Benedict XVI: "Study 'Sacrosanctum Concilium'!"

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Benedict XVI is encouraging the faithful to revisit the Second Vatican Council constitution on the liturgy, so as to go deeper in the mystery of faith that is the Eucharist.

The Pope made this appeal today when he delivered via satellite the homily for the closing Mass of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress, which ended today in Quebec. The papal legate, Cardinal Jozef Tomko, presided over the Mass.

In his address, given in French and English, the Holy Father said, "'The Mystery of Faith': this we proclaim at every Mass. I would like everyone to make a commitment to study this great mystery, especially by revisiting and exploring, individually and in groups, the Council's text on the liturgy, 'Sacrosanctum Concilium,' so as to bear witness courageously to the mystery."
The Pontiff affirmed that such study would help each person "arrive at a better grasp of the meaning of every aspect of the Eucharist, understanding its depth and living it with greater intensity."

"Every sentence, every gesture has its own meaning and conceals a mystery," Benedict XVI continued. "I sincerely hope that this Congress will serve as an appeal to all the faithful to make a similar commitment to a renewal of Eucharistic catechesis, so that they themselves will gain a genuine Eucharistic awareness and will in turn teach children and young people to recognize the central mystery of faith and build their lives around it.

"I urge priests especially to give due honor to the Eucharistic rite, and I ask all the faithful to respect the role of each individual, both priest and lay, in the Eucharistic action. The liturgy does not belong to us: It is the Church's treasure."

Read the entire piece.

Sacrosanctum Concilium can be read on the Vatican website. A couple of key quotes re: the Eucharist:

For the liturgy, "through which the work of our redemption is accomplished," [1] most of all in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church. It is of the essence of the Church that she be both human and divine, visible and yet invisibly equipped, eager to act and yet intent on contemplation, present in this world and yet not at home in it; and she is all these things in such wise that in her the human is directed and subordinated to the divine, the visible likewise to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, which we seek [2]. While the liturgy daily builds up those who are within into a holy temple of the Lord, into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit [3], to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ [4], at the same time it marvelously strengthens their power to preach Christ, and thus shows forth the Church to those who are outside as a sign lifted up among the nations [5] under which the scattered children of God may be gathered together [6], until there is one sheepfold and one shepherd [7]. (par 2)

Nevertheless the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows. For the aim and object of apostolic works is that all who are made sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord's supper.

The liturgy in its turn moves the faithful, filled with "the paschal sacraments," to be "one in holiness" [26]; it prays that "they may hold fast in their lives to what they have grasped by their faith" [27]; the renewal in the Eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the faithful into the compelling love of Christ and sets them on fire. From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; 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, is achieved in the most efficacious possible way. (par 10)

At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity [36], a paschal banquet in which Christ is eaten, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us [37].

The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration. They should be instructed by God's word and be nourished at the table of the Lord's body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves; through Christ the Mediator [38], they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all. (pars 47-48)

Some Ignatius Insight pieces by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger on the Eucharist and liturgy:

• For "Many" or For "All"? | From God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life
• The Altar  and the Direction of Liturgical Prayer | From  The Spirit of the Liturgy
•  How Shoul We Worship? | Preface to Alcuin Reid's The Organic Development of the Liturgy
• Foreword to U.M. Lang's Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer  | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.

Related Ignatius Insight articles:

• The Mass of Vatican II | Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.
• Benedict and the Eucharist: On the Apostolic Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis | Carl E. Olson
• Worshipping at the Feet of the Lord: Pope Benedict XVI and the Liturgy | By Anthony E. Clark
• Vatican II and the Ecclesiology of Joseph Ratzinger | Maximilian Heinrich Heim | Introduction to Joseph Ratzinger: Life in the Church and Living Theology.
• The Courage To Be Imperfect | Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D. | The Introduction to Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age
• The Theological Genius of Joseph Ratzinger | An Interview with Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D.

Comments

[W.]

Perhaps this site can facilitate an online study of the document. Perhaps a chapter a week. There are seven chapters, and each but chapter one seems doable within a week's time. Perhaps chapter one could be split up into two weeks. Just a thought.

If not, perhaps someone else can take on this project and link to it from this site.

[Ed Peters]

I appreciate W's enthusiasm, really I do, but it's not practical. There are 10,000 commentaries on SC, so why produce one more (which is what this would amount to). Instead, either find a group who will read it, seriously, preferably with a moderator, or ask Carl to list 5 or 10 good commentaries or guides.

My suggestion, Jungmann's commentary in Vorgrimler.

If I only had a dime for every liturgy critic I've ever "debated" who, well into our exchange, up and admits he's never read SC.........

[Deacon Harold]

I can hear the cry of the liturgists now: "You mean I have to read what the Council Fathers actually wrote about the Mass instead of relying on the 'spirit' of Vatican II or my own conscience?" ;-)

[Mark Brumley]

No, no, no, Dr. Peters. Let's not read SC. It's much more fun to discuss it without having read it. Why spoil perfectly good theses spun out of ignorance?