IftleMafror Dei
Encyclical tetter of Tope DIusXII

on the 6acrefc Difurgy



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ENCYCLICAL LETTER

OF HIS HOLINESS

PIUS XII

THE SACRED LITURGY

(Vatican Library Translation)

National Catholic Welfare Conference

1312 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE, N. W.

WASHINGTON 5, D. C.



Discussion Outline, Suggested Religious Practices and Suggestions for

Further Reading by Rev. Shawn G. Sheehan, Secretary,

National Liturgical Conference

Additional copies available at

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First Printing, June, 1948

Second Printing, September, 1948



TO OUR VENERABLE BRETHREN

THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS

AND OTHER ORDINARIES

IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE

POPE PIUS XII

VENERABLE BRETHREN

HEALTH AND APOSTOLIC BENEDICTION

INTRODUCTION

Jesus Christ Redeemer of the World

1. 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.

1 I Tim., II, 5.
2 Cf. Hcbr., IV, 14.
3 Cf. Hebr., IX, 14.

3



The Church continues the priestly office of Jesus Christ

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 estab-
lished 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 re-presented 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 stage 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

Revival of liturgical studies

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 particu-

larly 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

4 Cf. Mal., I. 11.

5 Cf. Cone. Trid, Sess. XXII, c. 1.
o Cf. Ibid., c. 2.

7 Litt. Encj'cl. Caritate Chris ti d. d. iii Mail a. mcmxxxii.

4



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, 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 like-

wise to the fact that all the faithful make up a single and very com-

pact body with Christ for its Head, and that the Christian com-

munity is in duty bound to participate in the liturgical rites accord-

ing to their station.

Provision of the Holy See for Liturgical Worship

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 par-

ticipation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Only a short while previ-

ously, with the design of rendering the prayers of the Liturgy more

correctly understood and their truth and unction more easy to per-

ceive, We arranged to have the Book of Psalms, which forms such
an important part of these prayers in the Catholic Church, trans-

lated once more 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 quar-

ters, and to take proper steps to preserve it at the outset from ex-

cess or outright perversion.

Deficiencies of some . . . Exaggerations of others

8. Indeed, though We are sorely grieved to note, on the one
hand, that there are places where the spirit, understanding or prac-

8 Cf. Litt. Ap. Motu Proprio In cotidianis precibus d. d. xxiv Martii a.
MCMXXXXV.

5



tice of the sacred Liturgy is defective, or all but inexistent, We
observe with considerable anxiety and some misgiving, that else-

where 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 com-
mending them when We correct the faults of those who are negli-
gent 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 Au-

thority.

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 honour 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 its 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 spir.it 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

6



one brotherhood : “for we, being many, are one body : all that par-

take of one bread.”
9

PART I

THE NATURE, SOURCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LITURGY

I. The Liturgy is Public Worship

To honor God: The duty of individuals

13. It is unquestionably the fundamental duty of man to orien-

tate 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 sub-

missive 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.

The duty of the community

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 this

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 min-

9 I Cor., X, 17.
10

S. Thom., Summa Theol., II-II, q. LXXXI, art. 1.

7



isters were to be clothed and every function in any way pertain-

ing 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.

Honor given to the Father by the Incarnate Word ... on Earth

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 : “In the which ‘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, and 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 Sacrament^

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.

11 Cf. Lib. Levitici.

12 Cf. Hebr., X, 1.

13 IoAN., I, 14.

14 Hebr., X, 5-7.

15 Ibidem, X, 10.

16 IOAN, I, 9.

17 Hebr, X, 39.

8



... in Heaven

18. But it is His will, besides, that the worship He instituted
and practiced during His life on earth shall continue ever after-

wards without any 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 con-

stituted “the pillar of truth,”
19 and dispenser of grace, and which,

by His sacrifice on the Cross, He founded, consecrated and con-
firmed forever.

20

In union with Christ, the Church continues to honor God

19. The Church has, therefore, in common with the Word In-

carnate 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

reestablishes 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 foundations 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 into 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 pos-

sible for the sacred temple, where the Divine Majesty receives the

acceptable worship which His law prescribes, to increase and

18 Cf. I loan., II, 1.
19 Cf. I Tim., Ill, 15.
20 Cf. Bonif. IX, Ab origine mundi, d. d. vn Oct. a. mcccxci; Callist. Ill,

Summus Pontifex, d. d. i Ian. a. mcccclvi; Pius II, Triumphans Pastor,
d. d. xxn Apr. mcccclix; Innoc. XI, Triumphans Pastor, d. d. hi Oct. a.
MDCLX XVIII.

21 Ephes., II, 19-22.

9



prosper day by day in this land of exile on 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 the 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.

Historical beginnings of the sacred Liturgy

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 for the benefit of all his

listeners.

Its organization and developments

22. As circumstances and the needs of the Christians warrant,

22 Matth., XVIII, 20.
23 Act., II, 42.

24 Coloss., Ill, 16.

10



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 im-

placable enemy. She gathers all Christians about her altars, invit-

ing 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 nuptials of those who are destined to found and

bring up a Christian family. When at 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 chil-

dren 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.

II. The Liturgy is Exterior and Interior Worship

Exterior worship

23. The worship rendered by the Church to God must be, in its

entirety, interior as well as exterior. It is exterior because the

25
S. Augustin., Epist. 130, ad Probam, 18.

11



nature of man as a composite 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

own 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 pro-

vide 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

But it is especially interior worship

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 re-

quires, however, that both of these elements be intimately linked

with each other. This recommendation the Liturgy itself is care-

ful 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 unworthy to worship

there, people who pretend to honour God with nothing but neat

and well-turned phrases, like actors in a theatre, and think them-

selves perfectly capable of working out their eternal salvation

without plucking their inveterate vices from their hearts.29 It is.

26 Missale Rom., Praef. Nativ.
27

I. Card. Bona, De divina psalmodia, cap. 19, § III, 1.
28 Missale Rom., Secreta feriae V post Dom. II Quadrag.
28 Cf. Marc., VII, 6 et Is., XXIX, 13.

12



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 ven-

erate 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 thanks-
giving to Him Who is King of Kings and Source of every blessing.
She would have them move their lips in prayer, sometimes in peti-

tion, 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

Thabor, to mystic union with the Eternal God in contemplation.

Exaggeration of the external element

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.

New theories on “objective piety”

28. In this connection, Venerable Brethren, We desire to direct
your attention to certain recent theories touching a so-called “ob-

jective” 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

13



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, notably 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. Sacra-

ments 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 profound 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 the two sorts of piety are false, insidious, and quite

pernicious.

Necessity of personal piety

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 rightly

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 prac-

ticed during the season of Lent, “the Christian army’s defenses.” 31

They represent, in fact, the personal effort and activity of mem-

bers who desire, as grace urges and aids them, to join forces with

their Captain
—

“that we may discover ... in our Captain,” to

30 1 Cor., XI, 28.
31 Missale Rom., Feria IV Cinerum : orat. post imposit., cinerun}.

14



borrow Saint 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.

Necessity of meditation and spiritual exercises

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 deserves 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 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
;
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

32 De praedestinatione sanctorum, 31.
33 Cf. S. Thom., Summa Theol., II-II, q. LXXXII, a. 1.

15



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.

The concrete results of piety

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 in His

likeness, and drawing from Him the divine inspiration and strength

of which it stands in need. They must serve as increasingly effec-

tive 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 every-

thing, therefore, have its proper place and arrangement
;
let every-

thing be “theocentric” so to speak, if we really wish to direct

everything to the glory of God through the life and power which

flows 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 fulness

of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and

our bodies washed with clean water, let us hold fast the confesssion

of our hope without wavering . . . and let us consider one another,

to provoke unto charity and to good works.” 35

34 Cf. I Cor., Ill, 23.

35 Hebr., X, 19-24.

16



Harmony and equilibrium among the members of the Mystical Body

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, to-

wards 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 prompting 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 disposi-

tions. 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.

Agreement between divine action and human cooperation

36.

In the spiritual life, consequently, there can be no opposi-

tion 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 admin-
istration of the Sacraments, which comes from the rite itself ( ex

opere operato), be opposed to the meritorious action of their min-

isters or recipients, which we call the agent’s action (opus oper-

36 Cf. II Cor VI, 1.

17



antis). 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 exer-

cised 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 reasons 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 Unques-

tionably liturgical prayer, being the public supplication of the illus-

trious 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

III. The Liturgy Under the Hierarchy of the Church

The nature of the Church requires a Hierarchy

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 priest-

hood, 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

37 Cf. C. I. C., can. 125, 126, 565, 571, 595, 1367.

38 Coloss., Ill, 11.

39 Cf. Gal, IV, 19.

18



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

vicegerent 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

. . . and hence a visible external priesthood

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 these official acts of religion by which men are

sanctified and God is duly glorified in keeping with the divine

laws and regulations.

Consecrated by the Sacrament of Holy Orders

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 conse-

quently 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

40 Ioan., XX, 21.
41 Luc., X, 16.

42 Marc., XVI, 15-16.

19



with the indelible sign “conforming” them to Christ the Priest, and

that their hands alone have been consecrated “in order that what-

ever 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.

The Liturgy depends on Ecclesiastical Authority

a) by its very nature

44. Since therefore it is the priest chiefly who performs the

sacred Liturgy in the name of the Church, its organization, regula-

tion and details cannot but be subject to Church authority. This con-

clusion, based on the nature of Christian worship itself, is further

confirmed by the testimony of history.

b) by its close connection with dogma

45. Additional proof of this indefeasible right of the Ecclesiastical

Hierarchy lies in the circumstance that the sacred Liturgy is inti-

mately bound up with doctrinal propositions which the Church

proposes as 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 safe-

guarding 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

43 Pontif. Rom., De ordinatione presbyteri, in manuum unctione.

20



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 im-

mortal memory, Pius IX, so argued when he proclaimed the Im-

maculate 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-

honoured sacred rites for enlightment. 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 described 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

IV. Progress and Development of the Liturgy

49. From time immemorial the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy has

exercised this right in matters liturgical. It has organized and

44 Enchiridion, cap. 3.

45 De gratia Dei «Indiculus».
46 S. Augustin., Epist. 130, ad Proham, 18.

21



regulated divine worship, enriching it constantly with new splen-

dor and beauty, to the glory of God and the spiritual profit of

Christians. What is more, it has not been slow—keeping the sub-
stance 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

Divine and human elements in the Liturgy

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, circum-

stance 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 marvellous variety of Eastern and Western

rites. Here is the reason for the gradual addition, through suc-

cessive 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 for-

gotten 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.

Development of some human elements

a) due to a more explicit formulation of doctrine

52. Thus for example, as Catholic doctrine on the Incarnate

Word or 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

47 Cf. Const. Divini cultus

,

d. d. xx Dec. a. mcmxxviii,

22



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.

b) due to disciplinary modifications

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.

c) due also to non-liturgical practices

54. Just as notable a contribution to this progressive transforma-

tion was made by devotional trends and practices not directly re-

lated 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 circum-

stantial 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.

d) due also to the development of the fine arts

56. It is likewise easy to understand that the progress of the fine

arts, those of architecture, painting and music above all, have

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 liturgi-

cal 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

23



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 defence of the legitimate rites of the Church and

with the prohibition of any spurious innovation.48 This body ful-

fills even today the official function of supervision and legislation

with regard to all matters touching the sacred Liturgy.
49

V. Its Development May Rot Be Left to Private Judgment

58. It follows from this that the Sovereign Pontiff alone enjoys

the right to recognize and establish any practice touching the wor-

ship 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 wor-

ship.
51

Private individuals, therefore, even though they be clerics,

may not be left to decide for themselves in these holy and vener-

able 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.

Some rash abuses

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, Vener-

48 Const. Immensa, d. d. xxii Ian. mdlxxxviii.
49 C. I. C.. can. 253.

so Cf. C. I. C., can. 1257. ' r
5i Cf. C. I. C., can. 1261.

24



able 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 prayer-books 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 discre-
tion and approval of the Holy See.

Exaggerated attachment to ancient rites

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 signifi-

cance 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 men.

62. Assuredly it is a wise and most laudable thing to return in

spirit and affection to the sources of the sacred Liturgy. For re-

search in this field of study, by tracing it back to its origins, con-

tributes 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

52 Cf. Matth,, XXVIII, 20.

25



be straying from the straight path were he to wish the altar restored

to its primitive table-form; were he to want black excluded as a

colour for the liturgical vestments; were he to forbid the use of

sacred images and statues in Churches
;
were he to order the cruci-

fix 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.

Excessive archaism

63. Clearly no sincere Catholic can refuse to accept the formula-

tion 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 Pistoja

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” com-

mitted 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 wreaken that process of sanctification by

which the sacred Liturgy directs the sons of adoption to their

Heavenly Father for 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

53 Cf. Pius VI, Const. Auctorem fidei, d. d. xxvm Aug. mdccxciv, nn.
XXXI-XXXIV, XXXIX, LXII, LXVI, LXIX-LXXIV.

54 cf. Ioan., XXI, 15-17.

26



God,” 55 have the right and the duty to govern the Christian people.

Consequently, Venerable Brethren, whenever you assert your au-

thority—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.

PART II

EUCHARISTIC WORSHIP

I. The Nature of the Eucharistic Sacrifice

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 oppor-
tune 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 in 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

since 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 con-
stituted the priests of the New Testament, to partake thereof

;
com-

manding them and their successors in the priesthood to make the

same offering.” 58

It is a true renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross

68.

The august Sacrifice of the altar, then, is no mere emptv

commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, but a true

and proper act of sacrifice, whereby the Higdi Priest by an unbloody

immolation offers Himself a most acceptable Victim to the Eternal

ss Act., XX, 28.
56 Psalm, CIX, 4.

57Ioan., XIII, 1.

58 Cone. Trid., Sess. XXII, c. 1.

27



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

a) The same Priest

69. The Priest is the same, Jesus Christ, whose sacred Person

His minister represents. Now the minister by reason of the sacer-
dotal 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

b) The same Victim

70. Likewise the Victim is the same, namely our Divine Re-

deemer 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 admir-

able manner by external signs which are 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.

c) The ends of the Sacrifice are the same

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

59 Ibidem, c. 2.

60 Cf. S. Thom., Summa Theol., III, q. XXII, a. 4.
61 Ioan. Chrys., In loan. Horn., 86, 4.

62 Rom., VI, 9.

28



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 hang-

ing 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 salva-

tion.”
66

73. The third end proposed is that of expiation, propitiation and

reconciliation. Certainly no one was better fitted to make satis-

faction to Almighty God for all the sins of men than was Christ.

Therefore He desired to be immolated upon the Cross “as a propi-
tiation 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 degrada-

tion. However, Christ on the Cross “offering prayers and sup-

plications with a loud cry and tears, has been heard for His rever-

ence.”
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.

63 Cf. Missale Rom., Praefatio.
64 Cf. Ibidem, Canon.

65 Marc., XIV, 23.
66 Missale Rom., Praefatio.
67 I loan., II, 2.

68 Missale Rom., Canon.
6» S. Augusttn., De Trinit., lib. XIII, c. 19.
70 Hebr., V, 7.

29



The Infinite Value of the Divine Sacrifice

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 Sacri-

fice 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.

But the cooperation of the faithful is necessary

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

71 Cf. Sess. XXII, c. 1.
72 Cf. Hebr., X, 14.
73

S. Augustin., Enarr. in Ps. CXLVII, n. 16.

30



whole human race with the Father, He wished that all should ap-

proach 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 in-

dividual 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 oc-

casion, 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 dis-

tributing this treasure, He not only commits the work of sanc-
tification 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 commemo-

rative Sacrifice is offered, there is wrought the work of our Redemp-

tion.”
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 salva-

tion 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 requires His help con-
tinually and has need of the Blood of the Redeemer to remit sin

which challenges God’s justice.

II. Participation of the Faithful in the Eucharistic Sacrifice

Participation without priestly power

80. It is therefore desirable, Venerable Brethren, that all the

faithful should be aware that to participate in the Eucharistic Sacri-

74 Gal.

,

II, 19, 20.

75 Litt. Encycl. Mystici Corporis, d. d. xxix Iun. mcmxliii.
76 Missale Rom., Secreta Dom. IX post Pentec.
77 Cf. Sess. XXII, c. 2 et can. 4.
78 Cf. Gal, VI, 14.

79 Mal., I, 11.

31



fice 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, accord-

ing 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 Him-

self 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, ap-

proximating to errors long since condemned,82 teach that in the

New Testament by the word “priesthood” is meant only that priest-
hood 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.

80 Philipp II, 5.

si Gal

,

II, 19.

82 Cf. Cone. Trid., Sess. XXIII, c. 4.

32



Wherefore they look on the Eucharistic Sacrifice as a “concelebra-

tion,” 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 a mediator between themselves and God, can in no way

possess the sacerdotal power.

I—Participation inasmuch as they offer it with the priest

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.

a
)

It is declared by the Church

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 personal-

ly 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

b) It is signified by the rites themselves

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

83 Cf. Robertus Bellarm., De Missa, II, cap. 4.
84 De Sacro Altaris Mysterio, III, 6.
85 De Missa, I cap. 27.

33



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 num-

ber; 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 bounden
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.

c
)
The offering of bread and wine made by the people

89. In every age of the Church’s history, the mind of man, en-

lightened 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, bv 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.

d) Sacrifice offered by the faithful

92. In this most important subject it is necessary, in order to

86 Missale Rom., Ordo M'issae.
87 Ibidem, Canon Missae.

34



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. 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 the 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 Him-

self, 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, how-
ever, 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 a congregation, on the ground

that they are a departure from the ancient way of offering the Sacri-

35



fice
;
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 do
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.

II Participation inasmuch as they offer themselves as

victims

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 corner stone, 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

88 Missale Rom., Canon Missae.
88 1 Petr., II, 5.

36



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 them-

selves 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 should consecrate himself to the furthering of

the divine glory, desiring to become as like as possible to Christ

in His most grievous sufferings.

Purifying their own souls

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 honour, 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 zeal-
ously 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 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 splen-

dour. All these things aim at “enhancing the majesty of this great

Sacrifice, and raising the minds of the faithful by means of these

90 Rom., XII, 1.
91 Missale Rom., Canon Missae.
92 Pontif. Rom., De Ordinatione presbyteri.
93 Ibidem, De altaris consecrat., Praefatio.

37



visible signs of religion and piety, to the contemplation of the

sublime truths contained in this Sacrifice.” 94

Reproducing the image of Jesus Christ

102. All the elements of the Liturgy, then, would have us repro-

duce in our hearts through the mystery of the Cross the likeness

of the Divine Redeemer according to the words of the Apostles

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 mem-

bers 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 the 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 our-
selves 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 effected, 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,

94 Cf. Cone. Trid., Sess. XXII, c. 5.
95 Gal, II, 19-20.

96 Cf. Serm., CCLXXII.
97 Cf. / Cor., XII, 27.

98 Cf. Eph., V, 30.

99 Cf. S. Robertus Bellarm., De Missa, II, cap. 8.
100 Cf. De Civ. Dei, lib. X, cap. 6.

38



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 neces-

sities in union with their Divine Saviour upon the Cross.

Ill Means of promoting this participation

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.

But subject to the directions of the Church

106. These methods of participation in the Mass are to be ap-

proved and commended 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 cere-

monies. 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.

101 Missale Rom., Canon Missae.
102 Cf. / Tim., II, 5 .

39



The value of these methods should not he exaggerated

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 fulfil 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 im-

possible 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 partic-

ipate 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.

Let diocesan committees he set up to promote the Liturgy

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 ac-

cordance with the prescriptions of the Apostolic See.

110. In religious communities let all those regulations be ac-

curately observed which are laid down in their respective constitu-

tions, 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

40



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 Heavenly Father.

III. Holy Communion

112. The august Sacrifice of the altar is concluded with Com-

munion 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.

For the integrity of the Sacrifice the Communion

of the priest is sufficient

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 thereby unlawful and do not fulfil

the idea of the true, perfect and complete unbloody Sacrifice in-

stituted 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 op-

posed to this tradition.”
103

“If anyone shall say that Masses in

which the priest only receives Communion, are unlawful, and there-

fore 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

103 Litt. Encycl. Certiores effecti, d. d. xiii Nov. a. mdccxlii, § 1.
104 Cone. Trid., Sess. XXII, can. 8.

41



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 some-

thing earnestly recommended to the faithful.

An exhortation to spiritual and sacramental Communion

11 6. 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 “sacra-

mental” Communion, as we have already said, also become par-

takers 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 Sacri-

fice 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

105 1 Cor., XI, 24.
106 Missale Rom., Collecta Festi Corp. Christi.
107 Sess. XXII, c. 6.

42



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

For all classes of people

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 in-

satiable hunger for Jesus Christ. Under your guidance let the chil-

dren 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 immortal-

ity.
111

108 Litt. Encycl. Certiores effecti, § 3.

109 Cf. Luc., XIV, 23.
no / Cor., X, 17.
in Cf. S. Ignat. Martyr., Ad Ephes., 20.

43



Communion to be received if possible during the Mass

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 in-

frequently, 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.

Followed by suitable thanksgiving

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 in-

112 Missale Rom., Canon Missae.

44



terrupt the hymn of praise in his own soul “always returning thanks

for all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God and 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 faith-

ful 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.

Necessary to obtain more abundant fruit

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 con-

gregation 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

Ephes
., V., 20.

n4 Missale Rom., Postcommunio Dominicae infra Oct. Ascens.
n5 Ibidem, Postcommunio Dominicae I post Pentec.
116

C. I. C., can. 810.

45



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 that 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 in-

vitation : “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.

IV. Adoration of the Eucharist

129. The Eucharist Food contains, as all are aware, “truly, really

and substantially the Body and Blood together with the 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 mini-

sters 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

Lib. IV, cap. 12.
ns Dan., Ill, 57.
H9 Cf. Ioan., XVI, 23.
120 Missale Rom., Secreta Missae SS. Trinit.
121 Ioan., XV, 4.
122 Cone. Trid., Sess. XIII, can. 1.

46



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 dis-

tinct 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.

Development of the Eucharistic Cult

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 Taber-

nacles, even every day, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament:

solemn processions, especially at the time of Eucharistic Con-

gresses, 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 con-

tinue in turn in different churches throughout the year, while else-

where 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 re-echoed to a certain extent by the Church triumphant

123 Cone. Constant. II, Anath. de trib. Capit.. can. 9 collat. Cone. Enhes.,

Anath. Cyrill.. can. 8. Cf. Cone. Trid., Sess. XIII, can. 6; Pius VI Const.
Avctorem Met, n. LXI.

124 Cf. Enarr. in Ps. XCVIIJ, 9.

47



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 decorum 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.

No confusion between “the Historic Christ

”

and “the Eucharistic Christ”

134. Nor is it to be admitted that by this Eucharist 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 Chrysos-
tom 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

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

135. That practice in a special manner is to be highly praised

according to which many exercises of piety, customary among the

faithful, end with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. For

excellent and of great benefit is that custom which makes the priest

125 Apoc., V, 12, coll. VII, 10.
126 Cf. Cone. Trid., Sess. XIII, c. 5 et can. 6.

127 In I ad Cor., XXIV, 4.

48



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 de-

voted care so that the Churches, which the faith and piety of Chris-

tian peoples have built in the course of centuries for the purpose of

singing a perpetual hymn of glory to God Almighty and of provid-

ing a worthy abode for our Redeemer concealed beneath the Eucha-

ristic species, may be entirely at the disposal of greater numbers

of the faithful who, called to the feet of their Saviour, 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

PART III

THE DIVINE OFFICE AND THE LITURGICAL YEAR

I. The Divine Office

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 wor-

ship 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.

128 Cf. I Petr., I, 19.

129 Matth., XI, 28.
130 Cf. Missale Rom., Coll, in Missa Ded. Eccl.
131 Missale Rom., Seq. Lauda Sion in festo Ssmi Corporis Christi.

49



139. Since the Divine Master commanded “that we ought always

to pray and not to faint” 182 the Church faithfully fulfils this in-

junction 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 to those who prac-

ticed asceticism, these various prayers in the course of time become

ever more perfected and by the authority of the Church, are gradu-

ally incorporated into the sacred Liturgy.

It is the perennial prayer of the Church

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 Chris-

tians, 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.”

132 Luc, XVIII, 1.
133 Hebr., XIII, 15.

134 Cf. Act
,
II, 1-15.

135 Ibidem

,

X, 9.

136 Ibidem, III, 1.
137 Ibidem. XVI. 25.

50



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 recog-

nize that “we know not what we should pray for, as we ought, the

Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings.”
138 More-

over, 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

Interior devotion is required

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 extolls God’s infinite perfections, it is necessary that the

interior sentiment of our soul accompany the voice so as to make

those sentiments our own in which we are elevated to heaven, ador-

ing 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 com-

pletely 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 “through Jesus Christ

Our Lord.” As our Mediator with God, He shows to the heavenly
Father His glorified wounds, “always living to make intercession

for us.”
141

The wonderful content of the Psalter

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.

iss Rom., VIII, 26.
139 S. Augustin., Enarr. in Ps. LXXXV

,
n. 1.

140 S. Benedict., Regula Monachorum, c. XIX.
141 Hebr., VII, 25.

51



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 termi-

nate 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 accla-

mation of all, it is the voice of the Church, the harmonious confes-

sion of faith, signifying deep attachment to authority: it is the joy

of freedom, the expression of happiness, an echo of bliss.”
143

The participation of the jaithful in Sunday Vespers

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 earn-
estly 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 ob-

servance of the feasts of the Church, which are in a special way

142 Explicatio in Psalterium. Praefatio
;
ut legitur in ed. P. L., LXX, 10.

Nonnulli tamen censent partem huius dictionis non esse Cassiodoro tribuendam.
143 S. Ambros., Enarrat. in Ps. I, n. 9.

52



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 com-

mands 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

II. The Cycle of the Mysteries in the Liturgical Year

151. Throughout the entire year, the Mass and the Divine Office

center especially around the person of Jesus Christ: this arrange-

ment is so suitably disposed that Our Saviour 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

144 Exod., XXXI, 15.
145 Confess., lib. IX, cap. 6.

53



members with the fulness of His holiness. Let the souls of Chris-

tians 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; suppli-
cation to God which pierces heaven; dedication and even immola-

tion 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

The significance of the Liturgical Season

1 53. 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 sanc-

tity 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 prac-

tised in public and private life.

Advent

154. In the period of Advent, for instance, the Church arouses in

us the consciousness of the sins we have had the misfortune to com-

mit, and urges us, by restraining our desires and practicing volun-

tary 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 conse-

quences.

Christmas

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.

Epiphany

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 deeplv and re-

146 S. Augustin., De Civ. Dei, lib. VIII, cap. 17.

54



ligiously the things of heaven, to love silence and meditation in

order to perceive and grasp more easily heavenly gifts.

Septuagesima

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 prac-

tical 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.

Holy Week

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 repro-

duce in our own hearts His spirit of expiation and atonement, and

to die together with Him.

Easter

159. At the Paschal Season, which commemorates the triumph

of Christ, our souls are filled with deep interior joy: we, accord-

ingly, should also consider that we must rise, in union with the

Redeemer, from our cold and slothful life to one of greater fervour

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

Pentecost

160. Finally, during the time of Pentecost, the Church by pre-

cept 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

147 Coloss Ill, 1-2.

55



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.

Errors of modern authors

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 tri-
umphantly from the dead and Who, reigning in the glory of heaven

sends us the Holy Paraclete and Who abides in His Church for-

ever” : “Jesus Christ, yesterday and today; and the same for-

ever.”
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 salva-
tion, 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

148 S. Augustin., Enarr. in Ps. CXXIII, n. 2.
149 Hebr., XIII, 8.

56



day and since all the Sacraments are most closely united with the

Cross.
150

Christ lives again in the Church during the Liturgical Year

165. Hence the Liturgical Year devotedly fostered and accom-

panied 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 Re-

deemer, 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 fulness of Christ.” 152

III. Feasts of the Saints

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.

Examples proposed to us

167.

We should imitate the virtues of the Saints just as they imi-
tated Christ, for in their virtues there shines forth under different

150 S. Thom., Summa Theol.

,

III, q. XLIX et q. LXII, art. 5.
151 Cf. Acta, X. 38.

152 Eph., IV. 13.

57



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 vir-

ginal 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 imi-

tate the virtues of those whose images we venerate.” 155

And as our intercessors

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 de-

light.”
156 Hence, it is easy to understand why the sacred Liturgy

provides us with many different prayers to invoke the intercession

of the Saints.

Preeminent devotion to Mary Most Holy

169. Among the Saints in heaven the Virgin Mary Mother of

God is venerated in a special way. Because of the mission she re-

ceived from God, her life is most closely linked with the mysteries

of Jesus Christ, and there is no one who has followed in the foot-

steps 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

153 Missale Rom., Collecta III M'issae pro plur. Martyr extra T. P.
154 S. Beda Vener., Horn. subd. LXX in solemn, omnium Sanct.
155 Missale Rom., Collecta S. loan. Damascen.
156 S. Bern., Sermo II in festo omnium Sanct.

58



Father. Holier than the Cherubim and Seraphim, she enjoys un-

questionably 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 our-

selves 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 strength-

ened by the help and example of the Saints, especially of the Im-

maculate Virgin Mary, “let us draw near with a true heart, in

fulness 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.

PART IV

PASTORAL DIRECTIVES

I. Other Devotions Not Strictly Liturgical Warmly

Recommended

172. In order that the errors and inaccuracies, mentioned above,

may be more easily removed from the Church, and that the faithful

137 Luc., I, 28.

158 « Salve Regina».
159 S. Bern., In Nativ. B. M. V., 7.
iMHebr., X, 22.
161 Ibidem, X, 21.

162 Ibidem
,
VI, 19.

59



following safer norms may be able to use more fruitfully the liturgi-
cal 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 re-

treats, 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

The action of the Holy Spirit is not foreign to these devotions

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 divine and human

nature of Christ. Besides, since they develop a deeper spiritual life

in 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.

Errors from which the faithful should he protected

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 dig-

nity—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

‘

60

163 Cf. C. /., can. 125.



tabernacles are neglected : where confession of devotion is discour-

aged: and devotion to the Virgin Mother of God, a sign of “pre-

destination” 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.

Sacramental Confession

1 77. Since the opinions expressed by some about frequent con-

fession, are completely foreign to the spirit of Christ and His Im-

maculate 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.

Spiritual Exercises and Retreats

1 78. 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 exer-
cises, it is perfectly clear to all that in the Church on earth, no less

than 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 exercises ac-

164 Cf. Ioan., XIV, 2.
165 Ioan., Ill, 8.

61



cording to the method and norms of St. Ignatius have been fully

approved and earnestly recommended by Our Predecessors on ac-

count 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 exer-

cises 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 the 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.

Other practices not strictly liturgical

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 Com-

munion 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

166 Cf. Iac., I, 17.

62



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 more 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 di-

recting our spiritual energies towards attaining this most noble

and lofty end.

II. Liturgical Spirit and Liturgical Apostolate

186. We earnestly exhort you, Venerable Brethren, that after
errors and falsehoods have been removed, and anything that is con-

trary 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.

Obedience to the directions of the Church

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 litur-

gical books ordain concerning external public worship.

188. Three characteristics, of which Our Predecessor Pius X
spoke, should adorn all liturgical services :—sacredness, which ab-
hors any profane influence: nobility, which true and genuine arts

should serve and foster: and universality, which while safeguard-

ing local and legitimate custom, reveals the Catholic unity of the

Church.168

The adornment of Churches and altars

189. We desire to commend and urge the adornment of Churches
and altars. Let each one feel moved by the inspired word: “the

i™ Efihes., I, 4.
168 Cf. Litt. Apost. Motu Proprio Tra le sollecitudini, d. d. xxii Novem.

a. MCMIII.

63



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 inconsid-
erate 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 unauthorised 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 an-

tiquity 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 onlv 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, decreed—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

Gregorian chant and congregational singing

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 out-

siders or mute onlookers, but let them fully appreciate the beauty

169 Psalm. LXVIII, 10; Ioan., II, 17.
170 Suprema S. Congr. S. Officii : Decretum d. d. xxvi Man mcmxxxvii.
171 Cf. Pius X, Litt. Apost. Motu Proprio Tra le sollecitudini.
172 Cf. Pius X, loc. cit Pius XI, Const. Divini cultus, II, V.

64



of the Liturgy and take part in the sacred ceremonies, alternating

their voices with the priest and the choir, according to the pre-

scribed 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 Saviour

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 modern music and singing should be

entirely excluded from Catholic worship. For, if they are not pro-

fane 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 cere-

monies, 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 thunder-

ous 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.

The other arts in the liturgical cult

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 com-

position, should not be universally despised and rejected through

173 Pius XI, Const. Divini cultus, IX.
174 S. Augustin., Sertn. CCCXXXVI, n. 1.
175 Missale Rom., Praefatio.
176 Cf. S. Ambros., Hexameron, III, 5, 23.
177 Cf. Act., IV, 32.

65



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 con-
demning 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 com-

pletely 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 happily 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

Important that clergy and people live the liturgical life

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 canon law and pastoral the-

178 C. I C., can. 1178.
179 Pius XI, Const. Divini cultus.

66



ology. 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.

Altar boys in the service of the altar

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 care-

ful zeal and exactness. Parents of higher social standing and cul-

ture should greatly esteem this office for their children. If these

youths, under the watchful guidance of the priests, are properly

trained and encouraged to fulfil the task committed to them punc-

tually, 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.

Pastoral Zeal

201. Above all, try with your constant zeal to have all the faith-

ful 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 de-
voutly participate in it. The Mass is the chief act of divine wor-

ship; 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

l80 Cf. S. Augustin., Tract. XXVI in loan., 13.

§7



in the sacred Liturgy so that they may be able to profit more abund-

antly 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.

Vigilance against errors and prejudices

203. But in all these matters, it is essential that you watch vigi-

lantly 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 an-

tiquity 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 continu-

ally dwells in the “just,” by His presence and that one and numeri-

cally 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 every-

where to fill the Churches and crowd around the altars so that they

may be restored by the graces of the Sacraments and joined as liv-

ing 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.

EPILOGUE

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

isi Cf. Matth., XIII, 24-25.
182 Litt. Encycl. Mystici Corporis.

183 Ioel, II, 15-16.

68



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 cor-

rect study of the Liturgy, but will also instill into their daily lives

its supernatural spirit according to the words of the Apostle : “ex-

tinguish 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.” 188

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.

211. Given at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, on the 20th day of

November in the year 1947, the 9th of Our Pontificate.

PIUS PP. XII

484 I Thess., V, 19.
183 Ibidem, V, 21.
™Q Hebr., XIII, 17.
187 1 Cor., XIV, 33.
!83 Apoc., V, 13.

69



DISCUSSION CLUB OUTLINE

By Rev. Shawn G. Sheehan
Secretary

,
National Liturgical Conference

This outline of questions for discussion covers only selected

passages because of the length of the encyclical and because several

parts are of only indirect concern to the laity. Some of the passages

that need not be studied closely should be summarized for the

group by individual members. These passages are indicated in the

outline.

The discussion group should have a Bible and Missal at hand

and should find in these books the citations given in the text of the

encyclical.

The practical suggestions at the end of each lesson are directed

toward fostering, according to the teaching of the encyclical, those

things which the Holy Father lists in paragraph 5 as the good

results of the liturgical movement.

It would be well if each member had a daily Missal, a book of

psalms (preferably one of the translations based on the new Latin

version issued by Pope Pius XII), and a copy of the Manual of

Prayers for the laity published under the direction of the Third

Plenary Council of Baltimore.

Appropriate prayers at the meetings of the study club would be

the Collect from the Mass of the day to open the meeting and the

prayer which the Holy Father gives us in paragraph 209 along with

a prayer for the Holy Father, to close the meeting.

The numbers in the outline refer to the numbered paragraphs

in the encyclical. The Roman numerals in the captions refer to
eight divisions in the outline rather than to divisions in the

Encyclical itself.

I. The Meaning of the Liturgy

1. Why is Jesus Christ appropriately called “the Mediator of
God and men?” Did He come merely as a messenger of God’s

forgiveness of men? What is the source of our restoration to the

friendship of God? On what condition is each man to be made

holy? What is the ultimate purpose of our sanctification?

2. How is the Redeemer’s mediation continued in His Mystical
Body ? What is the purpose of the continuance of His mediation ?

3. In what actions principally does the Church continue the

priestly work of its Founder?

17. Show how the three texts from Scripture at the beginning

of this paragraph provide answers to the first three questions

70



given for the study of paragraph 1. Show how our Lord exercised

His priesthood by example, by teaching, by ruling, and by offering

sacrifice. What is the twofold purpose of His priestly action ?

18. In what twofold way does Jesus Christ continue His media-

tion between God and mankind?

19,20. How does the Church continue Christ’s priestly work?
Is the purpose of this work the sanctification of individuals only as

individuals? Why does the liturgy have a supreme value and
dignity? Define the liturgy.

21. What were the principal actions of the early Christian com-

munities ?

22. What have been the chief reasons guiding the development

of liturgical prayers and ceremonies? Identify each of the Sacra-

ments and the other liturgical actions for which descriptive defini-

tions are given here.

Report: a summary of paragraphs 4 to 12.

Practices

:

1. Use the Collect from the Mass of the day in your daily prayers,

noting that in doing this you pray with the Church through Christ,

the Mediator, and ratify the prayer with your Amen.

2. Use Holy Water frequently, recalling your incorporation into

Christ and the Church at Baptism, adoring God for His goodness,

and thanking Him for your sanctification.
3. Frequently make the sign of the Cross, realizing that it is the

sign with which you were sealed at your Baptism and that by

making this sign you reaffirm your dedication of your whole self

to the Most Holy Trinity through the Cross of Christ.

4. Recite the Creed and Lord’s Prayer frequently and attentively.

II. The Action of God and the Action of Man

23. Which term in the Catechism’s definition of a sacrament

is explained here ? Give examples of signs in every-day life. What
are the advantages arising from the fact that the Church’s worship

is expressed in signs?

24. Why is it best in our study of the liturgy to avoid being
distracted by long discussions on externals ? How should we study
and discuss the externals of the liturgy? How does the liturgy
itself emphasize its own internal element ? What command of our
Lord applies to the sincerity with which the celebrant, the servers,

the choir, and all the people should perform their proper parts in

the Mass? What models for our singing and reciting are given
here ?

71



25, 26. How has a rather common misunderstanding of the
meaning of the liturgy made a liturgical movement necessary?

27. What is the twofold origin of the liturgy’s power to make

us holy?

31. In what does the action of God consist in the work of making

us holy? In what does the action of man consist in gaining holi-

ness? What title is given to Christ and what title is given to us

throughout this paragraph? What is the value of these titles in

making clearer the lesson contained here?

32. Name the actions that we are urged to perform. What are

the various reasons given for the necessity of these actions ? What

basic truths should we understand and what basic virtues should

we have before we can take part in the liturgy intelligently and

rightly?

33. How are the purposes of spiritual exercises summarized?
How can we hope that our good works will give glory to God?

34. How are people failing in a full appreciation of Catholic life
when they think of it only as belief in a certain set of truths and

obedience to certain rules? What is the relation between holiness

and Catholic Action?

35. How are the purposes of private spiritual exercises sum-
marized? Compare the value of holiness in an individual Catholic

to the value of health in members of a body and in branches of a

vine or tree.

Report: a summary of paragraphs 172 to 185.

Practices

:

1. Increase your prayers of adoration and thanksgiving, reciting

frequently the Gloria ( Glory to God in the highest), Sanctus

{Holy, Holy, Holy), the ordinary Last Gospel of Holy Mass,

Magnificat {My soul magnifies the Lord, from Vespers), psalms

of praise, for example the Good Shepherd psalm {ps. 22) and the

last seven psalms.

2. Frequently acknowledge your dependence on God and your

need of His mercy by reciting the Confiteor (/ confess), Kyrie,

Eleison {Lord, have mercy), Agnus Dei {Lamb of God), Domine,

non sum dignus {Lord, I am not worthy), and the penitential

psalms.

3. Set aside some time each day to read Holy Scripture.

4. Join with others to bring the spirit of Christ into your par-

ticular field of living and working.

72



III. The Holy Sacrifice

66, 67, 68. Why did Jesus Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?

In what ways are the Crucifixion and the Sacrifice of the Mass the

same? In what way are they different?

69. What is the role of the priest celebrating Holy Mass?

70. How is the death of Christ signified in Holy Mass ?
71. How are we able to praise and adore God in an acceptable

and indeed in a perfect way?

72. What does the word “Eucharist” mean? How can we
give adequate thanks to God ?

73. How are we saved from our sins?
74. What attitude should we have in approaching God to ask

favors from Him? Why does He grant our requests?

75. 76. What three reasons are given for saying that Christ’s

Crucifixion could save all men of all times? How did Jesus Christ
redeem us (buy us back) from the slavery of sin?

77. What is required for Christ’s taking possession of us?

78. What are the principal actions we must perform in order

to be united with Christ? What is the value of the designation,

“Head and members,” to explain our relation to Christ? What

part does the Church have in making us holy?

79. How is the power of Holy Mass related to the power of the
Crucifixion ?

Practices

:

1. Have a crucifix in a prominent place in your home and ij

possible where you work. Recall frequently these words: “there

is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, himself man,

Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all ” (I Tim. 2:5, 6)
and “With Christ 1 am nailed to the cross. It is now no longer
I that live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 2:19, 20.)

2. Learn to pray according to the spirit of the great Eucharistic

prayer that begins zvith the Preface of Holy Mass, thanking God

for His gifts and His majesty, offering Him the Sacrifice of His
Son, uniting your offering of yourself with His Sons sacrifice,
associating yourself with the Blessed Mother, the angels and saints

and the whole Church, praying for the living and the dead and all

the intentions of Holy Mother Church, and doing all this “through

Christ and zvith Him and in Him.”

IV. The Doctrinal Basis of Lay Participation

80. YVhat part are the faithful to take in the offering of the

Eucharistic Sacrifice?

73



81. What is the basis of our power to offer sacrifice to the

Father? What are the actions of Christ’s mind and heart in which

we can and should share in Holy Mass?

85, 86. How does the part of the laity in the offering of the
Sacrifice differ from the priest’s part? Who is the principal offerer
of the Sacrifice?

87. Point out the “we”-verbs throughout the Canon of the Mass.

88. How have the laity received the power to take part with
Christ in the offering of His Sacrifice?

89. Are the laity reaching too high in seeking to understand this

doctrine in which there is a renewed interest in our day? (Cf.

also paragraph 94.)

90. What are the principal external expressions of lay partici-

pation in the offering of the Sacrifice?

91. 92. What is the twofold part which the priest has in the

offering of the Sacrifice? With which of these two parts of the

priest’s action are the laity joined?

93. On what basis does the priest act in behalf of the people?
By what internal actions do the people take their part in the

offering ? How are their actions of mind and heart signified in the
rite? Why is the Holy Eucharist called a Sacrament of unity?

Report: a summary of paragraphs 82 to 84 and 94 to 96, to

point out the errors that must be avoided in regard to the share

of the laity in the priesthood of Christ.

Practices

:

1. Frequently offer your prayers, work, trials of mind and body,

and your whole self to God in union with the Holy Sacrifice, which

is being offered continuously around the world

.

2. Pray and work to increase the spirit of unity in your parish,

both among the parishioners and between the parishioners and the

pastor.

3. In the family circle and in other lay groups turn the conver-

sation frequently to religious topics, especially to Christ, the

Church, the Sacraments, the dignity of the priesthood, and the

dignity of the Christian lay person by reason of the Sacraments he

has received.

4. In the family celebrate the anniversary of the Baptism of each

member.

V. Intelligent, Whole-hearted, Active Participation

98. What is the twofold offering which the faithful make in

the Mass?

74



99. What offerings can we make to God at all times? What

are the sentiments of mind and heart which we should have at

Mass?

103. What do St. Augustine and St. Robert Bellarmine teach

about the Holy Eucharist as a sign? How must we act if we are

to take our proper part according to this signification of the Most

Blessed Sacrament?

104. Show how the last prayer of the Canon and the people’s

response to the Canon signify the mystery of the Mass as the

Sacrifice offered by the whole Mystical Body.

105. In what ways can the people take part in the external

actions of the liturgy?

191. What are the advantages of the Gregorian chant?

192. What should be the purpose and spirit in the promotion

of congregational singing of the chant ? What does singing signify ?

In the liturgy how is it a sign of the unity of the Mystical Body?

(Cf. also paragraph 194.)

193. What qualities are required in modern musical pieces if they

are to be sung at liturgical celebrations?

199. What are the principal signs and the mysteries signified

in the offering of the Holy Sacrifice as a communal action in a

living parish?

Report: a summary of paragraphs 38 to 65.

Practices

:

1. Observe the Friday abstinence and other days of abstinence

and of fasting, as well as other mortifications, in the spirit of the

victimhood in which you are united by grace with Christ our Head

and Victim and Priest . Sum up this offering by reciting the Secret
from the Mass of the day.

2. Sanctify Saturday evening in the home as the preparation for
the Lord's Day, the night of watching for the Coming of the Lord.

Discuss together in the family circle the proper prayers and readings

of the Sunday Mass.

3. Contribute according to your talents and opportunities to the

external beauty of the liturgy in your parish, that is, to the singing,

the artistic decoration of the church, the making and repairing of
vestments and altar linens, etc.

4. Join with others to improve the attitude of the parishioners

toward the achievement of greater participation and a more com-
plete celebration of the liturgy in the parish.

75



VI. Holy Communion, Thanksgiving, and Adoration

115. Give a complete descriptive definition of the Holy Eucharist.

116, 117. What are the three principal acts in a sincere desire

to receive Holy Communion?

118. How often should we receive Holy Communion? For
what reason? What is the relation between the Sacrifice and the

Communion ?

119, 120. What are the effects of Holy Communion?

121. Why is it most fitting that the reception of Holy
Communion by the people take place at the prescribed time in

the Mass? -

122. What considerations should enter into the solution of prac-

tical difficulties that may arise in connection with the distribution

of Holy Communion to the people ?

126, 127, 128. What kind of prayers should we address to our

Lord in thanksgiving after Mass? In what ways should we join

our prayers with those of Christ?

Report: a summary of paragraphs 129 to 132.

133. What actions are described respectively as the offering,

the reception, and the adoration of the Holy Eucharist? How
is adoration outside of Mass related to the Sacrifice? Why does
the Church encourage adoration of the Holy Eucharist outside of

Holy Mass? Read the quotation from St. John Chrysostom in

paragraph 134.

135. In what phrases are we reminded of the relations between

Benediction and Holy Mass?

Practices

:

1. Pray with gratitude for the grace that is in you by virtue

of your latest reception of Holy Communion, uniting yourself with

Christ’s Sacrifice, adoring and thanking Him, adoring and thanking

the Father through Him, renewing your love for all men, stirring

up contrition for your sins, asking for God’s continued blessings,

and expressing your confidence in His promises of eternal life.

2. In your prayers after receiving Holy Communion, unite your

prayers with those zvho have received Holy Communion with you,

and join with them and with the Celebrant by reading the Com-

munion antiphon, the Postcommunion prayer, and the Last Gospel.

2. After Holy Mass and at other times, join your voice zvith that

of Christ in reciting the Benedicite ( All works of the Lord, bless

the Lord), recommended by the Church as one of our prayers of

thanksgiving.

76



4. Frequently visit the church and pray before the Blessed

Sacrament.

VII. The Divine Office

138, 139. Re-read paragraph 3. Comment on 138. and 139 in the

light of 3 and in the light of the definition of the liturgy at the end

of paragraph 20.

140, 141. Who originated and developed the Divine Office?
142. What is the position and importance in the Church of the

religious groups who are devoted primarily to the solemn recita-

tion of the Divine Office? What significance should a person see

in a priest reading his Breviary ?

144. Compare the first half of this paragraph with paragraphs

1 and 17. When we join in the official prayers of the Church who

is praying? Compare the second part of this paragraph with

paragraph 20.

05, 146. What lessons found in the first part of the encyclical

are applied here to the recitation of the Divine Office?

147, 148, 149. Why should the psalms be the prayers most
commonly used by all Christians ?

150. Are the laity urged merely to be present at Vespers on

Sundays and feast days? What reasons are given, throughout this

paragraph, for attending and taking part in Vespers on Sundays

and feasts ?

Practices

:

1. It would be well to develop the habit of saying formal prayers

several times a day, for example at the beginning and end of each

half-day's zvork and early in the evening, as well as at morning

and, night. One could recite a psalm and the Collect of the day,

or some of the other prayers recommended above.

2. In the Manual of Prayers one will find the Church's official

morning, evening, and night prayers for Sunday: Prime, Vespers,

and Compline. Prime and Compline for everyday are available

in booklets published by St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minn.

3. Make definite plans for the sanctification of the whole Lord's

Day, especially working tozvard the restoration of Sunday Vespers

in the parish.

VIII. The Liturgical Year

151, 152. What is the purpose of the liturgical feasts and sea-
sons? Why is it appropriate here to refer to Christ and Christians
as Head and members?

77



153. What are the three things that the Church does in the

liturgical celebrations? How are we to respond?
154. How are the relations between the action of God and the

action of man in the work of man’s sanctification manifested in

our proper participation in the Advent liturgy?

155. How is the general outline of the Church’s actions, as given
in par. 153, applied here to the Christmas celebration?

156. What should be our thoughts and desires at the time of

Epiphany ?

157. 158. What is the relation of Lent to Passiontide?

159. How is the celebration of Easter a sign of hope and an
incentive to greater effort?

160. By what twofold action are we to increase in holiness at

Pentecost ?

161. What are the past, present, and future aspects of the

liturgical year?

163. Name the various titles given to Christ in this paragraph.

164. What is the central action in every liturgical feast?

165. When we say that through the liturgical celebrations we
take part now in the mysteries of Christ, what basis is there for

this on the part of Christ? on the part of the mysteries? on the

part of the Church? on our part?

166. 167, 168. What are the chief reasons for the Church’s es-

tablishment of saints’ feasts? What is the ultimate reason for imi-

tating the saints?

169. Does the liturgy honor the Blessed Mother only on her

special feasts? Name the titles given to her in this paragraph

and discuss their significance.

170. What is the role of the Church in the liturgical year? What

is the role of the saints and the Blessed Mother? What is the

role of the faithful? What is the role of Christ? What is the

final aim of all?

171. In what way has your understanding of the meaning of

the liturgy changed during the study of this encyclical? Recite

together the prayer recommended by the Holy Father in para-

graph 209, and pray for the Holy Father.

Practices:

1. Each day recall the events in the work of Redemption which

are being celebrated in the particidar season of the Church’s year,

strive to imitate Christ in that particular phase of His work, and

endeavor by prayer and various spiritual exercises to receive an

ever greater increase of the merits of His works.

78



2. Strive to imitate the saints who are commemorated each day,

and pray for and through their intercession.

3. As the year goes on, draw up a calendar of observances for

the home in accordance with the liturgical feasts and seasons.

4. Venerate the Blessed Mother Mary,
((

who kept all these

things in her heart” and who was associated with Christ in His

work of Redemption. Venerate Holy Mother Church, who, as

the Bride of Christ and His Mystical Body, reenacts His works

in the sacred liturgy and so continues His work of glorifying God

and sanctifying men, “through Him and with Him and in HimA

Suggestions for Further Study

The principal organs of the liturgical movement in the United

States are Orate Fratres, published monthly since 1926 by St.

John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minn., and the Proceedings of the

National Liturgical Weeks, published annually since 1940 by

the Liturgical Conference (49 Franklin Street, Boston). These

publications contain a wealth of material on the topics that are

treated in the encyclical.

The following books on the liturgy in general will be found help-

ful: Christian Life and Worship, by Gerald Ellard, S.J. ; Forming

a Christian Mentality, by Kilian Hennrich, O.F.M.
;
The Liturgy

of the Church, by Virgil Michel, O.S.B. ; Speaking of How to Pray,
by Mary Perkins; Liturgy and Life, by Theodore Wesseling,

O.S.B.
;

Catholic Liturgies, by Rev. R. Stapper and D. Baier,

O.F.M.
;
and The Sacramental Way, a selection of talks from the

Liturgical Weeks, arranged topically, with suggestions for study.

On the mediatorship of Jesus Christ, see Christ Our Brother,
by Karl Adam, and Christ, Priest and Redeemer, by M. C. D’Arcy,

S.J., as well as works on the doctrine of the Mystical Body.

Besides the encyclical of Pope Pius XII on the Mystical Body,

to which the present encyclical is a sequel, the following books

are valuable: That You May Live, by L. F. Cervantes, S.J., a
popular presentation; The Mystical Christ, by John C. Gruden, a

clear dogmatic exposition; The Whole Christ, by Emile Mersch,

S.J., a history of the doctrine; J. Anger, The Doctrine of the Mys-

tical Body of Christ, a work on the relation of this doctrine to all

other doctrines and its application to life and worship; The Spirit

of Catholicism, by Karl Adam, a work of apologetics.

On the relations of liturgy and piety, a topic so strongly recom-
mended to our attention throughout the present encyclical, the

following articles in the Proceedings of the Liturgical Weeks are

79



helpful as special studies of the subject: in 1940, V. Rev. M. B.

Hellriegel on the spirit of a living parish, and H. A. Reinhold on

devotions
;
in 1941, Rev. W. LeBeau on Penance; in 1943, Rt. Rev.

R. Hillenbrand on the true spirit of social reform
;
in 1944, Rev. B.

Ehmann on the liturgical year in relation to piety; in 1945, Rev.

L. Rudloff on private prayer; in 1946, B. Sause, O.S.B., on asceti-

cism in family life; in all the Proceedings, the reports of pastors

on their efforts to bring the liturgical revival to their parishes.

(Most of these papers are also found in The Sacramental Way.)

On the same topic, see the books on the spiritual life by J. B.
Chautard, O.C.R.

; J.
Duperray, S.J. ; Columba Marmion, O.S.B.;

R. Plus, S.J. ; Anselm Stolz, O.S.B.

On the Ploly Sacrifice of the Mass the following books are
especially helpful: The Meaning of the Mass, by Rev. P. Bussard

and F. Kirsch, O.F.M.
;
The Mass of the Future, by G. Ellard,

S.J. ; The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, by V. Rev. M. B. Hellriegel

;

The Liturgy of the Mass, by Rev. Pius Parsch; My Mass, by J.
Putz, S.J. ; The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a Confraternity of

Christian Doctrine text for discussion clubs.

On the share of the laity in the priesthood of Christ, see the
following: The Common Priesthood of the Mystical Body, by
Rev. James Rea; The Theology of Catholic Action, by Theodore

Hessburgh, C.S.C.
;
“The Priestliness of God’s People,” by Eugene

Burke, C.S.P. in Liturgical Week, 1944 (and in The Sacramental

Way)
;
“The Lay Priesthood: Real or Metaphorical?” by Paul F.

Palmer, S.J., in Theological Studies, VIII (1947), 574-613.

On methods of participation in the liturgy see the reports o f

pastors in the Liturgical Weeks, The Dialog Mass, by G. Ellard,

S.J., and the general works on the liturgy and works on the Mass.

To enter into the understanding and spirit of the feasts and sea-

sons the simplest way is to study the Propers of the Masses in the

Missal with the aid of the explanatory notes generally given in the

vernacular translations. The best commentaries are in two large

sets of books, The Liturgical Year, by Abbot Gueranger, and The

Sacramentary. by Cardinal Schuster.

Descriptions of observances in home and school in keeping with

the spirit of the sacred liturgy can be found in the Proceedings of

the National Liturgical Week. 1946 ( The Family in Christ), pages

73-127 and 149-159. and in most of the isues of Orate Fratres.

A more complete list of suggestions for reading is to be found
in the pamphlet. What is the Liturgical Movement

?

published by

the Liturgical Conference.

SO





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