Sacrosanctum concilium is one of the constitutions of the second vatican council.

it was

promulgated by pope paul vi on december 4, 1963, and approved by the assembled bishops. the

main aim of the document was to achieve greater lay participation in the catholic church’s

liturgy. the document contains doctrinal principles and fundamental themes of the liturgical

renewal, as well as concrete indications concerning the ritual celebration. the purpose of this

document was to lead all the faithful to reflect more fully on jesus’ call to worship god in spirit

and in truth and to rediscover the treasures contained in the liturgy1.

one of the first issues considered by the council, and the matter that had the most immediate

effect on the lives of individual catholics, was the renewal of the liturgy. the central idea was

aggiornamento of the traditional liturgical texts and rituals to reflect more fully fundamental

principles, and be more pastorally effective in the changed conditions of the times, clarifying not

only the role of ordained ministers but the modalities of appropriate participation of lay faithful.

mother church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious and

active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy.

such participation by the christian people as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a

redeemed people (1 peter 2:9; cf. 2:4–5), is their right and duty by reason of their baptism.[2]

popes pius x[3] and pius xii[4] asked that the people be taught how to chant the responses at

mass and that they learn the prayers of the mass in order to participate intelligently. now the

bishops decreed that: "to promote active participation, the people should be encouraged to take

part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs."[5] composers

should "produce compositions which ... [provide] for the active participation of the entire

assembly of the faithful."[6]

the council fathers established guidelines to govern the renewal of the liturgy, which included,

allowed, and encouraged greater use of the vernacular (native language) in addition to latin,

particularly for the biblical readings and other prayers. implementation of the council's directives

on the liturgy was to be carried out under the authority of pope paul vi by a special papal

commission known as the council for the implementation of the constitution on the sacred liturgy

(or the consilium for short),[8] later incorporated in the congregation for divine worship and the

discipline of the sacraments, and, in the areas entrusted to them, by national conferences of

bishops, which, if they had a shared language, were expected to collaborate in producing a

common translation

these celebrations have provided an opportunity for the church to properly assess the

achievements of the council as well as to discuss areas in which the council may have fallen

short. in addition to articulating both the successes and failures of vatican ii, these celebrations

have provided the framework by which to discuss the impact of the council on the life of holy

mother church as well as positing what impact the council may have on the future of the church.

in addition to these celebrations, in his christmas address of 2005, then pope benedict xvi

provided a significant hermeneutic (or lens) through which to view the work of the second

vatican council. he spoke about the hermeneutic of continuity between the work of the council

and the life of the church before and after the council. the “hermeneutic of reform,” of renewal,

sees “the continuity of the one subject-church which the lord has given to us. she is a subject
which increases in time and develops, yet always remaining the same, the one subject of the

journeying people of god.”

and then he noted that certain sectors of culture and society sought to separate vatican ii from the

history of the church and promoted a hermeneutic of discontinuity focused on the spirit of the

council, not the truths of the documents themselves: “the hermeneutic of discontinuity risks

ending in a split between the pre-conciliar church and the post-conciliar church. it asserts that the

texts of the council as such do not yet express the true spirit of the council. it claims that they are

the result of compromises in which, to reach unanimity, it was found necessary to keep and

reconfirm many old things that are now pointless. however, the true spirit of the council is not to

be found in these compromises but instead in the impulses toward the new that are contained in

the texts…. in a word: it would be necessary not to follow the texts of the council but its spirit. in

this way, obviously, a vast margin was left open for the question on how this spirit should

subsequently be defined and room was consequently made for every whim.”

this gap between the texts themselves and the allusive spirit of the interpreter created an

opportunity to respond to every whim in the life of the church.

the framework provided by both pope benedict and the church’s historical celebrations creates

the context for an overview of the first document promulgated by the council fathers,

sacrosanctum concilium, constitution on the sacred liturgy. it can be rightly argued that this

document more than others suffered under the hermeneutic of discontinuity presented to the

world in the context of the spirit of the document opposed to what the document actually
outlined and promulgated. despite the confusion sometimes created by this misreading of the

document, sacrosanctum concilium remains integral to the church’s organic development of the

liturgy.

the council fathers wisely began the deliberations of vatican ii with the sacred liturgy precisely

because of its significance in the life of the church. the liturgy is “the outstanding means

whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of christ and

the real nature of the true church” (sacrosanctum concilium, no. 2).

after articulating the nature of the liturgy, which is to build up and strengthen the body of christ,

the document prepares to articulate principles whereby the liturgy may be renewed chiefly so

that the liturgy may be that source which imparts “an ever increasing vigor to the christian life of

the faithful” (no. 1). before providing concrete principles by which this renewal should be

governed, the council fathers exhorted a respect for and adherence and obedience to the tradition

of the church.

jesus’ priestly office

the principles used to assist the church in liturgical renewal involve, first, an understanding of the

nature of the sacred liturgy. at the heart of what the church celebrates in the sacred liturgy is a

continuation of the paschal mystery of jesus christ and an expression of his mission to bring

about salvation and reconciliation for the whole world.

the church’s perennial teaching is that the redemptive work of christ continues in the life of his

spouse, the church, who cooperates concretely in the mission of the savior through sacramental

life. the council states: “christ is always present in his church, especially in her liturgical

celebrations. he is present in the sacrifice of the mass, not only in the person of his minister, ‘the

same now offering, through the ministry of the priests, who formerly offered himself on the

cross,’ but especially under the eucharistic species” (sacrosanctum concilium, no. 7).

the council fathers are able to define the liturgy as “an exercise of the priestly office of jesus

christ” (no. 7). through his priestly office christ is able to sanctify men who are in turn able to

fittingly adore god. the liturgy as an action of adoration and sanctification allow men to

experience here on earth a foretaste of the glories of heaven and consequently requires from the

faithful knowledge and spiritual understanding of what is happening when they are present at the

sacred liturgy.

renewal

having established foundational principles for the renewal of the sacred liturgy, the document

articulates norms for its renewal based on more general aspects of the nature of the liturgy: the

communal nature of the liturgy, catechetical and pastoral aspects of the liturgy.

the document concludes the articulation of norms by mapping out the adaptation of the liturgy to

the cultural realities in which it would be celebrated. the remaining sections of the document are

given over to a discussion of each of the seven sacraments and sacramental realities beginning

with the most holy eucharist. here the council fathers offer a re-articulation of traditional catholic
theology regarding each of the sacraments and applying the principles set forth at the beginning

of the document.

after addressing each of the seven sacraments, the document addresses the importance of sacred

art and furnishings. so, too, the council fathers give attention to the liturgical year, the divine

office and sacred music.

the significance of sacrosanctum concilium comes not only from the comprehensive discussion

of the whole of the liturgical life but also from the various misunderstandings about the sacred

liturgy that developed as a result of a misreading of the document.

chief among these misunderstandings regards the “full, conscious, and active participation” of all

the faithful. this has been understood more often than not as an exhortation to involve more lay

faithful in the work of the liturgy when the document makes no specific reference to how this

might be implemented.

furthermore, having already articulated the importance of tradition in rooting and guiding the

renewal of the sacred liturgy, this particular phrase, having already appeared in magisterial

documents, involves an interior preparation and awareness and has very little to do with exterior

functions.
the document speaks eloquently about the importance of the ongoing use of and formation in the

latin language (see no. 36). while allowing the use of the vernacular in the celebration of the

sacred liturgy, there is a clear exhortation for the preservation of the use of latin in the liturgy.

finally, while it has become normative to celebrate the holy sacrifice of the mass facing the

congregation, nowhere in the documents was it suggested or mandated that the church abandon

the ancient practice of celebrating holy mass ad orientem — that is, facing the east.

clear directions

while the spirit of sacrosanctum concilium has been trumpeted to allow a variety of abuses to

sacred celebrations, the document itself has provided the church with clear directions to better

assist all the faithful in fruitful celebrations of the sacred mysteries.

the exhortation for better knowledge of the rites and rituals of the faithful has provided the

impetus for many in the post-conciliar period to strive for greater knowledge about the rituals so

that they might more deeply penetrate the mysteries celebrated therein. so, too, the exposure to

more sacred scripture has brought the richness of biblical language more comprehensively into

the liturgy.

as the church now moves beyond these historical celebrations and reflections, she is presented

with an opportunity to return to the actual content of the document itself and to authentically

execute the desire of the council fathers for a deeper appreciation of the church’s liturgical life.

with the pontificates of pope benedict xvi and pope francis, who has publically committed
himself and the church to the liturgical insights and direction of his predecessor, the church will

be able to more authentically engage the dynamics of liturgical renewal articulated by the

council.

the understanding of the council fathers that the celebration of the church’s liturgical life was the

source and summit of all her activities is still very much operative today as it was at its

promulgation.

what sacrosanctum concilium provides, within the framework of restored tradition and sound

doctrine, is the opportunity to assist the faithful in experiencing more deeply and richly the

incarnate wisdom and love of god.