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On The

Sacred Litur

Encyclical Letter (Mediator Dei)

of POPE PIUS XII





ON THE SACRED

LITURGY

Encyclical Letter

Mediator Dei

(Nov. 20, 1947)

of

POPE PIUS XII

WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES

by

Gerald Ellard, S.J.

Enlarged and revised edition, 1961

THE AMERICA PRESS

920 Broadway, New York 10, N. Y.



In preparing the text and headings of the encyclical, the

English translation as appearing in the Vatican Press

edition has been faithfully adhered to, save that a few

words and phrases, missing in that version, have been

recovered from the Latin and restored to the text. To

assist the reader, the footnotes have been rendered into

English.

Imprimatur

* Francis Cardinal Spellman

Archbishop of New York

June 1, 1948

COPYRIGHT 1948 BY

THE AMERICA PRESS

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES



CONTENTS
PAGE

Foreword by Gerald Ellard, SJ. 5

Text of Encyclical, Mediator Dei 13-80

Introduction 13

Part I

:

Nature, source and development of the liturgy 17

Part II

:

Eucharistic worship 37

Part III

:

Divine office and the liturgical year 60

Part IV: Pastoral directives 70

Epilogue 79

Notes 81

General Conspectus 93

Index

:

Holy Writ 94

Other Authors 95

Subjects 96

Some Editions and Commentary 107



Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2016

https://archive.org/details/onsacredliturgyecath



FOREWORD

Catholics know that the problem of music at high Mass, particu-

larly from the side of congregational participation, has long been a

troublesome factor. Formerly congregations sang the chants; now they

sing nothing: how restore the situation in which the people will sing

again?

Now, for twenty years and more before Guiseppe Sarto was elected

Pope, as Pius X (1903), he had shown himself singularly successful
precisely in restoring congregational high Mass singing at Salzano,

Tambolo, Mantua and Venice. “There is no village however small”

—he later wrote describing the last scene of these labors—“that does
not have its own schola cantorum [liturgical choir] ... In very many

places all the people take part in chanting vespers and Mass.” What has

been done in those regions, “can and must be done,” he felt, in Rome

and around the world as well.

So, by way of erecting a wide, protecting principle over the restora-

tion of the high Mass chants, Pope Pius X framed what we may term
the principle of active lay participation. It was cast in one gigantic

sentence, which in literal translation from the Italian runs as follows:

Filled as we are with the most ardent desire to see the true

Christian spirit flourish in every respect and be preserved by ail

the people, we deem it necessary to provide before aught else for

the sanctity and dignity of the temple, in which the faithful as-

semble, for no other object than that of acquiring this spirit from

its foremost and indispensable fount, which is the active participa-

tion in the most solemn prayers and in the public and solemn prayer

of the Church (November 22, 1903).

This statement was soon being shortened in sense-quotation to read,

“Active lay participation in the liturgy is a foremost and indispensable

font of the true Christian spirit.” That principle may be said to have

launched what is now known as the liturgical movement. It is with

the liturgical movement, and allied subjects, that the papal encyclical,

Mediator Dei (November 20, 1947) — presented herewith in a
Vatican translation—deals in detail.

Pope Pius X’s own immediate application of the principle of active*

5



6 MEDIATOR DEI

lay participation was in the realm of the high Mass music
—

“so that the

people may again take a more active part ... as was the case in ancient

times” (December 8, 1903). But despite multiple invitation and prompt-

ing, congregations singing the high Mass chants did not quickly ma-

terialize. There is hardly any exaggeration in saying that Pope Pius X
went down to his grave knowing that what he said of calendar reform
—“An interval of many years must elapse before this temple of the
liturgy . . . may shine once more resplendent in dignity and beauty”

(October 23, 1913)—was just as true of congregational song at Mass.
But throughout the course of the pontificate of Pius X, people

were prone to see other partial applications of the principle of active

lay participation in many of his enactments. There was the recommen-

dation in 1905, for instance, of the missal-prayers for the laity’s use on

Sundays and holydays ( Catechism of Pope Pius X ), and the publica-
tion and distribution at Rome that same year of little chant-manuals,

based on the slogan, “Do not merely sing at Mass, sing the Mass.”

Much more striking was the Decree on Frequent (Daily) Com-

munion ( December 20, 1905), and its surprising complement a few

years later, On the Age For First Communion—“so that, after first
communion, they shall approach the Holy Table frequently, even daily,

if possible, as Jesus Christ and Mother Church desire” (August 8, 1910).

The missal-prayers, the chants, the reception, for adults and for

children, of holy communion, were not these actually other phases of an

active lay participation in a fuller Mass-worship? Is it only at the rare

experience of high Mass that Catholics were missing an indispensable

source of the Christian spirit by failing to take an active part in the

worship? Is not low Mass a closer, a wider, and much more commonly

neglected field for active lay participation?

Thus, Catholic corporate worship was being studied afresh, his-

torically and theologically, and pragmatically tested (so to speak) in

the laboratory. Especially during World War I experimentation in

the scope of feasible lay participation made itself evident, and sundry

forms of dialogue Mass came to the fore. Clerical discussions, too,

began, as to “liturgical” piety versus “private” prayer, as if either ever

sufficed alone, or dispensed with the other!

The laborious and richly fruitful pontificate of Pope Pius XI

nearly filled the Nineteen-twenties and Nineteen-thirties. In the first

of these decades the new Pontiff was busy regulating liturgical externals,

but he soon began to stress the psychological effects of more corporate,



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 7

more communal, more social worship and praying, especially at Mass.

At the very outset there was a local crisis touching the dialogue

Mass, as this was then spreading in northern Italy. The people had

been rashly urged to recire the words of the Canon aloud, something

the rubrics forbid the celebrant to do. Bishop after bishop wrote to

Rome for guidance, until the very number of inquiries dictated publish-

ing a public reply. It took the form of a distinction:

A. Loud recital of the Canon is an abuse : desist at once.

B. Joint-responding or joint-reciting, good in themselves, could

readily lead to disturbance; let the bishops judge by this norm

(August 4, 1922).

So Pius XI was for retaining, and carefully regulating under the bishops'

direction, even the “disturbing" dialogue Mass.

But meanwhile, what of those singing congregations and the high

Mass chants? The Motu proprio of Pope Pius X was likely to be for-
gotten, as it was rumored that the Church had changed its mind, and

would be satisfied with silent congregations

,

if only choirs sang chant.

The fiftieth anniversary of Pope Pius XI's own ordination was ap-

proaching, an occasion that demanded a letter to his priests. Noting

that his jubilee almost coincided with the silver jubilee of Pius X’s

Motu proprio

,

Pope Pius XI combined both themes in a document too

clear for possible misapprehensions, Divini cultus (December 20, 1928).

What he insisted on is the basic religious purpose of the reform, “The

chief object of Pope Pius X . . . was to arouse and foster a Christian
spirit in the faithful." “It is most important,” the same document

affirms, “that when the people assist at the sacred functions, they should

not be detached and silent spectators."

For reaching and teaching and changing the whole man, Pius XI

felt, a liturgical festival “is far more efficacious than even the most

weighty documents of ecclesiastical teaching." Thus he put it in estab-

lishing the Feast of Christ the King:

As a rule these latter reach only a few and the more learned,

whereas the former impress and teach all the faithful. The one

means, we may say, speaks but once; the other, every year and

forever. The one teaches the mind only: the other speaks effec-

tively to mind and heart, that is, the whole man (Dec. 11, 1925).

Pius XI several times showed his preference for appeal to the whole man.

And as this pontificate progressed it was noted how the Pontiff stressed



8 MEDIATOR DEI

the modern need of corporate, communal, worship. Thus he affirmed

these directions to pilgrims, “In our day there is need of social, or com-

munal, praying, to be voiced under the guidance of the pastors in

enacting the solemn functions of the liturgy. Such an alteration of

prayers will be of the greatest assistance in banishing the evils which

disturb the minds of the faithful in our age” (May 18, 1929).

“People make a great deal of the liturgy in our day” Pius said

privately in 1935, “but not always as they ought, or as we would wish.

Frequently too much importance is attached to its external aspect, to

material things, whereas it is the spirit that is important, to pray in

accord with the praying Church.”

Apropos of the discussion as to the need of both private and public

prayer, Pius XI issued an encyclical on the Ignatian Exercises (1929).

Then, too, by way of supplement to the common seminary course on

rubrical externals, Pius XI suggested in the revised regulations for the

degree-course in pontifical seminaries—the addition of a course on the
principles of Catholic public worship (1931). He wanted to get

“liturgists” and everyone else down to bedrock principles!

What is this big underlying factor of Catholic worship, but the

very vision of the Church as a world-wide, heaven-seeking body voicing

its corporate homage through its Head and High Priest, Christ the

Lord? The Pope’s words glow as he calls up the image: “What a

spectacle for Heaven and earth is not the Church in prayer? . . . There

is no hour of the day that is not hallowed by its special liturgy; there

is no stage of life, great or small, that has not its part in the thanks-

giving, praise, supplication and reparation of the Mystical Body of

Christ, which is the Church” (May 3, 1932).

Pope Pius XI did not here state in just so many words—that was
being reserved for the present letter of Pope Pius XII—that the liturgy
is defined as the public worship of God by the Mystical Body. But

his words did bear that inference, and were often so construed.

At the end of the pontificate we find his Papal Secretary of State

again defining the liturgical movement much in the original strain of

Pope Pius X, “That the faithful pray, that they pray as befits Christians,

with one heart and one voice. . . . For the formation of the social con-

science . . . the holy and genuinely traditional custom of collective

prayer. One means ... is through simple and dignified Gregorian

chant” (September 3, 1938). So if the goal of singing congregations

was still held up, as was still necessary, the social sense of union in the



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 9

Mystical Body at worship was more and more emphasized. That con-

gregational singing, when we achieve it, will be the collective prayer of

the Mystical Body of Christ.

No year of Pius XITs pontificate lacked its many and eloquent

testimonials that it is “in the Mass we see the solution of our present

problems, the confident expectation of our future" (February 20, 1946).

But there were numerous indications, also, that war-time conditions

were working havoc in some Catholic circles. Various doctrinal dangers

were becoming discernible from the Vatican watch-tower. Tempus

putationis advenit; papal correctives could not now delay.

Pope Pius XII afforded us, in his customary charge to Rome’s

Lenten preachers, what might be called an annual “pastoral" for Rome.

That for 1943 dealt at length on the nature and efficacy of prayer, and

on the Mass as the center of the Christian life. “The greatest, the most

efficacious, and the holiest of all practices of piety is the participation

of the faithful in the holy Sacrifice" (March 13, 1943).

The meaning and dignity of priesthood, the proper attitude towards

rubrics, the relations of corporate and personal piety, the desirability

(according to the inclination, capacity and preparation of the individual)

of such modes of lay participation as the use of the missal, all these

were touched upon in turn. Whereas these considerations dealt with

public worship in the local and external forum, so to speak, the world-

wide encyclical on the Mystical Body two months later handled the

whole subject in its deepest context, the mysterious living unity of

Christ and Christians, which the Pontiff called the Social Body of

Jesus Christ.

Thus it surprises no one that the Vatican has characterized the

present encyclical Mediator Dei as the second chapter in the doctrinal

synthesis begun in 1943 (Osservatore Romano, November 29, 1947).The

former document listed the modern revival of liturgical studies as the

first of three causes focusing attention on the doctrine of the Mystical

Body. If our corporate association in the social body is everywhere

stressed in that letter, this is nowhere more in evidence than in the

sections touching the Holy Eucharist. By holy communion, for instance,

“in a divine, ineffable way [we] are brought into union with each other,

and with the divine Head of the whole body." At Mass “Christ our

Lord wishes to give special evidence of our union among ourselves and

with our divine Head. . . . For here the sacred ministers act in the

person not only of our Saviour, but of the whole Mystical Body and



10 MEDIATOR DEI

of everyone of the faithful. In this act of sacrifice through the hands of

the priest, whose word alone has brought the Immaculate Lamb to be

present on the altar, the faithful themselves offer It to the eternal

Father.” As the members conjointly in graduated union thus offer up

their Head, so also “He offers not only Himself as Head of the Church,

but in Himself His mystical members as well.” Corporate worship had

never had more concrete description.

The relevant errors condemned in Mystici Corporis, and repro-

bated anew in Mediator Dei

,

are these

:

(a) Confounding the unity of the Mystical Body with a substan-

tial physical union with Christ

;

(b) Surrendering, in one’s prayer-life, to an exaggerated “quiet-

ism,” leaving all activity to the Holy Spirit;

(c) Minimizing the value of confession-of-devotion

;

(d) Forgetting that “personal” prayer has its proper place and

value, especially after holy communion

;

(e) Overlooking the fact that even though public worship is of

higher dignity, personal prayer—meditation in particular

—

has marked social value;

(f) Asserting that prayer to Christ is not as proper as prayer

through Christ.

These errors, where current, were not judged to have been wholly

banished by Mystici Corporis, as was soon made clear. It came to light,

also, that priests were deliberately introducing liturgical novelties in

contravention of existing laws.

So, with the above-mentioned aberrations in view, and the latest

abuses also in mind, the ample groundwork of Mediator Dei was laid

out. Its starting point is the Mystical Body at its work of worshipping

God.

This latest encyclical includes two significant citations from that

of 1943, and contains no less than twenty-five explicit references to the

doctrine of the Mystical Body. To quote Osservatore Romano's graphic

phrases, it aims at resolving all tensions in the Mystical Body, and

effecting a holy equilibrium there.

Mediator Dei thus seeks to secure and to inculcate all that is good

in the liturgical movement, and to cut off what is unsound, whether in

the realm of opinions, or in practices that are lopsided as a result of

neglect or rashness. Gerald Ellard, S.J., Ph.D.



Text of Encyclical

MEDIATOR DEI



'



ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS

PIUS XII

BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE POPE

TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN, THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,

ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS AND OTHER ORDINARIES

IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE

ON THE SACRED LITURGY

VENERABLE BRETHREN

HEALTH AND APOSTOLIC BENEDICTION

Introduction

JESUS CHRIST REDEEMER OF THE WORLD

1. Mediator between God and men1 and High Priest who has

gone before us into heaven, Jesus the Son of God 2 quite clearly had

one aim in view when He undertook the mission of mercy which was

to endow mankind with the rich blessings of supernatural grace. Sin

had disturbed the right relationship between man and his Creator;

the Son of God would restore it. The children of Adam were wretched

heirs to the infection of original sin; He would bring them back to

their heavenly Father, the primal source and final destiny of all

things. For this reason He was not content, while He dwelt with us

on earth, merely to give notice that redemption had begun, and to

proclaim the long-awaited Kingdom of God, but gave Himself besides

in prayer and sacrifice to the task of saving souls, even to the point of

offering Himself, as He hung from the cross, a Victim unspotted unto

God, to purify our conscience of dead works, to serve the living God.
3

Thus happily were all men summoned back from the byways leading

them down to ruin and disaster, to be set squarely once again upon the

1
1 Tim. 2:5. 2 Cf. Heb. 4:14. 3 Cf. Heb. 9:14.

13



14 MEDIATOR DEI

path that leads to God. Thanks to the shedding of the blood of the

Immaculate Lamb, now each might set about the personal task of

achieving his own sanctification, so rendering to God the glory due tc

Him.

THE CHURCH CONTINUES THE PRIESTLY OFFICE OF JESUS CHRIST

2. But what is more, the divine Redeemer has so willed it that

the priestly life begun with the supplication and sacrifice of His mortal

body should continue without intermission down the ages in His Mys-

tical Body which is the Church. That is why He established a visible

priesthood to offer everywhere the clean oblation
4
which would enable

men from East to West, freed from the shackles of sin, to offer God

that unconstrained and voluntary homage which their conscience dictates.

3. In obedience, therefore, to her Founder’s behest, the Church

prolongs the priestly mission of Jesus Christ mainly by means of the

sacred liturgy. She does this in the first place at the altar, where con-

stantly the sacrifice of the cross is re-presented
5
and, with a single dif-

ference in the manner of its offering, renewed. 6 She does it next by

means of the sacraments, those special channels through which men

are made partakers in the supernatural life. She does it, finally, by

offering to God, all Good and Great, the daily tribute of her prayer

of praise. “What a spectacle for heaven and earth,” observes Our pre-

decessor of happy memory, Pius XI, “is not the Church at prayer!

For centuries without interruption, from midnight to midnight, the

divine psalmody of the inspired canticles is repeated on earth
;
there is

no hour of the day that is not hallowed by its special liturgy; there is

no stage of human life that has not its part in the thanksgiving, praise,

supplication and reparation of this common prayer of the Mystical

Body of Christ which is His Church!” 7

REVIVAL OF LITURGICAL STUDIES

4. You are of course familiar with the fact, Venerable Brethren,

that a remarkably widespread revival of scholarly interest in the sacred

liturgy took place towards the end of the last century and has con-

tinued through the early years of this one. The movement owed its

rise to commendable private initiative and more particularly to the

4 Cf. Mai. 1:11.
5 Cf. Council of Trent Sess. 22, c. 1.
6 Cf. ibid., c. 2.

7 Encyclical Letter Caritate Christi

,

May 3, 1932.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY S

zealous and persistent labor of several monasteries within the distin-

guished Order of Saint Benedict. Thus there developed in this field

among many European nations, and in lands beyond the seas as well,

a rivalry as welcome as it was productive of results. Indeed, the salutary

fruits of this rivalry among the scholars were plain for all to see, both

in the sphere of the sacred sciences, where the liturgical rites of the

Western and Eastern Church were made the object of extensive re-

search and profound study, and in the spiritual life of considerable

numbers of individual Christians.

5. The majestic ceremonies of the sacrifice of the altar became

better known, understood and appreciated. With more widespread and

more frequent reception of the sacraments, with the beauty of the

liturgical prayers more fully savored, the worship of the Eucharist

came to be regarded for what it really is: the fountain-head of genuine

Christian devotion. Bolder relief was given likewise to the fact that

all the faithful make up a single and very compact body with Christ

for its Head, and that the Christian community is in duty bound to

participate in the liturgical rites according to their station.

PROVISION OF THE HOLY SEE FOR LITURGICAL WORSHIP

6. You are surely well aware that this Apostolic See has always

made careful provision for the schooling of the people committed to

its charge in the correct spirit and practice of the liturgy; and that it

has been no less careful to insist that the sacred rites should be per-

formed with due external dignity. In this connection We ourselves, in
the course of our traditional address to the Lenten preachers of this

gracious city of Rome in 1943, urged them warmly to exhort their

respective hearers to more faithful participation in the Eucharistic

sacrifice. Only a short while previously, with the design of rendering

the prayers of the liturgy more correctly understood and their truth

and unction more easy to perceive, We arranged to have the Book of
Psalms, which forms such an important part of these prayers in the

Catholic Church, translated again into Latin from their original text.
8

7. But while We derive no little satisfaction from the wholesome
results of the movement just described, duty obliges Us to give serious

attention to this “revival” as it is advocated in some quarters, and to

take proper steps to preserve it at the outset from excess or outright

perversion.

8 Cf. Apostolic Letter (Motu Proprio) In cotidianis precibus
,
March 24,

1945.



16 MEDIATOR DEI

DEFICIENCIES OF SOME . . . EXAGGERATIONS OF OTHERS

8. Indeed, though We are sorely grieved to note, on the one
hand, that there are places where the spirit, understanding or practice

of the sacred liturgy is defective, or all but inexistent, We observe with
considerable anxiety and some misgiving, that elsewhere certain en-

thusiasts, over-eager in their search for novelty, are straying beyond

the path of sound doctrine and prudence. Not seldom, in fact, they

interlard their plans and hopes for a revival of the sacred liturgy with

principles which compromise this holiest of causes in theory or practice,

and sometimes even taint it with errors touching Catholic faith and

ascetical doctrine.

9. Yet the integrity of faith and morals ought to be the special

criterion of this sacred science, which must conform exactly to what

the Church out of the abundance of her wisdom teaches and prescribes.

It is, consequently, Our prerogative to commend and approve whatever

is done properly, and to check or censure any aberration from the path

of truth and rectitude.

10. Let not the apathetic or half-hearted imagine, however, that

We agree with them when We reprove the erring and restrain the over-
bold. No more must the imprudent think that We are commending
them when We correct the faults of those who are negligent and
sluggish.

11. If in this encyclical letter We treat chiefly of the Latin
liturgy, it is not because We esteem less highly the venerable liturgies
of the Eastern Church, whose ancient and honorable ritual traditions

are just as dear to Us. The reason lies rather in a special situation pre-

vailing in the Western Church, of sufficient importance, it would seem,

to require this exercise of Our authority.

12. With docile hearts, then, let all Christians hearken to the

voice of their Common Father, who would have them, each and every

one, intimately united with him as they approach the altar of God,

professing the same faith, obedient to the same law, sharing in the same

Sacrifice with a single intention and one sole desire. This is a duty

imposed, of course, by the honor due to God. But the needs of our

day and age demand it as well. After a long and cruel war which has

rent whole peoples asunder with its rivalry and slaughter, men of

good will are spending themselves in the effort to find the best possible

way to restore peace to the world. It is, notwithstanding, Our belief



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 17

that no plan or initiative can offer better prospect of success than that

fervent religious spirit and zeal by which Christians must be formed and

guided; in this way their common and whole-hearted acceptance of the

same truth, along with their united obedience and loyalty to their

appointed pastors, while rendering to God the worship due to Him, makes

of them one brotherhood: “for we, being many, are one body: all that

partake of one bread.”®

Part I: The Nature, Source and Development of

the Liturgy

A. The Liturgy Is Public Worship

TO HONOR GOD—THE DUTY OF INDIVIDUALS

13. It is unquestionably the fundamental duty of man to orientate

his person and his life towards God. “For He it is to whom we must

first be bound, as to an unfailing principle; to whom even our free

choice must be directed as to an ultimate objective. It is He, too, whom

we lose when carelessly we sin. It is He whom we must recover by

our faith and trust.”
10 But man turns properly to God when he

acknowledges His supreme majesty and supreme authority; when he

accepts divinely revealed truths with a submissive mind
;
when he

scrupulously obeys divine law, centering in God his every act and

aspiration; when he accords, in short, due worship to the One True

God by practicing the virtue of religion.

THE DUTY OF THE COMMUNITY

14. This duty is incumbent, first of all, on men as individuals.

But it also binds the whole community of human beings, grouped to-

gether by mutual social ties: mankind, too, depends on the sovereign

authority of God.

15. It should be noted, moreover, that men are bound by this

obligation in a special way in virtue of the fact that God has raised

them to the supernatural order.

16. Thus we observe that when God institutes the Old Law,

He makes provision besides for sacred rites, and determines in exact

9
1 Cor. 10:17.

10 Saint Thomas, Summa Theologica, IIa IIae
,

q. 81, art. 1.



18 MEDIATOR DEI

detail the rules to be observed by His people in rendering Him the

worship He ordains. To this end He established various kinds of

sacrifice and designated the ceremonies with which they were to be

offered to Him. His enactments on all matters relating to the Ark of

the Covenant, the Temple and the holy days are minute and clear. He

established a sacerdotal tribe with its high priest, selected and described

the vestments with which the sacred ministers were to be clothed, and

every function in any way pertaining to divine worship.11 Yet this was

nothing more than a faint foreshadowing
13

of the worship which the

High Priest of the New Testament was to render to the Father in

heaven.

HONOR GIVEN TO THE FATHER BY THE INCARNATE WORD ... ON EARTH

17. No sooner, in fact, “is the Word made flesh”13 than He

shows Himself to the world vested with a priestly office, making to

the Eternal Father an act of submission which will continue uninter-

ruptedly as long as He lives: “When He cometh into the world He

saith . . . ‘behold I come ... to do Thy will’.” 14 This act He was to

consummate admirably in the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross: “It is in

this will we are sanctified by the oblation of the Body of Jesus

Christ once.”
15 He plans His active life among men with no other

purpose in view. As a child He is presented to the Lord in the

Temple. To the Temple He returns as a grown boy, and often after-

wards to instruct the people and to pray. He fasts for forty days before

beginning His public ministry. His counsel and example summon all

to prayer, daily and at night as well. As Teacher of the truth He

“enlighteneth every man” 16 to the end that mortals may duly acknowl-

edge the immortal God, “not withdrawing unto perdition, but faithful

to the saving of the soul.”
17 As Shepherd He watches over His flock,

leads it to life-giving pasture, lays down a law that none shall wander

from His side, off the straight path He has pointed out, and that all

shall lead holy lives imbued with His spirit and moved by His active aid.

At the Last Supper He celebrates a new Pasch with solemn rite and

ceremonial, and provides for its continuance through the divine insti-

tution of the Eucharist. On the morrow, lifted up between heaven

and earth, He offers the saving sacrifice of His life, and pours forth,

11 Cf. Book of Leviticus.
12 Cf. Heb. 10:1.
13 John, 1:14.

14 Heb. 10 :5-7.

15 Ibid. 10:10.

16 John, 1:9.

17 Heb. 10:39.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 19

as it were, from His pierced Heart the sacraments destined to impart

the treasures of redemption to the souls of men. All this He does with

but a single aim: the glory of His Father and man’s ever greater

sanctification.

... IN HEAVEN

18. But it is His will, besides, that the worship He instituted

and practiced during His life on earth shall continue ever afterwards

without any intermission. For he has not left mankind an orphan. He

still offers us the support of His powerful, unfailing intercession, acting

as our “advocate with the Father.”
18 He aids us likewise through His

Church, where He is present indefectibly as the ages run their course:

through the Church which He constituted “the pillar of truth” 19 and

dispenser of grace, and which by His sacrifice on the cross, He founded,

consecrated and confirmed forever.
20

IN UNION WITH CHRIST, THE CHURCH CONTINUES TO HONOR GOD

19. The Church has, therefore, in common with the Word

Incarnate the aim, the obligation and the function of teaching all men

the truth, of governing and directing them aright, of offering to God

the pleasing and acceptable sacrifice
;
in this way the Church re-estab-

lishes between the Creator and His creatures that unity and harmony

to which the Apostle of the Gentiles alludes in these words: “Now,

therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners; but you are

fellow citizens with the saints and domestics of God, built upon the

foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being

the chief corner-stone
;

in whom all the building, being framed to-

gether, groweth up into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also

are built together into a habitation of God in the Spirit.” 21 Thus the

society founded by the divine Redeemer, whether in her doctrine and

government, or in the sacrifice and sacraments instituted by Him, or

finally, in the ministry, which He has confided to her charge with the

outpouring of His prayer and the shedding of His blood, has no other

goal or purpose than to increase ever in strength and unity.

20. This result is, in fact, achieved when Christ lives and thrives,

18 CL 1 John, 2:1.
19 Cf. l.Tim. 3:15.
20 Cf. Boniface IX, Ab origine mundi, October 7, 1391; Callistus III,

Summus Pontifex, January 1, 1456; Pius II, Triumphans Pastor, April 22, 1459;
Innocent XI, Triumphans Pastor, October 3, 1678.

21 Eph. 2:19-22.



20 MEDIATOR DEI

as it were, in the hearts of men, and when men’s hearts in turn are

fashioned and expanded as though by Christ. This makes it possible

for the sacred temple, where the Divine Majesty receives the accept-

able worship which His law prescribes, to increase and prosper day by

day in this land of exile on earth. Along with the Church, therefore,

her Divine Founder is present at every liturgical function: Christ is

present at the august sacrifice of the altar both in the person of His

minister and above all under the eucharistic species. He is present in

the sacraments, infusing into them the power which makes them ready

instruments of sanctification. He is present, finally, in the prayer of

praise and petition we direct to God, as it is written: “Where there

are two or three gathered together in My Name, there am I in the
midst of them.”

22 The sacred liturgy is, consequently, the public worship

which our Redeemer as Head of the Church renders to the Father, as

well as the worship which the community of the faithful renders to its

Founder, and through Him to the heavenly Father. It is, in short, the

worship rendered by the Mystical Body of Christ in the entirety of

its Head and members.

HISTORICAL BEGINNING OF THE SACRED LITURGY

21. Liturgical practice begins with the very founding of the

Church. The first Christians, in fact, “were persevering in the doctrine

of the apostles and in the communication of the breaking of bread and

in prayers.”
23 Whenever their pastors can summon a little group of

the faithful together, they set up an altar on which they proceed to

offer the sacrifice, and around which are ranged all the other rites

appropriate for the saving of souls and for the honor due to God.

Among these latter rites, the first place is reserved for the sacraments,

namely, the seven principal founts of salvation. There follows the

celebration of the divine praises in which the faithful also join, obeying

the behest of the Apostle Paul, “In all wisdom, teaching and admonish-

ing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, singing in

grace in your hfearts to God.”24 Next comes the reading of the Law,

the prophets, the gospel and the apostolic epistles; and last of all the

homily or sermon in which the official head of the congregation recalls

and explains the practical bearing of the commandments of the divine

Master and the chief events of His life, combining instruction with

22 Matt. 18:20. 23 Acts, 2:42. 24 Col. 3:16.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 21

appropriate exhortation and illustration for the benefit of all his

listeners.

ITS ORGANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENTS

22. As circumstances and the needs of Christians warrant, public

worship is organized, developed and enriched by new’ rites, ceremonies

and regulations, always with the single end in view
r

,
“that we may use

these external signs to keep us alert, learn from them what distance wre

have come along the road, and by them be heartened to go on further

with more eager step
;
for the effect will be more precious the warmer

the affection w’hich precedes it.”
25 Here then is a better and more suit-

able way to raise the heart to God. Thenceforth the priesthood of Jesus

Christ is a living and continuous reality through all the ages to the

end of time, since the liturgy is nothing more nor less than the exercise

of this priestly function. Like her divine Head, the Church is forever

present in the midst of her children. She aids and exhorts them to

holiness, so that they may one day return to the Father in heaven

clothed in that beauteous raimeni of the supernatural. To all who are

born to life on earth she gives a second, supernatural kind of birth.

She arms them with the Holy Spirit for the struggle against the implac-

able enemy. She gathers all Christians about her altars, inviting and

urging them repeatedly to take part in the celebration of the Mass,

feeding them with the Bread of Angels to make them ever stronger.

She purifies and consoles the hearts that sin has wounded and soiled.

Solemnly she consecrates those whom God has called to the priestly

ministry. She fortifies with newr gifts of grace the chaste nuptials of

those who are destined to found and bring up a Christian family. When

at last she has soothed and refreshed the closing hours of this earthly

life by holy Viaticum and extreme unction, with the utmost affection

she accompanies the mortal remains of her children to the grave, lays

them reverently to rest, and confides them to the protection of the cross,

against the day when they will triumph over death and rise again. She

has a further solemn blessing and invocation for those of her children

who dedicate themselves to the service of God in the life of religious

perfection. Finally, she extends to the souls in purgatory, who implore

her intercession and her prayers, the helping hand which may lead them

happily at last to eternal blessedness in heaven.

25 Saint Augustine, Epist. 130, ad Probam, 18.



22 MEDIATOR DEI

B. The Liturgy is Exterior and Interior Worship

EXTERIOR WORSHIP

23. The worship rendered by the Church to God must be, in its

entirety, interior as well as exterior. It is exterior because the nature

of man as a composite of body and soul requires it to be so. Likewise,

because divine Providence has disposed that “while we recognize God

visibly, we may be drawn by Him to love of things unseen.”26 Every

impulse of the human heart, besides, expresses itself naturally through

the senses; and the worship of God, being the concern not merely of

individuals but of the whole community of mankind, must therefore be

social as well. This obviously it cannot be unless religious activity is

also organized and manifested outwardly. Exterior worship, finally,

reveals and emphasizes the unity of the Mystical Body, feeds new fuel

to its holy zeal, fortifies its energy, intensifies its action day by day:

“for although the ceremonies themselves can claim no perfection or

sanctity in their won right, they are, nevertheless, the outward acts of

religion, designed to rouse the heart, like signals of a sort, to venera-

tion of the sacred realities, and to raise the mind to meditation on the

supernatural. They serve to foster piety, to kindle the flame of charity,

to increase our faith and deepen our devotion. They provide instruction

for simple folk, decoration for divine worship, continuity of religious

pratice. They make it possible to tell genuine Christians from their

false or heretical counterparts.”
27

BUT IT IS ESPECIALLY INTERIOR WORSHIP

24. But the chief element of divine worship must be interior.

For we must always live in Christ and give ourselves to Him com-

pletely, so that in Him, with Him and through Him the heavenly

Father may be duly glorified. The sacred liturgy requires, however,

that both of these elements be intimately linked with each another. This

recommendation the liturgy itself is careful to repeat, as often as it

prescribes an exterior act of worship. Thus we are urged, when there

is question of fasting, for example, “to give interior effect to our out-

ward observance.” 28 Otherwise religion clearly amounts to mere

28 Roman Missal, Preface for Christmas.
27 Giovanni Cardinal Bona, De div'tna psalmodia, c. 19, par. 3, 1.
28 Roman Missal, Secret for Thursday after the Second Sunday of Lent.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 23

formalism, without meaning and without content. You recall, Vener-

able Brethren, how the divine Master expels from the sacred temple,

as unworthly to worship there, people who pretend to honor God with

nothing but neat and well-turned phrases, like actors in a theatre, and

think themselves perfectly capable of working out their eternal salva-

tion without plucking their inveterate vices from their hearts.
20

It is,

therefore, the keen desire of the Church that all of the faithful kneel

at the feet of the Redeemer to tell Him how much they venerate and

love Him. She wants them present in crowds—like the children whose
joyous cries accompanied His entry into Jerusalem—to sing their hymns
and chant their song of praise and thanksgiving to Him who is King

of Kings and Source of every blessing. She would have them move their

lips in prayer, sometimes in petition, sometimes in joy and gratitude,

and in this way experience His merciful aid and power like the apostles

at the lakeside of Tiberias, or abandon themselves totally, like Peter

on Mount Tabor, to mystic union with the eternal God in contem-

plation.

EXAGGERATION OF THE EXTERNAL ELEMENT

25. It is an error, consequently, and a mistake to think of the

sacred liturgy as merely the outward or visible part of divine worship

or as an ornamental ceremonial. No less erroneous is the notion that

it consists solely in a list of laws and prescriptions according to which

the ecclesiastical hierarchy orders the sacred rites to be performed.

26. It should be clear to all, then, that God cannot be honored

worthily unless the mind and heart turn to Him in quest of the per-

fect life, and that the worship rendered to God by the Church in union

with her divine Head is the most efficacious means of achieving sanctity.

27. This efficacy, where there is question of the eucharistic sacri-

fice and the sacraments, derives first of all and principally from the act

itself (ex opere operato)

.

But if one considers the part which the

Immaculate Spouse of Jesus Christ takes in the action, embellishing

the sacrifice and sacraments with prayer and sacred ceremonies, or if

one refers to the “sacramentals” and the other rites instituted by the

hierarchy of the Church, then its effectiveness is due rather to the

action of the Church (ex opere operantis Ecclesiae ) , inasmuch as she is

holy and acts always in closest union with her Head.

29
Cf. Mark, 7:6 and Isaias, 29:13,



24 MEDIATOR DEI

NEW THEORIES ON “OBJECTIVE PIETY”

28. In this connection, Venerable Brethren, We desire to direct
your attention to certain recent theories touching a so-called “objective”

piety. While these theories attempt, it is true, to throw light on the

mystery of the Mystical Body, on the effective reality of sanctifying

grace, on the action of God in the sacraments and in the Mass, it is

nonetheless apparent that they tend to belittle, or pass over in silence,

what they call “subjective,” or “personal” piety.

29. It is an unquestionable fact that the work of our redemption

is continued, and that its fruits are imparted to us, during the celebra-

tion of the liturgy, notably in the august sacrifice of the altar. Christ

acts each day to save us, in the sacraments and in His holy sacrifice.

By means of them He is constantly atoning for the sins of mankind,

constantly consecrating it to God. Sacraments and sacrifice do, then,

possess that “objective” power to make us really and personally sharers

in the divine life of Jesus Christ. Not from any ability of our own,

but by the power of God, are they endowed with the capacity to unite

the piety of members with that of the Head, and to make this, in a

sense, the action of the whole community. From these profund con-

siderations some are led to conclude that all Christian piety must be

centered in the mystery of the Mystical Body of Christ, with no re-

gard for what is “personal” or “subjective,” as they would have it. As

a result they feel that all other religious exercises not directly con-

nected with the sacred liturgy, and performed outside public worship,

should be omitted.

30. But though the principles set forth above are excellent, it

must be plain to everyone that the conclusions drawn from them

respecting two sorts of piety are false, insidious and quite pernicious.

NECESSITY OF PERSONAL PIETY

31. Very truly, the sacraments and the sacrifice of the altar,

being Christ’s own actions, must be held to be capable in themselves

of conveying and dispensing grace from the divine Head to the mem-

bers of the Mystical Body. But if they are to produce their proper

effect, it is absolutely necessary that our hearts be properly disposed to

receive them. Hence the warning of Paul the Apostle with reference

to holy communion, “But let a man first prove himself
;
and then let

him eat of this bread and drink of the chalice.”
30

This explains why

30
1 Cor. 11:28.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 25

the Church in a brief and significant phrase calls the various acts of

mortification, especially those practised during the season of Lent, “the

Christian army’s defenses.”
31 They represent, in fact, the personal

effort and activity of members who desire, as grace urges and aids them,

to join forces with their Captain
—

“that we may discover ... in our

Captain,” to borrow St. Augustine’s words, “the fountain of grace it-

self.”
32 But observe that these members are alive, endowed and equipped

with an intelligence and will of their own. It follows that they are

strictly required to put their own lips to the fountain, imbibe and

absorb for themselves the life-giving water, and rid themselves personally

of anything that might hinder its nutritive effect in their souls. Em-

phatically, therefore, the work of redemption, which in itself is inde-

pendent of our will, requires a serious interior effort on our part if

we are to achieve eternal salvation.

NECESSITY OF MEDITATION AND SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

32. If the private and interior devotion of individuals were to

neglect the august sacrifice of the altar and the sacraments, and to

withdraw them from the stream of vital energy that flows from Head

to members, it would indeed be sterile, and deserve to be condemned.

But when devotional exercises, and pious practices in general, not

strictly connected with the sacred liturgy, confine themselves to merely

human acts, with the express purpose of directing these latter to the

Father in heaven, of rousing people to repentance and holy fear of

God, of weaning them from the seductions of the world and its vice,

and leading them back to the difficult path of perfection, then certainly

such practices are not only highly praiseworthy but absolutely indis-

pensable, because they expose the dangers threatening the spiritual

life; because they promote the acquisition of virtue; and because they

increase the fervor and generosity with which we are bound to dedi-

cate all that we are and all that we have to the service of Jesus Christ.

Genuine and real piety, which the Angelic Doctor calls “devotion,” and

which is the principal act of the virtue of religion—that act which cor-
rectly relates and fitly directs men to God

;
and by which they freely

and spontaneously give themselves to the worship of God in its fullest

sense
33—piety of this authentic sort needs meditation on the super-
31 Roman Missal, Ash Wednesday; Prayer after the imposition of ashes.
32 De praedestinatione sanctorum, 31.
33

Cf. Saint Thomas, Summa Theologica, IIa IIae
,
q. 82, art. 1.



26 MEDIATOR DEI

natural realities and spiritual exercises, if it is to be nurtured, stimu-

lated and sustained, and if it is to prompt us to lead a more perfect life.

For the Christian religion, practiced as it should be, demands that the

will especially be consecrated to God and exert its influence on all the

other spiritual faculties. But every act of the will presupposes an act of

the intelligence, and before one can express the desire and the intention

of offering oneself in sacrifice to the eternal Godhead, a knowledge of the

facts and truths which make religion a duty is altogether necessary.

One must first know, for instance, man’s last end and the supremacy

of the Divine Majesty; after that, our common duty of submission to

our Creator; and, finally, the inexhaustible treasures of love with which

God yearns to enrich us, as well as the necessity of supernatural grace

for the achievement of our destiny, and that special path marked out

for us by divine Providence in virtue of the fact that we have been

united, one and all, like members of a body, to Jesus Christ the Head.

But further, since our hearts, disturbed as they are at times by the

lower appetites, do not always respond to motives of love, it is also

extremely helpful to let consideration and contemplation of the justice

of God provoke us on occasion to salutary fear, and guide us thence to

Christian humility, repentance and amendment.

THE CONCRETE RESULTS OF PIETY

33. But it will not do to posses these facts and truths after the

fashion of an abstract memory lesson or lifeless commentary. They

must lead to practical results. They must impel us to subject our

senses and their faculties to reason, as illuminated by the Catholic

faith. They must help to cleanse and purify the heart, uniting it to

Christ more intimately every day, growing ever more to His likeness,

and drawing from Him the divine inspiration and strength of which

it stands in need. They must serve as increasingly effective incentives

to action: urging men to produce good fruit, to perform their indi-

vidual duties faithfully, to give themselves eagerly to the regular prac-

tice of their religion and the energetic exercise of virtue. “You are

Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”
34

Let everything, therefore, have its

proper place and arrangement; let everything be “theocentric,” so to

speak, if we really wish to direct everything to the glory of God through

the life and power which flow from the divine Head into our hearts:

34 Cf. I. Cor. 3:23.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 27

“Having therefore, brethren, a confidence in the entering into the

holies by the blood of Christ, a new and living way which He both

dedicated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and a high

priest over the house of God
;

let us draw near with a true heart, in

fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience

and our bodies washed with clean water, let us hold fast the confession

of our hope without wavering . . . and let us consider one another, to

provoke unto charity and to good works.”
35

HARMONY AND EQUILIBRIUM AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE MYSTICAL BODY

34. Here is the source of the harmony and equilibrium which

prevails among the members of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ.

When the Church teaches us our Catholic faith and exhorts us to obey

the commandments of Christ, she is paving a way for her priestly,

sanctifying action in its highest sense; she disposes us likewise for more

serious meditation on the life of the divine Redeemer and guides us to

profounder knowledge of the mysteries of faith where we may draw

the supernatural sustenance, strength and vitality that enable us to

progress safely, through Christ, towards a more perfect life. Not only

through her ministers but with the help of the faithful individually,

who have imbibed in this fashion the spirit of Christ, the Church

endeavors to permeate with this same spirit the life and labors of men

—

their private and family life, their social, even economic and political

life—that all who are called God’s children may reach more readily
the end He has proposed for them.

35. Such action on the part of individual Christians, then, along

with the ascetic effort prompting them to purify their hearts, actually

stimulates in the faithful those energies which enable them to partici-

pate in the august sacrifice of the altar with better dispositions. They

now can receive the sacraments with more abundant fruit, and come

from the celebration of the sacred rites more eager, more firmly re-

solved to pray and deny themselves like Christians, to answer the

inspirations and invitation of divine grace and to imitate daily more

closely the virtues of our Redeemer. And all of this not simply for their

own advantage, but for that of the whole Church, where whatever

good is accomplished proceeds from the power of her Head and redounds

to the advancement of all her members.

35 Heb. 10:19-24.



28 MEDIATOR DEI

AGREEMENT BETWEEN DIVINE ACTION AND HUMAN COOPERATION

36. In the spiritual life, consequently, there can be no opposition

between the action of God, who pours forth His grace into men’s hearts

so that the work of the redemption may always abide, and the tireless

collaboration of man, who must not render vain the gift of God.36

No more can the efficacy of the external administration of the sacra-

ments, which comes from the rite itself {ex opere operato ), be opposed

to the meritorious action of their ministers or recipients, which we call

the agent’s action {opus operantis ) . Similarly, no conflict exists be-

tween public prayer and prayers in private, between morality and

contemplation, between the ascetical life and devotion to the liturgy.

Finally, there is no opposition between the jurisdiction and teaching

office of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and the specifically priestly power

exercised in the sacred ministry.

37. Considering their special designation to perform the liturgical

functions of the holy sacrifice and divine office, the Church has serious

reason for prescribing that the ministers she assigns to the service of

the sanctuary and members of religious institutes betake themselves at

stated times to mental prayer, to examination of conscience, and to

various other spiritual exercises.
37

Unquestionably, liturgical prayer,

being the public supplication of the illustrious Spouse of Jesus Christ,

is superior in excellence to private prayers. But this superior worth

does not at all imply contrast or incompatibility between these two kinds

of prayer. For both merge harmoniously in the single spirit which ani-

mates them, “Christ is all and in all.”
38

Both tend to the same ob-

jective: until Christ be formed in us.
39

C. 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

36 Cf. 2 Cor. 6:1.

37 Cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 125, 126, 565, 571, 595, 1367.
38 Col. 3:11.

39 Cf. Gal. 4:19.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 29

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 sup-

ported, 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 vice-gerent 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
40

... he that heareth you heareth me41 ... go ye into the whole world

and preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth and is bap-

tized shall be saved.”
42

. . . 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’ con-

formity to Jesus Christ the Priest and qualifying them to perform those

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

40 John, 20:21. 41 Luke, 10:16. 42 Mark, 16:15-16.



30 MEDIATOR DEI

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 conse-

cration. 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 com-

municate 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 conse-

crate may become sacred and holy, in the name of our Lord Jesus

Christ.”
43

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 salva-

tion 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, its organization, regulation and de-

tails 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 circumstances that the sacred liturgy is intimately

bound up with doctrinal propositions which the Church proposes to be

perfectly true and certain, and must as a consequence conform to the

decrees respecting Catholic faith issued by the supreme teaching au-

thority 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 atti-
tude with which you are doubtless familiar, Venerable Brethren. We

43 Roman Pontifical, Ordination of a priest: anointing of hands.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 31

refer to the error and fallacious reasoning of those who have claimed

that the sacred liturgy is a kind of proving ground for the truths to be

held of faith, meaning by this that the Church is obliged to declare

such a doctrine sound wnen it is found to have produced fruits of

piety and sanctity through the sacred rites of the 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 profes-

sion 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.”
44

In the sacred liturgy we profess the Catholic

faith explicitly 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 inspira-

tion 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 this 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 con-

troversial 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

statuat supplicandi
”—let the rule for prayer determine the rule of

belief.
45 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 de-

termination of a particular point of Christian doctrine. But if one

desires to differentiate and describe the relationship between faith and

44 Enchiridion, c. 3. 45 De gratia Dei “Indiculu9. !



32 MEDIATOR DEI

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 theo-

logical virtues also, “In . . . fide, spe, caritate continuato desiderio semper

oramus”—we pray always, with constant yearning in faith, hope and
charity.

46

D. Progress and Development of the Liturgy

49. From time immemorial the ecclesiastical hierarchy has exer-

cised 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.
47

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 modifications, as the needs of the age, circumstance

and the good of souls may require, and as the ecclesiastical hierarchy,

under guidance of the Holy Spirit, may have authorized. This will

explain the marvelous 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 dis-

cernible 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 com-

mitted 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.”

46 Saint Augustine, Epist. 130, ad Probam, 18.
47 Cf. Constitution Divmi cultus, December 20, 1928.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 33

51.

Several causes, really have been instrumental in the progress

and development of the sacred liturgy during the long and 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 and 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 sacraments, that of penance for example; the in-

stitution 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 transforma-

tion 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 circum-

stantial part in this same liturgical 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 the same

reason, and lastly, in this gracious city of Rome, the penitential recita-



34 MEDIATOR DEI

tion 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, has exerted

considerable influence on the choice and disposition of the various ex-

ternal features of the sacred liturgy.

57. The Church has further used her right of control over liturgi-

cal 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 threat-

ened 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 predecessor Sixtus V of immortal memory established
the Sacred Congregation of Rites, charged with the defense of the

legitimate rites of the Church and with the prohibition of any spurious

innovation.
48

This body fulfils even today the official function of super-

vision and legislation with regard to all matters touching the sacred

liturgy.
49

E. 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.
50

Bishops, for their part, have the right

and duty carefully to watch over the exact observance of the prescrip-

tions of the sacred canons respecting divine worship.
51

Private indi-

viduals, 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

48 Constitution Immensa, January 22, 1588.
49 Code of Canon Law, can. 253.
60 Cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 1257.
61 Cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 1261.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 35

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 circum-

stances, provided only that the integrity of her doctrine be safeguarded.

This notwithstanding, the temerity 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 inno-

vations 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; 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 indis-

criminately. 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



36 MEDIATOR DEI

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

Spirit, who assists the Church in every age even to the consummation

of the world.
52 They are equally the resources used by the majestic

Spouse of Jesus Christ to promote and procure the sanctity of man.

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

assistance towards a more thorough and careful investigaton 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; and 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 formula-

tion of Christian doctrine more recently elaborated and proclaimed as

dogmas by the Church, under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy

Spirit 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 repudi-

ate 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 dis-

position 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 respon-

sible for the calling of that meeting as well as for those resulting from it,

62 Cf. Matt. 28:20.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 37

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.
53

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 adoption to their Heavenly Father for their souls’ salvation.

65.

In every measure 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,
54

and with him,

in obdience to the Apostolic See, the bishops “whom the Holy Ghost

has placed ... to rule the Church of God,” 55 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.

Part II: Eucharistic Worship

A. The Nature of the Eucharistic Sacrifice

66. The mystery of the most Holy Eucharist which Christ, the

High Priest instituted, and which He commands to be continually

renewed in the Church by His ministers, is the culmination and centre,

as it were, of the Christian religion. We consider it opportune in speak-
ing about the crowning act of the sacred liturgy, to delay for a little

while and call your attention, Venerable Brethren, to this most im-

portant subject.

67. Christ the Lord, “Eternal Priest according to the order of

Melchisedech,”
56

“loving His own who were of the world,”57 “at the last

supper, on the night He was betrayed, wishing to leave His beloved

Spouse, the Church, a visible sacrifice such as the nature of men requires,

that would re-present the bloody sacrifice offered once on the cross, and

53
Cf. Pius VI, Constitution Auctorem fidei, August 28, 1794, nn. 31-34, 39,

62, 66, 69-74.

54 Cf. John, 21:15-17.
55 Acts, 20:28.

56 Ps. 109:4.

67
John, 13 :1.



38 MEDIATOR DEI

perpetuate its memory to the end of time, and whose salutary virtue

might be applied in remitting those sins which we daily commit, . . .

offered His body and blood under the species of bread and wine to God

the Father, and under the same species allowed the apostles, whom He

at that time constituted the priests of the New Testament, to partake

thereof; commanding them and their successors in the priesthood to

make the same offering.”58

IT IS A TRUE RENEWAL OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE CROSS

68. The august sacrifice of the altar, then, is no mere empty

commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, but a true

and proper act of sacrifice, whereby the High Priest by an unbloody

immolation offers Himself a most acceptable victim to the Eternal

Father, as He did upon the cross. “It is one and the same victim; the

same person now offers it by the ministry of His priests, who then offered

Himself on the cross, the manner of offering alone being different.” 59

(a) The same Priest.

69. The priest is the same, Jesus Christ, whose sacred Person

His minister represents. Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal

consecration which he has received, is made like to the High Priest and

possesses the power of performing actions in virtue of Christ’s very

person.
60 Wherefore in his priestly activity he in a certain manner

“lends his tongue, and gives his hand” to Christ. 61

(b) The same Victim

70. Likewise the victim is the same, namely, our divine Redeemer

in His human nature with His true body and blood. The manner, how-

ever, in which Christ is offered is different. On the cross He completely

offered Plimself and all His sufferings to God, and the immolation of

the victim was brought about by the bloody death, which He under-

went of His free will. But on the altar, by reason of the glorified

state of His human nature, “death shall have no more dominion over

Him,” 62 and so the shedding of His blood is impossible; still, according

to the plan of divine wisdom, the sacrifice of our Redeemer is shown

forth in an admirable manner by external signs which are the symbols

58 Council of Trent, Sess. 22, c. 1.
59

Ibid., c. 2.

60 Cf. Saint Thomas, Sutnma Theologica, IIIa
,

q. 22, art. 4.

61 Saint John Chrysostom, In Joann. Horn., 86:4.
02 Rom. 6 :9.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 39

of His death. For by the “transsubstantiation” of bread into the body

of Christ and of wine into His blood, His body and blood are both

really present: now the eucharistic species under which He is present

symbolize the actual separation of His body and blood. Thus the com-

memorative representation of His death, which actually took place on

Calvary, is repeated in every sacrifice of the altar, seeing that Jesus

Christ is symbolically shown by separate symbols to be in a state of

victimhood.

(c) The ends of the Sacrifice are the same.

71. Moreover, the appointed ends are the same. The first of

these is to give glory to the Heavenly Father. From His birth to His

death Jesus Christ burned with zeal for the divine glory; and the offer-

ing of His blood upon the cross rose to heaven in an odor of sweetness.

To perpetuate this praise, the members of the Mystical Body are

united with their divine Head in the eucharistic sacrifice, and with

Him, together with the Angels and Archangels, they sing immortal

praise to God63 and give all honor and glory to the Father Almighty.64

72. The second end is duly to give thanks to God. Only the

divine Redeemer, as the eternal Father’s most beloved Son whose im-

mense love He knew, could offer Him a worthy return of gratitude.

This was His intention and desire at the Last Supper when He “gave

thanks.”
65 He did not cease to do so when hanging upon the cross, nor

does He fail to do so in the august sacrifice of the altar, which is an

act of thanksgiving or a “eucharistic” act; since this “is truly meet

and just, right and availing unto salvation.”
66

73. The third end proposed is that of expiation, propitiation and

reconciliation. Certainly, no one was better fitted to make satisfaction

to Almighty God for all the sins of men than was Christ. Therefore,

He desired to be immolated upon the cross “as a propitiation for our

sins, not for ours only but also for those of the whole world.”
67

and like-

wise He daily offers Himself upon our altars for our redemption, that

we may be rescued from eternal damnation and admitted into the com-

pany of the elect. This He does, not for us only who are in this mortal

life, but also “for all who rest in Christ, who have gone before us with

63 Cf. Roman Missal, Preface.
64 Cf. Ibid., Canon.
65 Mark, 14:23.
66 Roman Missal, Preface.
67

1 John, 2:2.



40 MEDIATOR DEI

the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace;”
68

for whether we

live, or whether we die “still we are not separated from the one and

only Christ.”
69

74. The fourth end, finally, is that of impetration. Man, being

the prodigal son, has made bad use of and dissipated the goods which

he received from his heavenly Father. Accordingly, he has been reduced

to the utmost poverty and to extreme degradation. However, Christ

on the cross “offering prayers and supplications with a loud cry and

tears, has been heard for His reverence.”
70

Likewise upon the altar He

is our mediator with God in the same efficacious manner, so that we

may be filled with every blessing and grace.

THE INFINITE VALUE OF THE DIVINE SACRIFICE

75. It is easy, therefore, to understand why the holy Council of

Trent lays down that by means of the eucharistic sacrifice the saving

virtue of the cross is imparted to us for the remission of the sins we

daily commit.
71

76. Now the Apostle of the Gentiles proclaims the copious pleni-

tude and the perfection of the sacrifice of the cross, when he says that

Christ by one oblation has perfected for ever them that are sanctified. 72

For the merits of this sacrifice, since they are altogether boundless and

immeasurable, know no limits; for they are meant for all men of every

time and place. This follows from the fact that in this sacrifice the

God-Man is the priest and victim
;
that His immolation was entirely

perfect, as was His obedience to the will of His eternal Father; and

also that He suffered death as the Head of the human race: “See how

we were bought: Christ hangs upon the cross, see at what a price He

makes His purchase. . . . He sheds His blood, He buys with His blood,

He buys with the blood of the Spotless Lamb, He buys with the blood

of God’s only Son. He who buys is Christ; the price is His blood; the

possession bought is the world.”
73

77. This purchase, however, does not immediately have its full

effect; since Christ, after redeeming the world at the lavish cost of His

own blood, still must come into complete possession of the souls of men.

Wherefore, that the redemption and salvation of each person and of

68 Roman Missal, Canon of the Mass.
69 Saint Augustine, De Trinit., Book XIII, c. 19.
T0 Heb. 5:7.
71 Cf. Sess. 22, c. 1.

72 Cf. Heb. 10:14.
73 Saint Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 147, n. 16.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 41

future generations unto the end of time may be effectively accomplished,

and be acceptable to God, it is necessary that men should individually

come into vital contact with the sacrifice of the cross, so that the

merits, which flow from it, should be imparted to them. In a certain

sense it can be said that on Calvary Christ built a font of purification

and salvation which He filled with the blood He shed
;
but if men do

not bathe in it and there wash away the stains of their iniquities, they

can never be purified and saved.

BUT THE COOPERATION OF THE FAITHFUL IS NECESSARY

78. The cooperation of the faithful is required so that sinners

may be individually purified in the blood of the Lamb. For though,

speaking generally, Christ reconciled by His painful death the whole

human race with the Father, He wished that all should approach and

be drawn to His cross, especially by means of the sacraments and the

eucharistic sacrifice, to obtain the salutary fruits produced by Him

upon it. Through this active and individual participation, the members

of the Mystical Body not only become daily more like to their divine

Head, but the life flowing from the Head is imparted to the members,

so that we can each repeat the words of St. Paul, “With Christ I am

nailed to the cross: I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me.” 74 We
have already explained sufficiently and of set purpose on another occa-

sion, that Jesus Christ “when dying on the cross, bestowed upon His

Church, as a completely gratuitous gift, the immense treasure of the

redemption. But when it is a question of distributing this treasure, He

not only commits the work of sanctification to His Immaculate Spouse,

but also wishes that, to a certain extent, sanctity should derive from

her activity.”
75

79. The august sacrifice of the altar is, as it were, the supreme

instrument whereby the merits won by the divine Redeemer upon the

cross are distributed to the faithful: “as often as this commemorative

sacrifice is offered, there is wrought the work of our Redemption.” 76

This, however, so far from lessening the dignity of the actual sacrifice

on Calvary, rather proclaims and renders more manifiest its greatness

and its necessity, as the Council of Trent declares.
77

Its daily im-

molation reminds us that there is no salvation except in the

74 Gal. 2:19-20.

75 Encyclical Letter, Mystici Corporis, June 29, 1943.
76 Roman Missal, Secret of the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost.
77 Cf. Sess. 22, c. 2. and can. 4.



42 MEDIATOR DEI

cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
78

and that God Himself wishes that

there should be a continuation of this sacrifice “from the rising of the

sun till the going down thereof,”79 so that there may be no cessation of

the hymn of praise and thanksgiving which man owes to God, seeing

that he requires His help continually and has need of the blood of the

Redeemer to remit sin which challenges God’s justice.

B. Participation of the Faithful in the Eucharistic

Sacrifice

PARTICIPATION WITHOUT PRIESTLY POWER

80. It is, therefore, desirable, Venerable Brethren, that all the

faithful should be aware that to participate in the eucharistic sacrifice

is their chief duty and supreme dignity, and that not in an inert and

negligent fashion, giving way to distractions and day-dreaming, but

with such earnestness and concentration that they may be united as

closely as possible with the High Priest, according to the Apostle, “Let

this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
80 And together

with Him and through Him let them make their oblation, and in union

with Him let them offer up themselves.

81. It is quite true that Christ is a priest; but He is a priest not

for Himself but for us, when in the name of the whole human race He

offers our prayers and religious homage to the eternal Father; He is also

a victim and for us since He substitutes Himself for sinful man. Now the

exhortation of the Apostle, “Let this mind be in you which was also in

Christ Jesus,” requires that all Christians should possess, as far as is

humanly possible, the same dispositions as those which the divine Re-

deemer had when He offered Himself in sacrifice: that is to say, they

should in a humble attitude of mind, pay adoration, honor, praise and

thanksgiving to the supreme majesty of God. Moreover, it means that

they must assume to some extent the character of a victim, that they

deny themselves as the Gospel commands, that freely and of their own

accord they do penance and that each detests and satisfies for his sins.

It means, in a word, that we must all undergo with Christ a mystical

death on the cross so that we can apply to ourselves the words of St.

Paul, “With Christ I am nailed to the cross.”81

78 Cf. Gal. 6 :14.
79 Mai. 1:11.

80 Phil. 2:5.

81 Gal. 2:19.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 43

82. The fact, however, that the faithful participate in the

eucharistic sacrifice does not mean that they also are endowed with

priestly power. It is very necessary that you make this quite clear to

your flocks.

83. For there are today, Venerable Brethren, those who, approxi-

mating to errors long since condemned,
82

teach that in the New Testa-

ment by the word “priesthood” is meant only that priesthood which

applies to all who have been baptised
;
and hold that the command by

which Christ gave power to His apostles at the Last Supper to do what

He Himself had done, applies directly to the entire Christian Church,

and that thence, and thence only, arises the hierarchical priesthood.

Hence they assert that the people are possessed of a true priestly power,

while the priest only acts in virtue of an office committed to him by the

community. Wherefore, they look on the eucharistic sacrifice as a “con-

celebration,” in the literal meaning of that term, and consider it more

fitting that priests should “concelebrate” with the people present than

that they should offer the sacrifice privately when the people are absent.

84. It is superfluous to explain how captious errors of this sort

completely contradict the truths which we have just stated above, when

treating of the place of the priest in the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ.

But we deem it necessary to recall that the priest acts for the people

only because he represents Jesus Christ, who is Head of all His members

and offers Himself in their stead. Hence, he goes to the altar as the

minister of Christ, inferior to Christ but superior to the people.
83 The

people, on the other hand, since they in no sense represent the divine

Redeemer and are not mediator between themselves and God, can in

no way possess the sacerdotal power.

(
1

)
Participation inasmuch as they offer it with the priest

85. All this has the certitude of faith. However, it must also be

said that the faithful do offer the divine Victim, though in a different

sense.

(a) It is declared by the Church

86. This has already been stated in the clearest terms by some

of Our predecessors and some Doctors of the Church. “Not only,” says

82 Cf. Council of Trent, Sess. 23, c. 4.
83 Cf. Saint Robert Bellarmine, De Missa, 2, c. 4.



44 MEDIATOR DEI

Innocent III of immortal memory, “do the priests offer the sacrifice,

but also all the faithful : for what the priest does personally by virtue

of his ministry, the faithful do collectively by virtue of their intention.”
84

We are happy to recall one of St. Robert Bellarmine’s many statements
on this subject. “The sacrifice,” he says “is principally offered in the

person of Christ. Thus the oblation that follows the consecration is

a sort of attestation that the whole Church consents in the oblation made

by Christ, and offers it along with Him.”85

(b) Is is signified by the rites themselves.

87. Moreover, the rites and prayers of the eucharistic sacrifice

signify and show no less clearly that the oblation of the Victim is made

by the priests in company with the people. For not only does the sacred

minister, after the oblation of the bread and wine when he turns to the

people, say the significant prayer: “Pray brethren, that my sacrifice and

yours may be acceptable to God the Father almighty;”86 but also the

prayers by which the divine Victim is offered to God are generally ex-

pressed in the plural number: and in these it is indicated more than

once that the people also participate in this august sacrifice inasmuch

as they offer the same. The following words, for example, are used:

“For whom we offer, or who offer up to Thee. . . . We therefore
beseech thee, O Lord, to be appeased and to receive this offering of our
bounden duty, as also of thy whole household. . . . We thy servants, as
also thy whole people ... do offer unto thy most excellent majesty, of

thine own gifts bestowed upon us, a pure victim, a holy victim, a

spotless victim.”
87

88. Nor is it to be wondered at, that the faithful should be raised

to this dignity. By the waters of baptism, as by common right, Chris-

tians are made members of the Mystical Body of Christ the Priest,

and by the “character” which is imprinted on their souls, they are

appointed to give worship to God. Thus they participate, according to

their condition, in the priesthood of Christ.

(c) The offering of bread and wine made by the people.

89. In every age of the Church’s history, the mind of man, en-

lightened by faith, has aimed at the greatest possible knowledge of

things divine. It is fitting, then, that the Christian people should also

84 De Sacro Altaris Mystehio, 3:6.
85 De Missa, 1, c. 27.
86 Roman Missal, Ordinary of the Mass.
87 Ibid., Canon of the Mass.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 45

desire to know in what sense they are said in the canon of the Mass

to offer up the sacrifice. To satisfy such a pious desire, then, We shall
here explain the matter briefly and concisely.

90. First of all the more extrinsic explanations arc these: it

frequently happens that the faithful assisting at Mass join their prayers

alternately with those of the priest, and sometimes—a more frequent
occurrence in ancient times—they offer to the ministers at the altar
bread and wine to be changed into the body and blood of Christ, and,

finally, by their alms they get the priest to offer the divine victim for

their intentions.

91. But there is also a more profound reason why all Christians,

especially those who are present at Mass, are said to offer the sacrifice.

(d) Sacrifice offered by the faithful.

92. In this most important subject it is necessary, in order to

avoid giving rise to a dangerous error, that we define the exact mean-

ing of the word “offer.” The unbloody immolation at the words of

consecration, when Christ is made present upon the altar in the state

of a victim, is performed by the priest and by him alone, as the repre-

sentative of Christ and not as the representative of the faithful. But it is

because the priest places the divine victim upon the altar that he offers

it to God the Father as an oblation for the glory of the Blessed Trinity

and for the good of the whole Church. Now the faithful participate
in the oblation, understood in this limited sense, after their own fashion

and in a twofold manner, namely, because they not only offer the sacri-

fice by the hands of the priest, but also, to a certain extent, in union

with him. It is by reason of this participation that the offering made

by the people is also included in liturgical worship.

93. Now it is clear that the faithful offer the sacrifice by the hands
of the priest from the fact that the minister at the altar, in offering a

sacrifice in the name of all His members, represents Christ, the Head

of the Mystical Body. Hence the whole church can rightly be said to

offer up the victim through Christ. But the conclusion that the people

offer the sacrifice with the priest himself is not based on the fact that,

being members of the Church no less than the priest himself, they per-

form a visible liturgical rite
;
for this is the privilege only of the minister

who has been divinely appointed to this office: rather it is based on the

fact that the people unite their hearts in praise, impetration, expiation

and thanksgiving with the prayers or intention of the priest, even of



46 MEDIATOR DEI

the High Priest himself, so that • in the one and same offering of the

victim and according to a visible sacerdotal rite, they may be presented

to God the Father. It is obviously necessary that the external sacrificial

rite should, of its very nature, signify the internal worship of the

heart. Now the sacrifice of the New Law signifies that supreme wor-

ship by which the principal Offerer himself, who is Christ, and, in union

with Him and through Him, all the members of the Mystical Body

pay God the honor and reverence that are due to Him.

94. We are very pleased to learn that this teaching, thanks to a
more intense study of the liturgy on the part of many, especially in

recent years, has been given full recognition. We must, however, deeply
deplore certain exaggrations and over-statements which are not in

agreement with the true teaching of the Church.

95. Some in fact disapprove altogether of those Masses which

are offered privately and without any congregation, on the ground that

they are a departure from the ancient way of offering the sacrifice;

moreover, there are some who assert that priests cannot offer Mass at

different altars at the same time, because, by doing so, they separate

the community of the faithful and imperil its unity; while some go so

far as to hold that the people must confirm and ratify the sacrifice if it

is to have its proper force and value.

96. They are mistaken in appealing in this matter to the social

character of the eucharistic sacrifice, for as often as a priest repeats

what the divine Redeemer did at the Last Supper, the sacrifice is really

completed. Moreover, this sacrifice, necessarily and of its very nature,

has always and everywhere the character of a public and social act, inas-

much as he who offers it acts in the name of Christ and of the faithful,

whose Head is the divine Redeemer, and he offers it to God for the

holy Catholic Church, and for the living and the dead.
88

This is un-

doubtedly so, whether the faithful are present—as we desire and com-
mend them to be in great numbers and with devotion—or are not
present, since it is in no wise required that the people ratify what the

sacred minister has done.

97. Still, though it is clear from what We have said that the
Mass is offered in the name of Christ and of the Church and that it is

not robbed of its social effects though it be celebrated by a priest without

a server, nonetheless, on account of the dignity of such an august

mystery, it is our earnest desire—as Mother Church has always com-
88 Roman Missal, Canon of the Mass.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 47

manded—that no priest should say Mass unless a server is at hand to
answer the prayers, as canon 813 pescribes.

(
2

)
Participation inasmuch as they offer themselves as

victims

98. In order that the oblation by which the faithful offer the

divine Victim in this sacrifice to the heavenly Father may have its full

effect, it is necessary that the people add something else, namely, the

offering of themselves as a victim.

99. This offering in fact is not confined merely to the liturgical

sacrifice. For the Prince of the Apostles wishes us, as living stones

built upon Christ, the cornerstone, to be able as “a holy priesthood, to

offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
80

St.

Paul the Apostle addresses the following words of exhortation to Chris-

tians, without distinction of time, “I beseech you therefore, . . . that you

present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your

reasonable service.”
90 But at that time especially when the faithful

take part the liturgical service with such piety and recollection that

it can truly be said of them : “whose faith and devotion is known to

Thee,” 91 it is then, with the High Priest and through Him they offer

themselves as a spiritual sacrifice, that each one’s faith ought to become

more ready to work through charity, his piety more real and fervent,

and each one should consecrate himself to the furthering of the divine

glory, desiring to become as like as possible to Christ in His most

grievous sufferings.

PURIFYING THEIR OWN SOULS

100.

This we are also taught by those exhortations which the

Bishop, in the Church’s name, addresses to priests on the day of their

ordination, “Understand what you do, imitate what you handle, and

since you celebrate the mystery of the Lord’s death, take good care to

mortify your members with their vices and concupiscences.” 92 In almost

the same manner the sacred books of the liturgy advise Christians who

come to Mass to participate in the sacrifice: “At this . . . altar let inno-

cence be in honor, let pride be sacrificed, anger slain, impurity and every

evil desire laid low, let the sacrifice of chastity be offered in place of

89
1 Peter, 2:5. 91 Raman Missal, Cannon of the Mass.

90 Rom. 12:1. 92 Roman Pontifical, Ordination of a priest.



48 MEDIATOR DEI

doves and instead of the young pigeons the sacrifice of innocence.”
93

While we stand before the altar, then, it is our duty so to transform

our hearts, that every trace of sin may be completely blotted out,

while whatever promotes supernatural life through Christ may be

zealously fostered and strengthened even to the extent that, in union

with the immaculate Victim, we become a victim acceptable to the

eternal Father.

101. The prescriptions in fact of the sacred liturgy aim, by every

means at their disposal, at helping the Church to bring about this

most holy purpose in the most suitable manner possible. This is the

object not only of readings, homilies and other sermons given by priests,

as also the whole cycle of mysteries which are proposed for our com-

memoration in the course of the year, but it is also the purpose of

vestments, of sacred rites and their external splendor. All these things

aim at “enhancing the majesty of this great Sacrifice, and raising the

minds of the faithful by means of these visible signs of religion and

piety, to the contemplation of the sublime truths contained in this

sacrifice.”
94

REPRODUCING THE IMAGE OF JESUS CHRIST

102. All the elements of the liturgy, then, would have us repro-

duce in our hearts the likeness of the divine Redeemer through the

mystery of the cross, according to the words of the Apostle of the Gen-

tiles, “With Christ I am nailed to the cross. I live, now not I, but

Christ liveth in me.”
95 Thus we become a victim, as it were, along with

Christ to increase the glory of the eternal Father.

103. Let this, then, be the intention and aspiration of the faithful,

when they offer up the divine Victim in the Mass. For if, as St.

Augustine writes, our mystery is enacted on the Lord’s table, that is

Christ our Lord Himself,96 who is the Head and symbol of that union

through which we are the body of Christ97 and members of His Body ;
98

if St. Robert Bellarmine teaches, according to the mind of the Doctor

of Hippo, that in the sacrifice of the altar there is signified the general

sacrifice by which the whole Mystical Body of Christ, that is, all the

city of the redeemed, is offered up to God through Christ, the High

93
Ibid., Consecration of an altar, Preface.

94 Cf. Council of Trent, Sess. 22, c. 5.
95 Gal. 2:19-20.
96 Cf. Serm. 272.
97 Cf. 1 Cor. 12:27.
98 Cf. Eph. 5 :30.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 49

Priest:
99

nothing can be conceived more just or fitting than that all of

us in union with our Head, who suffered for our sake, should also

sacrifice ourselves to the eternal Father. For in the sacrament of the

altar, as the same St. Augustine has it, the Church is made to see that

in what she offers she herself is offered.
100

104.

Let the faithful, therefore, consider to what a high dignity

they are raised by the sacrament of baptism. They should not think it

enough to participate in the eucharistic sacrifice with that general in-

tention which befits members of Christ and children of the Church,

but let them further, in keeping with the spirit of the sacred liturgy,

be most closely united with the High Priest and His earthly minister,

at the time the consecration of the divine Victim is enacted, and at that

time especially when those solemn words are pronounced, “By Him and

with Him and in Him, is to Thee, God the Father almighty, in the

unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory for ever and ever”
;

101
to

these words in fact the people answer, “Amen.” Nor should Chris-

tains forget to offer themselves, their cares, their sorrows, their dis-

tress and their necessities in union with their divine Saviour upon the

cross.

(
3

)
Means of promoting this participation

105. Therefore, they are to be praised who, with the idea of

getting the Christian people to take part more easily and more fruit-

fully in the Mass, strive to make them familiar with the “Roman

Missal,” so that the faithful, united with the priest, may pray together

in the very words and sentiments of the Church. They also are to be

commended who strive to make the liturgy even in an external way a

sacred act in which all who are present may share. This can be done

in more than one way, when, for instance, the whole congregation, in

accordance with the rules of the liturgy, either answer the priest in an

orderly and fitting manner, or sing hymns suitable to the different parts

of the Mass, or do both, or finally in high Masses when they answer the

prayers of the minister of Jesus Christ and also sing the liturgical chant.

BUT SUBJECT TO THE DIRECTIONS OF THE CHURCH

106. These methods of participation in the Mass are to be ap-

99 Cf. Saint Robert Bellarmine, De Missa, 2, c. 8.
100 Cf. De Civitate Dei, Book 10, c. 6.
101 Roman Missal, Canon of the Mass.



50 MEDIATOR DEI

proved and commended when they are in complete agreement with the

precepts of the Church and the rubrics of the liturgy. Their chief

aim is to foster and promote the people’s piety and intimate union with

Christ and His visible minister and to arouse those internal sentiments

and dispositions which should make our hearts become like to that of

the High Priest of the New Testament. However, though they show

also in an outward manner that the very nature of the sacrifice, as

offered by the Mediator between God and men, 102 must be regarded

as the act of the whole Mystical Body of Christ, still they are by no

means necessary to constitute it a public act or to give it a social char-

acter. And besides, a “dialogue” Mass of this kind cannot replace the

high Mass, which, as a matter of fact, though it should be offered with

only the sacred ministers present, possesses its own special dignity due

to the impressive character of its ritual and the magnificence of its

ceremonies. The splendor and grandeur of a high Mass, however, are

very much increased if, as the Church desires, the people are present in

great numbers and with devotion.

THE VALUE OF THESE METHODS SHOULD NOT BE EXAGGERATED

107. It is to be observed, also, that they have strayed from the

path of truth and right reason who, led away by false opinions, make

so much of these accidentals as to presume to assert that without them

the Mass cannot fulfill its appointed end.

108. Many of the faithful are unable to use the Roman missal

even though it is written in the vernacular; nor are all capable of

understanding correctly the liturgical rites and formulas. So varied

and diverse are men’s talents and characters that it is impossible for

all to be moved and attracted to the same extent by community prayers,

hymns and liturgical services. Moreover, the needs and inclinations

of all are not the same, nor are they always constant in the same indi-

vidual. Who, then, would say, on account of such a prejudice, that all

these Christians cannot participate in the Mass nor share its fruits?

On the contrary, they can adopt some other method which proves easier

for certain people; for instance, they can lovingly meditate on the

mysteries of Jesus Christ or perform other exercises of piety or recite

prayers which, though they differ from the sacred rites, are still essen-

tially in harmony with them.

102
cf. l Tim. 2:5.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 51

LET DIOCESAN COMMITTEES BE SET UP TO PROMOTE THE LITURGY

109. Wherefore We exhort you, Venerable Brethren, that each
in his diocese or ecclesiastical jurisdiction supervise and regulate the

manner and method in which the people take part in the liturgy, accord-

ing to the rubrics of the missal and in keeping with the injunctions

which the Sacred Congregation of Rites and the Code of canon law

have published. Let everything be done with due order and dignity,

and let no one, not even a priest, make use of the sacred edifices accord-

ing to his whim to try out experiments. It is also Our wish that in

each diocese an advisory committee to promote the liturgical apostolate

should be established, similar to that which cares for sacred music and

art, so that with your watchful guidance everything may be carefully

carried out in accordance with the prescriptions of the Apostolic See.

110. In religious communities let all those regulations be accur-

ately observed which are laid down in their respective constitutions,

nor let any innovations be made which the superiors of these com-

munities have not previously approved.

111. But however much variety and disparity there may be in

the exterior manner and circumstances in which the Christian laity

participate in the Mass and other liturgical functions, constant and

earnest effort must be made to unite the congregation in spirit as much

as possible with the divine Redeemer, so that their lives may be daily

enriched with more abundant sanctity, and greater glory be given to

the heavenly Father.

C. Holy Communion

112. The august ’ sacrifice of the altar is concluded with com-

munion or the partaking of the divine feast. But, as all know, the

integrity of the sacrifice only requires that the priest partake of the

heavenly food. Although it is most desirable that the people should also

approach the holy table, this is not required for the integrity of the

sacrifice.

FOR THE INTEGRITY OF THE SACRIFICE THE COMMUNION OF THE PRIEST IS SUFFICIENT

113. We wish in this matter to repeat the remarks which Our
predecessor Benedict XIV makes with regard to the definitions of the
Council of Trent: “First We must state that none of the faithful
can hold that private Masses, in which the priest alone receives holy



52 MEDIATOR DEI

communion, are therefore unlawful and do not fulfill the idea of the

true, perfect and complete unbloody sacrifice instituted by Christ our

Lord. For the faithful know quite well, or at least can easily be

taught, that the Council of Trent, supported by the doctrine which

the uninterrupted tradition of the Church has preserved, condemned

the new and false opinion of Luther as opposed to this tradition.”103

“If anyone shall say that Masses in which the priest only receives com-

munion, are unlawful, and therefore should be abolished, let him be

anathema.”
104

114. They, therefore, err from the path of truth who do not

want to have Masses celebrated unless the faithful communicate; and

those are still more in error who, in holding that it is altogether neces-

sary for the faithful to receive holy communion as well as the priest,

put forward the captious argument that here there is question not of

a sacrifice merely, but of a sacrifice and a supper of brotherly union,

and consider the general communion of all present as the culminating

point of the whole celebration.

115. Now it cannot be over-emphasized that the eucharistic
sacrifice of its very nature is the unbloody immolation of the divine

Victim, which is made manifest in a mystical manner by the separa-

tion of the sacred species and by their oblation to the eternal Father.

Holy communion pertains to the integrity of the Mass and to the

partaking of the august sacrament; but while it is obligatory for the

priest who says the Mass, it is only something earnestly recommended

to the faithful.

AN EXHORTATION TO SPIRITUAL AND SACRAMENTAL COMMUNION

116. The Church, as the teacher of truth, strives by every means

in her power to safeguard the integrity of the Catholic faith, and'like

a mother solicitious for the welfare of her children, she exhorts them

most earnestly to partake fervently and frequently of the richest treasure

of our religion.

117. She wishes in the first place that Christians—especially
when they cannot easily receive holy communion—should do so at
least by desire, so that with renewed faith, reverence, humility and

complete trust in the goodness of the divine Redeemer, they may be

united to Him in the spirit of the most ardent charity.

103 Encyclical Letter Certiores effecti, November 13, 1742, par. 1.
104 Council of Trent, Sess. 22, can. 8.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 53

118. But the desire of Mother Church does not stop here. For

since by feasting upon the bread of angels we can by a “sacramental”

communion, as we have already said, also become partakers of the

sacrifice, she repeats the invitation to all her children individually, “Take

and eat. . . . Do this in memory of Me” 105 so that “we may continually

experience within us the fruit of our redemption”
106

in a more effica-

cious manner. For this reason the Council of Trent, reechoing, as it

were, the invitation of Christ and His immaculate Spouse, has earn-

estly exhorted “the faithful when they attend Mass to communicate

not only by a spiritual communion but also by a sacramental one, so

that they may obtain more abundant fruit from this most holy sacri-

fice.”
107

Moreover, our predecessor of immortal memory, Benedict XIV,

wishing to emphasize and throw fuller light upon the truth that the

faithful by receiving the Holy Eucharist become partakers of the divine

sacrifice itself, praises the devotion of those who, when attending Mass,

not only elicit a desire to receive holy communion but also want to be

nourished by hosts consecrated during the Mass, even though, as he

himself states, they really and truly take part in the sacrifice should

they receive a host which has been duly consecrated at a previous Mass.

He writes as follows: “And although in addition to those to whom

the celebrant gives a portion of the Victim he himself has offered in

the Mass, they also participate in the same sacrifice to whom a priest

distributes the Blessed Sacrament that has been reserved; however, the

Church has not for this reason ever forbidden, nor does she now for-

bid, a celebrant to satisfy the piety and just request of those who, when

present at Mass, want to become partakers of the same sacrifice, be-

cause they likewise offer it after their own manner, nay more, she

approves of it and desires that it should not be omitted and would

reprehend those priests through whose fault and negligence this par-

ticipation would be denied to the faithful.” 108

FOR ALL CLASSES OF PEOPLE

119. May God grant that all accept these invitations of the
Church freely and with spontaniety. May He grant that they par-
ticipate even every day, if possible, in the divine sacrifice, not only in

a spiritual manner, but also by reception of the august sacrament,

105
1 Cor. 11:24.

106 Roman Missal, Collect for Feast of Corpus Christi.
107

Sess. 22, c. 6.

108 Encyclical Letter Certiores effecti, par. 3.



54 MEDIATOR DEI

receiving the body of Jesus Christ which has been offered for all to the

eternal Father. Arouse, Venerable Brethren, in the hearts of those com-

mitted to your care, a great and insatiable hunger for Jesus Christ.

Under your guidance let the children and youth crowd to the altar

rails to offer themselves, their innocence and their works of zeal to the

divine Redeemer. Let husbands and wives approach the holy table so

that nourished on this food they may learn to make the children en-

trusted to them conformed to the mind and heart of Jesus Christ.

120. Let the workers be invited to partake of this sustaining and

never failing nourishment that it may renew their strength and obtain

for their labors an everlasting recompense in heaven
;
in a word, invite

all men of whatever class and compel them to come in;109 since this is

the bread of life which all require. The Church of Jesus Christ needs

no other bread than this to satisfy fully our souls’ wants and desires,

and to unite us in the most intimate union with Jesus Christ, to make

us “one body,”
110

to get us to live together as brothers who, breaking the

same bread, sit down to the same heavenly table, to partake of the

elixir of immortality.
111

COMMUNION TO BE RECEIVED IF POSSIBLE DURING THE MASS

121. Now it is very fitting, as the liturgy otherwise lays down,

that the people receive holy communion after the priest has partaken

of the divine repast upon the altar; and, as we have written above, they

should be commended who, when present at Mass, receive hosts con-

secrated at the same Mass, so that it is actually verified, “that as many

of us, as, at this altar, shall partake of and receive the most holy body

and blood of thy Son, may be filled with every heavenly blessing and

grace.”
112

122. Still sometimes there may be a reason, and that not infre-

quently, why holy communion should be distributed before or after

Mass and even immediately after the priest receives the sacred species

—

and even though hosts consecrated at a previous Mass should be used.

In these circumstances—as we have stated above—the people duly take
part in the eucharistic sacrifice and not seldom they can in this way

more conveniently receive holy communion. Still, though the Church

with the kind heart of a mother, strives to meet the spiritual needs of

109 Cf. Luke, 14:23.

110
1 Cor. 10:17.

111 Cf. Saint Ignatius Martyr, Ad Eph. 20.
112 Roman Missal, Canon of the Mass.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 55

her children, they, for their part, should not readily neglect the direc-

tions of the liturgy and, as often as there is no reasonable difficulty,

should aim that all their actions at the altar manifest more clearly the

living unity of the Mystical Body.

FOLLOWED BY SUITABLE THANKSGIVING

123. When the Mass, which is subject to special rules of the

liturgy, is over, the person who has received holy communion is not

thereby freed from his duty of thanksgiving; rather, it is most becom-

ing that, when the Mass is finished, the person who has received the

Eucharist should recollect himself, and in intimate union with the

divine Master hold loving and fruitful converse with Him. Hence

they have departed from the straight way of truth, who, adhering to

the letter rather than the sense, assert and teach that, when Mass has

ended, no such thanksgiving should be added, not only because the

Mass is itself a thanksgiving, but also because this pertains to a private

and personal act of piety and not to the good of the community.

124. But, on the contrary, the very nature of the sacrament de-

mands that its reception should produce rich fruits of Christian sanc-

tity. Admittedly the congregation has been offcially dismissed, but

each individual, since he is united with Christ, should not interrupt the

hymn of praise in his own soul, “always returning thanks for all in the

name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.”
118 The sacred

liturgy of the Mass also exhorts us to do this when it bids us pray in

these words, “Grant, we beseech thee, that we may always continue

to offer thanks
114

. . . and may never cease from praising thee.”115 Where-

fore, if there is no time when we must not offer God thanks, and if we

must never cease from praising Him, who would dare to reprehend or

find fault with the Church, because she advises her priests
110

and faithful

to converse with the divine Redeemer for at least a short while after

holy communion, and inserts in her litugrical books, fitting prayers,

enriched wtih indulgences, by which the sacred ministers may make

suitable preparation before Mass and holy communion or may return

thanks afterwards? So far is the sacred liturgy from restricting the

interior devotion of individual Christians, that it actually fosters and

promotes it so that they may be rendered like to Jesus Christ and

113 Eph. 5:20.
114 Roman Missal, Postcommunion for Sunday within the Octave of As-

cension.

115 Ibid., Postcommunion for First Sunday after Pentecost.
116 Code of Canon Law, can. 810.



56 MEDIATOR DEI

through Him be brought to the heavenly Father; wherefore this same

discipline of the liturgy demands that whoever has partaken of the

sacrifice of the altar should return fitting thanks to God. For it is

the good pleasure of the divine Redeemer to hearken to us when we

pray, to converse with us intimately and to offer us a refuge in His

loving Heart.

NECESSARY TO OBTAIN MORE ABUNDANT FRUIT

125. Moreover, such personal colloquies are very necessary that

we may all enjoy more fully the supernatural treasures that are con-

tained in the Eucharist and according to our means, share them with

others, so that Christ our Lord may exert the greatest possible influ-

ence on the souls of all.

126. Why then, Venerable Brethren, should we not approve of

those who, when they receive holy communion, remain on in closest

familiarity with their divine Redeemer even after the congregation has

been officially dismissed, and that not only for the consolation of con-

versing with Him, but also to render Him due thanks and praise and

especially to ask help to defend their souls against anything that may

lessen the efficacy of the sacrament and to do everything in their power

to cooperate with the action of Christ who is so intimately present.

We exhort them to do so in a special manner by carrying out their
resolutions, by exercising the Christian virtues, as also by applying to

their own necessities the riches they have received with royal Liberality.

The author of that golden book The Imitation of Christ certainly

speaks in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the liturgy, when

he gives the following advice to the person who approaches the altar,

“Remain on in secret and take delight in your God; for He is yours

whom the whole world cannot take away from you.” 117

127. Therefore, let us all enter into closest union with Christ and

strive to lose ourselves, as it were, in His most holy soul and so be

united to Him that we may have a share in those acts with which He

adores the Blessed Trinity with a homage that is most acceptable, and

by which He offers to the eternal Father supreme praise and thanks

which find an harmonious echo throughout the heavens and the earth,

according to the words of the prophet, “All ye works of the Lord, bless

the Lord.”
118

Finally, in union with these sentiments of Christ, let us

ask for heavenly aid at that moment in which it is supremely fitting to

117 Book IV, c. 12. 118 Dan. 3:57.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 57

pray for and obtain help in His name.
119 For it is especially in virtue of

these sentiments that we offer and immolate ourselves as a victim, say-

ing, “make of us thy eternal offering.”
120

128. The divine Redeemer is ever repeating His pressing invita-

tion, “Abide in Me.” 121 Now by the sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ

remains in us and we in Him, and just as Christ, remaining in us, lives

and works, so should we remain in Christ and live and work through

Him.

D. Adoration of the Eucharist

129. The Eucharistic Food contains, as all are aware, “truly,

really and substantially the Body and Blood together with the soul

and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
122

It is no wonder, then, that

the Church, even from the beginning, adored the body of Christ under

the appearance of bread
;
this is evident from the very rites of the august

sacrifice, which prescribe that the sacred ministers should adore the

most holy sacrament by genuflecting or by profoundly bowing their heads.

130. The Sacred Councils teach that it is the Church’s tradi-

tion right from the beginning, to worship “with the same adoration

the Word Incarnate as well as His own flesh,”123 and St. Augustine

asserts that, “No one eats that flesh, without first adoring it,” while he

adds that “not only do we not commit a sin by adoring it, but that we

do sin by not adoring it.”
124

131. It is on this doctrinal basis that the cult of adoring the

Eucharist was founded and gradually developed as something distinct

from the sacrifice of the Mass. The reservation of the sacred species

for the sick and those in danger of death introduced the praiseworthy

custom of adoring the Blessed Sacrament which is reserved in our

churches. This practice of adoration, in fact, is based on strong and

solid reasons. For the Eucharist is at once a sacrifice and a sacrament;

but it differs from the other sacraments in this that it not only pro-

duces grace, but contains in a permanent manner the Author of grace

119 Cf. John 16:23.
120 Roman Missal, Secret for Mass of the Most Blessed Trinity.

John, 15:4.

122 Council of Trent, Sess. 13, can. 1.

123 Second Council of Constantinople, Anath, de trib. Capit., can. 9; compare

Council of Ephesus, Anath. Cyrill, can 8. Cf. Council of Trent, Sess. 13, can. 6;

Pius VI Constitution Auctorem fidei, n. 61.
*24 Cf. Enarr in Ps. 98.-9.



58 MEDIATOR DEI

Himself. When, therefore, the Church bids us adore Christ hidden

behind the eucharistic veils and pray to Him for spiritual and temporal

favors, of which we ever stand in need, she manifests living faith in

her divine Spouse who is present beneath these veils, she professes her

gratitude to Him and she enjoys the intimacy of His friendship.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUCHARISTIC CULT

132. Now, the Church in the course of centuries has introduced

various forms of this worship which are ever increasing in beauty and

helpfulness : as, for example, visits of devotion to the tabernacles,

even every day; benediction of the Blessed Sacrament; solemn pro-

cessions, especially at the time of Eucharistic Congress, which pass

through cities and villages
;
and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament pub-

licly exposed. Sometimes these public acts of adoration are of short dura-

tion. Sometimes they last for one, several and even for forty hours.

In certain places they continue in turn in different churches through-

out the year, while elsewhere adoration is perpetual day and night,

under the care of religious communities, and the faithful quite often

take part in them.

133. These exercises of piety have brought a wonderful increase

in faith and supernatural life to the Church militant upon earth and

they are re-echoed to a certain extent by the Church triumphant in

heaven which sings continually a hymn of praise to God and to the

Lamb “who was slain.” 125 Wherefore, the Church not merely approves

these pious practices, which in the course of centuries have spread every-

where throughout the world, but makes them her own, as it were, and

by her authority commends them.126 They spring from the inspiration

of the liturgy and if they are performed with due propriety and with

faith and piety, as the liturgical rules of the Church require, they are

undoubtedly of the very greatest assistance in living the life of the

liturgy.

NO CONFUSION BETWEEN “THE HISTORIC CHRIST” AND “THE EUCHARISTIC CHRIST”

134. Nor is it to be admitted that by this Eucharistic cult men

falsely confound the historical Christ, as they say, who once lived on

earth, with the Christ who is present in the august Sacrament of the

altar, and who reigns glorious and triumphant in heaven and bestows

125 Apoc. 5:12, cp. 7:10,
126 Cf. Council of Trent, Sess. 13, c. 5 and can. 6.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 59

supernatural favors. On the contrary, it can be claimed that by this

devotion the faithful bear witness to and solemnly avow the faith of

the Church that the Word of God is identical with the Son of the

Virgin Mary, who suffered on the cross, who is present in a hidden

manner in the Eucharist and who reigns upon His heavenly throne. Thus

St. John Chrysostom states: “When you see It [the Body of Christ]

exposed, say to yourself: Thanks to this body, I am no longer dust and

ashes, I am no more a captive but a freeman: hence I hope to obtain

heaven and the good things that are there in store for me, eternal life,

the heritage of the angels, companionship with Christ; death has not

destroyed this body which was pierced by nails and scourged, . . . this

is that body which was once covered with blood, pierced by a lance,

from which issued saving fountains upon the world, one of blood and

the other of water. . . . This body He gave to us to keep and eat, as a

mark of His intense love.”127

BENEDICTION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

135. That practice in a special manner is to be highly praised

according to which many exercises of piety, customary among the faith-

ful, and with benediction of the blessed sacrament. For excellent and

of great benefit is that custom which makes the priest raise aloft the

Bread of Angels before congregations with heads bowed down in

adoration, and forming with It the sign of the cross implores the

heavenly Father to deign to look upon His Son who for love of us was

nailed to the cross, and for His sake and through Him who willed to

be our Redeemer and our brother, be pleased to shower down heavenly

favors upon those whom the immaculate blood of the Lamb has re-

deemed.
128

136. Strive then, Venerable Brethren, with your customary de-

voted care so that the churches, which the faith and piety of Christian

peoples have built in the course of centuries for the purpose of singing

a perpetual hymn of glory to God almighty and of providing a worthy

abode for our Redeemer concealed beneath the eucharistic species, may

be entirely at the disposal of greater numbers of the faithful who,

called to the feet of their Savior, hearken to His most consoling invi-

tation, “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and
I will refresh you.”

129
Let your churches be the house of God where

127 In I ad Cor., 24:4.
128 Cf. 1 Peter, 1 :19.

129 Matt. 11:28.



60 MEDIATOR DEI

all who enter to implore blessings rejoice in obtaining whatever they

ask
130

and find there heavenly consolation.

137. Only thus can it be brought about that the whole human

family settling their differences may find peace, and united in mind and

heart may sing this song of hope and charity, “Good Pastor, truly

bread—Jesus have mercy on us—feed us, protect us—bestow on us the
vision of all good things—in the land of the living.” 131

Part III: The Divine Office and the Liturgical

Year

A. 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 wor-

ship 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 divine 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,”
132

the Church faithfully fulfills this injunc-

tion and never ceases to pray: she urges us in the words of the Apostle

of the Gentiles, “by him [Jesus] let us offer the sacrifice of praise al-

ways to God.”
133

140. Public and common prayer offered to God by all at the

same time was customary in antiquity only on certain 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

130 Cf. Roman Missal, Collect for Mass for the Dedication of a Church
131 Roman Missal, Sequence Lauda Sion in Mass for Feast of Corpus Christi.
132 Luke, 18:1.

* 33 Heb. 13:15.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 61

Hebrew customs or in keeping with the practice of every-day 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;184 and before eating, the Prince of the Apostles went

up to the higher parts of the house to pray, about the sixth hour;
188

Peter and John “went up into the Temple at the ninth hour of

prayer”
136

and “at midnight Paul and Silas praying . . . praised God.”
137

141. Thanks to the work of the monks and to those who practise

asceticism, these various prayers in the course of time become ever more

perfected and by the authority of the Church are 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, that they be said “worthily, with atten-

tion 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.”
138

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.”139

134 CL Acts, 2:1-15.
135 Ibid., 10:9.

136 Ibid 3:1.
137 Ibid., 16:25.

138 Rom. 8:26.
139 Saint Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 85, n, 1.



62 MEDIATOR DEI

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 souls should 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.” 140 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 glori-

fied wounds, “always living to make intercessions for us.” 141

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. Cassio-

dorus 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 sixth 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.”
142

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

140 Saint Benedict, Reguia Monachorxim, c. 19.
141 Heb. 7:25.
142 Explicatio in Psalterium, Preface. Text as found in Migne, Patres

Latini, 70:10. But some are of the opinion that part of this passage should not

be attributed to Cassiodorus.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 63

supreme and eternal power, then His lowly coming to this terrestial

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.”
143

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; in the seventh day is

the sabbath, the rest holy to the Lord. Every one that shall do any work

on this day, shall die;”
144 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 allure-

ments 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 repeatedly.

143 Saint Ambrose, Enarr. in Ps. 1
,
n. 9.

144 Exod. 31:15.



64 MEDIATOR DEI

Moreover, the needs of each one demand 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 him-

self: “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.”
145

B. 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 Saviour dominates the scene in the mys-

teries 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

fulness 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.”146

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 meditation, the

145 Confessions, Book 9, c. 6.
146 Saint Augustine, De Civitate Dei, Book 8, c. 17.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 65

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 practiced 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 morti-

fication 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.



66 MEDIATOR DEI

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 fervour and holiness

by giving ourselves completely and generously to God, and by for-

getting 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.”147

PENTECOST

160. Finally, during the time of Pentecost, the Church by her

precept and practice urges us to be more docile to the action of the

Holy Spirit 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

147 Col. 3:1-2.



ON TIIE SACRED LITURGY 67

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 be-

gotten of God.”
148

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 ircm 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.”
149

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 re-presents and renews it every day and since

all the sacraments are most closely united with the cross.
150

CHRIST LIVES AGAIN IN THE CHURCH DURING THE LITURGICAL YEAR

165. Hence, the liturgical year, devotedly fostered and accom-

panied 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,
151

with the design of bringing

148 Saint Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 123, n. 2.
149 Heb. 13:8.
150 Saint Thomas, Summa Theologica IIIa

,
q. 49 and q. 62, art. 5.

151 Cf. Acts, 10:38.



68 MEDIATOR DEI

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 through the cooperation of our wills we can receive from Him

living vitality 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 fulness of Christ.”
152

C. 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 these 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 resplendent 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 salva-

tion, and “rejoicing at their merits, we may be inflamed by their

example.”
153

It is necessary, then, to practice “in simplicity innocence,

152 Eph. 4:13.
153 Roman Missal, Collect for Third Mass of Several Martyrs outside

Paschaltide.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 69

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.”
154

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.”
155

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 pleadings of those whose praise is our delight.”
156

Hence, it is easy to understand why the sacred liturgy provides us with

many different prayers to invoke the intercession of the saints.

PREEMINENT 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,”
157

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,”
158

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

154 Saint Bede the Venerable, Horn. subd. 70 for Feast of All Saints.
155 Roman Missal, Collect for Mass of Saint John Damascene.
156 Saint Bernard, Sermon 2 for Feast of All Saints.
157 Luke, 1:28.
158 “Salve Regina.”



70 MEDIATOR DEI

the help we need, for God “wished us to have everything through

Mary.” 159

170. Throughout this liturgical journey which begins anew for

us each year under the sanctifying action of the Church, and strength-

ened by the help and example of the saints, especially of the Immacu-

late Virgin Mary, “let us draw near with a true heart, in fulness of

faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our

bodies washed with clean water,”160 let us draw near to the “High

Priest”
161

that with Him we may share His life and sentiments and

by Him penetrate “even within the veil,” 162 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.

Part IV : Pastoral Directives

A. Other Devotions Not Strictly Liturgical Warmly

Recommended

172. In order that the errors and inaccuracies, mentioned above,

may be more easily removed from the Church, and that the faithful

following safer norms may be able to use more fruitfully the liturgical

apostolate, We have deemed it opportune, Venerable Brethren, to add
some practical applications of the doctrine which We have explained.

173. When dealing with genuine and solid piety We stated that
there could be no real opposition between the sacred liturgy and other

religious practices, provided they be kept within legitimate bounds and

performed for a legitimate purpose. In fact, there are certain exercises

of piety which the Church recommends very much to clergy and religious.

174. It is Our wish also that the faithful, as well, should take

part in these practices. The chief of these are: meditation on spiritual

things, diligent examination of conscience, enclosed retreats, visits to

159 Saint Bernard, In Nativ. 7.
160 Heb. 10:22.
M Ibid., 10:21.
162 Ibid., 6:19.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 71

the blessed sacrament, and those special prayers in honor of the Blessed

Virgin Mary among which the rosary, as all know, has pride of

place.
163

THE ACTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT FOREIGN TO THESE DEVOTIONS

175. From these multiple forms of piety, the inspiration and

action of the Holy Spirit cannot be absent. Their purpose is, in various

ways, to attract and direct our souls to God, purifying them from

their sins, encouraging them to practice virtue and, finally, stimulating

them to advance along the path of sincere piety by accustoming them to

meditate on the eternal truths and disposing them better to contemplate

the mysteries of the human and divine natures of Christ. Besides, since

they develop a deeper spiritual life of the faithful, they prepare them to

take part in sacred public functions with greater fruit, and they lessen

the danger of liturgical prayers becoming an empty ritualism.

ERRORS FROM WHICH THE FAITHFUL SHOULD BE PROTECTED

176. In keeping with your pastoral solicitude, Venerable Breth-

ren, do not cease to recommend and encourage these exercises of piety

from which the faithful, entrusted to your care, cannot but derive

salutary fruit. Above all, do not allow—as some do, who are deceived
under the pretext of restoring the liturgy or who idly claim that only

liturgical rites are of any real value and dignity—that churches be
closed during the hours not appointed for public functions, as has

already happened in some places: where the adoration of the august

sacrament and visits to our Lord in the tabernacles are neglected;

where confession of devotion is discouraged
;
and devotion to the Virgin

Mother of God, a sign of “predestination” according to the opinion of

holy men, is so neglected, especially among the young, as to fade away

and gradually vanish. Such conduct most harmful to Christian piety

is like poisonous fruit, growing on the infected branches of a healthy

tree, which must be cut off so that the life-giving sap of the tree may

bring forth only the best fruit.

SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION

177. Since the opinions expressed by some about frequent con-

fession are completely foreign to the spirit of Christ and His Immacu-

late Spouse and are also most dangerous to the spiritual life, let Us

163 Cf. Code of Canon Law, Can. 125.



72 MEDIATOR DEI

call to mind what with sorrow We wrote about this point in the
encyclical on the Mystical Body. We urgently insist once more that
what We expounded in very serious words be proposed by you for the
serious consideration and dutiful obedience of your flock, especially to

students for the priesthood and young clergy.

SPIRITUAL EXERCISES AND RETREATS

178. Take special care that as many as possible, not only of the

clergy but of the laity and especially those in religious organizations

and in the ranks of Catholic Action, take part in monthly days of

recollection and in retreats of longer duration made with a view to

growing in virtue. As We have previously stated, such spiritual exer-
cises are most useful and even necessary to instill into souls solid virtue,

and to strengthen them in sanctity so as to be able to derive from the

sacred liturgy more efficacious and abundant benefits.

179. As regards the different methods employed in these exer-

cises, it is perfectly clear to all that in the Church on earth, no less

in the Church in heaven, there are many mansions, 164 and that asceticism

cannot be the monopoly of anyone. It is the same Spirit who breatheth

where He will, 165 and who with differing gifts and in different ways

enlightens and guides souls to sanctity. Let their freedom and the

supernatural action of the Holy Spirit be so sacrosanct that no one

presume to disturb or stifle them for any reason whatsoever.

180. However, it is well known that the spiritual exercise ac-

cording to the method and norms of St. Ignatius have been fully ap-

proved and earnestly recommended by Our predecessors on account of

their admirable efficacy. We, too, for the same reason have approved

and commended them and willingly do We repeat this now.
181. Any inspiration to follow and practise extraordinary exer-

cises of piety must most certainly come from the Father of Lights, from

whom every good and perfect gift descends;166 and, of course, the cri-

terion of this will be the effectiveness of these exercises in making the

divine cult loved and spread daily ever more widely, and in making the

faithful approach the sacraments with more longing desire, and in

obtaining for all things holy due respect and honor. If on the con-

trary, they are an obstacle to the principles and norms of divine wor-

ship, or if they oppose or hinder them, one must surely conclude that

they are not in keeping with prudence and enlightened zeal.

164 Cf. John, 14.-2. 165 John, 3 :8. 166 Cf. James, 1:17.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 73

OTHER PRACTICES NOT STRICTLY LITURGICAL

182. There are, besides, other exercises of piety which, although

not strictly belonging to the sacred liturgy, are, nevertheless, of special

import and dignity, and may be considered in a certain way to be an

addition to the liturgical cult
;
they have been approved and praised

over and over again by the Apostolic See and by the bishops. Among

these are the prayers usually said during the month of May in honor

of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God, or during the month of June to

the most Sacred Heart of Jesus: also novenas and triduums, stations

of the cross and other similar practices.

183. These devotions make us partakers in a salutary manner of

the liturgical cult, because they urge the faithful to go frequently to

the sacrament of penance, to attend Mass and receive communion with

devotion, and, as well, encourage them to meditate on the mysteries of

our redemption and imitate the example of the saints.

184. Hence, he would do something very wrong and dangerous

who would dare to take on himself to reform all these exercises of piety

and reduce them completely to the methods and norms of liturgical rites.

However, it is necessary that the spirit of the sacred liturgy and its

directives should exercise such a salutary influence on them that nothing

improper be introduced nor anything unworthy of the dignity of the

house of God or detrimental to the sacred functions or opposed to solid

piety.

185. Take care then, Venerable Brethren, that this true and solid

piety increases daily and more under your guidance and bear more

abundant fruit. Above all, do not cease to inculcate into the minds of

all that progress in the Christian life does not consist in the multiplicity

and variety of prayers and exercises of piety, but rather in their help-

fulness towards spiritual progress of the faithful and constant growth

of the Church universal. For the eternal Father “chose us in Him

[Christ] before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and

unspotted in His sight.”
167

All our prayers, then, and all our religious

practices should aim at directing our spiritual energies towards attaining

this most noble and lofty end.

B. Liturgical Spirit and Liturgical Apostolate

186. We earnestly exhort you, Venerable Brethren, that after
errors and falsehoods have been removed, and anything that is contrary

167 Eph. 1:4.



74 MEDIATOR DEI

to truth or moderation has been condemned, you promote a deeper

knowledge among the people of the sacred liturgy so that they more

readily and easily follow the sacred rites and take part in them with

true Christian dispositions.

OBEDIENCE TO THE DIRECTIONS OF THE CHURCH

187. First of all, you must strive that with due reverence and

faith all obey the decrees of the Council of Trent, of the Roman Pontiffs,

and the Sacred Congregation of Rites, and what the liturgical books

ordain concerning external public worship.

188. Three characteristics of which Our predecessor Pius X
spoke should adorn all liturgical services: sacredness, which abhors any

profane influence
;
nobility, which true and genuine arts should serve and

foster; and universality, which, while safeguarding local and legitimate

custom, reveals the catholic unity of the Church.
168

THE ADORNMENT OF CHURCHES AND ALTARS

189. We desire to commend and urge the adornment of churches
and altars. Let each one feel moved by the inspired word, “the zeal of

thy house hath eaten my up”
;

169
and strive as much as in him lies that

everything in the church, including vestments and liturgical furnishings,

even though not rich nor lavish, be perfectly clean and appropriate,

since all is consecrated to the Divine Majesty. If we have previously

disapproved of the error of those who would wish to outlaw images

from churches on the plea of reviving an ancient tradition, We now
deem it Our duty to censure the inconsiderate zeal of those who propose

for veneration in the Churches and on the altars, without any just

reason, a multitude of sacred images and statues, and also those who

display unauthorized relics, those who emphasize special and insignificant

practices, neglecting essential and necessary things. They thus bring

religion into derision and lessen the dignity of worship.

190. Let us recall, as well, the decree about “not introducing new

forms of worship and devotion.”
170 We commend the exact observance

of this decree to your vigilance.

191. As regards music, let the clear and guiding norms of the

Apostolic See be scrupulously observed. Gregorian chant, which the

168 Cf. Apostolic Letter (Motu Proprio) Tra le sollecitudini, November 22,
1903.

169 Ps. 68:10; John, 2:17.
170 Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, Decree of May 26, 1937.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 75

Roman Church considers her own as handed down from antiquity and

kept under her close tutelage, is proposed to the faithful as belonging to

them also. In certain parts of the liturgy the Church definitely prescribes

it
;

171
it makes the celebration of the sacred mysteries not only more

dignified and solemn but helps very much to increase the faith and de-

votion of the congregation. For this reason, Our predecessors of immortal

memory, Pius X and Pius XI, decreed—and We are happy to confirm
with Our authority the norms laid down by them—that in seminaries
and religious institutes, Gregorian chant be diligently and zealously

promoted, and moreover that the old Scliola Cantorum be restored, at

least in the principal churches. This has already been done with happy

results in not a few places.
172

GREGORIAN CHANT AND CONGREGATIONAL SINGING

192. Besides, “so that the faithful take a more active part in divine

worship, let Gregorian chant be restored to popular use in the parts

proper to the people. Indeed it is very necessary that the faithful attend

the sacred ceremonies not as if they were outsiders or mute onlookers,

but let them fully appreciate the beauty of the liturgy and take part in

the sacred ceremonies, alternating their voices with the priest and the

choir, according to the prescribed norms. If, please God, this is done,

it will not happen that the congregation hardly ever or only in a low

murmur answer the prayers in Latin or in the vernacular.” 173 A con-
gregation that is devoutly present at the sacrifice, in which our Saviour

together with His children redeemed with His sacred blood sings the

nuptial hymn of His immense love, cannot keep silent, for “song befits

the lover”
174

and, as the ancient saying has it, “he who sings well prays

twice.” Thus the Church militant, faithful as well as clergy, joins in

the hymns of the Church triumphant and with the choirs of angels, and,

all together, sing a wondrous and eternal hymn of praise to the most

Holy Trinity in keeping with words of the preface, “with whom our

voices, too, thou wouldst bid to be admitted.”
175

193. It cannot be said that modern music and singing should be

entirely excluded from Catholic worship. For, if they are not profane nor

171 Cf. Pius X, Apostolic Letter (Motu Proprio) Tra le sollecitudini.
172 Cf. Pius X, loc. cit.; Pius XI, Constitution Divini cultus, 2, 5.
173 Pius XI, Constitution Divini cultus, 9.
174 Saint Augustine, Serm. 336, n. 1.
175 Roman Missal, Preface.



76 MEDIATOR DEI

unbecoming to the sacredness of the place and function, and do not

spring from a desire of achieving extraordinary and unusual effects, then

our churches must admit them since they can contribute in no small way

to the splendor of the sacred ceremonies, can lift the mind to higher

things and foster true devotion of soul.

194. We also exhort you, Venerable Brethren, to promote with
care congregational singing, and to see to its accurate execution with all

due dignity, since it easily stirs up and arouses the faith and piety of

large gatherings of the faithful. Let the full harmonious singing of our

people rise to heaven like the bursting of a thunderous sea
176

and let

them testify by the melody of their song to the unity of their hearts and

minds177
,
as becomes brothers and the children of the same Father.

THE OTHER ARTS IN THE LITURGICAL CULT

195. What We have said about music, applies to the other fine
arts, especially to architecture, sculpture and painting. Recent works

of art which lend themselves to the materials of modern composition,

should not be universally despised and rejected through prejudice.

Modern art should be given free scope in the due and reverent service

of the church and the sacred rites, provided that they preserve a correct

balance between styles tending neither to extreme realism nor to exces-

sive “symbolism,” and that the needs of the Christian community are

taken into consideration rather than the particular taste or talent of

the individual artist. Thus modern art will be able to join its voice

to that wonderful choir of praise to which have contributed, in honor of

the Catholic faith, the greatest artists throughout the centuries. Never-

theless, in keeping with the duty of Our office, We cannot help deplor-
ing and condemning those works of art, recently introduced by some,

which seem to be a distortion and perversion of true art and which at

times openly shock Christian taste, modesty and devotion, and shamefully

offend the true religious sense. These must be entirely excluded and

banished from our churches, like “anything else that is not in keeping

with the sanctity of the place.”
178

196. Keeping in mind, Venerable Brethren, pontifical norms and

decrees, take great care to enlighten and direct the minds and hearts

of the artists to whom is given the task today of restoring or rebuild-

176 Saint Ambrose, Hexameron, 3:5, 23.
177 Cf. Acts, 4:32.

178 Code of Canon Law, can. 1178.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 77

ing the many churches which have been ruined or completely destroyed

by war. Let them be capable and willing to draw their inspiration from

religion to express what is suitable and more in keeping with the re-

quirements of worship. Thus the human arts will shine forth with a

wondrous heavenly splendor, and contribute greatly to human civiliza-

tion, to the salvation of souls and the glory of God. The fine arts are

really in conformity with religion when “as noblest handmaids they

are at the service of divine worship.”
179

IMPORTANT THAT CLERGY AND PEOPLE LIVE THE LITURGICAL LIFE

197. But there is something else of even greater importance,

Venerable Brethren, which We commend to your apostolic zeal, in a
very special manner. Whatever pertains to the external worship has

assuredly its importance; however, the most pressing duty of Chris-

tians is to live the liturgical life, and increase and cherish its super-

natural spirit.

198. Readily provide the young clerical student with facilities

to understand the sacred ceremonies, to appreciate their majesty and

beauty and to learn the rubrics with care, just as you do when he is

trained in ascetics, in dogma and in a canon law and pastoral theology.

This should not be done merely for cultural reasons and to fit the

student to perform religious rites in the future, correctly and with due

dignity, but especially to lead him into closest union with Christ, the

Priest, so that he may become a holy minister of sanctity.

199. Try in every way, with the means and helps that your

prudence deems best, that the clergy and people become one in mind

and heart, and that the Christian people take such an active part in the

liturgy that it becomes a truly sacred action of due worship to the

eternal Lord in which the priest, chieflly responsible for the souls of

his parish, and the ordinary faithful are united together.

ALTAR BOYS IN THE SERVICE OF THE ALTAR

200. To attain this purpose, it will greatly help to select care-

fully good and upright young boys from all classes of citizens who will

come generously and spontaneously to serve at the altar with careful

zeal and exactness. Parents of higher social standing and culture should

greatly esteem this office for their children. If these youths, under the

watchful guidance of the priests, are properly trained and encouraged

779 Pius XI, Constitution Divini cultus.



78 MEDIATOR DEI

to fulfill the task committed to them punctually, reverently and con-

stantly, then from their number will readily come fresh candidates for

the priesthood. The clergy will not then complain—as, alas, sometimes
happens even in Catholic places—that in the celebration of the august
sacrifice they find no one to answer or serve them.

PASTORAL ZEAL

201. Above all, try with your constant zeal to have all the faith-

ful attend the eucharistic sacrifice from which they may obtain abundant

and salutary fruit; and carefully instruct them in all the legitimate

ways We have described above so that they may devoutly participate
in it. The Mass is the chief act of divine worship; it should also be

the source and center of Christian piety. Never think that you have

satisfied your apostolic zeal until you see your faithful approach in

great numbers the celestial banquet which is a sacrament of devotion,

a sign of unity and a bond of love.
180

202. By means of suitable sermons and particularly by periodic

conferences and lectures, by special study weeks and the like, teach

the Christian people carefully about the treasures of piety contained

in the sacred liturgy so that they may be able to profit more abundantly

by these supernatural gifts. In this matter, those who are active in the

ranks of Catholic Action will certainly be a help to you, since they are

ever at the service of the hierarchy in the work of promoting the King-

dom of Jesus Christ.

VIGILANCE AGAINST ERRORS AND PREJUDICES

203. But in all these matters, it is essential that you watch

vigilantly lest the enemy come into the field of the Lord and sow

cockle among the wheat;181 in other words, do not let your flocks be

deceived by the subtle and dangerous errors of false mysticism or quiet-

ism—as you know We have already condemned these errors;182 also
do not let a certain dangerous “humanism” lead them astray, nor let

there be introduced a false doctrine destroying the notion of Catholic

faith, nor finally an exaggerated zeal for antiquity in matters liturgical.

Watch with like diligence lest the false teaching of those be propa-

gated who wrongly think and teach that the glorified human nature of

180 Cf. Saint Augustine, Tract. 26 in John 13.
181 Cf. Matt. 13 24-25.
182 Encylical letter Mystici Corporis.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 79

Christ really and continually dwells in the “just” by His presence

and that one and numerically the same grace, as they say, unites Christ

with the members of His Mystical Body.
204.

Never be discouraged by the difficulties that arise, and

never let your pastoral zeal grow cold. “Blow the trumpet in Sion . . .

call an assembly, gather together the people, sanctify the Church,

assemble the ancients, gather together the little ones, and them that

suck at the breasts,”
183 and use every help to get the faithful every-

where to fill the churches and crowd around the altars so that they

may be restored by the graces of the sacraments and joined as living

members to their divine Head, and with Him and through Him cele-

brate together the august sacrifice that gives due tribute of praise to

the Eternal Father.

Epilogue

205. These, Venerable Brethren, are the subjects We desired to
write to you about. We are moved to write that your children, who
are also Ours, may more fully understand and appreciate the most

precious treasures which are contained in the sacred liturgy: namely,

the eucharistic sacrifice, representing and renewing the sacrifice of the

cross, the sacraments which are the streams of divine grace and of

divine life, and the hymn of praise, which heaven and earth daily

offer to God.

206. We cherish the hope that these Our exhortations will not
only arouse the sluggish and recalcitrant to a deeper and more correct

study of the liturgy, but also instill into their daily lives its super-

natural spirit according to the words of the Apostle, “extinguish not

the spirit.”
184

207. To those whom an excessive zeal occasionally led to say

and do certain things which saddened Us and which We could not
approve, We repeat the warning of St. Paul, “But prove all things,
hold fast that which is good.”

185
Let Us paternally warn them to

imitate in their thoughts and actions the Christian doctrine which is in

harmony with the precepts of the immaculate Spouse of Jesus Christ,

the mother of saints.

208. Let Us remind all that they must generously and faithfully

183
Joel, 2:15-16.

184
I Thess. 5:19.

185 Ibid., 5:21.



80 MEDIATOR DEI

obey their holy pastors who possess the right and duty of regulating the

whole life, especially the spiritual life, of the Church. “Obey your

prelates and be subject to them. For they watch as being to render

an account of your souls; that they may do this with joy and not with

grief.”
186

209. May God, whom we worship, and who is “not the God of

dissension but of peace,”
187

graciously grant to us all that during our

earthly exile we may with one mind and one heart participate in the

sacred liturgy which is, as it were, a preparation and a token of that

heavenly liturgy in which we hope one day to sing together with the

most glorious Mother of God and our most loving Mother, “To Him

that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction and honor,

and glory and power for ever and ever.”
188

210. In this joyous hope, We most lovingly impart to each and
every one of you, Venerable Brethren, and to the flocks confided to

your care, as a pledge of divine gifts and as a witness of Our special

love, the apostolic benediction.

211. Given at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, on the 20th day of

November in the year 1947, the 9th of Our Pontificate.

Pius XII

186 Heb. 13:17.
187

1 Cor. 14:33.

188 Apoc. 5 :13.



81

NOTES

Paragraph 3:

There is special significance—commencing a doctrinal discussion on the
liturgy in the Mystical Body (paragraph 2)—in appealing at once to those
words of Pope Pius XI (May 3, 1932), in which the Church’s liturgy was

described as “this common prayer of the Mystical Body of Christ.” This

papal thought is reflected, for instance, in a statement authorized by Cardinal

Pizzardo, then papal Director of Catholic Action (June 24, 1938): “The

liturgy and Catholic Action are thus respectively the Mystical Body at prayer

and sacrifice, and the Mystical Body in action upon the world.”

But it remained for Pope Pius XII authoritatively to frame that definition

found farther on (paragraph 20) :

“The sacred liturgy is consequently the public worship which our Redeemer

as Head of the Church renders to the Father, as well as the worship

which the community of the faithful renders its Founder, and through

Him to the heavenly Father. It is, in short, the worship rendered by the

Mystical Body of Christ in the entirety of its Head and members

(italics added).”

It will repay one to observe, we believe, that throughout the encyclical the

Holy Father reverts to the theme of the Mystical Body at every important

turn of thought.

Paragraph 5:

In this first mention of the liturgical movement, developed since the turn of

the twentieth century, particularly under Benedictine leadership, one may

note the Catholic gains here ascribed to it by the Pontiff:

a) Majesty of worship is better understood and appreciated;

b) Frequentation of the Sacraments has been advanced;

c) Bolder relief is thrown on the fact that we are one compact body

worshipping with Christ;

d) Laymen are duty bound to participate according to their proper station.

It is to insure and deepen these gains that the present letter is written.

“Papal confirmation and endorsement” of the best and highest claims made

on behalf of the Liturgical Movement in late years, says Father Jungmann

of the Papal Letter. “As a mere Movement it now ceases to exist, and in all its

essential points is taken up into the framework of the church’s program.”

J. A. Jungmann, Geist und Leben, 21 (1948), 251.



82 MEDIATOR DEI

Paragraph 7

:

Preaching in St. Paul’s Basilica, September 18, 1947, when the present ency-

clical must have been in a very advanced stage of preparation, Pope Pius XII

indicated some of its contents in this passage:

No small praise is due to you for the great diligence and care that you

give to the sacred liturgy, known amongst you by the great name of the

“Work of God.” And without doubt the faithful are still to be urged to

attend, and to participate in, the public rites and prayers of the Church

with religious attention. Especially let them observe the Christian feasts

with appropriate and full joy. Here, however, there can be a sin of

excess. Some can be found to extol to excess the liturgical forms of anti-

quity, whilst they easily despise later forms, and hold in contempt private

and popular prayers. By liturgy we understand all forms of worship

approved by the authority of the Church, something durable and living,

that has grown to maturity through the centuries: if the youthful age

appeals to one, the maturer years are not to be despised. But what of the

prayers and exercises of piety approved by the Church? Out of the full

riches and treasures of the divine cult, such as the Church has approved

and makes use of, let the faithful draw forth as much as they can, and

whatever is capable of increasing their faith and confirming their hope

and fostering their charity: and, although there is variety to suit the social

rank, the kind of life, and education, and the soul of each one, all can

draw something therefrom that will be helpful to them. The important

thing in divine worship and in the care of souls is that the followers of

the Gospel seek God in the recesses of a good conscience, that they respect

the majesty of God and His law, that they do penance for their sins, that

they confess their sins with tears and atone for their crimes with works

of mercy, that they find grace and live well, in order that they may live

forever, and that happily. There are those that eat solid food, and those

that are nourished by milk; in the first place, sweet-sounding are the

golden lutes, and sweet also are the notes of the delicate flutes. . . .

(AAS 39:452-456).

Paragraph 36:

The scientific study of the Christian religion has reached the stage of having

specialized branches of theology itself, of which the two best known are

dogmatic and moral theology respectively. These several disciplines, by

reason of their differing ends, have also widely differing methods, and it

might possibly seem to a seminarist that it is a different “Christianity” that

is being studied and assimilated in this class or in that. There can be no

danger of lasting misapprehension, but there is meanwhile comfort and re-

assurance of the over-all harmony in the papal reminder that

“There is no opposition between”:

public prayer and prayers in private,

morality ” contemplation

ascetical life ” devotion to the liturgy,

the teaching and governing office ” specifically priestly functions of

the ministers.



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 83

Paragraph 40:

Apropos of the full relationship between priest and congregation, a salutary

caution, I believe, is found in this passage: The Christian priesthood “is not a

delegation from the people . . . [The priest] is God’s vice-gerent 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.”

Th Holy Father would seem to warn us in these words against a facile con-

clusion that an officiating priest may be correctly regarded as an authorized

agent acting for a group, as, for example, a Congressman acting for his

constituents, an executive officer acting for the subordinate of his corporation,

etc. There is not “anything human” that resembles the Mystical Body of

Christ, and unless this essentially corporate character of Catholic worship is

kept constantly in view, the unifying and vivifying unity is missed.

Paragraphs 46-48:

In this passage the Holy Father makes a short excursus to reaffirm the true

meaning of a fifth-century theological axiom that was twisted out of its

original significance by the Modernist heretics a generation ago. The expres-

sion runs,
“Legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi

>>—Let the rule for prayer
determine the rule for belief. This is excerpted from the so-called Indiculus

On Grace, and illustrates that, in a dispute as to the precise faith on a par-

ticular point, the liturgical prayers may be consulted, and these will be found

to reflect the underlying correct faith.

In the hands of the Modernists this appeal to the liturgical prayers was by

way of asserting “that the sacred liturgy is a kind of proving ground for the

truths to be held by 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 the liturgy, and to reject it

otherwise.”

The most conspicuous of the English Modernists published a volume under

the title. Lex Orandi, the whole theme of which is well summarized in this

one sentence:

Beliefs that have been found by a continuous and invariable experience to

foster and promote the spiritual life of the soul must so far be in accord

with the nature and the laws of that will-world with which it is the aim

of religion to bring us into harmony; their practical value results from,

and is founded in, their representative value (57, 58).

The Modernist doctrinal value derived from the prayer-value: hence

Modernists turned the axiom into a straight equation, Lex orandi, lex credendi.

But the correct use of this appeal to the Church’s prayer-forms, as a theo-

logical source, requires that a distinction be kept constantly in mind. The

ancient liturgies are not the norm of the primitive faith, as though they had

determined and formulated the beliefs. Rather it is the doctrinal belief of the

Church that is always prior, and that gives form and expression to that faith



84 MEDIATOR DEI

expressed in prayer. Therefore, in view of the

ancient saying could be reversed. To sum up:

1. Lex orandi (est) lex credendi.

The law for prayer is the law for faith.

2 . Legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi.

Let the rule for prayer determine the

rule for belief.

3 . Lex credendi legem statuat supplicandi.

Let the rule for belief determine the rule

of prayer.

true causal relationship, the

5 False, historically

| dogmatically,

f
Correct historical

formula, true as

[
explained,

f
Correct dogmatic

-{ formula, true as

[
explained.

Paragraph 60:

The question of a “dead” language in the Church’s public worship is much

too large a subject for anything like adequate handling here. It tends much

towards over-simplification to say that Latin was first adopted because it was

the vernacular language, and was retained by positive decision only after it

had ceased to be the vernacular; what was adopted for one reason was

retained for an entirely different reason. Behind this immediate section

of the encyclical two known factors are involved, one touching Germany of

1942 -43
,
the other, France from 1944 to 1947 .

Late in 1943 the Apostolic Nuncio in Germany communicated to the German

bishops a message reflecting the deep uneasiness of the Holy See over various

current developments of the liturgical movement in Germany. One of the

grounds for papal concern was that individual bishops would sanction unwise

departures from the Latin at Mass. In the same context, the letter added that

the Holy See would be glad “to accord certain privileges (for instance with

reference to the Ritual), which could really have an advantageous consequence

for the good of souls, in the instance that the request be presented to the Holy

See by the entire German episcopate” (Dec. 24
,
1943 ).

As sequel to this communication from the Holy See, the Liturgy Commission

of the Fulda Bishop’s Conference asked Roman approval for a common form

(largely vernacular) of the dialogue Mass, and for papal sanction—in localities
where it obtained from Counter-Reformation times—of the Deutsches Hochant
type of high Mass, the priest singing Latin, the people German. Both these

requests were given papal approval, according to the announcement of Decem-

ber 24, 1943 . The proposed German-language Ritual, Rituale Germaniae, was

drawn up and sent to Rome for approval.

The French situation referred to above, so far as the facts are known, seems

to have presented these three variations:

(a) Some worker-priests were being authorized to celebrate Mass with the

non-silent parts in the French language.

(b) In specific instances Rome authorized Mass to be so celebrated by

bishops and others.

(c) Other priests were deliberately trying to force the hand of authority

by an unauthorized short cut to the vernacular..



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 8 $

It is in this setting that the language of the encyclical must be read. It dis-

closes the unalterable calmness and “perpetuity” of the Roman outlook. It

does not say that Latin is necessary on dogmatic or disciplinary grounds: times

do change and the Church is ready to meet the changes. But departures from

the Latin in the public worship must be authorized and regulated by the

Holy See.

Paragraph 60:

“She grows, matures, develops, adapts and accommodates herself to temporal

needs . . . ” (59). The period since Mediator was issued provides a

growing stream of language accommodations of the Latin Rite.

As touching the Ritual there was (Nov, 28, 1947) permission for the partial

use of French; then, a decree of the Holy Office (May 9, 1949) allowing most

of the Ritual to be put into the vernaculars in foreign-missions areas, was

followed by new instructions from Propaganda (Prot. 2368/48). The first

fruits of these were visible at Bangalore, Jan. 17, 1950, in the Latin-Hindi

Ritual, others have subsequently been published. Approbation for the bilingual

Ritual submitted by the German Bishops followed, March 21, 1950; papal

approbation for the use of Italian in Italy for the baptismal questions and

answers dates from Feb. 2, 1953, a wider French grant followed on October

30, (Prot.18/953) and June 3, 1954, similar papal action gave the United

States its own bilingual book (Prot. N. D. 18/954).

That the Missal itself would not lie outside the present trend (for the

missions) is clear from the Holy Office grant (Prot. No. 3/49) that in China

Chinese may be used for all save the Canon, and in the Canon for the Preface,

Pater and Agnus Dei as being loud. This permission has not been carried

into effect as yet because of Communist troubles. In the interim, too, Father

Nicholas Kowalsky, OMI, published his “Roman Decisions for the Use of the

Vernacular at Mass in Mission Countries,” a list whose length and variety is

surprising
(
N. Zeit.

f.
Missionswissenschaft, 9, (1953, 241- 51).

A possible hint that the Breviary may feel the same change of policy may lie
in the letter by Pope Pius XII (March 12, 1953), granting congregations that

recite the Little Office by rule permission to take instead an enlarged vernacular

arrangement: (cf. A. Ellis, Review For Religious, 13 (1954), 149-52).

A European observer summed up Rome’s attitude in all this as “gradual
and controlled concession.”

Paragraph 62:

A former criticism of excessive archaism is embodied in the 1945 Lenten
Charge:

One often hears, even with reference to the liturgy, the cry: “Back to

the Primitive Church!” A sonorous phrase, to be sure, the meaning and
application of which ought to be made clear in each single instance, but

which rarely would appear justified. Ought we, perhaps, for example, to

abolish the office and Mass for Corpus Christi, because they do not go back

beyond the thirteenth century? (AAS 37:36-37).



86 MEDIATOR DEI

“Were he to wish the altar restored to its primitive tableform.” Among

many architects a “by-law” nowadays is that none but table-altars be

erected. Mediator refers to this exaggeration. Father Jungmann recalls

that canonical requirements (cc. 1198-1200), not changed by the Ency-

clical, concern the table
(
mensa

)
and its support ( stips ). J. A. Jungmann,

Geist und Leben, 21 (1948), 255.

Paragraph 64:

The Jansenist aims and tendencies produced, in the seventeenth and eigh-

teenth centuries, a sad example of archaism, a distrust of the contemporary

Church, and a desire to turn the clock back to the golden age of the Fathers.

The spirit of these men is forever enshrined in the condemned legislation of

their Synod of Pistoja, thus characterized in that penetrating essay, The Life

of the Church, (Dial Press, 1932) :

They went to great lengths. Some of them dreamed of reestablishing the

ancient system of public penance. It was the discipline of the earliest

centuries that was constantly appealed to in the Synod of Pistoja, where

Jansenism’s last word was spoken, with the demand for reforms (1786).

Why should we have only one altar in each church, recite the offices in the
vulgar tongue, abolish stipends for Mass, forbid the taking of an oath?

Why forbid the religious orders to have the care of souls and pastoral
duties, reduce them to the Benedictine order alone, not ordain as priests

any monks except those destined to act as chaplains in the convent, have

only one monastery in each city, and that relegated to an unfrequented

place, abolish exemptions, etc.? Always the harking back to antiquity.

The Jansenists set little store by the contemporary, living Church. Con-

vinced that the spirit of antiquity, the only legitimate spirit, had taken

shelter among themselves, they always spoke of Port-Royal as the Ark in

the midst of the universal deluge, (p. 249)

Paragraph 71:

This section of the encyclical—on how the laity collaborate with the priest,
and with Christ, in the celebration of Mass—is, for very obvious reasons, high-
lighted in the translation of the encyclical, by a greater frequency and fullness of

headings and sub-heads. Those who were in a position to compare the Latin ver-

sion of this encyclical with the Italian one, published in L’Osservatore Romano

(Dec. 1, 2, 1947), were struck by the much freer use of sub-heads in the Italian

version.

It was reported from Rome tht the Italian is actually the authentic original:

however that may be, this Vatican-sponsored English version not only repro-

duces the sub-heads which the Italian version affords, but goes far beyond it

in the point here in question. The Vatican-sponsored French version of

Mediator Dei (Documentation Catholique, Feb. 15, 1948) has exactly the same

series of headings and sub-heads as our English one. We believe, therefore,
there is value in attending to these headings, as a clue to the way the Vatican

wishes this section to reach the general public. We italicize the headings of
the Italian version:



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 87

Participation of the Faithful in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

Participation without priestly power. (80-84)

1. Participation inasmuch as they offer it with the priest. (85)

a. It is declared by the Church. (86)

b. It is signified by the rites themselves. (87, 88)

c. The offering of bread and wine made by the people. (89-91)

d. Sacrifice offered by the faithful. (92-97)

2. Participation inasmuch as they offer themselves as victims. (98, 99)

Purifying their own souls. (100, 101)

Reproducing the image of Jesus Christ. (102, 104)

3. Means of promoting this participation. (105)

Subject to the directions of the Church. (106)

The value of these methods should not be exaggerated. (107, 108)

Let Diocesan Committees be set up to promote the liturgy. (109-111)

Paragraph 85:

“All this has the certitude of faith. However, it must also be added that

the laity offer the divine Victim, though in a different sense.” The non-ordained

are not priests. But can these non-priests, in any legitimate sense, be said

to offer the Mass? This has been a much-debated question in clerical circles

for some years. Both viewpoints agreed entirely that the people lack all power

of consecrating bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. One view

contended that “offering Mass” was the equivalent to effecting the consecra-

tion, and so the laity were completely excluded. The second view contended

that “offering Mass” included both effecting the consecration, in which the

people have simply no share, and leading the congregation in a public, external

sacrificial rite, lasting half-an-hour or upwards, in which the people do legiti-

mately share.

Neither group in this dispute could cite an official ecclesiastical statement

in direct support of its view. Five years ago it did seem as though Mystici

Corporis, in casual and parenthetic fashion so to speak, was lending the sanc-

tion of its authority to the view that non-priests do offer Mass in a true sense.

Although cited previously, the passage is here repeated:

In this act of sacrifice, through the hands of the priest, whose word

alone has brought the Immaculate Lamb to be present on the altar, the

faithful themselves with one desire and one prayer offer it to the eternal

Father—the most acceptable Victim of praise and propitiation for the
Church’s universal needs.

The present context proposes to discuss this precise point, and indicates its

solution: the faithful do offer, but not as priests offer.

Paragraph 92:

Sacrifice offered by the people: “In this most important subject it is neces-

sary, in order to avoid giving rise to a dangerous error, that we define the
exact meaning of the word ‘offer.’

”

In the immemorial manner of theologians, the Pope draws a distinction:

the priest, in ‘offering Mass,’ specifically in effecting the transubstantiation,

performs an act that has a double character, it is at once costsecratory, as



88 MEDIATOR DEI

causing the change into the Body and Blood, and it is an offering of the

Church’s sacrifice. In the first aspect the layman does not share; in its second,

or offering

,

the layman does share, as doing it through the priest and doing it

with the priest. Here is the papal teaching:

The unbloody immolation at the words of consecration, when Christ is

made present upon the altar in the state of a victim, is performed by the

priest and by him alone, as the representative of Christ and not as the

representative of the faithful. But it is because the priest places the divine

victim upon the altar that he offers it to God as an oblation for the glory

of the Blessed Trinity and for the good of the whole Church. Now the

faithful participate in the oblation, understood in this limited sense, after

their own fashion and in a twofold manner, namely because they not only

offer the sacrifice by the hands of the priest, but also, to a certain extent,

in union with him. It is by reason of this participation that the offering

made by the people is also included in liturgical worship.

This falls into the diagram-form:

OFFER MASS Transubstantiation

Transcendent The unbloody immola-

meaning tion at the words of con-

secration, when Christ is

made present upon the

altar in the state of a

Victim.

By Whom

LThis] is performed by

the priest and by him

alone, as the representa-

tive of Christ, and not as

the representative of the

faithful.

Limited

meaning

Simultaneous Offering

But it is because the

priest places the divine

Victim upon the altar that

he offers it to God as an

oblation for the glory of

the Holy Trinity and for

the good of the whole

Church.

By Whom

Now the faithful parti-

cipate in the oblation,

understood in this limited

sense, after their own

fashion, and in a two-

fold manner, because they

not only offer the sacrifice

by the hands of the priest,

but also, to a certain ex-

tent, in union with him.

Application : How do the people, then share in the consecration of the Mass?

The answer involves the papal distinction: As far as effecting transubstantiation

goes, they simply do not share. But in enacting the consecration the celebrant

performs an action that is at the same time oblatory by its very nature. In its

consecratory phase the layman does not share: in its oblatory phase, the layman,

as layman, does share. “The same act,” as Father Putz reminds us, “is both

consecratory and oblatory. The sacrificial oblation is essentially ritual, and there-

fore concentrated in that brief action. It is in this oblation that the faithful

share—not merely in a supposed continuation of the offering after the consecra-
tion . . . The faithful actually offer with the priest: they are in a real sense ‘co-

offerers’ (though not ‘co-celebrants’). J. Putz, The Clergy Monthly, 12 (1948),



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 89

126, 127. “What is here stated of the place of the faithful is of extraordinary

significance. . The layman’s position in the central point of religion can not be

more emphatically expressed in religious terminology than by saying that he

really shares in offering the Body and Blood of Christ. For an age that really

calls to the laity, this is truly a Good Tiding.” J. Pascher, Theologie und

Glaube 3, (1948), 191.

Paragraph 94:

“We are very pleased to learn that this teaching, thanks to a more intense

study of the liturgy on the part of many, especially in recent years, has been

given full recognition,” Historians of the Eucharist may one day cite this

passage as the first authoritative statement expressing this teaching. Develop-

ments now quite unforeseen might be latent in this expression. When, towards

the middle of the twelfth century, someone counted the sacraments and found

they were seven, he had no idea he was giving an impulse that would speedily

grow into a whole dogmatic treatise, On the Sacraments, so much of which was

defined at Trent.

In the early fourteenth century, when the sharp mind of Duns Scotus saw

the solution of that problem so long hampering the doctrine of the Immaculate

Conception, he had no foreknowledge of the solemn definition of 1854. The

circumstance that an alert fifteenth-century theologian went to the city of

Florence as its bishop, when that city was the world’s banking center, and

began to write upon the moral aspects of monetary transactions, St. Antoninus

had no notion a whole new science, Moral Theology, was to stem from his

actions. It is not beyond the bounds of plausibility to speculate that the theology

of lay participation in offering the Mass, thanks to this support from Mediator

Dei in mid-twentieth century, might unfold in ways not now dreamed of.

Paragraph 98:

What is the relationship between “the oblation by which the faithful offer

the divine Victim to the heavenly Father” (98), and what is here inculcated,

namely, “the offering of themselves as a victim”?

The tokens of external victimhood present upon the altar of sacrifice, in the

measure in which understood and lived, demand of both priest and of faithful,

to be voluntarily, devotedly dedicated to the performance of God’s full pleasure

in their lives. This, of course, means dying to self and living to God. This

frame of mind is not limited to the time and place of sacrificial worship, but

it is in the Sacrifice that it is especially verified. So he will be

most closely united with the High Priest, and His earthly minister, at the

time the consecration of the divine Victim is effected, and especially at the

time those solemn words are pronounced: “By Him and with Him and in

Him. . . .” To which words the people answer: “Amen.” Nor should

Christians forget to offer themselves, their cares. . . (104).

Paragraph 128:

By way of final summation of this long section on the participation of the

people in the Mass, we may look back and note that:



90 MEDIATOR DEI

A. Although not priests (80-84), people offer with the priests (85-91);

B. The priest “offers” at two levels, one not shared with the people, the

other shared with the faithful, who can “offer” through him and with him

(92-99)
;

C. This entails, of course, internal self-oblation (98-104)
;

D. And finds expression, as feasible, in congruous external aids, missal,

dialogue Mass, congregational song (105-111)
;

E. And is concluded with communion, required for the celebrant, urged for

all the faithful (112-120)
;

laudably with a host consecrated “in the same

sacrifice, because they likewise offer it after their own manner” (118)
;
and

received, circumstances dictating, after the priest’s communion (121);

F. The whole rite being concluded by a fervent, private thanksgiving,

(123-128).

Paragraph 142:

Just as the liturgy as a whole is the worship of God by the Mystical Body

in its entirety (20), and the Mass, the sacrifice of the whole Mystical Body

( 7 1 ff ) , so it is not at all surprising here to find the Pontiff stressing that “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.” In the qualifying limitation at the end the Pope has spoken a negative

word on a dispute, as to whether undesignated people in reciting the divine

office, for example, are carrying out liturgical worship.

Paragraph 150:

In pleading for a restoration and popular frequentation of Vespers on

Sundays and holydays, it will not escape pastoral zeal to note that the Holy

Father conditions the restoration on their conduct “in a worthy and fitting

manner, and with such helps as foster the piety of the faithful.” It may be

that he here has in mind how considerable thought has been given in some

places to smooth the “Vesper-path” with considerable devotional variety. In

the same context the Pope exhorts the laity to learn “those prayers which are

recited at Vespers.”

Paragraph 151:

The Church year revolves about the person of Christ, whose mysteries are

there recalled in an effort “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 fulness of His holiness” (151).

“The whole Christ is proposed in all the circumstances of His life. . . . Not

only as the Model to be imitated, but as a Master ... a Shepherd, the Author

of our holiness, and the Head of the Mystical Body” (163).

According to the Doctors of the Church, they [Christ’s mysteries]

:

(a) are shining examples of Christian perfection;



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 91

(b) as well as sources of divine grace, due to the merits and prayers of

Christ;

(c) They still influence us because each mystery brings its own special grace

for our salvation;

(d) These effects are increased by the Church’s prayers (165).

The Holy Office (Nov. 25, 1948) sent a letter to the Archbishop of Salzburg,

condemning as erroneous an interpretation of Mediator that saw in liturgical

worship “the Christian mysteries to be present, not historically, but mystically

and sacramentally, but also really; Mysteria . . . praesentia esse, non historice,

sed mystice ac sacramentaliter, tamen realiter.
,>

The letter can be consulted,

for instance, a Bugnini’s Documenta Pontificia ad lnstaurationem Liturgicam

Spectantia (Rome: Ediz. Liturg. 1953), 167-69.

Paragraph 172:

Part Four is in the nature of a practical, pastoral summation. Special em-

phasis is directed against the errors condemned in Mystici Corporis and here

condemned afresh. Any supposed incompatibility between strictly “liturgical”

forms of prayer and other prayer-forms is energetically rejected. The ideas

here as all such are mentioned previously in this encyclical, or in Mystici

Corporis. The topics are enumerated in the appended outline.

Paragraph 187:

As the first requisite in promoting a fruitful and balanced liturgical apos-

tolate, we find filial obedience to the Church’s decrees and her rubrical regula-

tions for every phase of public worship. This all-embracing solicitude in-

cludes the construction and ornamentation of the fabric, and all the furnish-

ings, the communal musical accompaniment, whether in chant or in modern

music, and the splendor of sacred ceremonial.

Paragraph 198:

This section might be entitled, “The seminarian in the liturgical apostolate.”

Readily provide the young clerical student with facilities to understand

the sacred ceremonies, to appreciate their majesty and beauty, and to learn

the rubrics with care, just as you do when he is trained in ascetics, in

dogma and in canon law and pastoral theology.

It does not go unnoticed that just “learning the rubrics” is the last thing

mentioned by the Pope in speaking of clerical liturgical formation. It may

serve as a reminder that courses in the principles of corporate worship are

suggested in seminaries conferring papal theological degrees. Too, in setting

down the advantages a cleric can gain from his liturgical training, the ency-

clical does not stop at mere culture and ability to conduct the rites with cor-

rectness and with dignity, but seeks “especially to lead him into closest union

with Christ the Priest that he become a holy minister of sanctity.”

Paragraph 202:

What the seminary does for the cleric, sermon courses, periodic conferences,
lectures and study weeks will accomplish for the laity.



92 MEDIATOR DEI

Paragraph 209:

That the corporate liturgy of earth is just preparation for the communal

worship of the heavenly court, where we confidently expect to join the ever-

lasting hymn to Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing

and honor, glory and power, for ever and for ever.



GENERAL CONSPECTUS

( Numbers refer to paragraphs)

INTRODUCTION

Christ’s Redemptive Work Continues in the Liturgy (1-12).

PART ONE

NATURE, SOURCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LITURGY (13-65)

A. The liturgy is public worship (13-22).

B. The liturgy is exterior and interior worship (23-37).

C. The liturgy is under the hierarchy of the Church (38-48).

D. Progress and development of the liturgy (49-57).

E. Liturgical development not left to private judgement (58-65).

PART TWO
EUCHARISTIC WORSHIP (66-137)

A. The nature of Eucharistic Worship (66-79).

B. The participation of the faithful in Eucharistic worship (80-111).

C. Holy Communion (112-128).

D. Adoration of the Eucharist (129-137).

PART THREE

THE DIVINE OFFICE AND THE LITURGICAL YEAR (138-171)

A. The divine office (138-150).

B. Cycle of the mysteries of the liturgical year (151-165).

C. Feasts of the saints (166-171).

PART FOUR

PASTORAL DIRECTIVES (172-204)

A. Other devotions, not strictly liturgical, warmly recommended

(172-185).

B. The liturgical spirit and the liturgical apostolate (186-204).

CONCLUSION (205-211)

93



INDEX

1: HOLY WRIT

( Nurtibers refer to paragraphs)

Exodus, 31, 15 150 First Corinthians

Leviticus, 16, 11 16 3, 23 33

Psalms 68, 10 189 10, 17 12, 120

Psalms 109, 4 67 11, 24 118

Isaias 29, 13 24 11, 28 31

Daniel, 3, 57 127 12, 47 103

Joel, 2, 15 204 14, 33 209

Malachy, 1, 11 2, 79 Second Corinthians, 6, 1 36

Matthew, 11, 28 136 Galatians, 2, 19 78

13, 24-25 20
2, 19 f 78, 102

18, 20 203
4, 19 37

28, 20 61
6, 14 79

Mark, 7-6 24
Ephesians, 1, 4 185

14, 23 72
2, 19-22 19

16, 15, 16 40
4, 13 165

Luke, 1, 28 169
5, 20 124

10, 16 40
5, 30 103

14, 23

18, 1

120

139
Philippians, 2, 5 80

John, 1, 9 17
Colossians, 3, If 159

1, 14 17
First Thessalonians, 5, 19 206

2, 17 189 5,
21 207

3, 8 179 First Timothy, 2, 5 1, 106

13, 1 67 3, 15 18

14, 2 179 Hebrews, 4, 14 1

15, 4 128 5, 7 74

16, 23 127 6, 19 170

20, 21 40 7, 25 146

21, 15-17 65 9, 14 1

Acts of the Apostles 10, 1 16

2, 1-15 140 10, 5-7 17

2, 42 21 10, 10 17

3, 1 140 10, 14 76

4, 32 194 10, 19-24 33

10, 9 140 10, 21 170

10, 38 165 10, 22 170

16, 25 140 10, 39 17

20, 28 65 13, 8 163

Romans, 6, 9 70 13, 15 139

8, 26 144 13, 17 208

12, 1 99 James, 1, 17 181

94



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 95

First Peter, 1, 19 13 5 Apocalypse, 5, 12 133

2, 5 99 5, 13 209

First John, 2, 1 18 7, 10 133

2, 2 73

2: OTHER AUTHORS

( Numbers refer to paragraphs)

Ambrose, St, Hexameron 194 Can. 813 97

On Psalm 1 149 Can. 1178 195

Augustine, St., City of God 103, 152 Can. 1257 58

Confessions 145 Can. 1261 58

Enchiridion 47 Can. 1367 37

Letter to Probas 22
,
48 Councils

On John 13 180 II Constantinople (553) 130

Predes. of Saints 31 Ephesus (431) 130

On Psalm 85 144 Trent (1545-63)
On Psalm 98 130 Sess. 13, c. 5 133
On Psalm 123 163 Sess. 13, can. 1 129
On Psalm 14-7 76 Sess. 13, can. 6 130, 133
Sermon 272 103 Sess. 22, c. 1 3, 67
Sermon 336 192 Sess. 22, c. 2 3,78
The Trinity 73 Sess. 22, c. 5 101

Bede, St, On All Saints 167 Sess. 22, c. 6 118
Bellarmine, St. Robert, Sess. 22, can. 4 78

On the Mass 84, 86, 103 Sess. 22, can. 8 113
Benedict, St, Holy Rule 145 Sess. 23, c. 4 84

Benedict IX,
f

Certiores effecti/ On Grace of God, Indiculus 48
(Nov. 13, 1742) 113,

Bernard, St., On All Saints

118

168
Holy Office (May 25, 1937) 190

On Nat BV M 170 Ignatius, St. Mar., To Ephes 120
Bona, J. Card’l, On Divine

Imitation of Christ 126

Psalmody 22 Innocent III, On the Mystery

Boniface IX, 'Ab orig. mundi* of the Altar 86

(Oct. 3, 1391) 18 Innocent XI,
‘

Triumphans Pastor*

Callistus III, 'Sum. Pontifex* (Oct. 3, 1678) 18

(Jan. 1, 1456) 18 John Chrysostom, St.,

Cassiodore, On the Psalter 147 On I Cor. 134

Canon Law, Code of On St. John 69

Can. 125 37, 174 Missal, Roman

Can. 126 37 Canon, Comm. def. 73

Can. 253 57 Comm. viv. 87, 99

Can. 571 37 Dox., Per Ipsum 64, 104

Can. 565 37 Hanc igitur 87

Can. 595 37 Supplices te 74, 121

Can. 810 124 Te igitur 96



96 MEDIATOR DEI

Unde et memores 87

Ash-Wednesday 31

Collect, Corp. Chr. 118

—Ded. of Ch. 136
—St John Damas. 167
—For Many Martyrs 167
Orate fratres 87

Post-C, Sund. aft. Asc. 124

—Sund. Aft. Pentecost 124
Preface 70, 71, 192

—for Christmas 23
Secret, Thurs., 2 wk. Lent 28

—9th S. aftr. Pent. 79
—Trinity Sunday 127
Sequence, Lauda Sion 137

Pius II, ‘Triumphans Pastor’

(Apr. 26, 1459) 18

Pius VI, ‘Auct. Fidei,’

(Aug. 28, 1794) 64

Pius X, St. ‘Tra le Soil.’

(Nov. 22, 1903) 188,191

Pius XI,
‘

Charity of Christ

’

(May 3, 1932) 7

‘On Gregorian Chant’

(Dec. 28, 1928) 47,192,196

Pius XII, ‘In Cot . precihus’

(Mar. 24, 1945) 6

‘Mys. Body of Christ,’

(June 29, 1943) 75,179,182

Pontifical, Roman 43, 100

“Salve Regina” 169

Sixtus V, ‘Immensa

’

(Jan. 22, 1588) 57

Thomas Aq., St.,Summa

Theol 13,32,69,164

3: SUBJECTS

(Numbers refer to paragraphs)

Abuses (see also: exaggerations)

authority to check, 9

over-emphasis of accidentals 107

private innovations 57

specifically named 57, 176, 177

through deficiency 8

Active participation in

mysteries 152, 199

(see also: participation)

Additions to liturgy 182

reasons for 50

Advent, liturgy of, 154

Adoration (see: Eucharist,

adoration of)

Altar

of early Church 21

primitive (table) form, 62

Altars and churches, styles 189-191

Amusements on Sunday 150

Ancient rites

worthy of veneration 61

exaggerated attachment to

61, 63-64, 203

and the Council of Pistoja 64

Antiquarianism (see: ancient

rites)

Apostolate, norms for

liturgical 186-204

Archaism (see: ancient rites

Architecture, influence on

liturgy 56, 195

Art

adornment of churches

and altars 189

architecture, culture and

painting 195

influence on liturgy 56

modern 195

realistic 195

symbolic, norms for 195

Artists, to be guided by religion 196

Asceticism

not a monopoly of one

group 179

no conflict with devotion

to liturgy 36



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 97

Authority in in us, we in Him 80, 128, 185

Church 11,39,52,64,177 makes prayer it ceremonies

(see also: hierarchy) efficacious 27

obedience to, 12,44,110 as Mediator 1
, 74, 146

over liturgy 44, 57 as present in Sacraments 20

papal 12, 176 in minister 20, 106

regulations 64-65 in Mass 20, 80

supreme 9, 65 as (High) Priest 1,17, 66,68,

Baptism 81, 104, 106

“Character” of 88 as Shepherd 17

contrasted with Holy Orders 43 as Teacher 17

distinctive mark of Christians 43 as Victim 81

makes members of Mystical the whole Christ 93, 163

Body 88 Christian

Benediction of Blessed Sacrament spirit 12

(see also: Eucharist) spirit harmed by certain

added devotion 132 errors 176

attendance, encouraged 150 Christmas cycle, meaning of 155
highly praised 135, 137 Church

Bishops (see also: hierarchy) aim, obligation &
approbation of 182 function of 3, 19, 22

duties in rites 58 Christ abides in 50

to be kept in proper and death, burial, purgatory 22
contact with 65 and family 22

to protect faithful 176 as guardian of deposit of

Blessed Eucharist (see: Eucharislt) faith 64

Canon Law and hierarchical
must not be repudiated 63, 109 authority 39, 177

Canonical prayers (see: Vespers) has visible sacrifice 67

Catholic actionists legislation of 63

need special spiritual and liturgical year 165

direction 178 people should pray with 105

to instruct others in the prolongs priestly mission

liturgy 202 of Christ 3

Catechumenate, suppression of 53 schools of asceticism in 179

Ceremonies, good to learn and seven Sacraments

meaning of 62 (named) 22

Chant (see: music) Churches

Choir (see: music) and dignity of House of

Christ God 184

aim of (purpose for and their adornment 62, 189, 195

coming) 17 ,19 not used for private

as center of Mass & Office 151 experiments 109

desires our frequent should be open to the

confession 177 faithful 176

as Head of Mystical Body 84 Clergy

in Eucharist 129, 131, 134 encouraged to certain



98 MEDIATOR DEI

Clergy (cont’d)

exercises of piety 173

in liturgical deficiencies and

excesses 8

not to be discouraged by

difficulties 204

over-enthusiasms of 8

and people, one in mind and

heart 12

should understand

devotional Confession 177

sluggish and recalcitrant 206

to encourage Sunday Vespers 150

to instruct faithful 6, 202

without a server at Mass 97

young, to be instructed 177

Communion (see also: Eucharist)

frequent

of parents 119

of faithful 114,119,201

of workers 120

of youth 119

encouraged for all 118-19,183

and daily 120

effects of 120

outside of Mass 122

during Mass, best time to

receive 121, 122

of faithful, not essential to

Mass 113-14

by Hosts consecrated at

this Mass 118,121

moment of, fitting to unite

with Christ 127

opinion of Luther on,

condemned 113

of priests and integrity of

Mass 112-13

spiritual 117

Community

its duty to participate in

liturgy 5

of faithful, not opposed to

private Masses 95

prayer does not move all

equally 108

worship joined to Head in

liturgy 20

“Concelebration” erroneous view

of Mass 83-4

Confession (see: Penance)

Congregation of Rites 57, 109

Congregational singing,

encouraged 24, 192, 194

(see also: music)

Consecration of Mass, time of

closest union 104

Contemplation

accomplished in liturgical

year 165

does not conflct with

morality 36

Council of Trent

“Mass applies Redemption

of men,” 75

“Mass makes more manifest

the greatness of Sacrifice

of Calvary” 79

directing reception of Com-

munion at Mass 118

should be obeyed 187

Cross

Stations of, not strictly

liturgical encouraged 182

Crucifix showing cruel sufferings 62

Cult, Eucharistic (see also:

Eucharistic)

development of 132

divine, spread of 181

liturgical, additions to 182

Days of Recollection

(see: Retreats)

Development

in liturgy (see: liturgy)

disciplinary 52

of Eucharistic cult 132

of fine arts 56

of non-liturgical practices 53

of private judgment 58

Devotion

“genuine and real piety,” 32

to Eucharist (see: Eucharist)

to liturgy, no conflct in

ascetics 36



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 99

Devotion (cont’d)

to Mary and saints 166-171

non-liturgical, for Eucharist,

passion, Sacred Heart,

Mary, Joseph 54, 182

of people at High Mass 106

practices of 182

interior, fostered by

liturgy 106, 124

chief element of worship 24

necessary 93, 145

Devotions

different methods of

approved 179

in forms of Novenas,

Triduums, Stations, etc. 182

in honor of Sacred Heart 182

legitimate purposes of 173

May 182
not strictly liturgical 172-75

private, encouraged 176

purpose of 175

should not be neglected 176

under inspiration of Holy

Spirit 175

Dialogue Mass

its use commended 105

cannot replace High Mass 106

Divine Office

as centered around Christ 151

its character and value 143-46

in early Church 21

its function in liturgy 138-71

as prayer of Mystical Body 142

Doctrine

on Incarnate Word 52
integrity of 59

false, a danger 203

and liturgy 44

practical applications of 172

sources of 63

Dogma (see: doctrine)

Duty

of bishops in rites 58

of clergy toward Sunday

Vespers 150

of community, to honor God 14

of individual, to honor God 14

of laity, to participate 80, 100

of man as man IS

of transformation at altar 100

Easter-tide 159

Eastern Liturgies, not dealt with

in Encyclical 11

Epiphany Cycle calls Gentiles

to faith 156

Eucharist (see also: Eucharistic

& Communion)

adoration of 131-2

adoration, neglected 176

devotion to 54

“Bond of love, sacrament of

devotion, sign of unity” 201

Benediction of Blessed

Sacrament 132,150

institution of 17

not to be confused with

Historical Christ 134

efficacy of 27, 126

and Christ 129

as center of Christianity 66

worship of 66

exposition of, “Forty Hours” 132

reception of Communion

necessary only for priest

at Mass 114

devotional, by people 183

Hosts for distribution

consecrated at same

Mass 118, 121-2

visits to 132,174,176

Eucharistic (see also: Eucharist

& Communion)

Congresses 132

cult, approved and en-

couraged 131,133

development of 52, 130-32

inspired by liturgy 133

not strictly liturgical 133

worship, nature of 66-79

Exaggerations (see also: abuses)

of external element 25

of ancient rites 61-64



100 MEDIATOR DEI

Exaggerations (cont’d) devotions by private 175

of liturgical practices 8, 207 and presence at

Examination of Conscience 37, 174 Mass 90,95,100,201

Exercises of piety (see also: and protection from error 176

Devotions & Eucharist) and the Sacrifice 92-96

extraordinary 181 sluggish, to be aroused 206

for clergy and religious 181 state of, inferior to priest-

non-liturgical, hood 84

encouraged 176, 182, 184 and Sunday Vespers 150

novel, condemned 59 united with priest 199

toward Eucharist 132 in union with

spiritual, of St. Ignatius 180 Christ 80, 92, 96,, 199

in general 32, 37, 178
and use of Roman Missal 108

Externals and victims 100

their aim 23, 101 without priestly power 82-84

errors concerning 25 Fasting, a liturgical development 55

and liturgy 24 Feast-days

and Mystical Body 23 changed without authority 59

and worship 23 in general 166-171

Faith order of 166

and compromise with significance of 62

devotion 57 Forty Hours’ Devotion (see:

deposit of, the Church is Eucharist)

guardian of 64 Gregorian Chant (see:

endangered by “humanism” 203 Chant & Music)

increased through Eucharistic Hierarchy

cult 133 to appoint liturgical

as integral in liturgy 9 Commissions 109

liturgy is continuous demanded by nature of

profession of 47 Church 39

as related to liturgy 47 jurisdiction rests on priestly

The Faithful power 36

(see also: Participation) must guide piety, liturgical

disposition of, at Mass 81 & non-liturgical 44,
,

185

extremists to be curbed 8 as subject to Holy

and instruction on Father 12,65,176

Mass 6, 105-6, 177, 201-2 and the right to make

Mass intention of 103 regulations 64-5

and non-liturgical practices 174 to whom all are subject 65

as non-mediators willed by Divine Founder 39

(not priests) 43, 82, 84 History (see: development

offer Christ 85-6 Holy Hour (see: Eucharistic cult)

offer Sacrifice 89-91, 93 Holy Orders, contrasted with

offer selves 80, 104,,111 Baptism 42-3

participation of 78, 85-97, 105, (see also: priesthood)

150, 199 Holy Sacrifice (see: Mass)

prepared for public Holy Spirit, action of 175, 179



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 101

Holy Week, lessons of

liturgy for 158

Homily, purpose is to instruct

& exhort 21

Honor

to Father 17

due God 12

due all things 181

Hosts (see: Eucharist & Hosts)

“Humanism” condemned 203

Hymns at Mass 106

Imitation of Christ in accord

with liturgy 126

Immolation (see: offering)

Impetration

(see: Sacrifice, ends of)

Innovations

curbed by Church 57

(individual initiative

commended) 4

into rules of religious 110

Interior worship (see: worship)

Jurisdiction (see: Hierarchy)

Laity (see: Faithful)

Latin (see also: Vernacular)

doctrinal value of 60

not essential in se 59-60

Liturgy', subject of Encyclical 11

sign of unity 60

Last Supper

(see: Mass, institution of)

Lent, Season of

(see: liturgical year)

Liturgical Apostolate

in general 186-204

more fruitful use of 172

to be officially promoted 109

cult, not static, 49, 182, 185

life, encouraged 165, 197-199

helped by Eucharistic cult 133

prayer, defined 37

object of, same as that of

private 37

compatible with private

prayer

rites

37

dignity of 6

characteristics of 188

not understood by all 108

participation in 5

(see also: participation)

recent, also approved 61

visible 93

spirit, to influence

devotions 184, 186-204

texts, good to study

meanings 62

worship, to be fostered 20, 165

Liturgical Year 165

Advent 154

Christmas 155

Epiphany 156

Holy Week 158

Lent 157

means of uniting with

Christ 138

Pentecost 160

Septuagesima 157

to be studied 161,202

Liturgy

arouses “Christian instinct” 50

and Ascetics 36

benefits of 49,178,185

crowning act of 66

defined 20,37,199

development of

in general 4,21-2,49,

51-53, 61, 141

early Christians and 21, 61-2

must be authorized 49, 50

divine elements in 50

dogma expressed in 45, 47-49

Eastern 11

human elements of 50

false reasoning about 46

as a method of teaching 50, 202

nature of 171

object of 171, 175

and priesthood 22

as a profession of faith 47

is public worship 20

and participation of faithful

(see: Participation &

Faithful)



102 MEDIATOR DEI

Liturgy (cont’d)

revival of

rules to be

followed in

as a Sacred Science

and Scripture

in seminaries

spirit of

4, 8

47, 49, 122, 184

9

47

198

104, 184

stresses whole Christ 163

subject to hierarchy 44, 50, 57

unauthorized restorations of 176

Mary

devotion to 169-171

doctrine about 52

neglect of devotion to 176

prayers honoring 174, 182

as a “sign of

predestination” 176

Masses (see also: Participation)

aim of 17

as applying merits of Christ 79

attendance by the

faithful 95, 100, 183

as centering on Christ 151

and Christ as principal

offerer 86, 93

as commemoration of

Passion

as crowning act of the

liturgy

desired as Missa cantata

development of doctrines on

disposition of laity at

effects of

efficacy of

as fountainhead of

devotion

High

hymns at

in, with and through Christ 204

institution and early

history of 17, 21

instructive to people 105

and intention of the faithful 103

meditation at 108

nature of 66, 106, 204

as objective piety 29

5, 201

105-6

106, 108

as offered by faithful 90-96

as offered by priest,

properly speaking 92

as part of the liturgy 3,47

plural forms in Mass prayers 87

as prescribing adoration of

Eucharist 129

private 83, 95

purpose of 17

several Masses at same time 95

social nature of 87,96

and server 97

in vernacular 59

as visible sacrifice 67

as worship 18, 93, 201

May devotions 182

Mediator

(see: Christ as Mediator)

Meditation

and its good effects 35

and its necessity 32

at Mass 108

proposed by liturgy 153

on Redemption 183

urged for all 174

and what the results must be V
Mental prayer

(see: Prayer & Meditation)

Ministers

to adore Eucharist 129

of Christ 66, 105

of New Law 106

of Old Law 16

represent Christ 93

Missal, Roman

encouraged for the people 105

rubrics of, to regulate 109

in vernacular for people 108

Monasteries, initiative of,

commended 4

Mortification, necessary for all 31

Mother of God (see: Mary)

Music

chant easily arouses faith

& piety 191, 194

confirmed in norms of

Pius X & XI 191-2



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 103

Music (cont’d)

congregational singing of,

encouraged 24, 105, 192, 194

Gregorian is Church’s own 191

influence on liturgy 56, 192-94

polyphonic approved 62

modern, can be fitting 193

proper spirit of Chant 145

and restoration of

scholae cantorum 191

to be taught in principal

churches 191

to be taught in seminaries 191

Mystical Body

(see also: Church & Christ)

and becoming member at

Baptism 88

and Christ as Head of 84

and Encyclical on 177

and harmony among

members of 34

and liturgy as

worship of 20, 23, 106, 142

and priest as God’s means

of treating with 43

as synonymous with

the Church 2

and union of members

with Head 71, 78

ail members do not have

same powers 39

all members do have same

blessings 39

Mysticism, false 202

Novenas, approved 182

Oblation (see: Offering)

Offering

of the Clean Oblation 2, 79

and manner of offering 68, 70

participation of

laity in 86-7,92-96

of self by Christ 68, 127, 152

Office (see: Divine Office)

Oid Testament

and error of deleting it

from liturgy 59

not inopportune 59

and ministers of Old Law 16

and sacerdotal tribe of 16

vestments prescribed by God 16

Order of Saint Benedict 4

Ordination (see: Priesthood)

Painting

and influence on liturgy 56

modern, may be allowed 195

Participation (see also: Faithful)

clergy, to encourage 109,199,202

in liturgical cult 85-97, 199

by non-liturgical

devotions 183

duty of faithful 80, 100

in Mass, strongly

encouraged 6,77,80,92-96,

100, 104, 108,

151, 199, 201

by congregational

singing 24, 105, 192, 194

methods of 105, 106

precepts of Church on
}

to be observed 106

by sanctity 111

at Vespers, Sunday 150

as victims 81, 98-105

Paschal season 159

Passion, center of Divine

Worship 68, 164

Pastors

loyalty to 12

obedience due to 208

rights and duties of 208

Pastoral solicitude 176

zeal needed 201,204

directives 172, 204

Peace, how to find it 137

necessity of restoring 12

Penance, Sacrament of

false opinion about frequency 177

frequent reception

advocated 177, 183

devotional reception w rongly
discouraged 176

Penances, during Lent 157-158

Pentecost, liturgy of 160

Perpetual Adoration

(see also: Eucharist) 132



104 MEDIATOR DEI

Piety (see also: Prayer)

personal, good effect of 35

exercise of non-liturgical

nature 182

solid and genuine, source in

the Mass 184-5,201

subjective, objective 28

true, derives from Mass 201

Pilgrimages as liturgical

developments 55

“Pneumatic” Christ,

error regarding 162

Polyphonic music, approved

(see also: Music) 62

Poor souls (see: Souls)

Prayer

ancient, in common 3, 140

old formulas 63

and Blessed Virgin

(see also: Mary) 182

canonical (see also: Divine

Office) 182

of Church, never ceases 139

during day 140

formulas of 63

lex orandi, lex credendi,

falsely used 47

liturgical

(see also: liturgical) 47

superior to private 37

compatible with private 37

is prayer of the Church 6

mental 32,35,37,108,

153, 174, 183

multiplicity of 185

non-liturgical, during Mass 108

objective of 37

personal, wrongly belittled 29

necessary 31, 125

plural forms of at Mass 87

private 36, 37

as private thanksgiving 126

public 36, 140

and religious practices 185

in union with Christ 127

Priests

answered by people at Mass 105

and Apostles as priests 67

and Christ, the High Priest 66

primary offerer 69

faithful united to 43, 92-3, 199

as mediators 40, 69, 84, 91, 96

in Mystical Body 40, 43

as offering Sacrifice 44, 86, 92-3

and Order of Melchisedech 67

power of 40, 69, 84, 91, 96

as representing Christ 40, 84, 92

responsibilities of 40, 199

servers for 200

subject to authority 44, 109

young, need instruction 177

Priesthood

source of candidates for 200

“character” of 42

errors about meanings of 83

exercise of 22, 58

grace of 42

of Jesus Christ 41

“of the laity” 82,83,99

for the liturgy 22

ordination to 100

origin of 40

powers of 40, 43

and sacerdotal tribe of

Old Testament 16

for salvation of the

people 40, 43

visible 2, 40-1

Private devotions

(see: Devotions)

Private Masses (see: Mass)

Private prayer

(see: Prayer, private)

Processions

offertory 90

solemn 132

stational 55

Propitiation

(see: Sacrifice, ends of)

Psalms

a confession of faith 149

re-translated 6

as voice of Church 3, 147-149

Public prayer (see also: Prayer)



ON THE SACRED LITURGY 105

Public prayer (cont’d)

and places on Sunday 150

and games on Sunday 150

the act of, the Mass 96

and worship (see: liturgy)

Quietism, condemned 203

Recollection Days (see: Retreats)

Redemption, merits of 17, 79

meditation on 183

cost of 1, 148

Relics, must be authorized 1S9

Religious

practices, listed and

explained 174, 185

communities 110

Retreats

enclosed 174, 178

Days of Recollection 178

monthly 178

Rites (see also: Authority;

Jurisdiction; liturgical)

ancient (see also:

Ancient rites) 61-63

changes in 58

and Holy Spirit 61

new forms of 52

recent, approved 61

Sacred Congregation of 57

Western-Eastern 4

Rosary

use of, encouraged 174

use of, at Mass, allowed 108

Rubrics (see also: Authority &

Hierarchy)

of the Missal 109

to be learned with care 198

Sabbath (see: Sunday)

Sacrament, Blessed

(see: Blessed Sacrament)

of Penance (see: Penance)

of Holy Orders (see: Priest-

hood and Holy Orders)

of Baptism (see: Baptism)

Sacraments

early administration of 21

better approach to 181

and discipline of

administration 53

efficacy of 27

and efficacy of externals 36

as part of liturgy 3,47

reception of 5

Sacramentals 27

Sacrifice

of the Cross, perfect

oblation 17, 76

ends of 71-74

Eucharistic (see: Mass)

external and visible,

required 67, 93

of Old Law 16

Saints

imitation of 183

as our intercessors 168

and their feasts 166-171

Sanctification

of Sunday 150

the different ways to

achieve 179

as fruit of Sacraments 124

by offering of Christ 1, 17, 111

by participation 111

requires cooperation of

individual 78

Scholae cantorum should be

restored 191

(see also: Music)

Sculpture in churches

(see also: Churches) 195

Seminarians

develop from servers 200

to be taught, chant 191

doctrine of Mystical Body 177

beauty of the liturgy 198

Septuagesima (see also:

Liturgical Year) 157

Sermons, part of liturgy 21

Servers

parental attitudes toward 200

Mass can be offered without 97

to be well trained 200

are potential seminarians 200

Singing (see: Muic)



106 MEDIATOR DEI

Social Worship

(see: liturgy & Mass)

nature of Church

(see: Church)

Souls

harm to 64, 176

like altars of sacrifice 152

demand variety of means 50, 108

pastor responsible for 199

poor, to be prayed for 22

Spirit of liturgy (see: liturgy)

Holy (see: Holy Spirit)

Stations of the Cross (see: Cross)

Statues in churches

Sunday, profanation of,

62, 189

by games, etc. 150

replaced Sabbath 150

Vespers for people 150

work, a sin 150

Symbolism, excessive

Thanksgiving

195

to God, an end of prayer 72

duty of, after

Mass 123-4, 126, 127

to Trinity 145

Transsubstantiation

(see also: Christ) 70

Trent, Council of

(see: Council of Trent)

Triduums, approved

Trinity

182

adored in union with Christ 127

praised and thanked 145

Unity, of all 12

of faithful with Christ

at Mass 80, 92, 111, 201

Vernacular (see also: Latin)

forbidden without

permission 59-60

Holy See can grant

permission 60

In Missal for laity 108

Vespers, Sunday

clergy to encourage people 150

faithful once came 150

to be restored 150

Vestments

to be “clean and

appropriate” 189

of Old Testament 16

black, approved 62

Victim

we with Christ are 102-10+

Christ is really 68

consecration of Divine 104

offered through Christ

by whole Church 93

Virtues, theological, related

to prayer 47

in Saints’ Feastdays 166

Visits to Blessed Sacrament

(see: Eucharist)

Way of the Cross (see: Cross)

Work, servile, not to be done

on Sunday 150

Worship (see also: Prayer)

of Christ, continuous 18

of Church, is

liturgy 20, 23, 26, 47

of community 20

Eucharistic (see: Eucharistic)

and its forms 132

to be controlled by hierarchy 58

individual 23

interior, is necessary 24

kinds of 132

Mass is chief act of 66, 201

of Mystical Body 20, 23, 26, 47

obstacles to 181

purity of 57

as related to virtues 47

Social 23

Zeal, in serving at the altar 200

of pastors 204

excessive 207

Based in part on mimeographed

Index by Kenrick Seminarians, St. Louis.



ON THE SACKED LITURGY 107

SOME EDITIONS AND COMMENTARY

Official Latin text:

‘Mediator Dei et hominum,’ AAS 39 ( 1947), pp. 521-95; Index, 596-600.

A Bugnini, Documents Pont. ad. Inst. Lit. Spectantia (Roma: Ediz. Litur.

1954), 96-164.

Dutch

:

Katholisch A rchief, 1 (1947-48), 845-98.

English

:

Vatican translation, issued at Rome, widely republished: e.g.

“Encyclical of Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, On the Sacred Liturgy,’’

The Catholic Mind, 46, 1026 (June 1948), 321-88.

Mediator Dei. Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius XI l, On the Sacred Liturgy.

Discussion Outline, Suggested Religious Practices and Suggestions for

Further Reading by Rev. Shawn S. Sheehan. (Washington: NCWC,

1948), 80pp.

Mediator Dei: Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius XII, on the Sacred Liturgy.

With Discussion Club Outlines by Gerald C. Treacv. (New York: Paulist

Press, 1948), 94 pp.

Praying With Christ: the Sacred Liturgy. Simplified Edition of Mediator

Dei. By Gerald C. Treacy. (New York: Paulist Press, 1949), 47pp.

Christian Worship. Encyclical Letter (Mediator Dei) of Mis Holiness

Pius XII . . . On the Sacred Liturgy. Translated by Canon G. D. Smith.

(London: CTS, 1948), 84 pp.

French :

Roguet, A. M., O P ed. Encyclique 'Mediator Dei

’

(Paris: fidit du Vitrail,

1953), 87 pp.

German

:

Pdpstliche Rundschreiben. Papst Pius XII Uber die Heiligc Liturgie,

Mediator Dei. Lateinischer und deutscher Text. Im Auftrage des Litur-

gischen Instituts mit Uberschriften, Randnoten und Registern versehen

von L. Koep. (Freiburg: Herder, 1948), 180 pp.

Italian:

L’Osservatore Romano, 87 (1947), 279 (Dec. 1).

La Civilta Cattolica, 984 (1947), 481-535.

Spanish

:

Carta Enciclica ‘Mediator Dei’ Sobre la Sagrada Liturgia (Mexico: Buena

Prense, 1949), 59 pp.

Portuguese:

Supplement, Liturgia, 2, (1948).

SELECTED COMMENTARY
Beauduin, L. “L’Encyclique ‘Mediator Dei,’” La Maison-Dieu, 13 (1948), 1, 7-25.

Brennan, R. E. Apostolate of the Liturgy: A Commentary on Mediator Dei.
(Washington: NCWC, 1949), 16 pp.



108 MEDIATOR DEI

Bugnini, A., “Lo studio della ‘Mediator Dei’ al congresso Liturgico di Lovanio,”

L’Osserv. Rom. 1948, 151, p. 3.

Busch, W., “About the Encyclical ‘Mediator Dei,’ ” Orate Fratres, 20 (1947,

1948), 153-156: now Worship.

Capelle, B., “Mission doctrinale et spirituelle de la liturgie,” Quest. Lit. Par.

29-30 (1948-49), 165-177: Lit. Wk., Louvain, 1948.

Cordovani, M.-(P. Parente), “Truth and Novelty in Theology, ”Amer. Eccles.

Rev., 119 (Oct. 1948), 241-43: translated from L’Osser. Rom., 88 (March 15,

16, 1948), 1-2.

Doncoeur, P., “Etapes decisives de l’effort liturgique contemporain,” Etudes,

259 (Nov. 1948), 200-210.

Hanssens, G. M., “La liturgia nell’enciclica Mediator Dei et hominum,” La

Civiltd Cattolica, 99 (1948), 1, 579-94; 2, 242-55.

Juliao, P., “Al linas mestres da piedade cristana na ultima enciclica de Pio

XII,” Broteria, 46 (1948), 89-104.

Jungmann, J. A. “Unsere liturgische Erneuerung im Lichte des Rundschreibens

‘Mediator Dei’: Riickblicke und Wegweisung,” Geist und Leben, 21 (1948),

249-58,

LaFarge, J., “Reflections,” Liturgical Arts, 16 (1948), 39-40.

Montague, G., “Observations on the Encyclical ‘Mediator Dei,’ ” Irish Eccles.

Record, 70,2 (1948), 579-89.

-
-, “Correct Interpretation of the Encyclical

'

Mediator Dei’,
,>

Irish Eccles.

Record, 72 (1949), 464-66.

Pascher, J., “Rundschreiben Pius XII, iiber die Liturgie,” Theologie und

Glaube, 3 (1948), 185-99.

Putz, J., “An Encyclical on the Liturgy,” The Clergy Monthly (India), 12

(1948), 81-97: 121-40. Reprinted in part, Review for Religious, 7 (1948),

175-90.

Schmidt, H. A., “De Apostolatu Liturgico in Litteris Encyclicis ‘Mediator Dei,’
”

Periodica, 38, 1 (1949) p. 1-29.

Thiry, Andr£, “L’Encyclique ‘Mediator Dei’ sur la Liturgie,” Nouv. Revue

Thtologique, 70, 1 (1948), 113-36.

General bibliography, 1948: Quest. Lit. Par., 29-30 (1948-49), papers of Louvain

Lit. Wk. on Mediator, plus bibliography of more than 100 titles.





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