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Vatican 2 on the Sacred LiturgyThe extracts below from Sacrosanctum Concilum (December 4, 1963) show that recent instructions on the liturgy, including Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004) and the revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal (2002), breathe the same spirit as the Council and help us to understand better what liturgy reformed in keeping with the principles of the Council actually looks like. Young adults of today (and perhaps even their parents) do not have personal memories of the Council, so it may be helpful to provide some context by considering what liturgy was like before the Council. The 1962 Missale Romanum had just been issued. While an English translation would have been printed in missals for the laity to follow along with, the priest and server recited the prayers of the mass in Latin. In some places, the laity were encouraged to join in the responses, in what was called a "dialogue mass." Music was not emphasized as much as it is today. Most Catholics attended "low mass," which may have had some hymns, but the text of the mass was spoken. Most parishes had a Sunday "high mass" at which the choir would sing, but the choir sang texts that the priest was also saying, and this led to some results that today might strike us as odd. The choir would sing the Introit, the Kyrie, and the Gloria, starting around the time that the priest was saying these texts, but the priest would finish before the choir and then sit down—as would the congregation! The rubrics say this was normal: (The priest concludes the Gloria below and sits while the choir sings it). When they were done, he'd stand up and pray the Collect. Something similar would happen at the Sanctus; the priest would finish it and immediately begin the Eucharistic Prayer, or Canon. He would be well into it before the choir was done singing; therefore, you knelt for the Sanctus, not when it was over. There were some differences in liturgical offices and ministries. You might have a "deacon" and a "sub-deacon" at a high mass, but since the order of permanent deacons we have today came after the Council, deacons then were more often priests wearing a deacon's stole and performing the function of a deacon. There were altar boys (only boys) but no lay readers, and the priest distributed communion either by himself, or with the assistance of other priests who would emerge from the rectory at communion time to assist. Mass was a quiet affair. Most of the words in the missal were never heard by the congregation. The Confiteor ("I confess to Almighty God") was said quietly at the foot of the altar by the priest to the server, and then by the server to the priest, as were the other Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, as well as the entire Canon, from the end of the Sanctus to the "per saecula saeculorum," which was the cue to respond, "Amen." The readings from Scripture were much shorter portions, using only a one-year cycle, with readings only from the Epistle and the Gospel, and in Latin. There was no responsorial Psalm. The priest would often reread both readings in English before the homily, but without the ceremonial attending the proclamation of the Gospel in Latin. There were no "Prayers of the Faithful." The liturgy was repetitious. There might not be just one Collect, but, depending on the day, two or three (and the same number of prayers would be said at the Offertory and after Communion. The priest would pray, three times, "Lord, I am not worthy," before communing himself; the people would then say it, three times, before they communed. All would kneel at the communion rail and receive communion on the tongue. Usually the laity would receive communion from Hosts taken from the tabernacle, but sometimes they would receive communion after mass was over. The laity never received the Precious Blood. After the dismissal, mass wasn't over. The priest had another prayer to say, and then he would read "The Last Gospel," John 1:1-14, quietly at the altar. At low mass, the people added additional prayers, prescribed by Pope Leo XIII, including three Hail Marys, the Salve Regina, and the Prayer to St. Michael. The Council wanted the heart of the mass to be retrieved from a lot of the clutter. The reforms suggested in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, and later put into place in a revised missal, simplified the ritual and the vestments. Repetitions were eliminated. The number of readings from Scripture was expanded, as well as their length, and the lectionary was exanded to a three year cycle. The number of private prayers said by the priest were reduced, and the Eucharistic Prayer was now prayed aloud, for all to hear and follow. The Prayers of the Faithful were added. Roles were clarified: the roles of choir and assembly were respected, so that now all joined in one singing of the Gloria and the Sanctus and other chants; the priest was only to say his own parts, and nobody else's. The structure of the liturgy was to be clearer. And above all else, the goal was to promote the "active participation" of the faithful. Sacrosanctum Concilum (December 4, 1963) INTRODUCTION 1. This sacred Council has several aims in view: it desires to impart an ever increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions which are subject to change; to foster whatever can promote union among all who believe in Christ; to strengthen whatever can help to call the whole of mankind into the household of the Church. The Council therefore sees particularly cogent reasons for undertaking the reform and promotion of the liturgy. 2. For the liturgy, "through which the work of our redemption is accomplished," (1) most of all in the divine sacrifice of the eucharist, is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church. It is of the essence of the Church that she be both human and divine, visible and yet invisibly equipped, eager to act and yet intent on contemplation, present in this world and yet not at home in it; and she is all these things in such wise that in her the human is directed and subordinated to the divine, the visible likewise to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, which we seek (2). While the liturgy daily builds up those who are within into a holy temple of the Lord, into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit (3), to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ (4), at the same time it marvelously strengthens their power to preach Christ, and thus shows forth the Church to those who are outside as a sign lifted up among the nations (5) under which the scattered children of God may be gathered together (6), until there is one sheepfold and one shepherd (7). CHAPTER I GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR THE: RESTORATION AND PROMOTION OF THE SACRED LITURGY 1. The Nature of the Sacred Liturgy and Its Importance in the Church's Life 7. To accomplish so great a work, Christ is always present in His Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of His minister, "the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the cross" (20), but especially under the eucharistic species. By His power He is present in the sacraments, so that when a man baptizes it is really Christ Himself who baptizes (21). He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. He is present, lastly, when the Church prays and sings, for He promised: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20) .... Rightly, then, the liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy the sanctification of the man is signified by signs perceptible to the senses, and is effected in a way which corresponds with each of these signs; in the liturgy the whole public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and His members. From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree. ... 10. ...[T]he liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows. For the aim and object of apostolic works is that all who are made sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord's supper. ... III. The Reform of the Sacred Liturgy 21. In order that the Christian people may more certainly derive an abundance of graces from the sacred liturgy, holy Mother Church desires to undertake with great care a general restoration of the liturgy itself. ... In this restoration, both texts and rites should be drawn up so that they express more clearly the holy things which they signify; the Christian people, so far as possible, should be enabled to understand them with ease and to take part in them fully, actively, and as befits a community. Wherefore the sacred Council establishes the following general norms: A) General norms 22. 1. Regulation of the sacred liturgy depends solely on the authority of the Church, that is, on the Apostolic See and, as laws may determine, on the bishop.
23. ... As far as possible, notable differences between the rites used in adjacent regions must be carefully avoided. 24. Sacred scripture is of the greatest importance in the celebration of the liturgy. For it is from scripture that lessons are read and explained in the homily, and psalms are sung; the prayers, collects, and liturgical songs are scriptural in their inspiration and their force, and it is from the scriptures that actions and signs derive their meaning. Thus to achieve the restoration, progress, and adaptation of the sacred liturgy, it is essential to promote that warm and living love for scripture to which the venerable tradition of both eastern and western rites gives testimony. B) Norms drawn from the hierarchic and communal nature of the Liturgy 26. Liturgical services are not private functions, but are celebrations of the Church, which is the "sacrament of unity," namely, the holy people united and ordered under their bishops (33) Therefore liturgical services pertain to the whole body of the Church; they manifest it and have effects upon it; but they concern the individual members of the Church in different ways, according to their differing rank, office, and actual participation. ... 28. In liturgical celebrations each person, minister or layman, who has an office to perform, should do all of, but only, those parts which pertain to his office by the nature of the rite and the principles of liturgy. 29. Servers, lectors commentators, and members of the choir also exercise a genuine liturgical function. They ought, therefore, to discharge their office with the sincere piety and decorum demanded by so exalted a ministry and rightly expected of them by God's people. Consequently they must all be deeply imbued with the spirit of the liturgy, each in his own measure, and they must be trained to perform their functions in a correct and orderly manner. 30. To promote active participation, the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes. And at the proper times all should observe a reverent silence.... CHAPTER II THE MOST SACRED MYSTERY OF THE EUCHARIST 47. At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity (36), a paschal banquet in which Christ is eaten, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us (37). 48. The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration. They should be instructed by God's word and be nourished at the table of the Lord's body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves; through Christ the Mediator (38), they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all.... 50. The rite of the Mass is to be revised in such a way that the intrinsic nature and purpose of its several parts, as also the connection between them, may be more clearly manifested, and that devout and active participation by the faithful may be more easily achieved. For this purpose the rites are to be simplified, due care being taken to preserve their substance; elements which, with the passage of time, came to be duplicated, or were added with but little advantage, are now to be discarded; other elements which have suffered injury through accidents of history are now to be restored to the vigor which they had in the days of the holy Fathers, as may seem useful or necessary. 51. The treasures of the bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God's word. In this way a more representative portion of the holy scriptures will be read to the people in the course of a prescribed number of years. 52. By means of the homily the mysteries of the faith and the guiding principles of the Christian life are expounded from the sacred text, during the course of the liturgical year; the homily, therefore, is to be highly esteemed as part of the liturgy itself; in fact, at those Masses which are celebrated with the assistance of the people on Sundays and feasts of obligation, it should not be omitted except for a serious reason. 53. Especially on Sundays and feasts of obligation there is to be restored, after the Gospel and the homily, "the common prayer" or "the prayer of the faithful." By this prayer, in which the people are to take part, intercession will be made for holy Church, for the civil authorities, for those oppressed by various needs, for all mankind, and for the salvation of the entire world (39). 54. In Masses which are celebrated with the people, a suitable place may be allotted to their mother tongue. This is to apply in the first place to the readings and "the common prayer," but also, as local conditions may warrant, to those parts which pertain to the people, according to the norm laid down in Art. 36 of this Constitution. Nevertheless steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them. ... 55. That more perfect form of participation in the Mass whereby the faithful, after the priest's communion, receive the Lord's body from the same sacrifice, is strongly commended. The dogmatic principles which were laid down by the Council of Trent remaining intact (40), communion under both kinds may be granted when the bishops think fit.... CHAPTER VI SACRED MUSIC 112. ... [S]acred music is to be considered the more holy in proportion as it is more closely connected with the liturgical action, whether it adds delight to prayer, fosters unity of minds, or confers greater solemnity upon the sacred rites.... 114. The treasure of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care. Choirs must be diligently promoted, especially in cathedral churches; but bishops and other pastors of souls must be at pains to ensure that, whenever the sacred action is to be celebrated with song, the whole body of the faithful may be able to contribute that active participation which is rightly theirs, as laid down in Art. 28 and 30. ... 116. The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services. But other kinds of sacred music, especially polyphony, are by no means excluded from liturgical celebrations, so long as they accord with the spirit of the liturgical action, as laid down in Art. 30.... 118. Religious singing by the people is to be intelligently fostered so that in devotions and sacred exercises, as also during liturgical services, the voices of the faithful may ring out according to the norms and requirements of the rubrics.... 120. In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man's mind to God and to higher things. But other instruments also may be admitted for use in divine worship, with the knowledge and consent of the competent territorial authority, as laid down in Art. 22, 52, 37, and 40. This may be done, however, only on condition that the instruments are suitable, or can be made suitable, for sacred use, accord with the dignity of the temple, and truly contribute to the edification of the faithful. 121. Composers, filled with the Christian spirit, should feel that their vocation is to cultivate sacred music and increase its store of treasures. Let them produce compositions which have the qualities proper to genuine sacred music, not confining themselves to works which can be sung only by large choirs, but providing also for the needs of small choirs and for the active participation of the entire assembly of the faithful. The texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine; indeed they should be drawn chiefly from holy scripture and from liturgical sources.
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