Continuing Encyclical
The Sacred Liturgy
By Pope Pius XII
November 20, 1947
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 Priesthood,
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 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 Viceregent 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". . . (Ioan.,
20:21.) "he that heareth you heareth Me". . . (Luc.,
10:16.)
"go ye into the whole world and Preach the Gospel to every creature; he
that believeth and is Baptized shall be saved." (Marc.
16:15-16.)
. . . 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 consequently 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 with
the indelible Sign "conforming" them to Christ the Priest, and that their
hands alone have been Consecrated "in order that whatever they Bless may
be Blessed, whatever they Consecrate may become Sacred and Holy, in the
Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ." (Pontif. Rom., De
ordinatione presbysteri, in manuum unctione.) 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, in organization, regulation
and details cannot but be subject to Church Authority. This conclusion,
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 intimately 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 safeguarding 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 Brethresn.
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 Truth 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 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 Charity, as Augustine
puts it tersely: "God is to be Worshipped," he says, "by Faith, Hope and
Charity." (Enchiridion, cap. 3.) In the
Sacred Liturgy we profess the Catholic Faith explicity 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 the Sacred Science of the Liturgy. For
an example in point, Our Predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, so argued
when he proclaimed the Immaculate 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-honored Sacred Rites for enlightenment. Hence the well-known
and venerable maxim: "Legem credendi lex statuit supplicandi"
--let the Rule for prayer determine the Rule of Belief. (De
gratia Dei "Indiculus".) 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 describe 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." (S. Augustin., Epist.
130,
ad
Probam, 18.)
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 regulated Divine
Worship, enriching it constantly with new splendor and beauty, to the Glory
of God and the Spiritual profit of Christians. What is more, it has
not been slow--keeping the substance 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. (Cf. Const. Divini cultus, d. d. XX Dec.
a. MCMXXVIII.)
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 modification, as the needs of the age, circumstance and the
good of souls may require, and as the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy under guidance
of the Holy Ghost, may have authorized. This will explain the marvellous
variety of Eastern and Western Rites. Here is the reason for the
gradual addition, through successive 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 forgotten 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 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 of God, the Eucharistic Sacrament anf Sacrifice, and Mary the Virgin
Mother of God came to be determined with greater certitude and clarity,
new Ritual forms were introduced through 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 Sacreaments, 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
transformation was made by Devotional trends and practices not directly
related 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
circumstantial part in this same Liturgicial 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 this
same reason, and lastly, in this gracious City of Rome, the Penitential
Recitations 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
Liturgical 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 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 Predessor 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. (Const.
Immensa,
d.
d. XXII Ian. MDLXXXVIII.) This body fulfills even today the
Official Function of Supervision and Legislation with regard to all matters
touching the Sacred Liturgy. (C. I. C.
can. 253.)
V. ITS DEVELOPMENT
MAY NOT 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 Worship
of God, to introduce and approve new Rites, as also to modify those he
judges to require modification. (Cf. C. I. C. can.
1257.) 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 Worship. (Cf. C. I. C. can. 1261.)
Private
individuals, therefore, even though they be Clerics, may not be left to
decide for themselves in these Holy and Venerable 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 termerity 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, Venerable 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 (such as
the Feast of Christ the King that has been changed from the last Sunday
in October to a Sunday in November since Vatican II--my note); 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 discretion 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 indiscrimately.
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 significance 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 Ghost, Who assists the
Church in every age even to the Consummation of the world. (Cf.
Matth.
28:20.)
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
research in this field of study, by tracing it back to its origins, contributes
valuable asistance 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 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 color for the Liturgical Vestments; were he
to forbid the use of Sacred Images and Statues in Churches; were he to
order the Crucifix so designed that the Divine Redeemer's Body shows no
trace of His cruel Sufferings; 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
formulation of Christian Doctrine more recently elaborated and Proclaimed
as Dogmas by the Church under the Inspiration and Guidance of the Holy
Ghost 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" committed to her charge by her Divine
Founder, had every right and reason to condemn. (Cf.
Pius VI, Consti. Actorem fidei, d. d. XXVIII Aug. MDCCXCIV,
nn. XXXI-XXXIV, XXXIX, LXII, LXVI, LXIX-LXXIV.) For
perverse designs and ventures of this sort tend to paralyze and weaken
that process of Sanctification by which the Sacred Liturgy directs the
sons of adopton to their Heavenly Father for their souls' Salvation.
65. In every mesure 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. (Cf.
Ioan.,
21:15-17.)
and
with him, in Obedience to the Apostolic See, the Bishops "whom the Holy
Ghost has placed . . . to Rule the Church of God,"
(Act.,
20:28.)
have
the Right and the Duty to Govern the Christian people. Consequently,
Venerable Brethren, whenever you assert your Authority--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.
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On The Sacred Liturgy
Section III
Section IV
Section V
Section VI