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May 18, 2003
HOW THE LITURGY CAME TO BE
From the Desk of Drew Desmarais
LITURGICAL RENEWAL IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY
We turn to the Belgian Benedictine monk Dom Lambert Beauduin as the leader of the European liturgical movement in the early 20th century. At the National Congress in Malines, Belgium in 1909, he called for full and active participation of all Christians in the Church's life and ministry, particularly the liturgy. The basis for this core belief came from Pius X's " Tra le sollecitudini" of 1903. Pius described the liturgy as the Church's most important and indispensable source which called for greater liturgical participation. As part of this call, he reiterated that the faithful needed to come back to frequent Communion. Also with the promulgation "Quam singulari" in 1910, he lowered the age for first Communion to seven.
Liturgical renewal was not found exclusively in Rome. We see renewal in Germany, France and Belgium. In Germany, we see liturgical publications sprout up. Ildefons Herwegen in 1921 wrote a Mass that included the praying of the ordinary parts of the Mass in common and the participation of the assembly in the offertory procession. In Austria, we see Canon Pius Parsch promoting the relationship between Bible and liturgy and encouraged a wider knowledge of Scripture among Catholics.
In the United States, the liturgical movement began in earnest at Collegeville, Minnesota under the leadership of Virgil Michel O.S.B. The movement was marked by a strong emphasis on combining liturgy with social action. The call that came from the reception of the Eucharist moved the believer to see Jesus Christ in all people, including the less fortunate. The next step after recognition was an involvement in alleviating the immediate suffering and then to work for systemic change. In 1928, the apostolic constitution on sacred music " Divini cultus" argued that the faithful should not attend liturgy passively as silent spectators but as active participants, singing with the presider and choir.
As the liturgical movement progressed, the need for academic training became an important issue. The Center for Pastoral Liturgy was founded in Paris in 1943; the University of Trier established a chair for liturgy in 1947; University of Notre Dame established a degree program for liturgy in 1947. In addition to this academic thrust, we see the support of the institutional Church for taking a fresh look at liturgy. This support takes the form of encyclicals; "Ordo Sabbati" restored the Easter Vigil; "Musicae sacrae disciplina" restored the use of local language for hymns during Mass and also fully restored the Holy Week rites; This happened Palm Sunday, 1956.
When Pope Pius XII died on October 9, 1958, Pope John XXIII was elected pope. On January 25, 1959, John XXIII announced the Second Vatican Council. He announced a preparatory commission on the liturgy to design the outline for reform of the liturgy. Pope John did not live to see Pope Paul VI on December 4, 1963 promulgate ""Sacrosanctum Concilium" which outlined the general principles for reform of the liturgy.
From the Desk of Drew Desmarais,
Director of Religious Education
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