We need a living liturgy with no arbitrary changes
On Friday 22 May, Pope John Paul received in audience the
participants in the general session of the Congregation for Divine
Worship. In the course of the audience, the Holy Father addressed the
following words to the participants
Your Eminences,
Dear Brother Bishops,
Dear Friends of the Congregation for Divine Worship,
1. I am happy to receive you on the occasion of your plenary
assembly. The reports which you have presented show that the work of
this department his been intense since your last general session in
October 1985. Certain projects have been completed while others are
still continuing.
I shall mention only the new official text of the Ritual of Marriage
and of the Ritual of Ordinations; the preparation of a complete
collection of the Roman Ritual which marks the completion of the
revision of that of 1614 in accord with the directives of the conciliar
constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium. I am thinking as well of the
Roman Martyrology which it was necessary to revise with a concern for
historical accuracy; far from weakening devotion to the saints, this
contributes to its increase among the Christian people. I also mention
the preparation in progress of a biblical and patristic supplement to
the Liturgy of the Hours. Finally, I am happy that the publication of a
collection of Masses in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary has preceded
the opening of the Marian Year by several months.
2. Besides the liturgical texts, there is the broader and equally
important problem of the adaptation of the liturgy. According to the
instructions of the Council, the liturgy must remain alive without,
however, allowing itself to be modelled according to the pleasure of
each person’s imagination. This is the goal of the directions prepared
by your Congregation for the inculturation of the liturgy in the
mentalities and traditions of various peoples and, furthermore, for the
adaptation of liturgical celebrations for youth. Yes, it is necessary to
seek the active participation rightly demanded by the Council, with the
understanding that it is not a question of aiming merely at a type of
exterior activity nor a mere expression on the level of the senses, but
of intimate participation in the mystery of Christ, who calls its to
follow him in his total obedience to the Father and in the gift which he
makes of himself for our salvation and the salvation of the world.
During your meeting you have mainly examined questions concerning the
Sunday celebration in places where a priest cannot be present, Holy
Week, and artistic programmes presented in places of worship,
Lack of priests
3. How is the Lord's Day to be celebrated in a Christian community
deprived of a priest? This has long been a frequent situation in
mission countries; it is a situation which many countries with a long
Christian tradition are now experiencing as a result of the decline in
the number of priests. This absence is not to be accepted with
resignation, because the presence of the priest is necessary for the
maintenance and the development of local Christian communities. The
calling forth of vocations in these communities must remain a primary
concern. The situation must be faced, however, and the best provisions
must be made for the spiritual welfare of the faithful. Now one of the
essential points of reference for Christians from which they draw both
light and strength has been, since the beginning, the Sunday assembly,
the gathering of the faithful in one place to celebrate the risen
Lord. This can only be done fully in the celebration of the Eucharistic
sacrifice, which is the memorial of the death and the resurrection of
Christ in praise, thanksgiving and supplication.
The faithful who, due to the lack of a priest, cannot participate in
a parish Mass, must nevertheless be able to gather together in prayer of
praise and supplication, in listening to the Word of God and, if
possible, in the communion of the Eucharistic Bread consecrated during
an earlier Mass. This type of celebration does not replace the Mass but
must cause one to desire it all the more. It is, for a small community
of the faithful, a means, although imperfect, of preserving in a
concrete manner its cohesion and vitality; it maintains from Sunday to
Sunday its bonds with the whole Church which God does not cease to
gather and which offers to him, from east to west, everywhere in the
world a perfect offering (cf. the third Eucharist Prayer).
4. Another matter has occupied your attention: Holy Week. It was more
than thirty years ago that first the Easter Vigil, and then later the
whole of Holy Week were restored in the Roman Church. This restoration
was enthusiastically received, at that time.
Today it is good to weigh the situations, to evaluate the low level
of interest or participation that may exist in certain regions, the
difficulties which remain or have arisen regarding certain points, and
to recall the importance of that great week in which the entire Church
celebrates the paschal mystery. "Just as Sunday constitutes the
culmination of the week, so does the solemnity of Easter constitute the
culmination of the liturgical year" (General Instructions for the
liturgical year, n. 18). In following the Lord step by step from his
messianic entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday until he is taken down
from the cross on the evening of Good Friday, the Church journeys
towards the holy night in which the Lord arose and which must be
considered as the mother of all the holy vigils (ibid., n. 21).
This means that a preparation is necessary throughout Lent in common
prayer, in hearing the Word of God and in the practice of penance. This
demands especially that pastors have a vigilant concern for preparing
hearts for the meeting with Christ the Saviour by a suitable catechesis
and, in the first place, by the Sunday homilies. They should arrange
convenient times for individual confession and for community penitential
celebrations with personal confession and absolution, and for preparing
other dignified and prayerful celebrations as well.
5. Finally, you have examined the problem of concerts and other
artistic presentations in places of worship. It is true that our
churches have for a very long time played an important role in the
cultural life of cities and towns. Is not the church the house of the
People of God? Has it not been in the churches that this people has had
its first aesthetic experiences in seeing the beauty of the building,
its mosaics, paintings, statues, or sacred objects: in hearing the organ
music or the singing of the choir; in attending liturgical celebrations
which draw it above itself and cause it to enter into the heart of
Mystery?
The house of God
For this is indeed the primordial character of the church. It is the
house of God; it is a sacred place because of the dedication or solemn
blessing which has consecrated it to God. The church is the place where
the Lord dwells in the midst of his people and where the people come
together to worship and pray. This is why every measure must be taken to
respect the sacred character of the church.
Outside of liturgical celebrations there can be a place for religious
music in the form of a concert. This can be an occasion offered to
Christians who are no longer practising their faith, or even to
non-Christians who are seeking God, to have access to a true religious
experience, beyond a simple aesthetic emotion. The presence of the
pastor is thus desirable to show how this spiritual presentation is
fitting and to ensure respect for the holy place. In this manner, the
church will remain, even through artistic presentations with no
liturgical connection, the place where one can discover the presence of
the living God, the source of all beauty.
Here, dear brothers and all of you who participate either daily or
occasionally in the work of the Congregation for Divine Worship, are
some thoughts which your work calls to my mind. I thank you for
contributing, in an outstanding way, in the universal Church and in
cooperation with the Successor of Peter, to the development of the
liturgy and thus to the quality of prayer and to the theological life of
the People of God. As I encourage you to continue your work with the
necessary theological sensitivity, sense of the Church, and wisdom, I
bless you with all my heart.
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