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El 3 de abril de este 2019 se cumplieron los primeros 50 años de la solemne afirmación del trabajo de la renovación litúrgica aprobada por los padres conciliares y firmada por el Papa San Pablo VI. El “Missale Romanum ex decreto Concilii Oecumenici Vaticani II instauratum” es el fruto de largas jornadas del Consejo Pontificio para implementar las normas generales emanadas de la “Sacrosantum Concilium”, la Constitución sobre la Liturgia.

El nuevo Misal llevó a cabo las directrices del concilio para la reforma de la liturgia de la Misa, según lo pedía la Sacrosantum Concilium #50: “Revísese el ordinario de la Misa, de modo que se manifieste con mayor claridad el sentido propio de cada una de las partes y su mutua conexión y se haga más fácil la piadosa y activa participación de los fieles. En consecuencia, simplifíquense los ritos, conservando con cuidado la sustancia; suprímanse aquellas cosas menos útiles que, con el correr del tiempo, se han duplicado o añadido; restablézcase, en cambio, de acuerdo con la primitiva norma de los santos Padres, algunas cosas que han desaparecido a causa del tiempo, según se estime conveniente y necesario”.

El nuevo Misal no contenía, como el tridentino, las lecturas bíblicas, sino un excelente catálogo de lecturas de la Sagrada Escritura que, recogidas en nuevos leccionarios, aumentarán no solo el número de lecturas dominicales y la recuperación del salmo responsorial, sino además la distribución de éstas en tres años, enmarcada por los evangelios sinópticos.

El nuevo Misal de Pablo VI presenta una gran preocupación pastoral por la asamblea, primer actor de la celebración; una comunidad de creyentes presidida por Cristo, cuya presencia la invade por completo. El pueblo de Dios es llamado a participar en el santo sacrificio de la Misa de manera plena, activa y consciente; la celebración de la Eucaristía aparece como el banquete de la asamblea presidida por el obispo o el presbítero: representantes del Cristo-cabeza viviente. La presencia del obispo en una ceremonia ya no debe suponer una mayor solemnidad en el rito, sino la expresión más clara del misterio de la Iglesia, “que es sacramento de unidad”. (SC 26).

La reforma litúrgica propone la designación de ministros y ministerios otorgados a laicos que respondan a la estructura de la comunidad celebrante.  Destaca la importancia del lector en la liturgia de la palabra, del cantor, del salmista y de los ministros del altar, con la posibilidad de crear nuevos ministerios según sea conveniente y necesario o lo exija las necesidades de la iglesia local.

La intención fundamental del Concilio fue recuperar las fuentes originales que dan sentido a los ritos del culto católico; resaltar lo esencial eliminando los gestos añadidos a lo largo de la historia; y recuperar aquellas formas y signos que se habían perdido. Para ello reconstruyó el marco celebrativo teniendo como modelo funcional las antiguas basílicas cristianas: el altar del sacrificio se separó del retablo para expresar su lugar central en la celebración eucarística, una mesa circundable en la que se puede celebrar de cara al pueblo y enriquecer el diálogo y la comunicación entre el que preside y la asamblea; la sede presidencial tomó un sitio privilegiado como para visibilizar la presencia de Cristo en el obispo o el presbítero, con asientos para los diáconos a cada lado; el ambón para proclamar solemnemente la Sagrada Palabra de Dios; todo un extraordinario encaje litúrgico para visibilizar la presencia real de Cristo en estos signos visibles y permanentes.

Todo tal como lo pedían los principios orientativos del Concilio, que presenta la liturgia de la Iglesia como el “ejercicio del sacerdocio de Jesucristo”. Cristo es el centro, el Señor muerto y resucitado que nos da la auténtica vida. La liturgia no es otra cosa que la gran celebración creyente del misterio pascual de Cristo, el tremendo misterio que continúa en el tiempo y en la historia la constante presencia del Señor en su Iglesia que en él invoca a su Señor y por él tributa culto al padre de los cielos.

San Juan XXIII, en su discurso de convocación al Vaticano II, reconocía que “Hay hombres de buena voluntad, pero de espíritu cerrado, para quienes todo es malo en nuestra época; creen que todo tiempo pasado fue mejor. Disentimos de estos profetas de calamidades que siempre vaticinan cosas peores. No estamos al borde del abismo, porque estamos en manos de la Providencia”. El Santo Papa intuía que habría disensiones e inconformidades con el propósito, los trabajos y los resultados del Concilio. Los hubo en el Vaticano I, con el resultado de la escisión sectaria de algunos obispos alemanes y franceses y la aparición de los “Viejos Católicos”, una iglesia que en América se ha llamado los “católicos liberales”, ya muy alejada de la ortodoxia de la Iglesia Romana. 

Le tocó a San Pablo VI la conclusión de las tareas conciliares y la promulgación de sus grandes constituciones, documentos y decretos. Los principios orientativos de la Constitución Sacrosanctum Concilium consideran a la liturgia como el ejercicio del sacerdocio de Cristo, cumbre y fuente de la vida cristiana, que requiere de toda la Iglesia una participación plena, consciente y activa, porque manifiesta la naturaleza de la Iglesia que es esencialmente comunidad, con una unidad sustancial, no uniformidad rígida, que pueda conservar la sana tradición y a la vez el legítimo progreso del lenguaje de la Fe, porque es teología hecha oración, que teniendo a Cristo como centro, significa y realiza la santificación de los hombres y mujeres que forman la Iglesia.

San Juan XXIII legó su estilo y su espíritu a la reforma litúrgica. Un santo de enorme sentido común y amplísima visión, a pesar de su avanzada edad, llenó de aire fresco y espíritu renovador las antiguas estructuras y tradiciones que tanto han lastrado la imagen de las instituciones eclesiales. Se cuenta que, recién elegido Papa, pidió a su secretario que invitara a unos amigos a cenar con él en la casa apostólica. El secretario le contestó: “Imposible, el Santo Padre siempre debe comer solo”.

El Papa Roncalli le preguntó asombrado: “¿Y esto a qué se debe?”

La respuesta: “Porque uno de sus predecesores lo instituyó así”.

“¿Y era Papa como yo?”

“Ciertamente, así es”.

“Pues como yo también soy Vicario de Cristo, como lo fue ese Papa, yo lo anulo ahora mismo. Así que mañana y de ahora en adelante, el Papa no volverá a comer solo”.

Esa es la riqueza de la Iglesia, la capacidad de hacer como aquel padre de familia del Evangelio, que es capaz de sacar de su arcón lo viejo y lo nuevo, en beneficio del pueblo de Dios.

Comments from readers

Michael Kramer - 08/29/2019 09:15 AM
I ran out of space, forgive the separate comment. Addressing the idea of "unity in signs is a sign of unity as a people of God", it is important to point out that for much of Church history there was far greater uniformity in the latin church in her liturgy than there is now. 50 years of the experimentation and tweaking has led to very common statements like "unity in diversity" and other similar statements. Almost all options are widely embraced, this one has been shied away from for a few decades, but is now no longer taboo. The last 4 Prefects for the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments have endorsed it. It should not be taboo or be considered to harm unity. In fact, in the other two forms of the Roman Rite it is the norm not just on paper but also in practice. In the entire eastern church, in her 20+ particular churches all except 2 use this as the normative posture when offering the Divine Liturgy. Surely we have the same faith as the other two forms of the roman rite, and as all of the eastern churches. Surely there is no harm to our unity with the other two Forms of the Roman Rite and with all of the eastern churches. My entire point through my responses has simply been that it is a legitimate option. One that the church embraced for nearly all of her history. There was a small period of confusion following the council where it was spoken of poorly, but in the last 20 years there's been a solid effort to recover from misunderstandings surrounding the practice and to again encourage its use. That was my only point. I don't even think your intention was to discourage it, my only point was clarification to avoid confusion. I appreciate the efforts of all who work to bring the liturgy beauty and reverence and sacrality and hope that you and I and others will continue working towards the common goal of bringing people to Christ through various means, especially meeting him in the Liturgy.
Michael Kramer - 08/29/2019 09:04 AM
Thank you kindly for your response, Rogelio. Perhaps my initial comment was misunderstood. I was saying that to prevent confusion it should be pointed out that nowhere in the Council or in the Missal is there a directive or imperative that Mass must be celebrated facing a different direction than it was from time immemorial. There is nothing wrong with Mass celebrated facing either direction. Oftentimes I find there are painstaking efforts taken to explain why we do things differently than we did for much of Christian history. I find this effort strained and counter-productive. Both ways are fine in themselves. Further, to be clear, nothing I stated was about my preferences. I simply stated the fact that there exists no directive in the council or the missal to "face the people". In fact, in the current General Instruction, several times the priest is directed to "turn and face the people and say..." and it is clarified in the same General Instruction that only at certain times in the Mass is the direction "towards the people" required. I stuck to facts and liturgical directives. Further, to continue the clarification that I was interested in facts and not my preferences in my initial comment, I will hold my nose and share a link from Wikipedia which contains several well-sourced quotes that this is what the Early Christians, Popes, Fathers of the Church, etc, thought they were doing. It was absolutely about the rising sun and the Second Coming of Christ. St. Charles Borromeo, one of the most important theologians at the Council of Trent stated so explicitly in addition to the plentiful references here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_orientem I also indicated in my post the direction of the Roman Basilicas and that has been treated extensively and has to do with the confessio placement. Liturgical history/documents also show that even in those arrangements, the priest and people would still turn together in common direction.
Charles - 08/28/2019 10:26 PM
Hello Rogelio. Thank you for posting this article. I wish to respond by saying that though the new Missal does help the faithful to understand the Mass. However,as professor Peter Kreft said on a Youtube audio recording about moral relativism, he qoutes an important phrase, "Ideas have consequences". If the Concilar Fathers could have seen the results of such actions they did, what would they see today? Many think today that the medevial period of where the Liturgy grew organically is something that is not acceptable. Therefore, I would like to mention a few comments from a priest and exorcist who celebrates the Old Mass in a document on the spirituality of the Latin Rite. 'The old ritual also fosters a sense of detachment on the side of the priest and the people because the ritual is completely determined by Holy Mother the Church. We see in the Old Testament that God gave very detailed instructions on how He was to be worshiped. This is key in understanding the liturgy in two ways. The first is that the liturgy is not our action, it is the action of God by means of the priest; it is not something we do, it is essentially something God does, for the consecration cannot take place without God Who is the first cause of the Sacrifice. The second way is that it is God, and not ourselves, Who determines how we will worship Him. This has been one of the most notable failings in modern times: a desire to determine for ourselves how we will worship God. It is erroneous because it is up to God to tell us the type of worship that pleases or displeases Him and, therefore, only He should be the one to determine the ritual. It was mentioned earlier that God had fashioned the liturgy over the course of time through the saints, who were filled with love of God".
Andrew Meszaros - 08/28/2019 04:27 PM
The current prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, Cardinal Robert Sarah, called for a “return to a common orientation of priest and people eastwards.” Unfortunately, his urging that the change be implemented soon, fell on def ears, with a few exceptions by a handful of bishops.
Rogelio Zelada - 08/28/2019 03:55 PM
Las normas litúrgicas las dicta la Congregación para el Culto Divino y la Disciplina de los Sacramentos y que esta toma en cuenta las notas que les ofrecen los obispos locales de todo el mundo. No se trata de buscar justificaciones que apoyen nuestras preferencias, sino aceptar humildemente lo que nos obispos católicos sostienen y siguen sin mayores problemas. Llegará el momento en que explique el por qué de la misa de espaldas a la comunidad, que en principio nada tiene que ver con la orientación hacia el sol, como las oraciones de los musulmanes de cara a la meca. Se trata de mirar como modelo a las grandes basílicas romanas y ver que el altar central es circundable y está totalmente de cara al pueblo: Santa María la Mayor, San Pablo extramuros, etc. Es un importante postulado litúrgico que "La unidad en los signos es un signo de nuestra unidad como Pueblo de Dios".
Rogelio Zelada - 08/28/2019 03:54 PM
The liturgical norms are dictated by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and these take into account the notes offered by local bishops throughout the world. This is not about seeking justifications that support our preferences, but humbly accepting what the Catholic bishops maintain and continue to do without major problems. I will eventually explain the “why” for the Mass with the celebrant’s back to the community, which in principle has nothing to do with the orientation towards the sun, such as the prayers of Muslims facing Mecca. This is about looking at the great Roman basilicas as a model and seeing that the central altar stands alone and is totally facing the people: St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. John Lateran, etc. Also, it is an important liturgical postulate that "Unity in signs is a sign of our unity as People of God."
Michael Kramer - 08/28/2019 10:18 AM
As a 32 year old who has known both the Old and New Mass for most of my life I find it very problematic that it was implied that the council or the missal of Paul vi itself had in mind the default celebration of Mass “facing the people”. Such a thing was not mentioned in the council at all, and only mentioned in passing in the general instruction for the Roman missal for the New Mass. it is true that the set up for the Old Mass can be in such a way so as to necessitate a celebration “facing the people”, and it is also true that the New Mass is able to be done “ad orientem”. It is not a recovery of anything from an earlier Christian Liturgy to “face the people”. It happened in a select few Roman churches as architecture necessitated because of the rising of the sun and the location of the confessio in the church. But in the overwhelming majority of the churches, both east and west, the default was “ad orientem”. The author doesn’t imply there is anything wrong with it, but it seems opportune to state explicitly that Mass celebrated “ad orientem” is not only not inferior and not an invention of the Middle Ages But also that there is nothing wrong with it, it’s our patrimony, we should embrace it, we should be open to praying in that way again to experience the gift the church gave us for so long in praying in that way, and seek to enter enter the Mass the way countless saints throughout the ages did, facing the same direction as the priest. A priest when he chooses to offer Mass ad orientem according to the liturgical books of Paul VI is not in any way being disobedient, nor is he turning his back (pun intended) on the reform. The detaching of altars and the complete emptying out of many sanctuaries is something to be lamented. It resulted in much discontinuity in many sanctuaries architecturally, and created, according to a book written by Monsignor Klaus Gamber, an atmosphere with a temptation to pray as a self enclosed circle. +Ratzinger wrote the forward.
Elizabeth DE ARAZOZA - 08/26/2019 06:10 PM
Gracias Rogelio, con gusto lei tu articulo con tantos excelente detalles que me hicieron recordar las clases que recibimos en el SEPI. Bendiciones, Elizabeth
james - 08/26/2019 03:47 PM
Another excellent message given to us to be inspired. Thank you for the excellent article. Let us challenge ourselves to become better and more informed with Holy ways. Blessings, and In Unity....
Maria Maguire - 08/26/2019 11:17 AM
WOW, Rogelio! Loved your blog. Thanks for those important details of "Santosanctum Concilium" pointing out the importance of full participation, consciously and actively of the Church in the Liturgy. Wish we had more Catholics interested in learning about the great sacredness and beauty of the Liturgy of the Mass which brings us so much closer to Christ. (Do this in remembrance of me). I Love John XXIII! Maria Maguire

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