Cardinal Roberto Sarah: Per leggere e applicare la costituzione del Vaticano II sulla sacra liturgia. Cardinal Sarah’s Powerful Letter Available In English!

Cardinal Sarah’s Powerful Letter Available In English!

published 12 August 2015 by Corpus Christi Watershed

OBERT CARDINAL SARAH,Prefect of the Congregation for the Divine Worship, published a powerful document on 12 June 2015 in L’Osservatore Romano. The originalwas in Italian and numerous translations soon appeared, but not all were of a high quality. 1

For decades, ADOREMUS BULLETIN has provided access to official documents. Recently, they uploaded an English translation by Christopher Ruff, and the table below allows comparison between his excellent work and the original Italian.

Cardinal Sarah’s statements about ad orientem for the Penitential Rite, Gloria, Orations, and Eucharistic Prayer caused a worldwide sensation! 2   It’s the eighth paragraph, which begins “contrary to what has sometimes been maintained…”|

INQUANT’ANNI DOPO la sua promulgazione da parte di Papa Paolo VI, si leggerà, infine, la costituzione del concilio Vaticano II sulla sacra liturgia? LaSacrosanctum concilium non è di fatto un semplice catalogo di “ricette” di riforme, ma una vera e propria magna charta di ogni azione liturgica. Il concilio ecumenico ci dà in essa una magistrale lezione di metodo. In effetti, lungi dall’accontentarsi di un approccio disciplinare ed esteriore alla liturgia, il concilio vuole farci contemplare ciò che è nella sua essenza. La pratica della Chiesa deriva sempre da quello che riceve e contempla nella rivelazione. La pastorale non si può disconnettere dalla dottrina.

IFTY YEARS AFTER its promulgation by Pope Paul VI, will the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy finally be read? Sacrosanctum Concilium is not in fact a simple catalogue of “recipes” for reform, but a true and properMagna Carta for all liturgical action. In that Constitution, the Ecumenical Council gives us a masterful lesson in methodology. Far from contenting itself with a disciplinary and external approach to the liturgy, the Council summons us to contemplate the liturgy in its essence. The Church’s practice always flows from what she receives and contemplates from Revelation. Pastoral practice cannot be divorced from doctrine.

Nella Chiesa «ciò che proviene dall’azione è ordinato alla contemplazione» (cfr. n. 2). La costituzione conciliare ci invita a riscoprire l’origine trinitaria dell’opera liturgica. In effetti, il concilio stabilisce una continuità tra la missione di Cristo Redentore e la missione liturgica della Chiesa. «Come il Cristo fu inviato dal Padre, così anch’egli ha inviato gli apostoli» affinché «mediante il sacrificio e i sacramenti attorno ai quali gravita tutta la vita liturgica» attuino «l’opera di salvezza» (n. 6). .

In the Church, “action is directed to contemplation” (cf. §2). The conciliar Constitution invites us to rediscover the Trinitarian origin of the work of the liturgy. Indeed, the Council affirms continuity between the mission of Christ the Redeemer and the liturgical mission of the Church. “Just as Christ was sent by the Father, so also he sent the apostles,” so that “by means of sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical life revolves” they might “accomplish the work of salvation” (§6).

Attuare la liturgia non è dunque altro che attuare l’opera di Cristo. La liturgia è nella sua essenza actio Christi: l’«opera della redenzione umana e della perfetta glorificazione di Dio» (n. 5). È Lui il grande sacerdote, il vero soggetto, il vero attore della liturgia (cfr. n. 7). Se questo principio vitale non viene accolto nella fede, si rischia di fare della liturgia un’opera umana, un’autocelebrazione della comunità.

The liturgy in action is thus none other than the work of Christ in action. The liturgy is in its essence actio Christi: “the work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God” (§5). He is the high priest, the true subject, the true protagonist of the liturgy (cf. §7). If this vital principle is not embraced in faith, one risks reducing the liturgy to a human action, to the community’s celebration of itself.

Al contrario, l’opera propria della Chiesa consiste nell’entrare nell’azione di Cristo, nell’iscriversi in quell’opera di cui egli ha ricevuto dal Padre la missione. Dunque «ci fu data la pienezza del culto divino», perché «la sua umanità, nell’unità della persona del Verbo, fu strumento della nostra salvezza» (n. 5). La Chiesa, corpo di Cristo, deve quindi divenire a sua volta uno strumento nelle mani del Verbo.

On the contrary, the true work of the Church consists in entering into the action of Christ, participating intimately in the mission he has received from the Father. Thus “the fullness of divine worship was given to us,” because “his humanity, united with the person of the Word, was the instrument of our salvation” (§5). The Church, the Body of Christ, must in turn become an instrument in the hands of the Word.

Questo è il significato ultimo del concetto-chiave della costituzione conciliare: laparticipatio actuosa. Tale partecipazione consiste per la Chiesa nel diventare strumento di Cristo-sacerdote, al fine di partecipare alla sua missione trinitaria. La Chiesa partecipa attivamente all’opera liturgica di Cristo nella misura in cui ne è lo strumento. In tal senso, parlare di “comunità celebrante” non è privo di ambiguità e richiede vera cautela (cfr. Istruzione Redemptoris sacramentum, n. 42). La participatio actuosa non dovrebbe dunque essere intesa come la necessità di fare qualcosa. Su questo punto l’insegnamento del concilio è stato spesso deformato. Si tratta invece di lasciare che Cristo ci prenda e ci associ al suo sacrificio. .

This is the ultimate meaning of the key concept of the conciliar Constitution,participatio actuosa. For the Church, this participation consists in becoming an instrument of Christ the Priest, so as to participate in his Trinitarian mission. The Church participates actively in the liturgical work of Christ insofar as she is his instrument. In this sense, language about the “celebrating community” can carry a degree of ambiguity requiring true caution (cf. the InstructionRedemptoris sacramentum, §42). Participatio actuosa must not be understood, therefore, as the need to do something. On this point the teaching of the Council has often been distorted. It is a question, rather, of allowing Christ to take hold of us and to associate us with his sacrifice.

La participatio liturgica deve perciò essere intesa come una grazia di Cristo che «associa sempre a sé la Chiesa» (Sacrosanctum concilium, n. 7). È Lui ad avere l’iniziativa e il primato. La Chiesa «l’invoca come suo Signore e per mezzo di lui rende il culto all’eterno Padre» (n. 7).	Liturgical participatio must therefore be understood as a grace from Christ who “always associates the Church with himself” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7). It is he who takes the initiative, who has primacy. The Church “calls to her Lord, and through Him offers worship to the Eternal Father” (§7).

Il sacerdote deve dunque diventare questo strumento che lascia trasparire Cristo. Come ha da poco ricordato il nostro Papa Francesco, il celebrante non è il presentatore di uno spettacolo, non deve ricercare la simpatia dell’assemblea ponendosi di fronte a essa come il suo interlocutore principale. Entrare nello spirito del concilio significa al contrario cancellarsi, rinunciare a essere il punto focale. .

The priest must thus become this instrument that allows Christ to shine through. As our Holy Father Pope Francis recently recalled, the celebrant is not the host of a show, he must not seek the affirmation of the assembly, standing before them as if they were called to enter into dialogue primarily with him. To enter into the spirit of the Council means—on the contrary—to efface oneself, to renounce the spotlight.

Contrariamente a quanto è stato a volte sostenuto, è del tutto conforme alla costituzione conciliare, è addirittura opportuno che, durante il rito della penitenza, il canto del Gloria, le orazioni e la preghiera eucaristica, tutti, sacerdote e fedeli, si voltino insieme verso Oriente, per esprimere la loro volontà di partecipare all’opera di culto e di redenzione compiuta da Cristo. Questo modo di fare potrebbe opportunamente essere messo in atto nelle cattedrali dove la vita liturgica deve essere esemplare (cfr. n. 41). .

Contrary to what has sometimes been maintained, it is in full conformity with the conciliar Constitution—indeed, it is entirely fitting—for everyone, priest and congregation, to turn together to the East during the penitential rite, the singing of the Gloria, the orations, and the Eucharistic prayer, in order to express the desire to participate in the work of worship and redemption accomplished by Christ. This practice could well be established in cathedrals, where liturgical life must be exemplary (cf. §41).

Ben inteso, ci sono altre parti della messa in cui il sacerdote, agendo in persona Christi Capitis, entra in dialogo nuziale con l’assemblea. Ma questo faccia a faccia non ha altro fine che condurre a un tête-à-tête con Dio che, per mezzo della grazia dello Spirito Santo, diverrà un cuore a cuore. Il concilio propone così altri mezzi per favorire la partecipazione: «le acclamazioni dei fedeli, le risposte, il canto dei salmi, le antifone, i canti, nonché le azioni e i gesti e l’atteggiamento del corpo» (n. 30). .

Of course it is understood that there are other parts of the Mass in which the priest, acting in persona Christi Capitis, enters into nuptial dialogue with the assembly. But this face-to-face has no other purpose than to lead to a tete-à-tete with God, which, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, will become a heart-to-heart. The Council thus proposes additional means to favor participation: “acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons and songs, as well as…actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes” (§30).

Una lettura troppo rapida, e soprattutto troppo umana, ha portato a concludere che bisognava far sì che i fedeli fossero costantemente occupati. La mentalità occidentale contemporanea, modellata dalla tecnica e affascinata dai media, ha voluto fare della liturgia un’op era di pedagogia efficace e redditizia. In questo spirito, si è cercato di rendere le celebrazioni conviviali. Gli attori liturgici, animati da motivazioni pastorali, cercano a volte di fare opera didattica introducendo nelle celebrazioni elementi profani e spettacolari. Non si vedono forse fiorire testimonianze, messe in scena e applausi? Si crede così di favorire la partecipazione dei fedeli mentre di fatto si riduce la liturgia a un gioco umano.

A hasty and all-too-human reading of the Constitution has led to the conclusion that the faithful must be kept constantly busy. The contemporary Western way of thinking, shaped by technology and dazzled by the media, has wished to turn the liturgy into a lucrative production. In this spirit, many have tried to make the celebrations festive. Prompted by pastoral motives, liturgical ministers sometimes stage celebrations into which elements of worldly entertainment are introduced. Have we not witnessed a proliferation of testimonials, acts, and applause? It is imagined that this will foster the participation of the faithful, when in fact it reduces the liturgy to a human plaything. .

«Il silenzio non è una virtù, né il rumore un peccato, è vero», dice Thomas Merton, «ma il tumulto, la confusione e il rumore continui nella società moderna o in certe liturgie eucaristiche africane sono l’espressione dell’atmosfera dei suoi peccati più gravi, della sua empietà, della sua disperazione. Un mondo di propaganda, di argomentazioni infinite, di invettive, di critiche, o semplicemente di chiacchiere, è un mondo nel quale la vita non vale la pena di essere vissuta. La messa diviene un baccano confuso; le preghiere un rumore esteriore o interiore» (Thomas Merton, Le signe de Jonas, Ed. Albin Michel, Paris, 1955, p. 322).

“Silence is not a virtue, noise is not a sin, it is true,” says Thomas Merton, “but the turmoil and confusion and constant noise of modern society [or of some African Eucharistic liturgies] are the expression of the ambiance of its greatest sins—its godlessness, its despair. A world of propaganda, of endless argument, vituperation, criticism, or simply of chatter, is a world without anything to live for…. Mass becomes racket and confusion; prayers—an exterior or interior noise” (Thomas Merton, The Sign of Jonas [San Diego: Harcourt, Inc., 1953, 1981], passim). .

Si corre il rischio reale di non lasciare alcun posto a Dio nelle nostre celebrazioni. Incorriamo nella tentazione degli ebrei nel deserto. Essi cercarono di crearsi un culto alla loro misura e alla loro altezza, e non dimentichiamo che finirono prostrati davanti all’idolo del vitello d’oro.	We run the real risk of leaving no room for God in our celebrations, falling into the temptation of the Israelites in the desert. They sought to create a cult of worship limited to their own measure and reach, and let us not forget that they ended up prostrate before the idol of the golden calf.

È tempo di metterci all’ascolto del concilio. La liturgia è «principalmente culto della maestà divina» (n. 33). Ha valore pedagogico nella misura in cui è completamente ordinata alla glorificazione di Dio e al culto divino. La liturgia ci pone realmente alla presenza della trascendenza divina. Partecipazione vera significa rinnovare in noi quello “stupore” che san Giovanni Paolo II teneva in grande considerazione (cfr. Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 6). Questo stupore sacro, questo timore gioioso, richiede il nostro silenzio di fronte alla maestà divina. Si dimentica spesso che il silenzio sacro è uno dei mezzi indicati dal concilio per favorire la partecipazione.

The hour has come to listen to the Council. The liturgy is “above all things the worship of the divine majesty” (§33). It can form and teach us only insofar as it is completely ordered to divine worship and the glorification of God. The liturgy truly places us in the presence of divine transcendence. True participation means the renewal in us of that “amazement” that St. John Paul II held in such high regard (cf. Ecclesia de Eucharistia, §6). This sacred amazement, this joyous reverence, requires our silence before the divine majesty. We often forget that sacred silence is one of the means indicated by the Council to foster participation.

Se la liturgia è opera di Cristo, è necessario che il celebrante vi introduca i propri commenti? Ci si deve ricordare che, quando il messale autorizza un intervento, questo non deve diventare un discorso profano e umano, un commento più o meno sottile sull’attualità, o un saluto mondano alle persone presenti, ma una brevissima esortazione a entrare nel mistero (cfr. Presentazione generale del messale romano, n. 50).

If the liturgy is the work of Christ, is it necessary for the celebrant to interject his own comments? We must remember that when the Missal authorizes commentary, this must not become a worldly, human discourse, a more or less subtle pronouncement on current events, or a banal greeting to those present, but rather a very brief exhortation to enter into the mystery (cf. General Introduction of the Roman Missal, §50).

Quanto all’omelia, è essa stessa un atto liturgico che ha le sue proprie regole. Laparticipatio actuosa all’opera di Cristo presuppone che si lasci il mondo profano per entrare nell’«azione sacra per eccellenza» (Sacrosanctum concilium, n. 7). Di fatto, «noi pretendiamo, con una certa arroganza, di restare nell’umano per entrare nel divino» (Robert Sarah, Dieu ou rien, p. 178).

As for the homily, it too is a liturgical act which has its own rules. The participatio actuosa in the work of Christ presupposes that one leaves behind the profane world in order to enter into “sacred action surpassing all others” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, §7). In fact, “we claim somewhat arrogantly to remain in the human sphere so as to enter into the divine” (Robert Sarah, God or Nothing, Ignatius Press, Chapter IV).

In tal senso, è deplorevole che il sacrario delle nostre chiese non sia un luogo strettamente riservato al culto divino, che vi si penetri in abiti profani, che lo spazio sacro non sia chiaramente delimitato dall’architettura. Poiché, come insegna il concilio, Cristo è presente nella sua parola quando questa viene proclamata, è ugualmente deleterio che i lettori non abbiano un abbigliamento appropriato che mostri che non pronunciano parole umane ma una parola divina.

In this sense it is deplorable that the sanctuary in our churches is not strictly reserved for divine worship, that people enter it in worldly garb, that the sacred space is not clearly delineated by the architecture. And since, as the Council teaches, Christ is present in his word when it is proclaimed, it is equally harmful when readers are not dressed in a way that shows they are pronouncing not human words, but the Word of God. .

La liturgia è una realtà fondamentalmente mistica e contemplativa, e di conseguenza fuori dalla portata della nostra azione umana; anche la participatio è una grazia di Dio. Pertanto, presuppone da parte nostra un’apertura al mistero celebrato. Così, la costituzione raccomanda la comprensione piena dei riti (cfr. n. 34) e al tempo stesso prescrive «che i fedeli sappiano recitare e cantare insieme, anche in lingua latina, le parti dell’ordinario della messa che spettano ad essi» (n. 54).

The liturgy is a fundamentally mystical and contemplative reality, and thus beyond the reach of our human action; even participatio is a grace from God. It presupposes on our part openness to the mystery being celebrated. For this reason the Constitution encourages full understanding of the rites (cf. §34) and at the same time prescribes that “the faithful…be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them” (§54). .

In effetti, la comprensione dei riti non è opera della ragione umana lasciata a se stessa, che dovrebbe cogliere tutto, capire tutto, padroneggiare tutto. La comprensione dei riti sacri è quella del sensus fidei, che esercita la fede vivente attraverso il simbolo e che conosce per sintonia più che per concetto. Questa comprensione presuppone che ci si avvicini al mistero con umiltà. .

In reality, an understanding of the rites is not achieved by human reason left to itself, as if it could grasp everything, understand everything, master everything. An understanding of the sacred rites is the fruit of the sensus fidei, which exercises living faith through symbol and understands more by affinity than by concept. Such understanding presupposes that one draws near to the mystery with humility.

Ma si avrà il coraggio di seguire il concilio fino a questo punto? Una simile lettura, illuminata dalla fede, è però fondamentale per l’evangelizzazione. In effetti, «a coloro che sono fuori essa mostra la Chiesa, come vessillo innalzato di fronte alle nazioni, sotto il quale i figli di Dio dispersi possano raccogliersi» (n. 2). .	But will we have the courage to follow the Council all the way to this point? Yet it is only such a reading, illumined by faith, which constitutes the foundation for evangelization. Indeed, “the liturgy… shows forth the Church to those who are outside as a sign lifted up among the nations, under which the scattered children of God may be gathered together” (§2).

Essa deve smettere di essere un luogo di disobbedienza alle prescrizioni della Chiesa. Più specificatamente, non può essere un’o ccasione di lacerazioni tra cristiani. Le letture dialettiche della Sacrosanctum concilium, le ermeneutiche di rottura in un senso o nell’altro, non sono il frutto di uno spirito di fede.	It must cease to be a place of disobedience to the prescriptions of the Church. More specifically, the liturgy cannot be an occasion for divisions among Christians. Dialectical readings of Sacrosanctum Concilium, or the hermeneutics of rupture in one sense or another, are not the fruit of a spirit of faith.

Il concilio non ha voluto rompere con le forme liturgiche ereditate dalla tradizione, anzi ha voluto approfondirle. La costituzione stabilisce che «le nuove forme scaturiscano organicamente, in qualche maniera, da quelle già esistenti» (n. 23). In tal senso, è necessario che quanti celebrano secondo l’usus antiquiorlo facciano senza spirito di opposizione, e dunque nello spirito della Sacrosanctum concilium.

The Council did not intend to break from the liturgical forms inherited from tradition – indeed, it desired to deepen them. The Constitution establishes that “any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing” (§23). In this sense, it is necessary that those who celebrate according to the usus antiquior do so without a spirit of opposition, and thus in the spirit ofSacrosanctum Concilium.

Allo stesso modo, sarebbe sbagliato considerare la forma straordinaria del rito romano come derivante da un’altra teologia che non sia la liturgia riformata. Sarebbe anche auspicabile che s’inserisse come allegato di una prossima edizione del messale il rito della penitenza e l’offertorio dell’usus antiquior al fine di sottolineare che le due forme liturgiche s’illuminano a vicenda, in continuità e senza opposizione.

By the same token, it would be a mistake to consider the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite as deriving from a different theology than that of the reformed liturgy. And one could hope that a future edition of the Missal might include the penitential rite and the offertory of the usus antiquior, so as to underscore the fact that the two liturgical forms shed light one upon the other, in continuity and without opposition.

Se vivremo in questo spirito, allora la liturgia smetterà di essere il luogo delle rivalità e delle critiche, per farci infine partecipare attivamente a quella liturgia «che viene celebrata nella santa città di Gerusalemme, verso la quale tendiamo come pellegrini, dove il Cristo siede […] quale ministro del santuario» (n. 8). . + ROBERT CARDINAL SARAH 12 June 2015	If we live in this spirit, the liturgy will cease to be the locus of rivalries and criticisms, and we will be brought at last to participate actively in that liturgy “which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle” (§8). + ROBERT CARDINAL SARAH 12 June 2015

 

Message from Cardinal Sarah to participants of "Sacra Liturgia 2015" event in NYC

"One cannot encounter God, my brothers and sisters, without trembling, without awe, without profound respect and holy fear."

June 07, 2015 12:00 EST

CWR Staff

Cardinal Robert Sarah in a 2011 file photo (CNS); right: Mass at "Sacra Liturgia 2015" event (Sacra Liturgia Facebook page)

The following Message from Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, was sent to participants of the "Sacra Liturgia 2015" event in New York City, held this past week, from June 1-4. A reproduction of the Message was posted on the Sacra Liturgia USA Facebook page and has been reproduced here by kind permission of Dom Alcuin Reid, international organizer of the Sacra Liturgia events (see CWR's May 2015 interview with Dom Reidabout the New York event).
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MESSAGE OF HIS EMINENCE, ROBERT CARDINAL SARAH
PREFECT OF THE CONGREGATION FOR
DIVINE WORSHIP AND DISCIPLINE OF THE SACRAMENTS
TO THE CONFERENCE “SACRA LITURGlA USA 2015”
NEW YORK CITY, 1-4 JUNE 2015
1. It is my pleasure to greet all of you, gathered in New York City, for the inaugural conference of Sacra Liturgia in the United State of America. In particular, I greet His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, and thank him for his interest in and support of this event underlining the essential role of liturgical formation and celebration in the life and mission of the Church.
I was very pleased to be present at the launch of the Italian and English editions of the proceedings of Sacra Liturgia 2013 in Rome last November, and congratulate Bishop Dominique Rey and all who work with him on making this happy initiative a reality, now also in the United Stales of America.
I greet His Eminence, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, who will present the keynote address. And I greet all the bishops, priests and religious and learned lay men and women who will make presentations as well as those who will celebrate the Sacred Liturgy and preach in the coming days. Your apostolate in promoting the Sacred Liturgy is a most important one in our time: I thank you for all that you do.
2. Because the Sacred Liturgy is truly the font from which all the Church's power flows, as the Second Vatican Council insists (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10), we must do everything we can to put the Sacred Liturgy back at the very heart of the relationship between God and man, recognizing the primacy of Almighty God in this privileged and unique forum in which we, individually and ecclesially, encounter God at work in our world. One cannot encounter God, my brothers and sisters, without trembling, without awe, without profound respect and holy fear. This is why we must rank what Cardinal Ratzinger called "the right way of celebrating the Liturgy, inwardly and outwardly” first amongst our concerns (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy, Ignatius Press, San Francisco 2000, p. 9).
3. When The Holy Father, Pope Francis, asked me to accept the ministry of Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, I asked: "Your Holiness, how do you want me to exercise this ministry? What do you want me to do as Prefect of this Congregation?" The Holy Father's reply was clear. “I want you to continue to implement the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council,” he said, “and I want you to continue the good work in the liturgy begun by Pope Benedict XVI.”
My friends, I want you to help me in this task. I ask you to continue to work towards achieving the liturgical aims of the Second Vatican Council (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, I) and to work to continue the liturgical renewal promoted by Pope Benedict XVI, especially through the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacrosanctum Caritatisof 22 February 2007 and the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of 7 July 2007. I ask you to be wise like the householder in St Matthew's Gospel, who knows when to bring out of his treasure things both new and old (cf. Mtt 13:52), so that the Sacred Liturgy as it is celebrated and lived today may lose nothing of the estimable riches of the Church's liturgical tradition, whilst always being open to legitimate development (cf.Sacrosanctum Concilium, 23).
4. You have many days in which to consider these questions in depth. I would like to suggest two critical areas in which authentic liturgical renewal in the twenty-first century can be furthered. The first is by being utterly clear what Catholic liturgy is: it is the worship of Almighty God, the place where mankind encounters God alive and at work in His Church today. Please—never underestimate the importance of this. The liturgy is not some social occasion or meeting where we come first, where what is most important is that we express our identity. No: God comes first. As Cardinal Ratzinger wrote in 2004:

If the Liturgy appears first of all as the workshop for our activity, then what is essential is being forgotten: God. For the Liturgy is not about us, but about God. Forgetting about God is the most imminent danger of our age. As against this, the Liturgy should be setting up a sign of God’s presence. (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger,Collected Works: The Theology of the Liturgy, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2015, p. 593).

The Church’s liturgy is given to us in tradition—it is not for us to make up the rites we celebrate or to change them to suit ourselves or our own ideas beyond the legitimate options permitted by the liturgical books. That is why we must celebrate the Sacred Liturgy faithfully, with that reverence and awe of which I spoke earlier.
5. The second area in which I ask you to give of your time and expertise is in the promotion of sound liturgical formation. The Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy went so far as to say that “it would be futile to entertain any hopes of realizing” the liturgical renewal it desired “unless the pastors themselves, in the first place, become thoroughly imbued with the spirit and power of the liturgy, and undertake to give instruction about it” (n. 14). We cannot truly participate in the Sacred Liturgy, we cannot drink deeply from the source of the Christian life, if we have not been formed in the spirit and power of the liturgy. As our Holy Father, Pope Francis, said last year:

Much remains to be done for a correct and complete assimilation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy on the part of the baptized and by ecclesial communities. I refer in particular to a strong and organic invitation and liturgical formation of the lay faithful as well as the clergy and consecrated persons (Message to the participants of the Roman symposium on Sacrosanctum Concilium, 18 February 2014)

I hope and I pray that the different initiatives of Sacra Liturgia can do much to meet this urgent and crucial need.
5. Dear brothers in the episcopate, dear priests, deacons and religious, dear lay men and women, your participation in this conference is a sign that you are already aware of the importance of the Sacred Liturgy in the life of the Church. I thank you for you willingness to give of your time to study and consider this reality further. I pray that these days may increase your wisdom and knowledge, that they will help you grow in holiness and that they will make you ever more zealous in promoting authentic liturgical renewal in the Church.
I hope I will be able to join you for the new Sacra Liturgia Meeting of July 2015 in London.
Please pray for me that I may faithfully execute the service to which I have been called. May God bless you always!
Robert Cardinal SarahPrefect
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

Cardinal Sarah on Liturgical Wars, Criticism of the Pope, and Islam

Interview: Cardinal Sarah on Liturgical Wars, Criticism of the Pope, and Islam

  

Alberto Pizzolli /AFP

   

Cardinal Robert Sarah: “If the Eucharist is considered [simply] a meal we share in and that nobody can be excluded from it, then the sense of Mystery is lost”.

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“If the Eucharist is considered [simply] a meal we share in and that nobody can be excluded from it, then the sense of Mystery is lost”. So says Cardinal Robert Sarah, the new Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and ...

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French publishing house Fayard is publishing a book with an interview with one of the most impressive Cardinals in the College, the recently-named Prefect for Divine Worship, Cardinal Robert Sarah. "Either God or Nothing" ...

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Cardinal Sarah's article for L'Osservatore Romano on the Traditional Missal and the Paul VI Missal

Cardinal Sarah's article for L'Osservatore Romano on the Traditional Missal and the Paul VI Missal

Is Cardinal Sarah, the recently-appointed prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, singlehandedly trying to restore the so-called movement of the "Reform of the Reform" of the new mass of Paul VI, derailed after (actually, even before) the abdication of Benedict XVI? That is the impression given by his groundbreaking article published in the official daily of the Holy See, L'Osservatore Romano, on June 12, and translated by us below. It deals mostly with the rite of Paul VI, but the respectful attitude towards the Traditional Roman Rite (the "usus antiquior" or extraordinary form...) is noteworthy. Alas, not even his idea of integrating the offertory of the Traditional Rite as an optional in the new missal is quite new: Cardinal Medina Estévez, his predecessor in the same position from 1998 to 2002, was said to have tried to include the Old Offertory in the 3rd edition of the Paul VI missal (2002), a move blocked by what was mentioned as strong opposition at the time.

Nonetheless, the mere fact that some (not all...) of the ideas in this article are being published by the current Prefect at the current time is good news, hopeful news.

***

THE SILENT ACTION OF THE HEART

Cardinal Robert Sarah

L'Osservatore Romano

June 12, 2015

[Exclusive Rorate translation by Contributor Francesca Romana]

Fifty years after its promulgation by Pope Paul VI will the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy from the Second Vatican Council be read? “Sacrosanctum concilium “ is not de facto a simple catalogue of reform “recipes” but a real “magna carta” of every liturgical action.

With it, the ecumenical council gives us a magisterial lesson in method. Indeed, far from being content with a disciplinary and exterior approach, the council wants to make us reflect on what the liturgy is in its essence. The practice of the Church always comes from what She receives and contemplates in Revelation. Pastoral care cannot be disconnected from doctrine.

In the Church, “that which comes from action is ordered to contemplation” (cfr. n. 2). The Council’s Constitution invites us to rediscover the Trinitarian origin of the liturgical action. Indeed, the Council establishes continuity between the mission of Christ the Redeemer and the liturgical mission of the Church. “Just as Christ was sent by His Father, so also He sent the Apostles” so that “by means of sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical life revolves” they accomplish ”the work of salvation”. (n.6).

Actuating the liturgy is therefore nothing other than actuating the work of Christ. The liturgy in its essence is “actio Christi”. [It is]the “work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God.” (n.5) It is He who is the great Priest, the true subject, the true actor in the liturgy (n.7). If this vital principle is not accepted in faith, there is the risk of making the liturgy into a human work, a self-celebration of the community.

By contrast, the real work of the Church consists in entering into the action of Christ, in uniting oneself to that work which He received as a mission from the Father. So, “the fullness of divine worship was given to us" since “His humanity, united with the person of the Word, was the instrument of our salvation” (n.5). The Church, the Body of Christ, must therefore become in Her turn an instrument in the hands of the Word.

This is the ultimate meaning of the key-concept of the Conciliar Constitution: “participatio actuosa”. Such participation for the Church consists in becoming the instrument of Christ – The Priest, with the aim of sharing in His Trinitarian mission. The Church takes part actively in the liturgical action of Christ in the measure that She is His instrument. In this sense, to speak of “a celebrating community”” is not devoid of ambiguity and requires prudence. (Instruction” Redemptoris sacramentum”, n. 42). “Participatio actuosa” should not then be intended as the need to do something. On this point the Council’s teaching has frequently been deformed. Rather, it is about allowing Christ to take us and associate us with His Sacrifice.

Liturgical “participatio” must thus be intended as a grace from Christ who “always associates the Church with Himself.”(S.C. n. 7) It is He that has the initiative and the primacy. The Church “calls to Her Lord, and through Him offers worship to the Eternal Father” (n.7).

The priest must thus become this instrument which allows Christ to shine through. Just as our Pope Francis reminded us recently, that the celebrant is not the presenter of a show; he must not look for popularity from the congregation by placing himself before them as their primary interlocutor. Entering into the spirit of the council means, on the contrary, making oneself disappear – relinquishing the centre-stage.

Contrary to what has at times been sustained, and in conformity with the Conciliar Constitution , it is absolutely fitting that during the Penitential Rite, the singing of the Gloria, the orations and Eucharistic Prayer, for everyone – the priest and the congregation alike– to face ad orientem together, expressing their will to participate in the work of worship and redemption accomplished by Christ. This way of doing things could be fittingly carried out in the cathedrals where the liturgical life must be exemplary (n. 4).

To be very clear, there are other parts of the Mass where the priest, acting “in persona Christi Capitis” enters into nuptial dialogue with the congregation. But this face-to-face has no other end than to lead them to a téte-à-tète with God , who through the grace of the Holy Spirit, will make it ‘a heart to heart’. The council offers other means to favor participation [through] “ the acclamations , responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes.” (n.30).

An excessively quick reading and above all, a far too human one, inferred that the faithful had to be kept constantly busy. Contemporary Western mentality formed by technology and bewitched by the mass media, wanted to make the liturgy into a work of effective and profitable pedagogy. In this spirit, there was the attempt to render the celebrations convivial. The liturgical actors, animated by pastoral motives, try at times to make it into didactic work by introducing secular and spectacular elements. Don’t we see perhaps testimonies, performances and clapping in the increase? They believe that participation is favored in this manner, whereas in fact, the liturgy is being reduced to a human game.

“Silence is not a virtue, nor noise a sin, it is true” says Thomas Merton “but the continuous turmoil, confusion and noise in modern society or in certain African Eucharistic liturgies are an expression of the atmosphere of its most serious sins and its impiety and desperation. A world of propaganda and never-ending argumentations , of invectives, criticisms, or mere chattering, is a world in which life is not worth living. Mass becomes a confused din, the prayers an exterior or interior noise.” (Thomas Merton, “The Sign of Jonah” French edition, Albin Michel, Paris, 1955 – p. 322).

We run the real risk of leaving no space for God in our celebrations. We risk the temptation of the Hebrews in the desert. They attempted to create worship according to their own stature and measure, [but] let us not forget they ended up prostrate before the idol of the Golden Calf.

It is time to start listening to the Council. The liturgy is “above all things the worship of the divine Majesty” (n.33). It has pedagogic worth in the measure wherein it is completely ordered to the glorification of God and Divine worship. The Liturgy truly places us in the presence of Divine transcendence. True participation means renewing in ourselves that “wonder” which St. John Paul II held in great consideration (Ecclesia de Eucharistia” n. 6). This holy wonder, this joyful awe, requires our silence before the Divine Majesty. We often forget that holy silence is one of the means indicated by the Council to favor participation.

If the liturgy is the work of Christ, is it necessary for the celebrant to introduce his own comments? We must remember that, when the Missal authorizes an intervention, this must not turn into a secular and human discourse, a comment more or less subtle on something of topical interest, nor a mundane greeting to the people present, but a very short exhortation so as to enter the Mystery (General Presentation of the Roman Missal, n.50). Regarding the homily, it is in itself a liturgical act which has its own rules.

“Participatio actuosa” in the work of Christ, presupposes that we leave the secular world so as to enter the “sacred action surpassing all other” (Sacrosanctum concilium, n.7). De facto, “we claim, with a certain arrogance, to stay in the human - to enter the divine.” (Robert Sarah, “Dieu ou rien”, p. 178).

In such a sense, it is deplorable that the sanctuary (of the high altar) in our churches is not a place strictly reserved for Divine worship, that secular clothes are worn in it and that the sacred space is not clearly defined by the architecture. Since, as the Council teaches, Christ is present in His Word when this is proclaimed , it is similarly detrimental that the readers do not wear appropriate clothing, indicating that they are not pronouncing human words but the Divine Word.

The liturgy is fundamentally mystical and contemplative, and consequently beyond our human action; even the “participatio” is a grace from God. Therefore, it presupposes on our part an opening to the mystery being celebrated. Thus, the Constitution recommends full understanding of the rites (n.34) and at the same time prescribes that “the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.” (n.54).

In reality, the understanding of the rites is not is not an act of reason left to its own devices, which should accept everything, understand everything, master everything. The understanding of the sacred rites is that of “sensus fidei”, which exercises the living faith through symbols and which knows through “harmony” more than concept. This understanding presupposes that one draws close to the Divine Mystery with humility.

But will we have the courage to follow the Council up to this point? Such a reading, illuminated by faith, is however, fundamental for evangelization. In fact, “to those who are outside as a sign lifted up among the nations under which the scattered children of God may be gathered together “ (n.2). It [the reading of S.C.] must stop being a place of disobedience to the prescriptions of the Church.

More specifically, it cannot be an occasion for laceration among Catholics. The dialectic readings of “Sacrosanctum concilium” i.e. the hermeneutics of rupture in one sense or another, are not the fruit of a spirit of faith. The Council did not want to break with the liturgical forms inherited from Tradition, rather it wanted to deepen them. The Constitution establishes that “any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing.” (n.23).

In this sense, it is necessary that those celebrating according to the “usus antiquior” do so without any spirit of opposition, and hence in the spirit of “Sacrosanctum concilium”. In the same way, it would be wrong to consider the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite as deriving from another theology that is not the reformed liturgy. It would also be desirable that the Penitential Rite and the Offertory of the “usus antiquior” be inserted as an enclosure in the next edition of the Missal with the aim of stressing that the two liturgical reforms illuminate one another, in continuity and with no opposition.

If we live in this spirit, then the liturgy will stop being a place of rivalry and criticisms, ultimately, to allow us to participate actively in that liturgy “which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle.” (n.8).