Continuing Encyclical
The Sacred Liturgy
By Pope Pius XII
November 20, 1947
PART III
DIVINE OFFICE AND 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 Worship
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 Divnie 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.
139. Since the Divine Master commanded "that we ought always
to Pray and not to faint" (Luc., 18:1.) the
Church faithfully fulfills this injunction and never ceases to Pray: "by
Him (Jesus) let us offer the Sacrifice of Praise always to God." (Hebr.,
13:15.)
140. Public and common Prayer offered to God by all at the same
time was customary in antiquity only on ceratin 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 everyday 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; (Cf. Act.,
2,
1-15.) and before eating, the Prince of the Apostles went
up to the higher parts of the house to pray, about the sixth hour; (Ibidem,
10:9.)
Peter and John "went up into the Temple at the ninth hour of prayer" (Ibidem,
3:1.)
and "at midnight Paul and Silas praying praised God." (Ibidem,
16:25.)
141. Thanks to the work of the monks and to those who practiced
asceticism, these various prayers in the course of time became ever more
perfected and by the Authority of the Church were gradually 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 Christians,
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 to be said before starting the prayers of
the Office, namely that they be said "worthily, with attention and Devotion."
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 recognize that "we know not
what we should pray for, as we ought, the Spirit Himself asketh for us
with unspeakable groanings." (Rom., 8:26.)
Moreover, 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." (S.
Augustin., Enarr, in Ps. LXXXV, n. 1.)
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, adoring and giving due Praise and Thanks
to the Blessed Trinity: "so let us chant in choir that mind and voice may
accord together." (S. Benedict., Regula Monachorum, c.
XIX.) 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 completely
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." (Hebr.,
7:25.)
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. Cassidorus
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 sicth hour with the breaking
of bread, at the ninth they terminate our fast, they bring the evening
to a close and at nightfall they shield our minds from darkness." (Explicatio
in Psalterium. Praefatio; ut legitur in ed. P. L., LXX. 10. Nonnulli
tamen censent partem huius dictionis mpm esse Cassiodoro tribuendm.)
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 acclamation
of all, it is the voice of the Church, the harmonious confession of Faith,
signifying deep attachment to Authority: it is the joy of freedom, the
expression of happiness, an echo of bliss." (S. Ambros.,
Enarrat.
in Ps. I, n. 9.)
The Participation of the Faithful
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 earnestly 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 observance of the Feasts of the Church, which
are in a special way 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: on the seventh day is the
Sabbath, the rest Holy to the Lord. Every one that shall do any work
on this day, shall die:" (Exod., XXXI, 15.)
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 commands
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, 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." (Confess.,
lib.
IX, cp. 6.)
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 arrangement is so suitably
disposed that Our Savior 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 members
with the fullness of His Holiness. Let the souls of Christians 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; supplication to God which pierces Heaven; dedication
and even immolation 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." (S. Augustin., De Civ. Dei, lib.
VIII, cap. 17.)
The Significance of the Liturgical Season
153. By these suitable ways and methods in which the Liturgy at stated
times proposes the life of Jesus Christ for our meditaion, the Church gives
us examples to imitate, points out Treasures of Sanctity 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 practised 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 commit,
and urges us, by restraining our desires and practicing voluntary 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 consequences.
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 deeply and Religiously 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 practical 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 reproduce 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, accordingly, should also
consider that we must rise, in union with the Redeemer, from our cold and
slothful life to one of greater fervor 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."
(Coloss., 3:1-2.)
Pentecost
160. Finally, during the time of Pentecost, the Church by Precept
and Practice urges us to be more docile to the action of the Holy Ghost
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 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." (S. Augustin., Enarr. in Ps. CXXIII, n. 2.)
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 triumphantly
from the dead and Who, Reigning in the Glory of Heaven sends us the Holy
Paraclete and Who abides in His Church forever": "Jesus Christ, yesterday
and today; and the same forever." (Hebr., 13:8.)
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 salvation, 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 day and since all
the Sacraments are most closely united with the Cross. (S.
Thom., Summa Theol., III, q. XLIX et. q. LXII, art. 5.)
Christ Lives Again in the Church
During the Liturgical Year
165. Hence the Liturgical Year devotedly fostered and accompanied
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 (Cf. Acta, 10:38.)
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 Redeemer, 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 throgh the cooperation of our wills we can receive from Him
living vituality 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 fullness of Christ." (Eph., 4:13.)
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 imitated
Christ, for in their Virtues there shines forth under different aspects
the splendor of Jesus Christ. Among some of the 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 virginal purity of soul was resplendnnt
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." (Missasle Rom., Collecta
III MIssae pro plur. Martyr extra T.P.) 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." (S. Bern., Hom.
subd. LXX in solemn. omnium Sanct.) 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 imitate the virtues of those whose images we venerate." (Missale
Rom., Collecta S. Ioan. Damascen.)
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 pleading of those whose Praise is our delight." (S.
Bern., Sermo II in festo omnium Sanct.) Hence, it is
easy to understand why the Sacred Liturgy provides us with many different
prayers to invoke the intercession of the Saints.
Pre-eminent 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 received from
God, her life is most closely linked with the Mysteries of Jesus Christ,
and there is no one who has followed in the footsteps 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 Father. Holier than the Cherubim and Seraphim,
she enjoys unquestionably greater glory than all the other Saints, for
she is "full of Grace," (Luc., 1:28.) 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,"
("Salve Regina".) and confidently place ourselves
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." (S. Bern., In Nativ.
B. M. V., 7.)
170. Throughout this Liturgical journey which begins anew for
us each year under the Sanctifying action of the Church, and strengthened
by the help and example of the Saints, especially of the Immaculate Virgin
Mary, "let us draw near with a true heart, in fullness of faith having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with
clean water" (Hebr., 10::22.) let us
draw near to the "High Priest" (Ibidem, 10:21.)
that with Him we may share His life and sentiments and by Him penetrate
"even within the Veil," (Ibidem, 6:19.) 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.
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On The Sacred Liturgy
Section II
Section III
Section IV
Section VI