Sacrosanctum Concilium, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, promulgated on December 4, 1963, is the first document issued by the Council fathers of Vatican II.
Fittingly, it focuses on the Eucharist, by which “the work of our redemption is accomplished” and which is the source and summit of the Christian life. (#2)
Being the first issuance of the Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium lays out the objectives of Vatican II in the introduction.
They are four-fold: “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 all mankind into the Church’s fold.” (#1)
Lofty goals indeed. We see clearly in these ideals that the vision of the Council was to renew the life of the Church for the sake of evangelizing the modern world.
Perhaps, in this present time, we are just beginning to understand that this was the fundamental purpose of Vatican II.
What happens at Mass
In the Eucharist, Christ continues the salvific sacrifice of the Paschal Mystery by which we obtain the promise of eternal life and the forgiveness of our sins.
The Mass is the action of Christ in union with His Mystical Body, the Church.
When we participate in the earthly liturgy, we are experiencing a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy where the Communion of Saints worships God, is joined together as one in the love of Christ and is fed at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. (#8)
In the Mass, God speaks to us through the proclamation of the Word, we offer the gifts of our lives in union with the sacrifice of Christ, we share in the death and resurrection of the Lord, and we receive the Bread of Life, the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ. “Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations . . . to which the Christian people . . . have a right and obligation by reason of their baptism.” (#14)
A reform of the Sacred Liturgy
Sacrosanctum Concilium calls for a reform of the Sacred Liturgy, laying down some general norms for the changes to come, including that no person beyond the Apostolic See, or in some cases, the bishop, may add, remove or change anything in the liturgy, that “careful investigation — theological, historical, and pastoral — should always be made into each part of the liturgy which is to be revised, and that there must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them, and . . . any new forms adopted should in some way grown organically from forms already existing.” (#22-23)
In these anticipated reforms of the Sacred Liturgy, the Council fathers sought to encourage a greater participation of the laity in the Mass through fundamental liturgical formation and their sung and spoken responses, to amplify the importance of the Scriptures by expanding the lectionary cycle, to encourage the inclusion of a homily, to restore the prayers of the faithful, and to make allowance for the usage of the vernacular, especially in the readings and the petitions.
It goes on to say that “care must be taken to ensure that the faithful may also be able to say or sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.” (#54)
As I ponder my childhood experiences of the Mass in the 1960s and 1970s, I remember times when the Eucharist was celebrated well and reverently, as well as examples of irreverence, abuse, and confusion.
The liturgical changes were perhaps made too quickly without sufficient catechesis to help people understand the reasoning behind the innovations.
Most of the music became banal and much of it theologically questionable. At times, the Mass seemed to be more about us celebrating ourselves, and the priest seeking to be amusing and entertaining, with an emphasis on change for change’s sake.
There was a de-emphasis on the worship of God, the honoring of the saints, especially Mary, and the need for devotions, reverence, and silence.
I was at Masses as a child where the priest made up his own Eucharistic Prayer and arbitrarily moved the parts of the Mass around.
This is not to say there were no parishes where the liturgical changes of Vatican II were implemented faithfully and well.
But there was enough general confusion and abrupt difference that many people stopped going to Mass or ceased to believe and understand the astonishing truth of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist or the solemn obligation to go to Mass on Sundays and holy days.
‘Eucharistic Revival’
For the next three years, the Catholic Church in the United States will be focused on a “Eucharistic Revival” by which we seek to catechize, form, inspire, and lead our people to a full, active, and conscious participation in the Eucharist. More to come on this exciting initiative!
The Mass is the greatest gift the Lord could ever give us.
My greatest desire as your bishop is that all of our people come to profoundly know, keenly understand, ardently believe, and faithfully participate in the Eucharist as the center of our lives and the very meaning of our existence, grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That hope is the driving force of Sacrosanctum Concilium.