.
4.
61. Saint John Chrysostom, In Joann. Hom., 86:4.
62. Rom. 6:9.
63. Cf. Roman Missal, Preface.
64. Cf. Ibid., Canon.
65. Mark, 14:23.
66. Roman Missal, Preface.
67. 1 John, 2:2.
68. Roman Missal, Canon of the Mass.
69. Saint Augustine, De Trinit., Book XIII, c. 19.
70. Heb. 5:7.
71. Cf. Sess. 22, c. 1.
72. Cf. Heb. 10:14.
73. Saint Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 147, n. 16.
74. Gal. 2:19-20.
75. Encyclical Letter, Mystici Corporis, June 29, 1943.
76. Roman Missal, Secret of the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost.
77. Cf. Sess. 22, c. 2. and can. 4.
78. Cf. Gal. 6:14.
79. Mal. 1:11.
80. Phil. 2:5.
81. Gal. 2:19.
82. Cf. Council of Trent, Sess. 23. c. 4.
83. Cf. Saint Robert Bellarmine, De Missa, 2, c.4.
84. De Sacro Altaris Mysterio, 3:6.
85. De Missa, 1, c. 27.
86. Roman Missal, Ordinary of the Mass.
87. Ibid., Canon of the Mass.
88. Roman Missal, Canon of the Mass.
89. 1 Peter, 2:5.
90. Rom. 12:1.
91. Roman Missal, Canon of the Mass.
92. Roman Pontifical, Ordination of a priest.
93. Ibid., Consecration of an altar, Preface.
94. Cf. Council of Trent, Sess. 22, c. 5.
95. Gal. 2:19-20.
96. Cf. Serm. 272.
97. Cf. 1 Cor. 12:27.
98. Cf. Eph. 5:30.
99. Cf. Saint Robert Bellarmine, De Missa, 2, c. 8.
100. Cf. De Civitate Dei, Book 10, c. 6.
101. Roman Missal, Canon of the Mass.
102. Cf. 1 Tim. 2:5.
103. Encyclical Letter Certiores effecti, November 13, 1742, par.
1.
104. Council of Trent, Sess. 22, can. 8.
105. 1 Cor. 11:24.
106. Roman Missal, Collect for Feast of Corpus Christi.
107. Sess. 22, c. 6.
108. Encyclical Letter Certiores effecti, par. 3.
109. Cf. Luke, 14:23.
110. 1 Cor. 10:17.
111. Cf. Saint Ignatius Martyr, Ad Eph. 20.
112. Roman Missal, Canon of the Mass.
113. Eph. 5:20.
114. Roman Missal, Postcommunion for Sunday within the Octave
of Ascension.
115. Ibid., Postcommunion for First Sunday after Pentecost.
116. Code of Canon Law, can. 810.
117. Book IV, c. 12.
118. Dan. 3:57.
119. Cf. John 16: 3.
120. Roman Missal, Secret for Mass of the Most Blessed Trinity.
121. John, 15:4.
122. Council of Trent, Sess. 13, can. 1.
123. Second Council of Constantinople, Anath, de trib. Capit.,
can. 9; compare Council of Ephesus, Anath. Cyrill, can 8. Cf.
Council of Trent, Sess. 13, can. 6; Pius VI Constitution Auctorem
fidei, n. 61.
124. Cf. Enarr in Ps. 98:9.
125. Apoc. 5:12, cp. 7:10.
126. Cf. Council of Trent, Sess. 13, c. 5 and can. 6.
127. In I ad Cor., 24:4.
128. Cf. 1 Peter, 1:19.
129. Matt. 11:28.
130. Cf. Roman Missal, Collect for Mass for the Dedication of
a Church.
131. Roman Missal, Sequence Lauda Sion in Mass for Feast of Corpus
Christi.
132. Luke, 18:1.
133. Heb. 13:15.
134. Cf. Acts, 2:1-15.
135. Ibid., 10:9.
136. Ibid., 3:1.
137. Ibid., 16:25.
138. Rom. 8:26.
139. Saint Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 85, n. 1.
140. Saint Benedict, Regula Monachorum, c. 19.
141. Heb. 7:25.
142. Explicatio in Psalterium, Preface. Text as found in Migne,
Parres Larini, 70:10. But some are of the opinion that part of
this passage should not be attributed to Cassiodorus.
143. Saint Ambrose, Enarr in Ps. 1, n. 9.
144. Exod. 31:15.
145. Confessions, Book 9, c. 6.
146. Saint Augustine, De Civitate Dei, Book 8, c. 17.
147. Col.3:1-2.
148. Saint Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 123, n. 2.
149. Heb. 13:8.
150. Saint Thomas, Summa Theologica IIIª, q. 49 and q. 62,
art. 5.
151. Cf. Acts, 10:38.
152. Eph. 4:13.
153. Roman Missal, Collect for Third Mass of Several Martyrs outside
Paschaltide.
154. Saint Bede the Venerable, Hom. subd. 70 for Feast of All
Saints.
155. Roman Missal, Collect for Mass of Saint John Damascene.
156. Saint Bernard, Sermon 2 for Feast of All Saints.
157. Luke, 1:28.
158. "Salve Regina."
159. Saint Bernard, In Nativ. B.M.V., 7.
160. Heb. 10:22.
161. Ibid., 10:21.
162. Ibid., 6:19.
163. Cf. Code of Canon Law, Can. 125.
164. Cf. John, 14:2.
165. John, 3:8.
166. Cf. James, 1:17.
167. Eph. 1:4.
168. Cf. Apostolic Letter (Motu Proprio) Tra le sollecitudini,
November 22, 1903.
169. Ps. 68:9; John, 2:17.
170. Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, Decree of
May 26, 1937.
171. Cf. Pius X, Apostolic Letter (Motu Proprio) Tra le sollectitudini.
172. Cf. Pius X, loc. cit.; Pius XI, Constitution Divini cultus,
2, 5.
173. Pius XI, Constitution Divini cultus, 9.
174. Saint Augustine, Serm. 336, n. 1.
175. Roman Missal, Preface.
176. Saint Ambrose, Hexameron, 3:5, 23.
177. Cf. Acts, 4:32.
178. Code of Canon Law, can. 1178.
179. Pius XI, Constitution Divini cultus.
180. Cf. Saint Augustine, Tract. 26 in John 13.
181. Cf. Matt. 13:24-25.
182. Encyclical letter Mystici Corporis.
183. Joel, 2:15-16.
184. I Thess. 5:19.
185. lbid., 5:21.
186. Heb. 13:17
187. 1 Cor.14:33.
188. Apoc. 5:13.
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