Mario Lessi-Ariosto

The liturgical Constitution, Sacrosanctum Concilium, sanctioned and promulgated on Wednesday December 4, 1963, at the conclusion of the second Session of the Council of Vatican II, was described by the Holy Pontiff Paul VI, with the following words spoken after the Counciliary meeting: "The arduous and intricate discussion was not without fruit, of one of the themes, the first examined and the first, in a certain sense, in its inherent excellence and importance for the life of the Church, that on the sacred Liturgy, was happily concluded and is today solemnly proclaimed by Us." The priority of the liturgical Constitution, with regards to the inherent excellence of the theme and of the importance of it in the life of the Church, comes from, as Paul VI says, the fact that in this way the Council, reunited in the Holy Spirit, had respected the "scale of values and of obligations: God in the first place; the prayer our first obligation; the liturgy the foremost source of divine life communicated to us, the first school of our spiritual life, the first gift which we can give to Christian populations, who prayer and believe with us, and the first invitation to the world, in order to, through blessed and true prayer, loosen the mute tongue and feel the ineffable regenerating power of singing with us the divine praises and human hopes, for Christ our Lord and in the Holy Spirit.

I consciously underlined , in the preceding citations from the papal speech, the use of the adjective "first," which is not limited to a mere chronological fact, but extends itself to the entire life of the Church: from the relationship with God to the evangelizzation of the world, to show how the liturgical Constitution comes to us, to which John Paul II says in his Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente: «From this point of view we can affirm that the Second Vatican Council was a providential event, whereby the Church began the more immediate preparation for the Jubilee of the Second Millennium. It was a Council similar to earlier ones, yet very different; it was a Council focused on the mystery of Christ and his Church and at the same time open to the world». (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 18). Who would not recognize, in this way of expressing himself, an implicit citation of the Sacrosanctum Concilium where it says:«For it is the liturgy through which, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, "the work of our redemption" is accomplished, and it is through the liturgy, especially, that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church?» (2).

And that the thoughts of the Holy Father John Paul II follow these lines can again be read, in all that regards the relationship between the Liturgy and the Church, in what was written in the Epistle Dominicae Cenae:«There exists, in fact, a very strong and organic bond between the renewal of the Liturgy and the renewal of all the life of the Church. The Church not only acts, but it expresses itself also in the Liturgy and from the Liturgy it draws the strength for life» (13).

In the Apostolic Letter Vicesimus quintus annus, for the XXV anniversary of the Councilar Constitution, John Paul ii describes it as: «the first fruit of the Council, wanted by John XXIII, for the renewal of the Church» and he remembers the call of the Constitution «for the life of the people of God: in it "it's already retraceable the substance of that ecclesiological doctrine, which will subsequently be proposed by the Council assembly. The Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, which was the first Council document in order of time, anticipates "the dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium on the Church and it enriches, by the same token, from the teachings of this Constitution» (2). Amongst the principle directives of the Constitution on the Liturgy, the Holy Father underlines how in the Liturgy we find: the actualization of the Easter mystery of Christ (cf. nn.6 and 7) and the manifestation of the Church to itself, in that it is a Saint, Catholic and Apostolic in a way which concludes: «So it is that especially in the Liturgy the Mystery of the Church is announced, relished and lived» (9).

The Sacrosanctum Concilium, after its promulgation, became like a ferment already in the insides of the Council itself, that notwithstanding was effectively«an hour of God, an "transitus Domini" in the life of the Church and the history of the world» (Paul VI to the Italian Episcopate, April 14, 1964), it was always a court of men. And the future Cardinal Garrone in 1967, speaking about the Liturgical Constitution, made note of: «this text was like the wedge, which penetrating between resistance's and obscurities, opens the road to the Council...» We must read along the same lines Father Joseph Jungman, who wrote, in those years, on the Constitution: «a great gift of God put in the hands of men». Even if, to express himself with the words of Cardinal Lercaro dictated as the opening of one of the first Comments: «The Constitution in its marvelous clarity is profound: the diction, even in the richness of biblical and patristic resonance and in the studied appropriateness of the language, is dry and synthetic; weighty; one could say; and requires studies and meditation» scientific studies will not be enough nor will the many pastoral initiatives of the first years which tried to discern the treasures that the Constitution contained be sufficient, to which the unprepared readers took flight then and still do, and - to continue with the Cardinal Lercaro - «it offers non-existant problems or may even leave some to remain confused».

Therefore, it must be retained, that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit were the Council Fathers able to include in the Constitution the affirmation: «Yet it would be futile to entertain any hope of realizing this unless the same pastors of souls, in the first place, themselves become fully imbued with the spirit of power of the liturgy and capable of giving instruction about it. Thus it is absolutely essential, first of all, that steps be taken to ensure the liturgical training of the clergy». (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14). And John Paul II wrote in Dominicae Cenae: «It is therefore necessary and is urgently convenient to undertake again an intensive education to help discover the richness that the Liturgy contains» (9), and yet again in the Vicesimus quintus annus, before recalling the emphasis on the formation, in the liturgical Constitution, notwithstanding that it is no longer "in the same situation of 1963" (14), repeats: «The most urgent task is that of biblical and liturgical formation of the people of God, of pastors and of the faithful» (15).

It must be noted that the Sacrosanctum Councilium found enthusiastic acceptance by many, opposition by some, but above all in many, much superficiality in the application. Therefore, there are many that justify the affirmations of John Paul II in Vicesimus quintus annus regarding the initial difficulties, together with the positive results, and above all some errors made in relation to the concrete applications of the reform wanted by the Council (cf. nn. 11-13). Even Paul VI in that same moment of the promulgation of the liturgical Constitution put on alert: «If we have made some simplifications in the expressions of our cult and if we try to make it more comprehensible to the faithful people and there are many in its present language, we certainly do not want to diminish the importance of prayer, nor to put it through other cures of the sacred ministry or of the pastoral work, nor impoverish it of its expressive strength or of its artistic appeal; instead we want to render it more pure, more genuine, closer to the sources of truth and of grace, more suitable to be the spiritual patrimony of the people. So that this is, we desire that no one attempts to change the rules of official prayer of the Church with private reforms or singular rites, that no one claims to anticipate the arbitrary application of the liturgical Constitution, which We today promulgate, before opportune and authoritative instructions are to this end eminent, and the reforms, whose preparation will be taken care of by the special post-Council bodies, must be approved. Nobility of ecclesiastic prayer and its coral harmony in the world: may no one wish to disturb it, or offend it».

John Paul II has, as noted, very often developed the different point of the teachings of the Council with regard to the Liturgy, and praised the liturgical reform "under the guide of the Council principle: loyalty to the traditions and openness to legitimate progress" (Vicesimus quintus annus, 4) since in this action the Church, «putting itself in docile hearing of the Words of God...it took upon itself the reform of the liturgy, 'source and summit of its life» (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 19), he subsequently proposed amongst the points of examination of conscience regarding the "reception of the Council" - «this great gift of the Spirit to the Church at the end of the second millennium" - and the question: "Is the liturgy lived as the "origin and summit" of ecclesial life, in accordance with the teaching of Sacrosanctum Concilium?» (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 36).

Now if «the best preparation to for the new millennium, therefore - says the Pope - can only be expressed in a renewed commitment to apply, as faithfully as possible, the teachings of Vatican II to the life of every individual and of the whole Church» (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 20) and its the obligation of everyone, faithful and pastors to rediscover, research, and relive even today the profundity of the expression which the Pope repeated twice in the Tertio Millennio Adveniente and that is that the Liturgy is "source and summit" of the life of the Church.

The expression "culmen et fons" comes, as noted, from article 10 of Sacrosanctum Concilium, and we find it also in the Codex Iuris Canonici (can. 897). This expression must be read in its context. The Constitution, after having dedicated all of article 9 to saying that the Liturgy, «does not exhaust all the action of the Church» shows in the following articles how much is presupposed so that the Liturgy brings everyone its saving effects in the Church. And saying that the Liturgy does not absorb all the life of the Church, did in no way impede the Fathers of the Council to affirm, that between the Liturgy and the life of the Church there exists a relationship in which the first is, in one aspect, the summit on which all depends and, on the other, the source from which all derives. The affirmation which has its doctrinal support in the faith of the Church with regards to the centrality of the Eucharistic mystery, sacrifice and sacrament, in the Liturgy itself, in which "the work of our redemption is accomplished" (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, article 2). The Catechism of the Council of Trent expressed this idea, in the explanation of nature and the effectiveness of the sacraments, saying that they had to be compared to the «Eucharist at the source and the other sacraments as streams. In fact, it is necessary to say that it is truly the source of all the graces, since it contains in a admirable way the author of all sacraments» (Catechisms ex decreto Concilii Tridentini, 228).

And the Catechism of the Catholic Church takes from the Second Vatican Council the same teaching: «The Eucharist is the "source and summit of all Christian life" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, article 47). All the sacraments, even all the ecclesial ministries and the works of the apostolate, are all strongly united by the sacred Eucharist and to this they are ordained. In fact, in the Holy Eucharist all the spiritual good of the Church is enclosed, all that is Christ our Lord» (Lumen Gentium, article 11) (1324) and it goes on to say: «As the whole of the entire Christian life, the moral life finds the source and the culmination in the Eucharistic sacrifice» (2031).

If someone initially had an impression, and it was also affirmed, that the expression of the Council regarding the Liturgy as "source and summit" of the life of the Church was only the result of a selfcensing of those who, they called "liturgists" ripped from the Council Fathers, it comes from the necessity in which the majority, of pastors and faithful, found themselves having to change ways of seeing and thinking to enter in the subordinate truth and in the theological vision of the Liturgy reaffirmed by the Council, and on which the Holy Father still recalls attention to favor the ecclesial and internal preparation for the Great Jubilee. The liturgical Constitution is in fact founded on a traditional theological vision and it reaffirms this in the same article 10 when it concludes: «From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, grace is poured forth upon us as from the Eucharist grace is poured forth upon us as from a fountain, and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God to which all other activities of the Church are directed, as toward their end, are achieved with maximum effectiveness». Will the sanctification of men and the glorification of God come at the end of all the preparations and celebrations now underway for the Jubilee?

Only those who see in the Liturgy the summit and source of the life of the Church, in an exact theological vision and keeps in mind the fundamental doctrine of the capital function and always current, in the historic order of salvation, of the mystery and of the humanity of Christ and more particularly also of his most sacred and glorious body and of his precious blood, present in the Heavens and amongst us in the Eucharist, which is to us the Church in sacraments and mystery, can perceive with great profundity, and liturgical spirit, in the most genuine sense, how the Holy Father wanted to tie the preparation of the Great Jubilee to the rediscovery of the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, and the celebration to that of the Eucharist, where «The Savior, incarnate in the womb of Mary twenty centuries ago, continues to offer himself to humanity as a source of divine life» (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 50). It is possible to say that it was the Sacrosanctum Concilium which opened the way to a more profound vision of the Jubilee.

To conclude, perhaps it would be useful here to synthetically recall yet again some points of reference to restore the structure of the document.

In the first place the new vision of the Liturgy, which we have hinted on, and which was a surprise for only a few. We were not used to thinking and studying the Liturgy, whose sacramental presence was the work of the Redemption in the Church, as a manifestation of the mystery of Christ, that of the Church and of the Liturgy, asked to be considered united to then be believed, celebrated, lived.

In the second place, the dialogic nature of the Liturgy, which surpassed the incomplete conception of the same and focused on it, in a limited sense, the dimension of salvation which comes from God, to the disadvantage of the Liturgy as a place of encounter - dialogue - mirabile commercium between God and man. For this to the worked of God, it must answer the actuosa participatio of man, in faith, in hope and in charity. For this, in all of the Liturgy, the dialectic was made more workable based on the saving events: «Word-action of God and response of man».

Finally, as Mons. Noe well wrote, on the occasion of the XXV anniversary of the liturgical Constitution which focused all the liturgical reforms «at the insignia of a double faith: the first fidelity is that given to the Liturgy itself, which as a gift of God to the Church, must be transmitted, without disagreements; the other faith is given to the man of today, who demands that the gift can be adapted to his current needs. A clear enough principle in itself, but which presents difficulties in distinguishing between essential and constant elements, and other elements which for them and their origins present transitory characters».

When the Pope asks us today if we live the Liturgy as "source and summit" of ecclesial life, he wants us to grasp all the teachings of the Sacrosanctum Concilium and that we enter into the soul of the reform wanted by the Council, whose fundamental aim was «To impart an ever-increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more closely to the needs of our age those institutions which are subject to change; to foster whatever can promote union among all who believe in Christ; to strengthen whatever can help to call al mankind into the Church's fold» (article 1). In this sense and very opportunity John Paul II in Vicesimus quintus annus, speaking about the «future of the Liturgy in a way in which the liturgical reform is always understandable and put into practice» (14) he indicated, besides the formation that : "another important task for the future is the adapting of the Liturgy to the different cultures" (16). He couldn't have done more than to take «the formal task of giving to the Ecumenical Council of Vatican II its proper execution» (2; cf. First message to the world, October 17, 1978) and the liturgical Constitution in this sense be more concretely applied. Therefore what Cardinal Lercaro said at the beginning of the reforms, is put into action: «As the promptness of the Pastors will illustrate the doctrine of the Constitution to the souls and the prospective reforms will be put into action, the fecundity of the providential document will reveal itself more and more vast and profound...Who can say what fruits it will give, the principle affirmed in the "aptatio ad indolem populorum?" what resonance will it have in the christianization inside traditions, culture, of doctrine, which up until today have remained strangers to the Church, to therefore render the Church almost a stranger even there where it is diffused? A Catholicism not only geographic but profound and dynamic so much to assume and render Christian all the good realities, so that "everything is ours, but we are Christ and Christ is God, it is the evident landing of that apparently cold norm».

But we must not ever forget that no Council document and therefore even the liturgical Constitution, could find real application only in the realm of mutable realities and in esoteric forms. The action of the Holy Spirit and the obligation of the Church is not based on forms, but tends the heart of man, convincing him to respond to his own dignity, vocation and mission for the glory of God, the Spirit and the Wife activate the Mystery of Christ.