Presence and Participation

Part 4 in an ongoing series of essays on the General Instruction of the Roman Missal.

Now we begin at last to come to the crux of the issue as we move on to Chapter I of the General Instruction: The Importance and Dignity of the Celebration of the Eucharist, which begins to lay the foundations for addressing the rubrics and ars celebrandi of the celebrant and ministers of the Mass.

The People of God

Chapter I begins with an assertion that is often overlooked these days.

The celebration of Mass, as the action of Christ and of the People of God arrayed hierarchically, is the center of the whole of Christian life for the Church both universal and local, as well as for each of the faithful individually.

General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 16.
 

This simple sentence is supported by a footnote that cites no less than six documents¹. The footnote is longer than the sentence it supports. That might seem like overkill, and it’s our first clue that perhaps there’s more here than meets the eye.

Let’s look at each of these citations.

The bishop is to be considered as the high priest of his flock, from whom the life in Christ of his faithful is in some way derived and dependent.
Therefore all should hold in great esteem the liturgical life of the diocese centered around the bishop, especially in his cathedral church; they must be convinced that the pre-eminent manifestation of the Church consists in the full active participation of all God’s holy people in these liturgical celebrations, especially in the same eucharist, in a single prayer, at one altar, at which there presides the bishop surrounded by his college of priests and by his ministers²

Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 41
 

Here, the Council, citing Saint Ignatius of Antioch, reiterates the hierarchical ordering of the liturgical life of the Church. Bishop, priests, ministers.

Lumen gentium number 11, citing copiously from sources including the Summa Theologia of Saint Thomas Aquinas and Pope Pius XII’s Encyclical Mediator Dei speaks at length on the proper ordering of the People of God in celebrating the sacred mysteries, stepping through each of the sacraments in turn. Of the Eucharist it says,

Taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, which is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life, they offer the Divine Victim to God, and offer themselves along with It.³ Thus both by reason of the offering and through Holy Communion all take part in this liturgical service, not indeed, all in the same way but each in that way which is proper to himself. Strengthened in Holy Communion by the Body of Christ, they then manifest in a concrete way that unity of the people of God which is suitably signified and wondrously brought about by this most august sacrament.

Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium, no. 11
 

Presbyterorum ordinis, numbers 2, 5, and 6 all speak of the office and responsibilities of the sacred priesthood.

Christus Dominus, number 30 talks at length of the duties of pastors for the care of souls, particularly in their offices of teaching, sanctifying, and governing.

Unitatis redintegratio, number 15 praises the liturgical and spiritual heritage of the Eastern Churches, making mention of their bishops united with their faithful and their apostolic succession.

Finally, Eucharisticum mysterium, numbers 3e and 6 speak eloquently of the “catechesis about the Eucharistic Mystery”, including this:

The faithful participate more fully in this sacrament of thanksgiving, propitiation, petition, and praise, not only when they wholeheartedly offer the Sacred Victim, and in it themselves, to the Father with the priest, but also when they receive this same Victim sacramentally.

Instruction Eucharisticum mysterium, no. 3e
 

Sacrifice

So what is this first sentence of Chapter I hammering home? Nothing less than the central importance of the sacrificial nature of the Mass as the action of Christ and the “People of God arrayed hierarchically” who participate in Christ’s sacrifice.

The following sentences and paragraphs develop this theme. This is a sacrifice, indeed it is the sacrifice of Christ, the very center of history and the center of the Christian faith.

And, as we read in Eucharisticum mysterium, we are called to participate in this sacrifice, each in our appropriate way, the priest in his and the faithful in theirs. In fact, number 18 of the General Instruction for the first time uses those oft quoted words, “conscious, active, and full participation of the faithful”. That doesn’t mean we necessarily have to be physically doing something, though, as we will see in future essays.

No, the job of the people is to fulfill the duty they have “in virtue of their Baptism”⁴. And what is that, precisely?

If we follow the footnote to Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 14 we find that these duties flow from the identity of the Baptized as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people (1 Pet. 2:9; cf. 2:4-5)”.

The Baptized are priests, prophets, kings. And their participation comes, as the reference to 1 Peter 2:4-5 makes clear, from their priestly office. Not the sacramental priesthood – after all, we just had a catechesis in the hierarchical nature of the Church – but rather in the priesthood of believers. And what do priests do? They offer sacrifice. In fact, the celebrant of the Mass reminds us to bring our sacrifices to the altar and join them to Christ’s.
 

And how do the people reply?

And this is no small thing. Indeed, the General Instruction stresses that the “celebration of the Eucharist in a particular Church is of the utmost importance.⁵“

Dignity and Beauty and Humility

So much of the preceding parts of the General Instruction have been descriptive rather than prescriptive, more of a catechesis than an instruction. But starting in number 22 that begins to change in a decisive way.

The General Instruction urges the Bishop to

… be vigilant in ensuring that the dignity of these celebrations be enhanced and, in promoting such dignity, the beauty of the sacred place, of the music, and of art should contribute as greatly as possible.

General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 22.
 

So we begin with dignity and beauty.

This sacrifice, this celebration of the utmost importance, this act at the very center of the Christian life, is to be carried out in dignity and beauty. It is not to be rushed through so we can all get to the coffee hour faster. The prayers are not to be mumbled like a bored fifth grader reading a report for the class.

The Missal offers many “accommodations and adaptations”⁶ that may be used for pastoral or practical reasons. We will tackle these in a future essay, as though they are mentioned in Chapter I, their implementation is scattered throughout the General Instruction.

Despite the plentitude of licit options, however, many priests have in the past have paraphrased or even replaced the prayers of the Mass. This, the General Instruction does not permit, not even a little. It references the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, number 22, making it absolutely clear and explicit:

However, the Priest will remember that he is the servant of the Sacred Liturgy and that he himself is not permitted, on his own initiative, to add, to remove, or to change anything in the celebration of Mass.

General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 24.
 

No priest is the master of the Sacred Liturgy. He may not order it or change it to suit his whim or even what he might consider a pressing legitimate pastoral need. He must follow the text and the rubrics as written in the Missal, including the General Instruction and the calendar.

This may be the most important rubric in the entirety of the General Instruction. Without it, much of what will follow will seem a great deal less counter-revolutionary.

The first chapter of the General Instruction spills much ink describing the worshiping Church in its proper hierarchy, with the proper participation of its bishops, priests, ministers, and the faithful. In future chapters it will detail what that participation consists of. But here, right up front, at the very climax of the chapter, it reminds us that no matter how exalted we are as priestly participants in the supreme sacrifice of Christ, we are, after all, not the masters of these rites, but their humble servants.

Next time: Chapter II of the General Instruction: Elements of the Mass.

1. Cf. Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 41; Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium, no. 11; Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, Presbyterorum ordinis, nos. 2, 5, 6; Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops, Christus Dominus, no. 30; Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis redintegratio, no. 15; Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction, Eucharisticum mysterium, May 25, 1967, nos. 3e, 6: Acta Apostolicae Sedis 59 (1967), pp. 542, 544-545.
2. Cf. St. Ignatius of Antioch, To the Smyrnians, 8; To the Magnesians, 7; To the Philadelphians, 4.
3. Cfr. Pius XII, Litt. Encycl. Mediator Dei 20 nov. 1947: AAS 39 (1947), paesertim p. 552 s.
4. General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 18.
5. General Instruction of the Roman Missal 22.
6. General Instruction of the Roman Missal 23ff.