ENTER THE MYSTERY OF CELEBRATED BY RITES AND PRAYERS Convegno Diocesano: “La liturgia: tra competenza e carisma”
Soriano Calabro, 7 settembre 2010
Le ragioni di un titolo “Entrare nel mistero celebrato mediante riti e preghiere”. Mi pare proprio che non possa esservi titolo più indicato per esprimere uno degli elementi che maggiormente qualifica la liturgia e che, insieme, riprende un orientamento di fondo della Costituzione sulla sacra liturgia del Concilio Vaticano II, “
Sacrosanctum Concilium ” (cf. n. 48).
In effetti proprio di questo si parla quando si parla di liturgia: il complesso dei riti e delle preghiere mediante i quali ci è dato di accedere al mistero di Cristo, donato a noi per il tramite della Chiesa.
Vale la pena, pertanto, soffermarsi con calma su ciascuna expressions contained in the title of the conference has given me, during which I will refer frequently to the thought of Ratzinger the theologian and the Magisterium of Pope Benedict XVI
, especially the pleasant duty, I feel urgent to make me a faithful echo of the interpreter and its authoritative address liturgical year. Address liturgical to
Benedict XVI, who does not belong to the scope of "personal taste", which would still respectable, but not necessarily for this very agreeable, but in a real teaching to share a spirit of faith and genuine ecclesial sense.
1. "Mystery celebrated" The presence current of our salvation We know that the liturgy makes sacramentally present the mystery of our salvation. One who is risen from the dead, the living, redeeming sacrifice renews the power of the Holy Spirit. "So who saves the world and man? - Said recently
Benedict XVI -. The only answer we can give is: Jesus of Nazareth, Lord and Christ, crucified and risen. And where do you present the mystery of death and resurrection of Christ that brings salvation? In the action of Christ through the Church, especially in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which makes present the redeeming sacrificial offering the Son of God ... "(General Audience
, May 5, 2010).
is not, therefore, to remember something that time has relegated to a past now forever confined behind us. Nor is it a set of rituals, although aesthetically beautiful, but lifeless and unable to communicate salvation. And even this is a get together between defendants who share an ideal, and that want to grow in a Community dimension. It is rather a celebration in virtue of which we truly enter into relationship with the mystery of our salvation with the Lord Christ, the Saviour, who gives us His very life, His grace. So the past becomes present, il bello è una manifestazione reale della bellezza del Dio vivo, nuovi rapporti fraterni sono il frutto dell’opera del Signore nel cuore dell’uomo.
A mio avviso si rende urgente, ad ogni generazione cristiana, rinnovare la percezione di fede di una tale realtà, di una celebrazione che davvero è il tramite dell’incontro con il Signore, presente nell’oggi della vita e della storia. Mi colpisce sempre molto quanto le guide più avvedute dicono ai visitatori della
basilica di San Pietro in Roma , quando si soffermano a contemplare il capolavoro di Michelangelo, “La Pietà”. Come si sa l’opera del grande artista è collocata dove attualmente ci si prepara per the Eucharist is present whenever the Holy Father. Well, the guides point out that Madonna's hands are open as if to hand over the sacrificed body of Jesus to those who observe the scene. The Pieta by Michelangelo was an altar as a shovel and, therefore, intended as a backdrop to the altar for the Eucharistic celebration. In this way, the celebrant and the entire assembly could contemplate the gesture of the SS. Virgin, the Saviour in the act of giving to the Church during the celebration. What a beautiful reminder of this artistic detail! In celebration of the Mass even the Lord risen from the dead, in his word, in his body and his blood is given to us because we can entrare nel mistero della sua vita e, dunque, essere salvati.
Mi sia consentito, in proposito, di richiamare un altro dettaglio artistico della splendida basilica di San Pietro. E’ noto che il baldacchino sovrastante il grande altare della confessione è opera del Bernini. Se si osserva con attenzione il drappeggio che ricopre la parte alta del baldacchino si può notare che il disegno non risulta statico bensì capace di dare una chiara impressione di dinamicità. In altre parole sembra che quel drappeggio sia mosso da un soffio di vento, tanto delicato quanto deciso.
In tal modo l’artista ha inteso sottolineare quanto avviene al momento della preghiera eucaristica e, in specie, della consacrazione: lo Spirito Santo davvero scende altar of celebration and is the author, along with the words and actions of Christ, the substantial transformation - or the transubstantiation - the bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord (cf. Catechism of the Church
Catholic , No 1353). The life-giving Spirit makes the Risen Lord is truly present in the act of his redeeming sacrifice. Here, expressed in art, the reality of the mystery celebrated. Now, here, the Saviour is present and active in his mystery of love and grace. John Paul II said
: "The liturgy is the exercise of the priesthood of Christ, you must constantly keep alive the affirmation of the disciple in front of the mysterious presence of Christ: "And 'the Lord" (Jn
21, 7). None of what we do in the liturgy may seem more important than an unseen but real Christ for the work of his Spirit "(Apostolic Letter
Vicesimus Quintus Annus, 10). The truth of the liturgy must always be at the center of consciousness of the faith of those participating in the liturgical celebration. The sacred mystery
I pause a moment longer on the word "mystery." It 'not clear that this term is meant something obscure, esoteric and disturbing. Seeks rather to locate the saving work of God, whose light is so dazzling as to be not quite understandable to humans: human reason must, at some point in the journey, leaving room for faith to go to True. It 'just that saving work, as we said, which is celebrated in the liturgy. So this is not the work of man has pride in the celebration but the work of God, the Easter event of the death and resurrection. It is certainly not disregard the importance of human action in the liturgy, you just want to put in perspective the relationship of the necessary dependence of human action with respect to action of the Lord.
expressed himself in this regard, Benedict XVI
addressing the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Brazil on a visit "ad Limina Apostolorum" : "Now the main and fundamental attitude of the faithful Christian who participates in the liturgical celebration is not to do, but listen, open, receive ... It is obvious that, in this case, receiving no means be passive or unconcerned about what happens there, but to cooperate - because once again able to do so by the grace of God - according to "the real nature of the true Church. This has in fact la caratteristica di essere nello stesso tempo umana e divina, visibile ma dotata di realtà invisibili, fervente nell'azione e dedita alla contemplazione, presente nel mondo e tuttavia pellegrina; tutto questo, in modo tale, però, che ciò che in essa è umano sia ordinato e subordinato al divino, il visibile all'invisibile, l'azione alla contemplazione, la realtà presente alla città futura, verso la quale siamo incamminati” (
Sacrosanctum Concilium , n. 2). Se nella liturgia non emergesse la figura di Cristo, che è il suo principio ed è realmente presente per renderla valida, non avremmo più la liturgia cristiana, completamente dipendente dal Signore e sostenuta dalla His creative presence "(April 15, 2010).
E 'for this reason that the term "mystery" must be combined with the term "sacred." To affirm the sacredness of the liturgy means remembering the need to carefully guard the mystery that is celebrated in it. Sacredness of the liturgy is the objectivity of the mystery that, in its repetition, does not cease to affect humans: in what gives him what he really needs and saves him, allowing him to enter the real joy.
In this sense the warmth of the mystery in view of the processing and conversion is the main piece of which we are called in the celebration of the liturgy. This, if so we call it, is the real creativity that should characterize the life of the individual celebrant and the community. More creativity, when not provided by the rite, and you can say, sometimes wild, distracting from the truth of the celebration and are likely to be only the expression of self celebration, personal or community that loses sight of the first subject the liturgy, which is God Under an
the Chilean Episcopal Conference, July 13, 1988, Cardinal Ratzinger put it this way, in this regard: "... we have to regain the size of the sacred in the liturgy. The liturgy is not a party, not a meeting with a view to passing moments of calm. It does not matter at all that the pastor racks his brains to come up in mind who knows what new ideas or imaginative. The liturgy is what makes Thrice-Holy God is present among us is the burning bush was God's covenant with man in Jesus Christ who died and came back to life again. The size of the liturgy is that it offers an interesting entertainment, but in rendering tangible the Totally Other
, which we alone are not capable of evoking. It is because he wants to. In other words. The essential in the liturgy is the mystery, which is realized in the common ritual of the Church, all the rest diminishes it. Some try to experience it according to a lively fashion, and are deceived, when the mystery is transformed into distraction, when the main actor in the liturgy is not the living God but the priest liturgical or soul. "
In this context is not to underestimate the matter concerning the liturgical rubrics and, more generally, the legislation that affects the liturgy. The liturgical norms, in fact, is the closest guardian of the mystery celebrated. As the rule states ritual guarantees the unity and, therefore, is capable of giving expression to the catholicity of the Church's liturgy. At the same time, the law carries a liturgical content and faith that secolare tradizione e una comprovata esperienza ci hanno consegnato e che non è lecito trattare con superficialità e inquinare con la nostra povera e limitata soggettività. Sta qui il fondamento di quell’osservanza che a più riprese viene riproposta nel magistero pontificio, presente e passato. “Dato che le azioni liturgiche non sono azioni private, ma «celebrazioni della Chiesa quale sacramento di unità» (
Sacrosanctum Concilium , 26) - affermava
Giovanni Paolo II -, la loro disciplina dipende unicamente dall’autorità gerarchica della Chiesa (cfr.
Sacrosanctum Concilium , 22 e 26). La liturgia appartiene all’intero body of the Church (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium
, 26). 'S why it is not permitted to anyone, not even the priest, or any group to add, subtract or change anything on his own (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium
, 22) (Apostolic Letter
Vicesimus Quintus Annus, 25).
"The Mass, celebrated in observance of liturgical norms and proper exploitation of the wealth of the signs and gestures, - said
Benedict XVI, speaking at '
opening of the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome , June 15 this year - encourages and promotes the growth of Eucharistic faith. In the Eucharistic celebration we do not invent anything, but we enter a reality that precedes us, indeed embracing heaven and earth and therefore the past, present and future. This openness to the universal, this meeting with all the sons and daughters of God is the greatness of the Eucharist: we encounter the reality of God present in the body and blood of the Risen Christ among us. Therefore, the requirements dictated by the liturgical Church are not external things, but actually express this reality of the revelation of the body and blood of Christ, and so the prayer reveals the faith according to the ancient principle of lex orandi
-
lex credendi . And for this we can say that "the best catechesis on the Eucharist is the Eucharist itself well celebrated" (Sacramentum Caritatis
, 64).
It becomes, therefore, requires a balanced attitude, able to keep as a complementary and necessary perspective and the symbolic-ritual-disciplinary canon. Not one without the other but with each other.
2. "Enter" The meaning of a verb The verb chosen as part of the title is a verb important. Also because it leads us to the general theme of participation in the liturgical celebration: a theme that fascinates and inspires, at times leads to discuss and, in my opinion, even to unnecessary controversy and division. Who among us, in fact, do not want the liturgy can be truly shared by all? Especially since the
Sacrosanctum Concilium and, in the wake of it, the reform initiated by Vatican II and the subsequent papal teaching have rightly insisted on the broadest and most authentic realization of such participation? On the other hand, if we care about the life of the Church and the encounter with Christ the Savior of every man, perhaps we might not want everyone to participate in the liturgy with as much fruit as possible?
On this, therefore, I would say that it is difficult to have different opinions. The disparity of views can begin when it comes to better specify what is meant by participation, or what are the best ways to enter the mystery celebrated. And you know how, in this regard, often continue to face two different ways of looking at the period in question. As usual in Catholic doctrine, even in this case, there is no room for the 'either / or ", or to the exclusion of one aspect in favor of another, but for the'" et et ", ie the complementary and enriching presence of different aspects.
Entering a reality, participate in an event is always an experience that involves a man in all its dimensions: intelligence, will, emotion, sentiment, action ... The exterior of action and its spiritual foundation are complementary and necessary. So it is with the liturgical life. Just because it's vital experience that can not cover the full complexity of the human person. If, then, for example, there is an interest that takes effect through an understanding of a text, there is also a contribution that is due to a rise produced by the encounter with the beauty of the soul. And if you enter through the action, you can also make a real contribution by a silence only seems immaterial.
In the mystery being celebrated, as a result, entering with all the complexity of our being human beings. And that is why the liturgy always seeks a healthy balance of components that give the opportunity to experience that fits the whole person and to every man.
I do not think that, again, in this liturgical practice are happy and balanced realization. And I think also that, by the law of the pendulum, if once the lack of adequate participation could be blamed to a lack of understanding and action, such failure will now be charged an excess of rational understanding and outer action, which do not always sufficient complement understanding of the inner heart and attention to action, to revive itself in the feelings and thoughts of Christ. Joining in the action of Christ
Deepen a little 'to the question, starting from the clear wording of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of Vatican II: "So the Church is anxious that the faithful do not assist as strangers or silent spectators to this mystery of faith, but that they understand its rituals and prayers, participate in the sacred action conscious, devoutly and actively, are framed by the word of God and be nourished at the table of the Lord's body, give thanks to God offering the Victim, not only through the hands of the priest but also together with him, learn to offer themselves, and every day, through the mediation of Christ, are more perfect union with God and each other, so that finally God may be all in all "(n. 48).
Commenting on this track is always illuminating magisterial assertion by Cardinal Ratzinger in his book "The Spirit of the Liturgy
": "... What is this active participation? What should I do? Unfortunately, this phrase has been misunderstood and very quickly reduced to its outward meaning, that of the need for joint action, as if it were to actually enter in azione il numero maggiore di persone possibile il più presto possibile. La parola partecipazione rinvia, però, a un’azione principale, a cui tutti devono avere parte. Se, dunque, si vuole scoprire di quale agire si tratta, si deve prima di tutto accertare quale sia questa ‘actio’ centrale, a cui devono avere parte tutti i membri della comunità… Con il termine
actio riferito alla liturgia, si intende nelle fonti il canone eucaristico. La vera azione liturgica, il vero atto liturgico, è la
oratio … Questa
oratio - la solenne preghiera eucaristica, il «canone» - è davvero more than a speech, is
actio in the highest sense of the word. In this case, in fact, that the
human actio ... takes a back seat to leave room for '
actio divina, to action of God "(pp. 167-168).
In a liturgical celebration that precedes and forms the basis is the act of Christ and his Church, because, as John Paul II reminded us
, "... the liturgy as the first task to lead the Easter pilgrimage tirelessly open by Christ, in which we accept death into life "(Letter Apostolic
Vicesimus Quintus Annus, 6). Therefore, enter in the liturgical action is to enter into this that gives salvation and transforms lives. It participates, therefore, to the extent that the act of the Lord and his Church becomes our own act, his offering of love becomes our own, its abandonment of filial and obedient to the Father also becomes ours, if the sacrifice of Redeemer becomes our own sacrifice. Divo Barsotti
He claimed in his famous text: "It 's of the Christian liturgy to transcend the activities of every person and of all humanity being very act of Christ, but Liturgy transcends all human activity rather than excluding them, in fact committing all the way down, not only as the above, but also because the demands and includes "(
The mystery of the Church in the Liturgy, editions St. Paul, p. 158)
As always happens in what is human, even in the liturgical act has an external dimension and an inner. Christ's gesture is a gesture visible expression of a gesture invisible. Therefore the act of entering into the mystery will also have the outward component of the gesture, no doubt. But why this component does not remain pure and sterile exterior will be animated and at the same time lead to that agenda interior where there is In keeping with the Christ and his Church. Both give
room, therefore, outside the action in the liturgy, where the ritual permits and hopes. But do not forget that such action should always be traced back to his inner truth of expression of action. Only then there will be a genuine access to the mystery celebrated.
3. "Through prayers and rituals" What has been said on the entry in the mystery had a general appearance. Now, through the words of the rites and prayers, the title allows us to enter in a more specific, that is as typical of the liturgy rendere accessibile la partecipazione al mistero celebrato.
Riti e preghiere, nella liturgia, si sostengono a vicenda e a vicenda si illuminano proprio al fine di far vivere la celebrazione. Il rito rimarrebbe privo di luce senza la preghiera che lo illustra; la preghiera rimarrebbe priva di efficacia senza il rito che la mette in atto. La celebrazione liturgica, pertanto, richiede quella fede in virtù della quale non si rimane estranei alla preghiera come neppure al rito.
Non per nulla la tradizione della Chiesa ha sempre tenuto in gran conto le famose catechesi mistagogiche degli antichi padri. Si tratta esattamente di catechesi che, rifacendosi alle preghiere e ai riti, introducono i fedeli alla conoscenza e all’esperienza del mistero celebrato. Di tali catechesi si sente una grande necessità per il tempo presente. Infatti, la rarefazione della cultura cristiana, come orientamento di fondo appreso dalla giovane età e largamente condiviso nel contesto sociale, porta a una forma grave di “ignoranza” rispetto ai riti e alle preghiere della liturgia. E non si può chiedere alla liturgia ciò che essa non può dare: la catechesi. Non c’è dubbio: la liturgia la si impara anche vivendola. Ma rimane pur necessaria quella catechesi che è anche avviamento all’esperienza liturgica, introduzione ai divini misteri.
Quanto si sentiva come compito urgente già ai tempi del Concilio Vaticano II, mi pare che rimanga nel presente, forse con una nota di urgenza even higher education. Only through a genuine liturgical training of the rites and prayers of the celebration will be through the beautiful and extraordinarily rich to enter the mystery celebrated. Otherwise you risk being on the threshold of a reality inaccessible.
On the other hand, let us not forget, the liturgical celebration made in truth and in accordance with that 'ars celebrandi "that the Holy Father Benedict XVI
speaks to us in the Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis
or in full compliance with the directives of the Church is already a real school, able to introduce the knowledge and experience of the mystery of Christ. Therefore, prayers and rituals are celebrated good introduction to the authentic spirit of the liturgy.
is not, however, my intention going into the details of the rites and prayers, but rather to pause and consider some of the celebratory aspects that help to enter the sacred liturgy, in its rites and prayers. Only some aspects will be considered, as it seems to me is more important and urgent to highlight and explain the current historical context. This certainly does not mean to diminish the importance of others. But all is not true and you have to give some priority. The sacred
silence A liturgy well celebrated in different parts, provides a happy alternation of silence and words where silence the word soul, allowing the voice to resonate with extraordinary depth, keep each vocal expression in the right climate of recollection. Remember, in this respect that the states'
General Instruction of the Roman Missal: "It should be noted at the time, the sacred silence, as part of the celebration. Its nature depends on when it occurs in individual celebrations. Thus, the Act of Penitence and again after the invitation to pray, all recollect themselves; after reading ol'omelia, is a call meditate briefly on what has been heard, and after Communion, the interior prayer of praise and prayer "(n. 45
). The General Instruction
merely clarifies what the
Sacrosanctum Concilium formulated in more general terms: "It should be noted in due course the sacred silence" (30).
E 'Note that in both texts cited speaks of "sacred silence". The silence, therefore, required not to be regarded as a pause in a moment of celebration and the next. E 'to be considered rather as a real time ritual, which is complementary to the word, the vocal prayer, song, gesture ...
From this point of view, we are given to better understand why during the Eucharistic prayer and, in particular, the fee, the people of God gathered in silent prayer following the prayer of the celebrant. That silence does not mean inaction or lack of participation. That silence tends to make everyone entering the ritual significance of that moment in the reality of the sacrament that repeats the act of love with which Jesus offers himself to the Father on the cross for the salvation of the world. That silence, indeed sacred, it is the liturgical space in which to say yes, with all the force of our being, to action of Christ, so that it becomes even our acting in everyday life. So
liturgical silence is really sacred because it is the spiritual place in which to achieve the adherence of all our lives to the Lord's life, is the space of 'amen' prolonged heart who surrenders to God's love and embraced as a new policy with his life. Is not this wonderful meaning of 'amen' at the end of the concluding doxology of the Eucharistic prayer, in which all the voice say how long we repeated in prayerful silence of the heart?
If this is the meaning of silence in the liturgy, is it not true that our liturgies and need more space per il sacro silenzio?
La nobile bellezza Afferma
Benedetto XVI , nell’Esortazione apostolica post sinodale sull’Eucaristia
Sacramentum caritatis : “Il rapporto tra mistero creduto e celebrato si manifesta in modo peculiare nel valore teologico e liturgico della bellezza. La liturgia, infatti, come del resto la Rivelazione cristiana, ha un intrinseco legame con la bellezza: è
veritatis splendor … Tale attributo cui facciamo riferimento non è mero estetismo, ma modalità con cui la verità dell’amore di Dio in Cristo ci raggiunge, ci affascina, ci rapisce, facendoci out of ourselves and drawing us towards our true vocation is love ... The real beauty is the love of God, who definitively revealed himself to us in the Paschal Mystery. The beauty of the liturgy is part of this mystery, it is a sublime expression of God's glory and is, in a sense, a glimpse of heaven on earth ... The beauty, therefore, is not a decoration of the liturgical action, it is quite element incorporation, as it is an attribute of God himself and his revelation. All this should make us realize the care which you do have to shine because the liturgical action according to its nature "(n. 35).
Words The Pope could not be clearer. It follows that there is no acceptable form of meanness, of minimalism and misunderstood pauperism in the liturgical celebration. The beautiful, ancient and modern in various forms in which it finds expression, is the way in virtue of which shines in our liturgies, still pale, the mystery of why beauty of God's love can never do enough to make our beautiful rituals. Is the teaching of the Church, which in its long history has never been afraid to "waste" to surround the liturgical celebration with the highest expressions of art: architecture, sculpture, music, sacred objects. Teaches us that the saints, even in their own poverty, they have always wanted the worship that was destined for the best.
listen again
Benedict XVI: "Our earthly liturgies, entirely ordered to celebrate this unique act within history, will never fully express its infinite meaning. The beauty of our celebrations will certainly not be refined enough, fairly treated, fairly elaborate, as nothing is too good to God, who is himself infinite Beauty. Our earthly liturgies will never be but a pale reflection of the liturgy that is celebrated in the heavenly Jerusalem, the goal of our pilgrimage on earth. May tuttavia le nostre celebrazioni avvicinarsi ad essa il più possibile e farla pregustare!” (
Omelia alla celebrazione dei Vespri nella Cattedrale di Notre Dame a Parigi , 12 settembre 2008 ).
Il crocifisso al centro dell’altare Nel suo testo “Le festa della fede”, la cui prima edizione risale al 1981, il cardinale Ratzinger si poneva il problema dell’orientamento nella celebrazione liturgica. Riportare alcuni brani del suo testo, mi pare il modo più immediato per capire l’importanza della sua riflessione e della sua proposta.
“Il vero spazio e la vera cornice della celebrazione eucaristica è tutto il cosmo. Questa dimensione cosmica Eucharist in the liturgical stated by inorientamento [ed. the correct orientation ...]. The East - Oriens - was also known, the sign of the rising sun, the symbol of the resurrection (and thus not only an expression Christology, but also indicates the power of the Father and of the Holy Spirit), and call to hope in the parousia [...] The cross of the altar can be described as a residue dell'inorientamento remained to this day. It was kept in the old tradition, which was at that time closely connected to the cosmic symbol of the East, to pray to the Lord in the sign of the cross convenient, looking up [...] Even in the orientation of the celebration, the cross could be placed on the altar so that priests and faithful to the look together. They should not look into the canon, but they all look to him, the wounded [...] ... The cross on the altar is not an impediment to the visual, but a common point of reference ... even dare claim that the cross on the altar is not obstacle but a prerequisite for celebration 'versus populum'. Become so rich in meaning, the distinction between canon and liturgy of the word. The first is of the announcement, and therefore an address immediate, the other of worship community in which we are all more than ever during the invocation - "Conversi ad Dominum" -: Let us turn to the Lord; convertiamoci the Lord "(pp. 131-135).
In light of this clear statement is best understood as emphasized by the Holy Father Benedict XVI
in the preface to the first volume of his Opera Omnia, dedicated to the liturgy and being rolled out in Italy: "The idea that the priest and people in Prayer should be looking in each other was created only in modern Christianity and it is completely foreign to the ancient one. Priest and people certainly do not pray to each other, but to the one Lord. Then look at prayer in the same direction: Either toward the east as a cosmic symbol of the Lord who comes, or where this is not possible, toward an image of Christ in the apse, toward a cross, or simply to the sky, as the Lord has done in priestly prayer the night before the Passion (Jn
17, 1). Meanwhile, is gaining more and more, fortunately, the proposal I made at the end of the chapter of my book [The Spirit of the Liturgy
, pp.70-80]: not to proceed with new transformations, but simply put the cross at the center of the altar, to which they can watch both priest and faithful, to be guided in this way verso il Signore, che tutti insieme preghiamo”.
L’adorazione Che cosa intendiamo per adorazione? Certamente non si tratta di una relazione intellettuale o sentimentale con il mistero. La si potrebbe definire come il riconoscimento pieno di meraviglia della onnipotenza di Dio, della sua maestà intangibile, della sua signoria provvidente e misericordiosa, della sua bellezza infinita che è coincidenza di Verità e di Amore... E l’adorazione, quando è autentica, conduce all’adesione, ovvero alla riunificazione dell’uomo e della creazione con Dio, all’uscita dallo stato di separazione, alla comunione di vita con Cristo... Tutto questo è quanto la Chiesa, sposa di Cristo, lives in the celebration of the liturgy. He loves and is a member, likes to join. Divo Barsotti
listen again in the work cited above, "is the event, the act of Christ is first of all sacrifice, sacrifice of worship. The Word, in human nature which He assumed, acknowledges his death the infinite holiness of God and his sovereignty. He now worships in the creation [...] A participation in the sacrifice of Jesus our mind that we stand the same as his annihilation ... The condition of our earthly life, in his voluntary action becomes a sign of our participation in the sacrifice of Jesus, his worship "(
Idem, pp. 174-175).
why everything in the liturgical action, must lead worship: music, song, silence, a way of proclaiming the word of God and how to pray, gestures, vestments and sacred vessels, as well as the sacred building as a whole. I pause a moment on a typical gesture of adoration and center now in danger of disappearing, such as kneel, referring to a text of Cardinal Ratzinger: "We know that the Lord prayed according to his knees (Lk 22, 41) that Stephen (Acts
7, 60), Peter (Acts
9, 40) and Paul (
At 20, 36) have prayed on their knees. The Christological hymn of the Letter to the Philippians (2, 6-11) presents the liturgy of the cosmos as a kneel in front of the name of Jesus (2, 10) and sees this fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah (Is
45, 23) on the dominion of the world of the God of Israel. Down on one knee in the name of Jesus, the Church makes the truth, it fits into the gesture of the cosmos that pays tribute to the winner and so is placed on the winning side because such a representation is kneeling and taking the attitude of one who imitative 'was equal to God "and" humbled himself unto death "" (Rivista
Communio , 35/1977).
E’ anche per questo che è da ritenersi del tutto appropriata la pratica di inginocchiarsi per ricevere la santa Comunione. A ulteriore conferma ascoltiamo il Santo Padre in un passaggio di
Sacramentum caritatis : “Già Agostino aveva detto: «Nessuno mangia questa carne senza prima adorarla; peccheremmo se non la adorassimo». Nell’Eucaristia, infatti, il Figlio di Dio ci viene incontro e desidera unirsi a noi; l’adorazione eucaristica non è che l’ovvio sviluppo della celebrazione eucaristica, la quale è in se stessa il più grande atto d’adorazione della Chiesa. Ricevere l’Eucaristia is to go in an attitude of adoration towards the One we receive. That's right, and only then do we become one with Him and a foretaste in advance, in some way, the beauty of the heavenly liturgy "(No. 66).
We can talk about a contradiction all'incedere procession as a sign that directs people to his Lord? The Church, the outward sign, goes in procession to the Church that God is the same, always the sign outside, to his presence, he kneels and worships. Once again this is complementary with a view to greater wealth and not exclusion.
In light of this passage we understand why the Pope Benedict XVI
, on the occasion of the feast of Corpus Domini
of 2008, he began to distribute Holy Communion to the faithful on their knees.
The singing and music I like about it from a citation of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, in which he finds himself with extraordinary depth and efficiency delivered by the core of music and song in the liturgy: "When the singing of the psalms resounds from the depths of the heart, the Lord Almighty for it is a gateway to the heart, one who reaches out to flood all his senses to listen to the mysteries of prophecy or the grace of contrition. For it is written: 'A song of praise honors me, and it is the way in which I will show the salvation of God '(Ps
49, 23). What in Latin sounds healthy
, salvation, Jesus says in Hebrew song of praise thus creates an access point, for which Jesus can be, because when using the singing of Psalms is poured on us the true contrition , opens in a road that leads us deep into the heart, which eventually leads to Jesus ... "(Ez In
The hom. I, 15).
The song and music in the liturgy, when the truth of their being, born from the heart that seeks the mystery di Dio e diventano un’esegesi dello stesso mistero, parola che nella nota musicale si apre sull’orizzonte della salvezza, di Cristo. Pertanto c’è un legame intrinseco tra la parola, la musica e il canto nella celebrazione liturgica. Musica e canto, infatti, non possono essere slegati dalla parola, quella di Dio, della quale invece devono essere interpretazione fedele e disvelamento. Il canto e la musica in liturgia partono dalle profondità del cuore, e dunque da Cristo che lo abita, e riportano al cuore, vale a dire a Cristo che della domanda del cuore è risposta vera e definitiva. Questa è l’oggettività del canto e della musica liturgica, che non dovrebbe mai essere consegnata all’estemporaneità superficiale feelings and emotions do not correspond to transient greatness of the mystery celebrated.
E 'fair therefore to say that the singing and music in the liturgy come from prayer and lead the prayer. So, allow us to enter into the mystery, to return to the terminology that is part of the title of this conference. And here, in song and music, are perhaps one of the most high input and participation in the mystery, capable of synthesis of many other components of participation in the liturgy.
Let me here, speaking of singing and music, to make brief mention of the Latin language. E 'unique treasure known as the singing and liturgical music have given us the past centuries. E qualcosa di quel tesoro la Chiesa lo ha definito perennemente valido, in sé e quale criterio per stabilire ciò che può essere davvero liturgico nelle nuove forme musicali che si vanno sviluppando nel tempo. Mi riferisco al gregoriano e alla polifonia sacra classica, forme di canto liturgico che consentono di valutare, oggi come ieri, ciò che attiene alla liturgia e ciò che, pur di valore artistico e di contenuto religioso, non può avere spazio nella celebrazione liturgica. Il valore perenne del gregoriano e della polifonia classica consiste nella loro capacità di farsi esegesi della parola di Dio e, dunque, del mistero celebrato, di essere al servizio della liturgia senza fare della liturgia uno spazio al servizio della musica e del canto. Potremo noi rinunciare a mantenere in vita tali tesori che secoli di storia della Chiesa ci hanno consegnato? Potremo noi fare a meno di attingere ancora oggi a quel patrimonio di spiritualità straordinario? Come sarà mai possibile dare corpo a un più ampio e degno repertorio di canto e di musica per la liturgia se non ci saremo lasciarti educare da ciò che lo deve ispirare?
Ecco perché dobbiamo conservare nei modi dovuti il latino. Senza dimenticare anche altre componenti di questa lingua liturgica, quale la sua capacità di dare espressione a quella universalità e cattolicità della Chiesa, a cui davvero non è lecito rinunciare. Come non provare, al riguardo, una straordinaria esperienza di cattolicità when in the basilica of St. Peter's men and women from all continents, nationalities and languages \u200b\u200bother than pray and sing together in the same language? Who does not receive the warm welcome of home town when entering a church in a foreign country can, at least a few parties, join the brothers in the faith because of the use of the same language?
Why this continues to be feasible it is necessary that in our churches and communities the use of Latin be maintained with proper pastoral wisdom.
Conclusion As we have said, in considering some aspects of its celebration has been given some priority. Emphasize certain priorities, putting light on some issues, the prospect of possible change is part of the desire to contribute to the full and genuine implementation of the liturgical reform initiated by Vatican II. For all of us that reform was and is providential in the historical process of the Church, which develops and grows in a logic of continuity and organic unity with its past. But just because you want this reform in its implementation, is entirely faithful to the Council's directives and give full fruit is also permissible to consider the issues raised in time by certain assertions are not always happy and other concrete achievements is not always completely inspired . The true allegiance to the reform desired by Vatican II requires that mentre si promuove tutto ciò che è vero dono di rinnovamento, si prendano in esame con libertà di spirito, animo ecclesiale e senza preclusioni ideologiche i problemi esistenti. E’ uno stesso amore che tutti ci deve animare: quello per il Signore e per la sua Chiesa, quello per la liturgia, azione di Cristo e della Chiesa.
Mons. Guido Marini
Maestro delle Celebrazioni Liturgiche Pontificie
