To the Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with
the Apostolic See.
Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
Mediator between God and men[1] 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 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 to Him.
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 Mystical 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 constantly the sacrifice of the cross is
represented[5] and with a single difference 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
predecessor 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 state 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]
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 continued through the early years of this one.
The movement owed its rise to commendable private initiative and more particularly to the zealous and persistent labor of
several monasteries within the distinguished 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 research 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.
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 performed 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. 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 enthusiasts, 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 overbold. 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 prevailing 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 it 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 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."[9]
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 .
14. This duty is incumbent, first of all, on men as individuals. But it also binds the whole community of human beings,
grouped together by mutual social ties: mankind, too, depends on the sovereign authority of God.
15. It should be noted, moreover, that men are bound by his 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 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[12] of the worship which
the High Priest of the New Testament was to render to the Father in heaven.
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 uninterruptedly 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 afterwards 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 acknowledge 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 institution of the Eucharist. On the morrow, lifted up between heaven
and earth, He offers the saving sacrifice of His life, and pours forth, 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.
18. But it is His will, besides, that the worship He instituted and practiced during His life on earth shall continue ever
afterwards without 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]
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-establishes 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 together, groweth up into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together
in 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, 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 acceptable worship which His law prescribes, to increase and prosper day by day in this land of exile of 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
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.
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 admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts 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 appropriate exhortation and illustration of the benefit
of all his listeners.
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, "that we may use these external signs to keep us alert, learn
from them what distance we 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 which precedes it."[25] Here then is a better and more suitable 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 raiment 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 implacable
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 new
gifts of grace the chaste nupitals of those who are destined to found and bring up a Christian family. When as 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.
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 veneration 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 practice. They make it possible
to tell genuine Christians from their false or heretical counterparts."[27]
24. But the chief element of divine worship must be interior. For we must always live in Christ and give ourselves to Him
completely, 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 outward observance."[28] Otherwise religion clearly amounts to mere formalism, without
meaning and without content. You recall, Venerable Brethren, how the divine Master expels from the sacred temple, as unworthily
to worship there, people who pretend to honor God with nothing but neat and wellturned phrases, like actors in a theater,
and think themselves perfectly capable of working out their eternal salvation without plucking their inveterate vices from
their hearts.[29] 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 contemplation.
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 perfect 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 sacrifice 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.
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 celebration of the liturgy, notable 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 considerations some are led to conclude that all Christian piety must be centered in the mystery of the Mystical
Body of Christ, with no regard for what is "personal" or "subjective, as they would have it. As a result they feel that all
other religious exercises not directly connected 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.
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 members 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 the Church in a brief and significant phrase calls the various acts of mortification,
especially those practiced 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
itself."[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. Emphatically, therefore,
the work of redemption, which in itself is independent of our will, requires a serious interior effort on our part if we are
to achieve eternal salvation.
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 indispensable,
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 dedicate 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 correctly 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 supernatural realities and spiritual exercises, if it is to be nurtured, stimulated
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.
33. But it will not do to possess 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 individual duties
faithfully, to give themselves eagerly to the regular practice 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: "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 fullness 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]
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 promoting them to purify their
hearts, actually stimulates in the faithful those energies which enable them to participate 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 resolved 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.
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 sacraments, which comes from
the rite itself (ex opere operato), be opposed to the meritorious action of their ministers of recipients, which we call the
agent's action (opus operantis). Similarly, no conflict exists between 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 animates them, "Christ is all and
in all."[38] Both tend to the same objective: until Christ be formed in us.[39]
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 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 supported, 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 me[41]. . . go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel
to every creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."[42]
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' conformity 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.
43. In the same way, actually that baptism is the distinctive mark of all Christians, and serves to differentiate them
from those who 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 consecration. 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 communicate 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 consecrate 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 salvation 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.
44. Since, therefore, it is the priest chiefly who performs the sacred liturgy in the name of the Church, its organization,
regulation and details 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.
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 authority 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 attitude with which you are doubtless familiar, Venerable Brethren.
We 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 when 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
profession 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 inspiration 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 controversial 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 determination of a particular point of Christian doctrine. But if one desires to differentiate and describe the relationship
between faith and 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 theological virtues also, "In . . . fide, spe, caritate continuato desiderio semper oramus"—we pray always, with constant yearning in faith, hope and charity.[46]
49. From time immemorial the ecclesiastical hierarchy has exercised 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]
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 discernible
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 committed 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."
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.
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.
53. The subsequent advances in ecclesiastical discipline for the administering of the sacraments, that of penance for example;
the institution 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.
54. Just as notable a contribution to this progressive transformation 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 circumstantial 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 recitation of the litanies
during the "station" processions, in which even the Sovereign Pontiff frequently joined.
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 external features of the sacred liturgy.
57. The Church has further used her right of control over liturgical 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 threatened 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 fulfills
even today the official function of supervision and legislation with regard to all matters touching the sacred liturgy.[49]
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 prescriptions of the sacred canons
respecting divine worship.[51] Private individuals, 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 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.
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 circumstances, 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 innovations 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 prayerbooks 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.
61. The same reasoning holds in the case of some persons who are bent on the restoration of all the ancient rites and ceremonies
indiscriminately. 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 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 investigation 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 tableform;
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.
63. Clearly no sincere Catholic can refuse to accept the formulation 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 repudiate 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 disposition 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
Pistoia gave rise. It likewise attempts to reinstate a series of errors which were responsible for the calling of that meeting
as well as for those resulting from it, 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 of 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 obedience 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.
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 center, as it were, of the Christian religion. We consider
it opportune in speaking about the crowning act of the sacred liturgy, to delay for a little while and call your attention,
Venerable Brethren, to this most important 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 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]
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]
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]
70. Likewise the victim is the same, namely, our divine Redeemer in His human nature with His true body and blood. The
manner, however, in which Christ is offered is different. On the cross He completely offered Himself and all His sufferings
to God, and the immolation of the victim was brought about by the bloody death, which He underwent 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 of His death. For by the "transubstantiation" 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 commemorative 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.
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 offering 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 God[63] 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
immense 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 likewise He daily
offers Himself upon our altars for our redemption, that we may be rescued from eternal damnation and admitted into the company
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 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.
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 plenitude 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 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.
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 occasion, 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 manifest its greatness and its necessity, as the Council of Trent declares.[77] Its daily immolation reminds
us that there is no salvation except in the 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 required His help continually and has
need of the blood of the Redeemer to remit sin which challenges God's justice.
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 Redeemer
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]
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, approximating to errors long since condemned[82] teach that in
the New Testament by the word "priesthood" is meant only that priesthood which applies to all who have been baptized; 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 "concelebration," 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.
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.
86. This has already been stated in the clearest terms by some of Our predecessors and some Doctors of the Church. "Not
only," says 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]
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
expressed 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 bounded 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, Christians 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.
89. In every age of the Church's history, the mind of man, enlightened by faith, has aimed at the greatest possible knowledge
of things divine. It is fitting, then, that the Christian people should also 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 are 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. 92. In this most important subject it is necessary, in order to avoid giving rise to a dangerous error,
that we define the exact meaning 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 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 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 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.
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 perform
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
prayers or intention of the priest, even of 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 worship 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 exaggerations 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, inasmuch 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 undoubtedly so, whether the faithful are present—as we desire and commend 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
