_____________________________________________________
Cardinal
Francis Arinze
Addresses Liturgists
Liturgical Norms and Liturgical Piety
"The people of
God have the right that the liturgy be celebrated as the Church
wants it".
On April 8, Cardinal Francis Arinze,
prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the
Sacraments, was to have addressed the Gateway Liturgical Conference,
co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and was scheduled to
bless the new Adoremus office. The death and funeral of Pope John
Paul II made this impossible, of course; but his prepared address
was read to the gathering by Monsignor James Moroney, executive
director of the US Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy. Cardinal
Arinze graciously granted permission for his address to appear in
the Adoremus Bulletin. - Editor
The Holy Eucharist occupies a
central place in the public worship of the Church and in her life.
Its celebration therefore should receive from all of us the greatest
attention. I am for that reason happy to learn that this Gateway
Liturgical Conference is devoted especially to attention to the
worthy celebration of the Holy Eucharist, in accord with the Holy
Father's encyclical letter
Ecclesia de Eucharistia, and the instruction of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments,
Redemptionis Sacramentum. This is also very much in line
with the spirit of the present Year of the Eucharist.
In developing the theme assigned to me, "Liturgical Norms and
Liturgical Piety", I intend to begin by examining why there should
be liturgical norms at all, how what the Church believes and how she
prays are related, and who has the authority to issue norms for the
liturgy. It will then be time to spell out what we understand by
liturgical piety. Creativity is an issue which often comes up with
reference to the liturgy. It should be examined. The desire to make
liturgical celebrations interesting also deserves to be looked into.
Some people want to introduce dances into the liturgy. The
discussion of this tendency cannot be avoided. We shall conclude by
asking ourselves whether observance of liturgical norms is a call to
formalism or rubricism or rather a promoter of faith and piety.
2. Reasons for Liturgical Norms
The sacred liturgy is an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus
Christ. It is the public worship performed by the Mystical Body of
Christ, by the Head and His members. (cf
Sacrosanctum Concilium [SC] 7)
Liturgical celebrations have some elements which are of divine
institution. Such are the essentials of the seven sacraments. There
are elements which are of ecclesial institution. In deciding on
these elements the Church takes great care to be faithful to Holy
Scripture, to honor the tradition handed down through the centuries,
to manifest her faith and rejoice in it, and to lead all the
faithful to worship of God, following the example of Christ, and
showing love and service of one's neighbor. Between these two we can
speak of a third: namely, those elements of the liturgy which are
found from early days in all or almost all of the great liturgical
traditions and which must therefore go back at the very least to a
period close to the apostles, and perhaps even to Our Lord. While we
may not have certain knowledge on the matter in a given case, it is
a strong reason for avoiding hasty innovation or neglect. (cf
Varietates Legitimae [VL] 26-27, General Instruction of the
Roman Missal [GIRM] 397,
Liturgiam authenticam [LA] 4-5,
Redemptionis Sacramentum [RS] 9)
Liturgical celebrations should be experiences of the traditional
faith that is confessed, celebrated and communicated, of hope that
is expressed and confirmed and of charity that is sung and lived.
Since liturgical celebrations are public acts performed in the name
of the universal Church, with Jesus Christ Himself as the Chief
Priest, it follows that as the centuries roll by, the Church has
necessarily developed norms according to which, her public worship
is to be expressed. Liturgical norms protect this treasure which is
Christian worship. They manifest the faith of the Church, promote
it, celebrate it, and communicate it. They also manifest the nature
of the Church as a hierarchically constituted family, a community of
worship, love and service, and a body which promotes union with God
and holiness of life and gives sinners hope of conversion,
forgiveness and new life in Christ.
Moreover, liturgical norms help to protect the celebration of the
sacred mysteries, especially the Holy Eucharist, from being damaged
by additions or subtractions which do damage to the faith and which
may at times risk making a sacramental celebration invalid. The
people of God are thus guaranteed celebrations in line with the
traditional Catholic faith and they are not left at the mercy of
someone's personal ideas, feelings, theories or idiosyncrasies.
Pope John Paul II is very insistent on the important role of norms
regarding the celebration of the Eucharist. "These norms are a
concrete expression of the authentically ecclesial nature of the
Eucharist; this is their deepest meaning. Liturgy is never anyone's
private property, be it of the celebrant or of the community in
which the mysteries are celebrated". (Ecclesia
de Eucharistia [EE] 52) Love for the Church leads a person
to observe these norms: "Priests who faithfully celebrate Mass
according to the liturgical norms, and communities which conform to
those norms, quietly but eloquently demonstrate their love for the
Church". (ibid) Our respect for the mysteries of the Christ
leads us to respect these norms: "No one is permitted to undervalue
the mystery entrusted to our hands: it is too great for anyone to
feel free to treat it lightly and with disregard for its sacredness
and its universality". (ibid)
3. Lex orandi, lex credendi
The sacraments sanctify people, build up the Body of Christ and give
worship to God. Because they are signs, they also instruct. They not
only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish,
strengthen and express it. That is why they are called "sacraments
of faith". (cf SC 59)
The faith of the Church has expressed itself in how the Church prays
and especially in how she celebrates the Holy Eucharist and the
other sacraments. There are words and concepts which have acquired a
deep meaning in the Church's life, faith and prayer along the
centuries. Examples are person, trinity, divine majesty,
incarnation, passion, resurrection, salvation, merit, grace,
intercession, redemption, sin, repentance, forgiveness,
propitiation, mercy, penance, reconciliation, communion and service.
There are gestures and postures which help to express what the
Church believes. Examples are the Sign of the Cross, bowing,
kneeling, standing, listening and going in procession.
"The Church's faith precedes the faith of the believer who is
invited to adhere to it. When the Church celebrates the sacraments,
she confesses the faith received from the apostles". (Catechism of
the Catholic Church [CCC] 1124) This is a strong argument in favor
of great care in the wording, gestures and norms of liturgical
celebrations.
The relation between the faith of the Church and her liturgical
celebration has been encapsulated in the ancient saying, lex
orandi, lex credendi (the law of prayer is the law of faith), or
legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi (let the law of prayer
determine the norm of faith). This statement of Catholic faith is
credited to Prosper of Aquitaine of the 5th century. (Ep. 8) It is
quoted in the Indiculus or the Pseudo-Celestine Chapters.
Pope Celestine reigned from 422 to 432. (cf Ds 246)
The Church believes as she prays. The liturgy is a constitutive
element of the holy and living tradition of the Church. (cf Dei
Verbum 8) That is why the Church does not allow the minister or
the community to modify or manipulate any sacramental or even
general liturgical rite. "Even the supreme authority in the Church
may not change the liturgy arbitrarily, but only in the obedience of
faith and with religious respect for the mystery of the liturgy". (CCC
1125)
Redemptionis Sacramentum is strong on this point: "The
Church herself has no power over those things which were established
by Christ Himself and which constitute an unchangeable part of the
liturgy. Indeed, if the bond were to be broken which the sacraments
have with Christ Himself who instituted them, and with the events of
the Church's founding, it would not be beneficial to the faithful
but rather would do them grave harm. For the Sacred Liturgy is quite
intimately connected with principles of doctrine, so that the use of
unapproved texts and rites necessarily leads either to the
attenuation or to the disappearance of that necessary link between
the lex orandi and the lex credendi". (RS 10)
4. Authority
over the Liturgy
The above reflections lead us to ask who has authority over the
sacred liturgy. Who decides on the texts, the ceremonies, the norms?
We cannot afford to be vague on this.
The Second Vatican Council is not ambiguous: "Regulation of the
sacred liturgy depends solely on the authority of the Church, that
is, on the Apostolic See and, as laws may determine, on the bishop.
In virtue of power conceded by the law, the regulation of the
liturgy within certain defined limits belongs also to various kinds
of competent territorial bodies of bishops legitimately
established". Then the Council adds the warning: "Therefore,
absolutely no other person, not even a priest, may add, remove or
change anything in the liturgy on his own authority". (SC 22)
These rulings are not a sign of lack of respect for anyone. They
follow from the fact that the liturgy is a celebration of the
universal Church. "The prayers addressed to God by the priest who
presides over the assembly in the person of Christ are said in the
name of the entire holy people as well as of all present. And the
visible signs used by the liturgy to signify invisible divine things
have been chosen by Christ or the Church". (SC 33)
From these considerations it follows that a do-it-yourself attitude
is not acceptable in the public worship of the Church. It does
damage to the Church's worship and to the faith of the people. The
people of God have the right that the liturgy be celebrated as the
Church wants it. (cf RS 12) The mysteries of Christ should not be
celebrated as personal taste or whim may indicate. "The 'treasure'
is too important and precious to risk impoverishment or compromise
through forms of experimentation or practices introduced without a
careful review on the part of ecclesiastical authorities". (EE 51)
5. Liturgical Piety
When we say piety, we think in general of the honor and reverence
given to someone who is in some way responsible for our existence
and well-being. Therefore the virtue of piety refers first of all to
God who is our creator and constant provider. But we can also talk
of piety toward our parents, near relatives, country, tribe or
people.
As a Christian virtue, piety is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
It moves us to worship God who is the Father of all and also to do
good to others out of reverence for God. Piety leads us to love the
sacred liturgy, to look forward to its celebration and to
participate in it with love, faith and devotion. With the Psalmist
we sing: "How lovely are your dwelling-places, Lord Sabaoth. My
whole being yearns and pines for the Lord's court. My heart and my
body cry out for joy to the living God". (Ps 84:1-2) Liturgical
celebrations become attractive to the pious person. The church bell
which rings for Mass is a welcome sound: "I rejoiced that they said
to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord'. At last our feet are
standing at your gates, Jerusalem!" (Ps 122:1-2) The pious soul has
sheer joy in being in the church and more still in joining in divine
worship: "Better one day in your courts than a thousand at my own
devices, to stand on the threshold of God's house than to live in
the tents of the wicked". (Ps 84:10)
Liturgical piety, as a beautiful manifestation of the virtue of
religion, is at once a compound love of God, faith in Him,
adoration, respect, reverence, sheer joy in His service, and a
desire to serve Him as best we can. A spirit of faith and reverence
which shows itself also in the faithful observance of liturgical
norms is most favorable to the promotion of liturgical piety.
6. Creativity in Liturgical
Celebrations
One may now ask whether there is any room for creativity in the
liturgy. The answer is that there is, but it has to be properly
understood.
First of all, it is necessary to bear in mind that the public
worship of the Church is something that we receive in faith through
the Church. It is not something that we invent. Indeed the
essentials of the sacraments are established by Christ Himself. And
the detailed rites, including words and actions, have been carefully
worked out, guarded and handed down by the Church along the
centuries. It would, therefore, not be the proper attitude for an
individual or a committee to keep thinking and planning each week
how to invent a new way of celebrating Mass.
Moreover, a priority at Mass and other liturgical acts is worship of
God. The liturgy is not a field for self-expression, free creation
and the demonstration of personal tastes. Idiosyncrasies tend to
attract attention to the person rather than to the mysteries of
Christ being celebrated. They can also upset, puzzle, annoy, mislead
or confuse the congregation.
Nevertheless, it is also true that the liturgical norms do allow
some flexibility. With reference to the central and most important
liturgical action, the Mass, for example, we can speak of three
levels of flexibility. First, there are in the Missal and the
Lectionary some alternative texts, rites, chants, readings and
blessings from which the priest celebrant can choose. (cf GIRM 24,
RS 39) Then there are choices left at the competence of the diocesan
bishop or the Conference of Bishops. Examples are regulation of
concelebration, norms regarding the distribution of Communion under
both kinds, the construction and ordering of churches, translations
and some gestures. (cf SC 38, 40; GIRM 387, 390) Some such
alternatives require recognitio from the Holy See. The most
demanding level of variability concerns inculturation in the
strictest sense. It involves action by the Conference of Bishops,
after the conducting of deep interdisciplinary studies and
recognitio from the Holy See.
Redemptionis Sacramentum is therefore able to say that
"ample flexibility is given for appropriate creativity aimed at
allowing each celebration to be adapted to the needs of the
participants, to their comprehension, their interior preparation and
their gifts, according to established liturgical norms". (RS 39) The
last phrase is important: "according to established liturgical
norms". The paragraph of
Redemptionis Sacramentum concludes with a recall of the
crucial observation that "it should be remembered that the power of
the liturgical celebrations does not consist in frequently altering
the rites, but in probing more deeply the word of God and the
mystery being celebrated". What the people are asking for every
Sunday from their pastor is not a novelty but a celebration of the
sacred mysteries that nourishes faith, manifests devotion, awakens
piety, leads to prayer and incites to active charity in daily life.
7. Making the Mass Interesting
Many priests are concerned with making the Eucharist celebration
interesting. And they are not wrong. The Mass is not a dull carrying
out of rituals. It is a vital celebration of the central mysteries
of our salvation.
Care should be taken to prepare well for each celebration. The texts
to be read, sung or proclaimed should be well studied in good time.
The vestments and all altar fittings and furnishings should be in
good taste. The people who carry out the roles of priest celebrant,
altar servers, leader of song, readers of lessons, etc., should be
at their best. The homily should give the people solid liturgical,
theological and spiritual nourishment. If all that is done, the Mass
will not be dull.
But when all is said and done, we have to come back to the fact that
the Mass is not there to entertain people. Such horizontalism would
be out of place. People do not come to Mass in order to admire the
preacher, or the choir or the readers. The priority movement or
direction of the Mass is vertical, toward God, not horizontal,
toward one another. What the people need is a faith-filled
celebration, a spiritual experience which draws them to God and
therefore also to their neighbor. As a by-product, such a
celebration will capture the people's interest and attention.
It is also useful to remark that repetition of faith formulae and
symbols, or of familiar words and gestures, need not make a
liturgical celebration uninteresting. It matters, however, to what
extent these formulae are understood, hence the importance of
catechesis. In our daily lives, is it uninteresting for us to repeat
our names or those of our loved ones? Do we not love our national
anthem and sing it with piety? How much more that this has to do
with our Christian identity!
If it helps to repeat, may I recall that liturgical celebrations
allow for flexibility, provided that this is done according to
approved norms.
Redemptionis Sacramentum itself exhorts the bishop not to
stifle alternative choices provided for by the liturgical norms:
"The bishop must take care not to allow the removal of that liberty
foreseen by the norms of the liturgical books so that the
celebration may be adapted in an intelligent manner to the church
building, or to the group of the faithful who are present or to the
particular pastoral circumstances". (RS 21) It is for this reason
that the bishop does well not to be tempted to introduce unnecessary
restrictions in his diocese, such as ordering that only one
particular Eucharistic Prayer be used at Mass. The bishop's
authority is never firmer than when he uses it to ensure that the
general norms which safeguard the tradition are observed.
A general advice about whether the liturgical celebration is
interesting or not is, to simply celebrate it with faith and
devotion and according to the approved norms, and leave the rest to
God's grace and people's cooperation with it.
8. Dance in the Liturgy
Some people want to introduce dance into the sacred liturgy. The
Latin Rite liturgy has not had any such practice. We have therefore
to ask those who want to bring in the dance to state their case.
If they say that the reason is to make the Mass interesting, the
answer is what we have just considered. We come to Mass to worship
God, not to see a spectacle. We have the parish hall and the theater
for shows.
Others say they welcome some dance in order to express fully our
prayer, since we are body and soul. The answer is that the liturgy
indeed appreciates bodily postures and gestures and has carefully
incorporated many of them, such as standing, kneeling, genuflecting,
singing, and giving a sign of peace. But the Latin Rite has not
included the dance.
It is not easy for dancers not to draw attention to themselves.
Granted that some very refined dances in some cultures can help to
elevate the mind, is it not true that for many people dances are a
distraction rather than a help to prayer?
Dances easily appeal to the senses and tend to call for approval,
enjoyment, a desire for a repetition, and a rewarding of the
performers with the applause of the audience. Is this what we come
to Mass to experience? Have we no theaters and parish halls,
presuming that the dance in question is acceptable, which cannot be
said of them all?
Is it true that in many parts of Africa and Asia there may be a
cultural habit of graceful body movement which, with due study and
approval of the local Church, may go down well within a liturgical
celebration. The Ethiopian rite has known graceful rhythmical
movements and the procession for the Gospel. The Roman Rite Mass
approved for the Democratic Republic of the Congo has similar entry
movements.
But this is very different from what the ordinary person in Europe
or North America thinks of when the concept of dance is evoked. Can
we blame people who associate dance with Saturday evening, ballroom,
theater or simply, innocent enjoyment? The liturgical books approved
by the bishops and the Holy See for Europe and North America
understandably do not authorize the importation of dance into
church, let alone the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. (see
the article in the official bulletin of the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments: Notitiae
106-107, June-July 1975, pp. 202-205. Editor's note: this article is
available on the Adoremus web site at
www.adoremus.org/Dance.html)
9. Formalism and Ritualism Not
the Goal
From all that has been said above, it follows that an exhortation to
be faithful to liturgical norms is not an invitation to formalism,
ritualism or rubricism. People are not being invited to a dry and
soulless carrying out of external actions. Jesus our Savior already,
quoting the prophet Isaiah, condemned those who do not internalize
in their spirit the external rites they carry out:
This people honors me only with
lip-service, while their hearts are far from me.
Their reverence of me is worthless;
The lesson they teach are nothing but human commandments. (Mt
15:8-9, Is 29:13)
Liturgical celebrations are not
primarily the observance of norms but rather the celebration of the
mysteries of Christ by the Church and in the Church, with faith and
love and with respect for tradition. The observance of norms is a
consequence and fruit of faith and respect. It is not the final
object of worship. It is a quality of it.
Moreover, liturgical norms are not arbitrary laws or regulations put
together to please some historian, or aesthetist, or archaeologist.
They are manifestations of what we believe and what we have received
from tradition, from the "norm of the holy Fathers" (cf SC 20, GIRM
6), from what generations of our predecessors in the faith have
said, done, observed and celebrated. To know that we are doing,
saying, hearing and seeing what millions of Christians have done
throughout the world for hundreds of years and are doing today,
should help us enter better into a committed and prayerful
participation. Moreover, by conforming our entire person to all that
the liturgy represents, we undergo a transformation and become ever
closer to God.
Interior prayer and sacrifice have priority. Hence the importance in
liturgical celebrations of quiet preparation, silence, reflection,
listening and personal prayer. "A merely external observation of
norms would obviously be contrary to the nature of the sacred
liturgy, in which Christ Himself wishes to gather His Church, so
that together with Himself she will be 'one body and one spirit'".
(RS 5)
At the same time it needs to be repeated that the spirit of
rejection of rules and regulations which would then be regarded as a
violation of one's autonomy, needs to be corrected. It is wrong and
unreasonable to maintain a spirit of "Nobody is going to tell me
what to do". This would be a false understanding of liberty. "God
has not granted us in Christ an illusory liberty by which we may do
what we wish, but a liberty by which we may do what is fitting and
right". (RS 7)
It is a blessing and a privilege for us to belong to the Church
which in her sacred liturgy celebrates the mysteries of Christ and
has Christ Himself as the Chief Priest in every liturgical act. Let
us pray to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of our Savior, to
obtain for us a growing understanding of the reasons for liturgical
norms, willingness to observe them and the grace of daily growth in
liturgical piety, love of God and commitment to love and service of
our neighbor.
+ Francis Cardinal Arinze
April 8, 2005
(Pope Benedict has re-appointed Cardinal Arinze as prefect of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments.
