Fr U.M. Lang on Cardinal Giuseppe Siri: The Splendour of Liturgical Ceremonial and its Relationship to the Faith .Cardinal Siri insisted the supernatural character of the sacred liturgy, because the celebration of the sacraments is intimately linked to divine revelation.
In keeping with the encyclical Mediator Dei of Pius XII and the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, Siri stressed that the liturgy is the action of Christ the High Priest (...) Therefore "the divine liturgy is stimulus, source, and cause of the supernatural spirit and life" in the soul of the faithful. The worship of God is "the prime act to which men are bound (...) and the prime ordinary instrument for the salvation of souls (...) with the divine liturgy, especially if understood and followed, everything is sanctified and elevated." "Solemnity – he said in 1981 - wants to realize the great even in the small, the decorous in the miserable, the harmonious even in the storm, dignity even in the humble." Solemnity is also the foundation of sacred art and sacred music."For the Church the liturgy was its breath, for the Church the liturgy achieved the great spiritual unity, within it the adopted children of God felt united and connected." In its action of adoration and praise to God, the Church is joined with the communion of saints, celebrating the heavenly liturgy in the presence of God. Participation in the choir of the Heavenly Jerusalem is manifested especially in the Divine office, which was always very dear to Siri. The cardinal archbishop of Genoa considered the celebration of vespers an element of the sanctification of the Lord's Day and the celebrations of the liturgical year, encouraging the faithful to participate.
The following article was written by Fr. Uwe Michael Lang for the Vatican paper, L'Osservatore Romano, and was originally published in Italian.
These excerpts from that original piece came via the Italian blog, Tu es Petrus and are presented here in an NLM translation.
These excerpts from that original piece came via the Italian blog, Tu es Petrus and are presented here in an NLM translation.
The Splendour of the Ceremonial helps show forth the Truth
12 September 2008
by Fr. Uwe Michael Lang
To understand the thinking and action of Cardinal Giuseppe Siri upon the sacred liturgy, one must return to his years of training as a seminarian and as a young priest in Genoa . In the first half of the twentieth century, the metropolis of Liguria emerged as an important centre for the Liturgical Movement. In 1903, Archbishop Edoardo Pulciano in Genoa began teaching liturgy as a separate discipline. In 1914, there was founded the "Liturgical Review" (Rivista Liturgica), a joint project of the abbeys of Finalpia in Savonese, and Praglia. The presentation of the new journal stated its purpose was to study and explain the sacred liturgy to both the clergy and faithful as "public worship that the Church makes to God. Contine to read...