Three Definitions
The incidents I have been describing epitomize the revolution which has taken place in the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Before continuing I would like to define three terms: "revolution," "liturgy" and " rite."
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines revolution as a "complete change, turning upside down, great reversal of conditions, fundamental reconstruction."
In his Encyclical Letter Mediator Dei, Pope Pius XII defines liturgy a follows:
The Sacred Liturgy is the public worship which our Redeemer, the Head of the Church, offers to the heavenly Father and which the community of Christ's faithful pays to its Founder, and through Him to the Eternal Father; briefly, it is the whole public worship of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, Head and members.
Please note carefully that Pope Pius teaches us that the liturgy is primarily something which Our Lord Jesus Christ does, and with which we have the privilege of associating ourselves. "Liturgy" is derived from a Greek word meaning a public service. A leitourgos was a man who performed a public service for the people. The Epistle to the Hebrews describes Our Lord as the "Leitourgos of holy things." The liturgy is His public religious work, undertaken to glorify His Father and bring grace to His people; it is, above all, the making present of that supreme sacrifice of Calvary in which He offered atonement for the sins of all mankind and at the same time won grace sufficient to redeem all men.READ...
The incidents I have been describing epitomize the revolution which has taken place in the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Before continuing I would like to define three terms: "revolution," "liturgy" and " rite."
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines revolution as a "complete change, turning upside down, great reversal of conditions, fundamental reconstruction."
In his Encyclical Letter Mediator Dei, Pope Pius XII defines liturgy a follows:
The Sacred Liturgy is the public worship which our Redeemer, the Head of the Church, offers to the heavenly Father and which the community of Christ's faithful pays to its Founder, and through Him to the Eternal Father; briefly, it is the whole public worship of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, Head and members.
Please note carefully that Pope Pius teaches us that the liturgy is primarily something which Our Lord Jesus Christ does, and with which we have the privilege of associating ourselves. "Liturgy" is derived from a Greek word meaning a public service. A leitourgos was a man who performed a public service for the people. The Epistle to the Hebrews describes Our Lord as the "Leitourgos of holy things." The liturgy is His public religious work, undertaken to glorify His Father and bring grace to His people; it is, above all, the making present of that supreme sacrifice of Calvary in which He offered atonement for the sins of all mankind and at the same time won grace sufficient to redeem all men.READ...