The Year of Mercy Begins.

Transcription

JANUARY 2016
Vol. XXI, No.5
“All the fun’s in how
you say a thing” –
Useful Repetition
in the Roman Missal
by Christopher Carstens – page 4
Marriage Law Revisited:
Addressing Common
Misunderstandings
of the Sacrament
of Matrimony
by Benedict Nguyen – page 6
The Holy Way
of Beauty: A review
of David Clayton’s
new book
By Joseph O’Brien– page 8
Preparing for Lent
and the Paschal Mystery
by Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger – page 9
Departments
News and Views — page 2
Donors and Memorials — page 11
The Year
of Mercy
Begins.
Photo: L’Osservatore
Romano
Pope Francis opens the Holy Door
at the Lateran Basilica on December 13.
Adoremus Bulletin • Vol. XXI, No. 5 — January 2016
NEWS & VIEWS
Canonization of Blessed Theresa of Calcutta Announced
According to a Dec. 18 report by Zenit news service, in a private audience
with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect
of the Congregation for the Causes of
Saints, Pope Francis gave the go-ahead
for the Congregation to issue a decree
“regarding a miracle attributed to the
intercession of Blessed Teresa, known
as Mother Teresa around the world.”
Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on
Aug. 26, 1910, Mother Teresa founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity and the Missionaries of
Charity.
“The order, which started in Calcutta and spread to more than 130 coun-
Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Wikipedia Commons.
tries,” Zenit reported, “ran hospices
for those suffering from HIV/AIDS,
leprosy, and tuberculosis. Known for
her charitable works with the poor and
sick, the soon to be canonized saint
died on Sept. 5, 1997.”
Soon after her death, the Church
initiated her beatification process. In
2002, St. John Paul II beatified her after the required first miracle – the healing of an Indian woman suffering from
an abdominal tumor – was confirmed.
On Dec. 17, Pope Francis confirmed
the second miracle – the 2008 cure of
a Brazilian man afflicted with brain
abscesses.
Final Synod Report “On the Family” Released
The XIV Ordinary Synod “On the Vocation and Mission of the Family in the
Church and Contemporary World” concluded on October 25. Like each synod
before it, a “final report” from the bishopparticipants was sent to the Holy Father;
its official English translation was published mid-December. From this report, it
is expected—as the Synod Fathers themselves request—that the Holy Father will
pen his own exhortation on the matter,
based on the Synod’s final report.
The report is divided into three principal parts: “The Church Listening to
the Family,” in which the current social, economic, and cultural circumstances are examined; “The Family in
God’s Plan,” which outlines, according
to Scripture and traditional teaching, the
Church’s teaching on the family; and
“The Mission of the Family,” which provides guidance on how the family can
and ought to live its full life in today’s
world.
In this latter section, the document
gives attention to the liturgical celebration of the Sacrament of Marriage. “The
marriage liturgy is a unique event,” the
document states. “An engaged couple
devotes a great deal of time preparing
for the wedding ceremony. These cherished moments ought to be for them,
their families and friends a truly spiritual
and ecclesial celebration. The wedding
celebration is an auspicious opportunity
to invite many people to the celebration
of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and
the Eucharist. The Christian community,
through its heartfelt and joyous participation, is to welcome the new family in
its midst so that the new family as a domestic Church might feel a part of the
larger ecclesial family. The wedding
liturgy ought to be prepared through
a mystagogical catechesis which may
make a couple understand that the celebration of their covenant takes place
‘in the Lord.’ Frequently, the celebrant
has the opportunity to address an assembly made up of people who seldom
participate in the life of the Church or
belong to other Christian denominations
or religious communities. The occasion
provides a valuable opportunity to proclaim the Gospel of Christ, which can
lead the families who attend to a redis-
covery of faith and love which come from
God” (59).
Following the marriage celebration, the
Synod report continues, prayer and the liturgical life are to be a central aspect of
the married couple’s new life together.
“[F]amily spirituality, prayer and participation in Sunday Mass can also be
stressed and couples can be encouraged to
meet regularly to promote growth in their
spiritual life and solidarity in the practical
needs of life. A personal encounter with
Christ through the reading of the Word of
God, in the community and in homes, especially in the form of lectio divina, is a
source of inspiration in the family’s daily
activities. Liturgies, devotional practices
and Eucharistic celebrations for families,
especially on the anniversary of marriage,
sustain the family’s spiritual life and its
missionary witness” (60).
In light of the present report and
also by way of preparation for the Second edition of the Rite of Marriage,
the “mystagogical catechesis” on the
sacrament of Marriage will continue
to be featured in upcoming issues of
Adoremus.
In a separate Zenit article, CEO of
Canada’s Salt + Light Catholic network and columnist Father Thomas
Rosica reflected on Mother Teresa’s
life.
“I commentated her funeral for several national television networks in
Canada, which marked my first time
ever doing commentary on television!” he writes. “The pomp, precision and somber majesty of Princess
Diana’s London farewell one week
earlier were hardly visible in the chaotic scenes of Mother Teresa’s simple
wooden casket riding on a gun carriage through the mobbed and chaotic
streets of Calcutta for her State funeral.
“Mother Teresa’s life was not a
sound byte, but rather a metaphor for
selfless devotion and holiness. Her
most famous work began in 1950 with
the opening of the first Nirmal Hriday
(Tender Heart) home for the dying and
destitute in Calcutta. Mother’s words
remain inscribed on the walls of that
home: ‘Nowadays the most horrible
disease is not leprosy or tuberculosis.
It is the feeling to be undesirable, rejected, abandoned by all.’”
Adoremus
Society for the Renewal of the
Sacred Liturgy
Editor - publisher:
Christopher Carstens
Managing Editor:
Joseph O’Brien
Graphic Designer:
Danelle Bjornson
Office Manager:
Elizabeth Gallagher
Archbishop Wilton Gregory to lead USCCB’s
Committee on Divine Worship
Paterson, NJ, for a three-year term.
Archbishop Gregory, originally a
priest of Chicago, has served as Archbishop of Atlanta since 2004. From
2001-2004 he served as President of
the USCCB.
In addition to its regular work, the
Bishops’ Committee on Divine Wor-
ship is expected to oversee the publication of various liturgical texts for the
United States over the next few years,
including the Second Editions of the
Rite for the Dedication of a Church and
Altar, Exorcisms, the Rite of Baptism
for Children, and the Rite of Christian
Initiation of Adults.
“24 Hours for the Lord” to be
celebrated March 4-5
The United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has selected Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory
as (pictured above) the next Chairman
of the Bishops’ Committee on Divine
Worship. Chosen at the annual November meeting in Baltimore by a vote of
124-114 over Bishop John Barres of
Allentown, PA, Archbishop Gregory
will serve for one year as chairmanelect before replacing current committee chair Bishop Arthur Serratelli of
page 2
As a part of the present “Year of Mercy,” Pope Francis has called upon local
churches around the world to celebrate
“24 Hours for the Lord,” a time of Eucharistic adoration and reception of the
Sacrament of Penance. While the “24
Hours” celebrations have been held on
the Fourth Sunday of Lent since 2014,
this year’s observance has received special emphasis by the Holy Father in his
Bull “Misericordiae Vultus”, the “Face
of Mercy.”
“The initiative of 24 Hours for the
Lord,” writes Pope Francis, “to be celebrated on the Friday and Saturday preceding the Fourth Week of Lent, should
be implemented in every diocese. So
many people, including young people,
are returning to the Sacrament of Reconciliation; through this experience
they are rediscovering a path back to the
Lord, living a moment of intense prayer
and finding meaning in their lives. Let
us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the center once more in such a
way that it will enable people to touch
the grandeur of God’s mercy with their
own hands. For every penitent, it will be
a source of true interior peace” (17).
The Holy Father himself will preside
at a penance service at St. Peter Basilica
on Friday, March 4. It is for local dioceses to make particular arrangements
for similar celebrations.
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Adoremus Bulletin (ISSN 1088-8233) is published six
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The Merciful
Vision of Jesus
By Christopher Carstens
Editor
N
ebraska, my home state, has
many farmers who grow lots
of corn. A friend of mine, many
years my senior, once made an interesting observation about our fellow Corn
Huskers as we drove into the state’s
capital of Lincoln.
“When a Nebraska corn farmer drives
into the city and sees the tall buildings,”
my friend said, “his first thought is ‘I
wonder how many bushels that building could hold.’”
He didn’t say this to disparage farmers, but only to make the point that each
of us sees the world according to our
own upbringing, culture, and formation.
My own formation, at least in part, is
that of a liturgist. (OK, keep those liturgist jokes to yourself!) I have been
trained to see things through liturgical lenses, or with a sacramental sight.
What does this mean?
A very basic definition of a sacrament is “an outward sign, instituted by
Christ, to give grace.” Or, put another
way, a sacrament or sacramental thing
has one dimension that can be sensed
and another hidden dimension that, ultimately, is the divine life of God.
One thing is seen; another is made
present. An earthly symbol is encountered, a heavenly reality made manifest. The natural sign bears a supernatural truth.
It was with these eyes that I first read
Pope Francis’ “Prayer for the Year of
Mercy,” and I found it also to be rather
sacramental in nature.
The Holy Father prays, “Lord Jesus
Christ, you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father, and have
told us that whoever sees you sees
him. Show us your face and we will be
saved.” Like this verse from John 14:9,
St. Paul says that Jesus is “the image
of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). Based
upon these texts, the tradition will even
call Jesus the supreme sacrament. St.
Augustine claims that ultimately “there
is no other sacrament of God except
Christ” (see CCC 774). Today’s Catechism of the Catholic Church says that
Christ’s “humanity appeared as ‘sacrament,’ that is, the sign and instrument,
of his divinity and of the salvation he
brings: what was visible in his earthly
life leads to the invisible mystery of
his divine sonship and redemptive mission” (CCC 515).
Later, after calling Christ “the visible face of the invisible Father,” the
Holy Father asks him that the “Church
be your visible face in the world.”
This, too, is a sacramental relationship between Christ and his Church. In
our present place in salvation history,
Christ still works—as he always has—
but he does so now through the Church
and her sacraments. Again, from the
Catechism: “Christ’s work in the liturgy is sacramental…because his Body,
which is the Church, is like a sacrament
(sign and instrument) in which the
Holy Spirit dispenses the mystery of
salvation…” (CCC 1111). The Council’s “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy,” relying on St. Augustine, likewise
refers to the sacramental nature of the
Church when it says that “it was from
the side of Christ as he slept the sleep
of death upon the cross that there came
forth ‘the wondrous sacrament of the
whole Church’” (SC 5).
Head of Christ (Rembrandt)
Wikipedia Commons
Prayer of Pope Francis for the Jubilee Year of Mercy
Lord Jesus Christ,
you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father,
and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him.
Show us your face and we will be saved.
Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;
the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things;
made Peter weep after his betrayal,
and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.
Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us,
the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:
“If you knew the gift of God!”
You are the visible face of the invisible Father,
of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy:
let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified.
You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness
in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error:
let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God.
Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing,
so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord,
and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor,
proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,
and restore sight to the blind.
We ask this of you, Lord Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy;
you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Holy Father’s prayer, of course,
is not meant to be looked at principally in an academic manner; and these
present reflections are not meant to
be those of a liturgy professor. To see
devotional prayers—and, indeed, the
entire world—as connected to the liturgy and sacraments is not some quirk
of “professional” liturgists. Rather, to
view the life of faith through liturgical lenses brings clarity, enlightenment,
and insight. It lets us begin to see Jesus
who comes to us in a privileged way
in the Church and her sacraments. And
it’s the type of vision that belongs to all
Catholics.
This same sacramental perspective
sets the course for our present issue. I’ll
take a look at the use of “repetition” in
the texts of the Roman Missal and show
how the many poetic styles of repeating texts help the words of the Mass
resound, reflect, and reveal the Word
of the Trinity (to “sacramentalize” it,
in other words). Benedict Nguyen will
address some of the more frequently
misunderstood aspects of Marriage, especially from the canonical and liturgical vantage points. The “rules” and
“laws” governing marriage are not simply a litany of ecclesial disciplines but
are meant in the end to help the mar-
riage between man and woman manifest (read: sacramentalize) that ultimate
marriage of Jesus to his own Bride, the
Church. Adoremus’s managing editor
Joseph O’Brien will show us in his review and excerpting of David Clayton’s
book The Way of Beauty how beauty is
a constituent element of faith, evangelization, culture, and liturgy, and that
beauty—like Christ—has the power to
attract and save.
May the Year of Mercy—through the
Holy Father’s prayer, the approaching
Lenten season, the Church and our liturgies—give to us and to the world, the
vision of Jesus, face of the Father.
page 3
“All the fun’s in how you say a thing” – Repetition in the Roman Missal
By Christopher Carstens
Editor
Liturgical language speaks many things. It is meant
to edify, instruct, inspire, praise, console, and much
besides. In the end, though, liturgical language (like
every liturgical element) facilitates a meeting between Christ and his people. The words of the liturgy
“sound like” the Word of the Trinity, and to sing or
say or pray or hear liturgical language is to encounter
the Word made flesh.
What does such a language sound like? A single human language—twenty-first century English, for example—is used in a variety of ways, mostly depending on the discipline. Newspapers read in a particular
way; talk over the water cooler sounds more casual
than an academic discussion in the classroom; Monday Night Football has its own lexicon; and so on. But
what characterizes liturgical language?
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal
speaks of the language of the Mass as “noble” and
“marked by literary quality” (GIRM 392). The first
post-Vatican II translations, according to Pope John
Paul II, while in many ways suitable initial translations, often lacked the qualities necessary for sacramental language. Writing in 1988, 25 years after the
promulgation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (“Sacrosanctum Concilium”), he acknowledged
that the “adaptation of languages has been rapidly accomplished, even if on occasion with some difficulties…. But now the time has come to reflect upon a
certain difficulties that have subsequently emerged, to
remedy certain defects or inaccuracies, to complete
partial translations, to compose or approve chants to
be used in the Liturgy, to ensure respect for the texts
approved and lastly to publish liturgical books in a
form that both testifies to the stability achieved and
is worthy of the mysteries being celebrated” (“Vicesimus quintus annus” 16, 20).
Many of the correctives envisioned by the Holy Father came to fruition in the 2001 document “Liturgiam authenticam,” on the use of vernacular languages. Among other things, “Liturgiam authenticam” said
the following about the nature of liturgical language:
“Since liturgical texts by their very nature are intended to be proclaimed orally and to be heard in
the liturgical celebration, they are characterized by
a certain manner of expression that differs from that
found in everyday speech or in texts intended to be
read silently. Examples of this include recurring and
recognizable patterns of syntax and style, a solemn
or exalted tone, alliteration and assonance, concrete
and vivid images, repetition, parallelism and contrast, a certain rhythm, and at times, the lyric of poetic
compositions”(LA 59).
It is on the topic of the just-named “repetition” that
the present entry is concerned. The Constitution on
the Sacred Liturgy (of which “Liturgiam authenticam” is the fifth instruction for its correct implementation) described the rites (and, by extension, ritual
language) as being “short, clear, and unencumbered
by useless repetitions” (SC 34). But what distinguishes a “useless” repetition from a “useful” one?
The translation of the third edition of the Roman
Missal into English includes a great deal of poetic
repetition, especially when compared to its immediate predecessor. Far from “useless,” these repetitions
render the translation a more beautiful and authentic
expression of that which they signify-Christ, who is
none other than the eternal Word himself.
Notice, too, in the examples that follow, the types
of repetition. It surprised me when I discovered how
many different ways there are to say a thing. These
examples are drawn not from ecclesial or theological sources, but from the best that human speech and
writing have given to humanity through the years.
In each example, I give the name of the repetition,
followed by an explanation of the passage from secular sources which illustrates the type of repetition, and
then an example of the repetition in the 3rd edition’s
Latin typical edition and its translation into English. I
then compare the 3rd edition translation to the translation into English in the 1985 Sacramentary.
There are many ways to say a thing. In the liturgy,
the “thing” (or, in Latin, res) is the Word. To say this
“Word” with the Church is good, true, and beautiful
(and maybe even fun).
Anaphora, a Greek term meaning “to carry back to the
start,” is the repetition of beginnings:
• “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise
up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We
hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are
created equal’.” (Martin Luther King, “Normalcy, Never Again,” in which he repeats “I have a
dream” at the start of eight consecutive sentences)
• Roman Missal, Latin typical edition:
Laudamus te,
benedicimus te,
adoramus te
glorificamus te,
gratias agimus tibi propter magnam
gloriam tuam,
Domine Deus, Rex celestis,
Deus Pater omnipotens.
• Roman Missal in English (2011):
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
• Sacramentary (1985):
Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you,
we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Martin Luther King’s August 1963 speech,
“Normalcy – Never Again,” which he famously
delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
in Washington, D.C., employed anaphora, the
repetition of beginnings, by starting eight successive lines of his speech with the phrase “I
have a dream.”
Symploce is a repetition of both beginnings and endings:
• “I’ll tell you who Time ambles withal, who Time
trots withal, who Time gallops withal, and who he
stands still withal.” (Shakespeare, As You Like It,
3.2.309)
Unde et memores, Domine,
nos servi tui,
sed et plebs tua sancta…,
efferimus praeclarae maistati tuae
de tuis donis ac datis
hostiam puram,
hostiam sanctam,
hostiam immaculatam,
Panem sanctum vitae aeternae
et Calicem salutis perpetuae.
• Roman Missal:
Therefore, O Lord…,
we, your servants and your holy people,
Symploce, the repetition of beginnings and
offer to your glorious majesty
endings, in Shakespeare: ““I’ll tell you who
Time ambles withal, who Time trots withal,
from the gifts that you have given us,
who Time gallops withal, and who he stands
this pure victim,
still withal.” (As You Like It, 3.2.309).
this holy victim,
this spotless victim,
the holy Bread of eternal life
and the Chalice of everlasting salvation. (Unde et memores of the Roman Canon)
We, your people and your ministers…,
offer to you, God of glory and majesty,
this holy and perfect sacrifice:
the bread of life
and the cup of eternal salvation.
Diacope, from the Greek “to cut in two,” makes an insertion between two repeated parts. Thus, diacope is
the repetition with only a word or two between:
• “Words, words, mere words, no matter from the heart.” (Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida,
5.3.109) “A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!” (Shakespeare, Richard III, 5.4.7) “To be,
or not to be, that is the question.” (Shakespeare, Hamlet, 3.1)
mea culpa,
mea culpa,
mea maxima culpa.
• Roman Missal:
through my fault,
through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
I confess to almighty God,
and to you, my brothers and sister,
that I have sinned through my own fault….
Continued on Page 5
page 4
Continued from Page 4
Anadiplosis, meaning “to double up,” is the repetition by which words at the end of a phrase are repeated at the
beginning of the next syntactical unit:
• “When I give, I give myself.” (Whitman) “All men that are ruined, are ruined on the side of their natural
propensities.” (Burke)
Priest: Habemus ad Dominum.
People: Dignum et iustum est.
Priest: Vere dignum et iustum est…
• Roman Missal:
Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right and just.
Priest: It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation…
Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Priest: Father, it is our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks….”
A palindrome is a type of repetition where one set of letters or words is reflected in the reverse or opposite order.
“Eye” is a short palindrome; “racecar” a longer one. A longer palindrome still is “A man, a plan, a canal: Panama,”
where the “c” in “canal” is the middle point and the letters read on either side as a mirror image. A palindrome of
entire words and phrases is called an epanados, while a palindrome of an entire passage is called a chiasmus, from
the Greek letter chi (written as “X”).
Epanados, repetition of words in the opposite, or inverse order:
• “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” (John F. Kennedy’s
1961 Inaugural Address) “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” (Shakespeare, Macbeth 1.1.12)
Vota, quaesumus, Domine,
supplicantis populi caelesti pietate prosequere,
ut et quae agenda sunt videant,
et ad implenda quae viderint convalescent.
Per Christum…
• Roman Missal:
Attend to the pleas of your people with heavenly care,
O Lord, we pray,
that they may see what must be done
and gain strength to do what they have seen.
Through our Lord… (Collect, 1st Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Father of love,
hear our prayers.
Help us to know your will
and to do it with courage and faith.
Grant this…
Chiasmus is an epanados at the level of a larger unit or passage. As mentioned above, the chiasmus takes its
name from the Greek letter chi, written as an “X,” the very shape of which visualizes the nature of a palindrome.
Also, since it is the first letter of Christ’s name in Greek, Χριστός, it appears a suitable device in the Roman Canon:
The Roman Canon:
1. Initial praise (Preface dialogue, preface text, Sanctus): “The Lord be with you….” “It is truly right and
just….” “Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus”
2. Initial prayer through Christ: “To you, therefore [Te igitur], most merciful Father, we make
humble prayer and petition, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.”
3A. First intercessions (for the Church, the Pope, Bishop, the living): “…which we offer firstly [In primis] for your Church.” “Remember, Lord, your servants N. and N.
and all gathered here [Memento, Domine]….”
3B. First list of saints: “In communion with those whose memory we venerate, especially the glorious ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ,
and blessed Joseph….”
4A. First formula of offering: “Therefore, Lord, we pray [Hanc igitur]: graciously accept this oblation or our service…”
4B. First (consecratory) epiclesis: “Be pleased, O God, we pray, to bless,
acknowledge, and approve this offering [Quam oblationem] in every
respect…”
5A. Double consecration: “On the day before [Qui pridie] he was to
suffer, he took bread…” “In a similar way [Simili modo], when
supper was ended, he took this precious chalice…”
5B. Anamnesis: “Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial [Unde et memores] of the blessed Passion, the Resurrection
from the dead, and the glorious Ascension into heaven…”
4A. Second formula of offering: “Be pleased to look upon these offerings
[Supra quae] with a serene and kindly countenance…”
4B. Second (communion) epiclesis: “In humble prayer we ask you [Supplices te rogamus], almighty God: command that these gifts be borne by
the hands of your holy Angel to your altar on high…so that all of us…may
be filled with every grace and blessing.”
3A. Second intercessions (for the deceased and for the participants): “Remember also
[Memento etiam], Lord, your servants N. and N., who have gone before us…” “To
us, also, your servants, who, though sinners [Nobis quoque peccatoribus], hope in
your abundant mercies…”
3B. Second list of saints: “…graciously grant some share and fellowship [et societatem
donare digneris] with your holy Apostles and Martyrs: with John the Baptist,
Stephen….”
2. Concluding prayer through Christ: “Through whom [Per quem] you continue to make all these good
things, O Lord, you sanctify them, fill them with life, bless them, and bestow them upon us.”
1. Concluding praise (doxology): “Through him, and with him, and in him...all glory is yours forever and ever.”
T.S. Eliot, among the greatest 20th century poets, began his 1930 poem “Ash
Wednesday” with a series of useful repetitions: “Because I do not hope to turn
again / Because I do not hope / Because I do not hope to turn…”.
In Pope St. John Paull II’s “The Roman
Tryptic: Meditations,” he uses the repetition called epandaos, where a particular
phrase is repeated or reflected in inverse
order:
“The Word, the marvelous eternal Word,
as an invisible threshold / of all that has
come into being, exists or will exist. As
if the Word were the threshold. / The
threshold of the Word, containing the
invisible form of everything, divine and
eternal —beyond this threshold everything begins to happen?”
The second letter from St. Peter uses
anadiplosis, the repetition of the last
word or a phrase at the beginning of
the next phrase: “Make every effort to
supplement your faith with virtue, virtue
with knowledge, knowledge with selfcontrol, self-control with endurance,
endurance with devotion, devotion with
mutual affection, mutual affection with
love” (2 Peter 1:5-7). St. Peter, by Paolo
Emilio Besenzi (d.1656).
As Robert Frost put it a century ago in his narrative poem “The Mountain,” “All the fun’s in how you say a thing.” The Church agrees. The Mass—which
reflects beauty itself, Jesus—requires such beauty in its language — indeed, in the poetry and art of the entire liturgy. The “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy” called for “useless repetitions” to be omitted, yet time and pastoral discretion, particularly under the leadership of Pope John Paul II, came to realize
the usefulness, appropriateness, and even necessity of some repetition.
Anaphora, symploce, diacope, anadiplosis, epanados, and chiasmus are types of “useful” repetition, used by mankind’s best authors in our most timeless
poetry and literature, and these same figures are heard in the Church’s most privileged words, those of the Mass. What fun!
page 5
Marriage Law Revisited — Part I
By Benedict Nguyen, M.T.S.,
J.D./J.C.L., D.Min (ABD)
Recently, several events in the Catholic
Church have triggered a renewed interest in her teachings and laws concerning marriage. The XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
on the Family along with the revisions
to the procedure for the declaration of
marriage nullity process (popularly
so-called “annulment”) promulgated
by Pope Francis in two apostolic letters issued motu proprio entitled “Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus” and “Mitis
et misericors Iesus” for the Latin and
Eastern Churches, respectively, have
caused a plethora of articles, reports,
and opinion pieces to be published.
The upcoming promulgation of the
2nd edition of the Rite of Marriage will
no doubt add to this interest.
A quick survey of recent commentaries on marriage in both popular and
academic Catholic publications – not
to mention the secular media – display
dramatically varying levels of accuracy. These in turn reveal some alarming misunderstandings among many
regarding the Church’s doctrines and
regulations on marriage and the reasons for them. Such confusion shows
that there remains a great need to recover a clarity of understanding when
it comes to the Church’s teachings and
laws on marriage, even and especially
among Catholics, if the various marital
situations that are encountered in pastoral ministry are to be addressed effectively.
While not intending to be comprehensive, the following represent a
number of aspects concerning the reality of marriage in Catholic theology,
canon law, and liturgy that bear revisiting so that the beauty of the Church’s
teachings and laws on marriage can be
better understood not as obstacles to
marriage but rather as reflections and
guarantors of it.
Why does the Church regulate
marriage with canon law?
Unfortunately, many both inside
and outside the Church misunderstand
the role of canon law – and for that
matter liturgical law – in the life of
the Church and concerning marriage.
They view law simply as regulations
determined by the authority of the lawgiver – whether a collective group or
an individual authority – that can be
changed or manipulated at will. Often
called “legal positivism,” this is not
how the Church views the role of law
in her life. In fact, the Catechism of the
Catholic Church (CCC) explicitly reminds us that even the supreme authority in the Church cannot, for example,
change liturgical laws arbitrarily (CCC
1125).
Pope St. John Paul II in promulgating the 1983 Code of Canon Law (CIC)
clarifies that the Code, i.e. Church
law, is not a substitute for faith, grace,
charisms, and charity but rather its purpose is to create an order in the Church
where these elements can flourish.
Thus, concerning marriage, the purpose of Church law is not to obstruct it
or make things more difficult; rather, its
purpose is to put into practice and safeguard what we believe about marriage.
Whether canonical or liturgical law,
the Church’s regulations on marriage
seek to reflect faithfully her teachings
on marriage, safeguard them, and put
them into practice. At times, they are
sober reminders that marriage is not
just something that is a personal matpage 6
ter between the will of the parties, as
pop culture would have us believe, but
rather a profound reality with social,
ecclesial, and even sacramental effects.
What is the definition of marriage?
Surprisingly, it is in the CIC that
the Church gives what is arguably the
most beautiful and profound definition
of marriage. In fact, the CCC at the
beginning of its section on matrimony
(CCC 1601) simply quotes this definition from canon law.
In canon 1055, the Church teaches
that “(§1) the matrimonial covenant,
by which a man and a woman establish
between themselves a partnership of
the whole of life and which is ordered
by its nature to the good of the spouses
and the procreation and education of
offspring, has been raised by Christ
the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament
between the baptized. (§2) For this reason, a valid matrimonial contract cannot exist between the baptized without
it being by that fact a sacrament.”
In this profound definition, we find
in summary form the main aspects of
what constitutes marriage naturally
and what constitutes it sacramentally.
Natural Marriage and Sacramental
Marriage – What’s the Difference?
This is perhaps one of the most
commonly misunderstood distinctions
regarding the Church’s teachings on
marriage. Failing to understand this
distinction has caused serious confusion in many of the discussions regarding especially the declaration of nullity
process and its reform.
In a nutshell, “natural marriage” is a
marriage that a man and a woman have
when they enter into a marital relationship containing all the natural elements
that God has put into what marriage
is. Thus, even if they are not baptized
Christians, they are truly a husband
and a wife.
A “sacramental marriage” (i.e.
“Christian marriage”) is when two baptized persons have a valid natural marriage and, because they are baptized,
that marriage is now also a sacrament
of the Church with all that it means to
be a true sacrament.
It is important to remember that
marriage is first a “natural institution,”
that is, it is established by God as a
good in creation, endowing it with its
own proper laws (cf. CCC 1603-1605
and “Gaudium et spes” 48).” Written by God into the nature of man
and woman, the common and permanent characteristics of marriage can be
seen and understood by all. However,
like other aspects of the natural moral
law, it is not always transparent everywhere and with the same clarity due
to ignorance, cultural biases, sin, etc.
Nonetheless, where these natural law
elements of marriage are followed, a
human person, whether baptized or
not, is able to enter into a true, valid
marital relationship as God designed
it to be. Contrarily, where any one of
these natural aspects is missing, the relationship cannot be considered a valid
marriage because it would lack an essential element that would have established it as a true act of marrying.
Canon 1055 lists these natural law
elements – that is, elements that are
essential to the nature of any marriage
– to include being between one man
and one woman, established by and
between themselves (through consent),
as a partnership for the whole of life,
for the good of the spouses and the pro-
The Wedding Feast at Cana
Wikipedia Commons
creation and education of offspring, i.e.
with the proper “ends” and “essential
properties” of marriage (discussed below.) Thus, whether a person is Catholic or not, baptized or not, to have a
valid marriage, these natural law elements must be present. If they are, the
marriage is a valid natural marriage.
If they are not, the marriage cannot be
considered valid.
Through Original Sin, the world,
including the natural institution of marriage, is affected by disorder (cf. CCC
1606-1608). Into this fallen world, Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah
whose relationship with his People is
seen as a nuptial covenant (cf. CCC
1612), raises the natural institution of
marriage to the dignity of a sacrament
(cf. CCC 1613).
Thus, the marriage of two baptized persons, in addition to being a valid natural marriage, is now one of the seven
sacraments of the Church with all that
being a sacrament entails, including
being an efficacious sign of Christ’s
presence, a channel of the grace of the
Paschal Mystery of Christ, etc. (cf.
CCC 1641-1642).
Since baptism is the gateway to the
sacraments and is necessary for the
valid reception of the other sacraments
(cf. canon 849), it is necessary that
both parties in a marriage be baptized
in order for their valid natural marriage
Continued on Page 7
communication and instruction so that
the Christian faithful are formed in the
true meaning of Christian marriage (including the theological, canonical, and
pastoral elements) and what it means to
be a Christian spouse and parent. One
could say that canon law envisions a
sort of “family catechesis,” that is, formation in vocation from early on and
continuing into adulthood.
Only then does canon 1063, 2° focus on immediate preparation for the
engaged, calling for them to be formed
in personal preparation that disposes
them to the holiness and duties of the
new state of the order of spouses to
which they are being called (cf. CCC
1631). Along with this, the CIC calls
for a preparation that disposes the
soon-to-be spouses in a fruitful liturgical celebration, forming them in the
understanding that they as spouses
signify and share in the mystery of the
unity and fruitful love between Christ
and the Church (canon 1603, 3°).
Finally, and surprisingly, the CIC
does not stop there but rather in the
same canon also calls for the all the
faithful to offer help to those who are
married so that they can preserve and
protect their conjugal covenant, growing daily in holier and fuller family life
(cf. canon 1603, 4°).
All those involved in designing and
implementing marriage preparation
programs would do well to consult,
reflect, and creatively seek to develop
Pope John Paul II emphasized the great
complementarity between the 1983
Code of Canon Law and the documents
of the Second Vatican Council.
to be also a sacrament of the Church. In
fact, canon 1055 §2 reminds us that a
valid matrimonial contract (i.e. a valid
natural marriage) cannot exist between
baptized persons without it also being
a sacrament, thus becoming “Christian
marriage” or “sacramental marriage.”
When this is the case, the essential
properties of marriage, namely unity
and indissolubility, obtain a special
firmness by reason of the sacramental
graces involved (cf. canon 1056).
Valid and Invalid, Licit and Illicit
Marriage – What’s the Difference?
A valid marriage is a marriage in
which the act of marrying had with it
all the necessary essential aspects to
establish the parties as husband and
wife, resulting in all the juridic effects
(i.e. the rights and duties) that go with
being a married person.
For those who are not Catholic, this
means that all the natural law elements
necessary for a valid natural marriage
must be present. For Catholics and
those marrying Catholics (cf. canon
11 and 1059), aside from the natural
law marriage requirements, the Church
asks that these follow some additional
laws designed for the valid, licit, and
fruitful celebration of marriage, which
between the baptized, is also a sacrament of the Church (cf. canon 1066).
Some of these are so important that the
Church has made them requirements
for validity – that is, if not followed,
the man and woman walk down the
aisle as single persons.
Other requirements are for liceity
– that is, if not followed, though the
man and woman walk down the aisle
as husband and wife, the fruitfulness
of the celebration and good order in
the Church’s life have not been well
served. Not to be taken lightly, the effects of illiceity exist to varying degrees of detriment to the life of the parties and the Church depending on the
seriousness of the illiceity.
So that there is no question, elements that are required for validity are
either expressly established in Church
law (cf. canon 10) or are constitutive
elements, such as the requirement of
having a man and a woman for marriage.
What are the “ends” and the
“essential properties” of marriage?
Without getting into a technical
discussion of the traditional formulation of the “ends of marriage” versus
the current expression of it, the updated CIC as well the CCC, following “Gaudium et spes” 48, express the
“ends of marriage” – that is, what marriage is “for” – as being “ordered by its
nature to the good of the spouses and
(atque) the procreation and education
of offspring” (canon 1055 and CCC
1601). What this means is that the nature of marriage is designed by God for
these purposes.
Aside from the “ends of marriage,”
the nature of marriage also reveals that
there are “essential properties” built
into it by God. These properties the
CIC lists explicitly as “unity and indissolubility” which obtain a “special
firmness” when the marriage is also a
sacramental one (canon 1056) by reason of the sacramental graces involved.
From both the “ends” and the
“properties” of marriage, St. Augustine
and others after him famously summarized that there are certain “goods”
essential to the nature of marriage,
namely the bonum prolis (the “good of
offspring”), the bonum fidei (the “good
of exclusivity”), and the bonum sacramenti (the “good of indissolubility”),
and the bonum coniugum (the “good of
the spouse”).
Because the act of exchanging
consent is what establishes marriage
(canon 1057), where a party intentionally and actively excludes the essential
ends of marriage or any one of the essential properties of marriage, in other
words intentionally excluding from
one’s consent the “goods” of marriage,
a valid act of marrying cannot be said
to have happened to have happened.
Does the Church have norms for
marriage preparation?
One of the more notable topics
that arose from the discussions at the
XIV Ordinary General Assembly of
the Synod of Bishops on the Family
was the call for an improvement regarding how marriage preparation is
done. What many do not realize is that
the Code of Canon Law already has a
beautiful vision of pastoral care and
those things that must precede the cel-
Matrimony, The Seven Sacraments, Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1445.
Wikipedia Commons
ebration of marriage. According to the
poignant canon 1063, pastors of souls
and the ecclesiastical community – i.e.,
all of us – are called to offer assistance
to those preparing for marriage and
those who are in the matrimonial state.
It is interesting to note that canon
law views marriage preparation as
beginning much earlier than has been
popularly envisioned. Currently, marriage preparation is seen as beginning when a couple becomes engaged.
Canon 1063, 1°, however, envisions
a much more remote preparation for
marriage with proper preaching and
catechesis adapted to minors, youth,
and adults using all forms of social
what the CIC envisions as pastoral care
for marriage both in the preparation for
and the living out of this sacrament.
Benedict Nguyen is a canon and civil
lawyer and serves as the Canonical
Counsel & Theological Adviser for
the Diocese of Corpus Christi (Texas).
He also serves as an adjunct professor for the Avila Institute for Spiritual
Formation.
Editor’s note: The second part of
Benedict Nguyen’s article will be
appearing in the March 2016 issue of
Adoremus.
page 7
Sacred Tradition and the individual artist: a review of The Way of Beauty
The Way of Beauty: Liturgy, Education,
and Inspiration for Family, School,
and College by David Clayton. Angelico Press (Kettering, Ohio 2015), 282
pp., $17.95
By Joseph O’Brien
Managing Editor
T
he Catholic artist has had a
rough time of it lately. From
Hollywood’s shallow low-brow
entertainment to the abject rejection of
Christian thought and belief among today’s higher brows, Catholic painters,
poets, novelists and other workers in
beauty have found little access to the
secular portals of creativity which presume to define the present state of the
arts. When it comes to participating in
the arts and letters of the current day,
the working assumption seems to be
Christian artists need not apply. But
in denying this Christ-centered creative perspective, today’s culture is
impoverished and isolated from the
only source that can give it new life.
Throughout Church history, the Catholic arts have been a bridge to the transcendent truths which fulfill our understanding of who we are as humans and
orient us to our ultimate destiny with
God in heavenly glory.
While the causes for this abridgement of Catholic arts are manifold,
Anglo-Catholic poet T.S. Eliot rightly
points out that the root of these cultural problems is that modern culture
doesn’t understand its own Christian
foundations. Seeking to address the
concept of tradition as a necessary
mainstay for maintaining culture, Eliot
wrote his influential essay “Tradition
and the Individual Talent” as a way
to reassert the proper relationship between the artist and the culture. Published almost a century ago in 1919, at
a time when Western culture was looking more like a wasteland than a watershed, Eliot’s essay provided a trustworthy compass by which the Catholic
artist could safely take his bearings. It
serves a similar purpose today.
“No poet, no artist of any art,” Eliot writes, “has his complete meaning
alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation
to the dead poets and artists. You cannot value him alone; you must set him,
for contrast and comparison, among
the dead. I mean this as a principle of
aesthetic, not merely historical, criticism” (Selected Essays, T.S. Eliot 4-5).
A welcome elaboration on Eliot’s
aesthetic criticism, David Clayton’s
The Way of Beauty: Liturgy, Education,
and Inspiration for Family, School and
College, seeks to restore this same relationship between artist and tradition
– and thereby renew the culture – in
an explicitly Catholic way. Expanding on Eliot’s notion of the artist’s individual contribution to tradition, The
Way of Beauty seeks to reconnect the
Catholic artist’s individual talent with
the Western artistic tradition by fostering a greater understanding and love
for the Church’s Tradition, especially
as it touches on sacred art. In this way,
The Way of Beauty calls for something
even bolder than what Eliot prescribes
– an integration not only of the individual talent with the tradition, but
of the artistic tradition itself with the
Catholic liturgy. For Clayton, such a
call includes a complete educational
program based on the Liberal Arts and
an aesthetic formation which includes
a strong focus on ancient classical and
page 8
Catholic models of harmony and proportion.
Relying on his own knowledge and
training as an artist and art historian
to make his case for beauty, Clayton
also enlists the help of some contemporary thinkers who, on the face of it,
aren’t usually associated with aesthetic theory. Many of the popes make an
appearance in The Way of Beauty, and
Clayton has special regard for Benedict XVI’s liturgical writings and John
Paul II’s 1999 Letter to Artists.
Examining case studies among the
masterpieces of art and architecture,
The Way of Beauty is a spiritual, intellectual and creative curriculum for
integrating what Clayton calls the
Church’s “culture of faith” and contemporary culture, “such that each
reinforces and reflects the other”(The
Way of Beauty, David Clayton 30).
“The liturgy and the culture of faith
preserve the faith of those who already
possess it,” Clayton writes. “However,
this is not enough. It is particularly important that contemporary culture be a
Catholic culture of beauty too, because
this may be the only aspect of Christian culture that non-Christians see….
Contemporary culture, therefore, is at
the forefront of our work of evangelization” (Clayton 30).
Today’s artists and critics might
cringe at the idea of creativity serving
as a means of evangelization, but Clayton proposes no simplistic Bible- or
Catechism-thumping didacticism presenting cheap allegorical overlays as
vehicles for imparting moral or spiritual lessons. Rather, The Way of Beauty
relies on the power of beauty itself as
the primary path to individual and cultural conversion.
“This is the Way of Beauty,” Clayton
writes, “a joyful path to God by which
our work shines with the light of Christ
and draws people in so that they might
share in it” (Clayton 2).
In opposition to what Benedict XVI
has called “the tyranny of relativism,”
Clayton defines beauty along objective classical lines – that what is beautiful can be objectively known and
that objects of beauty can be objectively judged. Noting that the Greek
word for beauty, “kosmos,” is also the
word for order as applied both to the
natural world and to the arts, Clayton
shows how the Church – from Boethius through Augustine and Thomas
Aquinas to the contemporary popes –
adopted this notion because it was a
“self-evident” truth.
“Just like the ancients, I appeal to
consensus, the fact that most people
see [beauty] that way, as a basis of its
truth…. Once this consensus is accepted, it seems a small step to assert also
that there is some property in the object
of our attention which makes it beautiful; or to put it another way, that beauty
is an objective property. And, in turn,
once we have accepted that [beauty is
objective], then it seems natural to try
to analyze that beauty and describe it
numerically” (Clayton 139).
Holding that as a fundamental principle of aesthetics number is a quantitative measure and a qualitative symbol, Clayton argues, beauty itself participates in that which is timeless – as
eternal as number itself. Consequently,
he asserts, beauty will draw men to it
in a way that philosophical or theological arguments alone can’t.
“When a work of art or music expresses well the timeless principles
that appeal to all men, but in a way that
also characterizes the time and place of
those who experience it, the result is irresistible,” he writes. “The need for the
creation of these modern expressions
of the traditional are at the forefront
of culture. This is the challenge we are
placing before the gifted and creative
today” (Clayton 45).
Because of beauty’s “irresistible”
power, the liturgy too is an important
part of Clayton’s plan. In the Catholic
artistic tradition, there has never been
a separation of the here-and-now from
the eternal hereafter – and so it makes
sense, according to the author, that the
artist should aspire to lead souls to the
liturgy.
As Clayton notes, “if we participate
in the liturgy fully, it becomes an ordering principle for the whole of our
lives; that is, by participating in an
earthly liturgy that is in harmony with
heaven, we receive grace that flows
through our lives and overflows into
the world. The liturgy is the portal
that ushers the presence of God into
our lives and (through our participation) into the lives of others around us”
(Clayton 102).
Like art, Clayton says, the liturgy
is “the focal point for the meeting of
the material and the spiritual…. The
earthly liturgy should evoke a sense of
the non-sensible aspect of the liturgy
through its dignity and beauty. All our
activities within it – kneeling, praying,
standing – should be in accordance
with the heavenly standard. Likewise,
the architecture of the church building, as well as the art and music used,
should point us to what lies beyond
it and give us a real sense that we are
praising God with all his creation and
with the saints and angels in heaven”
(Clayton 100-102).
Despite placing a premium on beauty in its pages, The Way of Beauty is not
without its own flaws – at least in the
presentation of Clayton’s ideas. The
work is marred by a want of editing in
parts – to the detriment of clarity, concision and occasionally cohesion. But
overall, the work is a refreshing return
to “what works” in art as an anodyne
to the warped and thwarted aesthetics
of modernity. At the same time, Clayton makes haste to note early on in the
book that he is not seeking to return
our present culture to some Golden
Age of sacred art.
“In focusing strongly on the past traditions of the Church, there is no suggestion that I am looking for a future
that is an unthinking replication of the
past,” he writes. “Rather, I hope that
this analysis might lead us to a re-application of the same principles, but in
a way that is appropriate to our age.
To this end, my intention is to demonstrate how the form of these past traditions reflects the worldview of the artist as much as its content” (Clayton 6).
To the extent that it has elaborated
on T.S. Eliot’s concern for tradition
and the individual artist, The Way of
Beauty is also important because it
contributes an important statement to
the ongoing conversation about the
place of beauty in modern culture.
Catholic writer and critic Gregory
Wolfe’s 2011 book Beauty Will Save
the World: Recovering the Human in
an Ideological Age is steeped in this
same conversation about beauty and
Catholic art in the modern world. As
founder of Image, a Christian journal
of arts and letters, Wolfe’s entire lifework has been to bring this conversation to the fore – not only among
Catholic and other Christian artists
– but also among the modern makers
of mystery and manners in the mainstream culture as well.
“At the heart of Christian humanism,” Wolfe writes, “is the effort to
achieve a new synthesis between the
condition of the world around us and
the unique ways in which grace can
speak to that condition. That is how
art created by Christians will touch the
lives of those who encounter it” (The
Way of Beauty, Gregory Wolfe 23-24).
The Way of Beauty provides a blueprint for such an effort.
The title of Wolfe’s book is taken
from Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky’s famous aphorism; and both
Wolfe and Clayton see this saving
beauty as an essential means of accessing the transcendent in modern culture.
Continued on Page 9
“What does the famous and mysterious phrase… (quoted by John Paul
II in his Letter [to Artists]) mean?”
Clayton asks in his own book. “Does
it mean that the beauty that is in the
world will save it? Or must we look
for a beauty from beyond the world?
The answer is both. The beauty that
is in the world comes from beyond it.
It directs us to where it comes from.
The Christian religion, especially, is all
about this saving beauty” (Clayton 18).
And today’s Catholic artist, Wolfe
and Clayton would agree, is all about
drawing others to the source of this
saving beauty through inspiration,
prayer and love at each step along the
way.
Beauty and the Liturgy:
An Excerpt from The Way of
Beauty, by David Clayton
This connection between the beauty
of creation and our worship has long
been understood. Writing in the 5th
century, Pope St. Leo the Great, for example, says, “For every one of us nature is full of instruction that we should
worship God. The heavens and the
earth, the sea and all within them, proclaim the goodness and the almighty
power of their maker. The wonderful
beauty of these inferior elements of
nature demands that we, intelligent beings, should give thanks to God.”1
Christian cosmology is the study of
the patterns and rhythms of the planets
and the stars with the intention of ordering our work and praise to the work
Lent and the
Paschal Mystery
Editors
A
sh Wednesday in 2016 falls on
February 10. During Mass for
Ash Wednesday, at the Blessing of the
Ashes, the priest prays to God that Father that as we, the faithful, “follow the
Lenten observances, they may be worthy to come with minds made pure to
celebrate the Paschal Mystery of your
Son.”
Near Lent’s end, on Palm Sunday,
prior to the procession with psalms, the
priest offers a brief introduction and
admonition to celebrate prayerfully.
He says, in part: “Today we gather together to herald with the whole Church
the beginning of the celebration of our
Lord’s Paschal Mystery, that is to say,
of his Passion and Resurrection.”
On Good Friday’s celebration of the
Lord’s Passion, the priest asks God at
the beginning of liturgy to “Remember
your mercies, O Lord, and with your
eternal protection sanctify your servants, for who Christ your Son, by the
shedding of his Blood, established the
Paschal Mystery.”
It appears—according to prayers
(and therefore the mind) of the
Church—that the “Paschal Mystery” is
of central importance. But what, precisely, is this mystery?
There are a number of reliable
sources to look at, including the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic
Church. The pages of Adoremus will
continue to be filled with such references in the future. For the moment,
let’s look to Pope Benedict’s 2001 lecture on “The Theology of the Liturgy,”
here reprinted with permission from
Joseph Ratzinger’s Collected Works:
The Theology of the Liturgy from
Ignatius Press.
May the Paschal Mystery of Christ,
and praise of heaven – that is, to the
heavenly liturgy. The liturgical year of
the Church is based upon these natural
cycles. The date on which Easter falls,
for example, is calculated according to
the phases of the moon. The purpose of
earthly liturgy and, for that matter, all
Christian prayer cannot be understood
without grasping its harmony with the
heavenly dynamic and the cosmos. The
earthly liturgy should evoke a sense of
the non-sensible aspect of the liturgy
through its dignity and beauty. All our
activities within it—kneeling, praying,
standing—should be in accordance
with the heavenly standard. Likewise,
the architecture of the church building, as well as the art and music used
in that building, should all point us to
what lies beyond the earthly realm,
and give us a real sense that we are
praising God with all of his creation
and with the saints and angels in heaven. Pope Benedict XVI is sensitive to
this dimension of Christian life, and
his little book The Spirit of the Liturgy
seems devoted to awakening us to this
understanding. In the book, Benedict
discusses the importance of orienting
church buildings and the Mass to the
East, to face the rising sun, the symbol of the Risen One: “The cosmic
symbol of the rising sun expresses the
universality of God above all particular places.... But… this turning toward
the east also signifies that cosmos and
saving history belong together. The
cosmos is praying with us. It, too, is
waiting for redemption. It is precisely
this cosmic dimension that is essential
to Christian liturgy. It is never performed solely in the self-made world
of man. It is always a cosmic liturgy.
The theme of creation is embedded in
Christian prayer. It loses its grandeur
when it forgets this connection.”2
But why would we want to have a
liturgical life at all? One reason, as
Leo the Great pointed out, is the desire of believers to worship Him well
by giving Him thanks and praise, as an
end in itself simply because we love
God. Another reason is that if we participate in the liturgy fully, it becomes
an ordering principle for the whole of
our lives; that is, by participating in an
earthly liturgy that is in harmony with
heaven, we receive grace that flows
through our lives and overflows into
the world. The liturgy is a portal that
ushers the presence of God into our
lives and (through our participation)
the lives of others around us.
If we want to increase our collective
ability to conform to grace, we should
strive to make our liturgy conform to
the liturgy in heaven. Canon law and
the rubrics of the Mass are gifts from
God that can guide us so that we can
love him more, and open us, and so the
world, to the grace of God. And number is an essential part of this, through
the rhythmical repetitions of prayers
and words, through posture, and in the
production of beautiful music, art, and
architecture that are “liturgical” even
when they have a secular use.
The patterns observed in the cosmos
are described using number. The beauty of number is that once its signifi-
which is made present to us in the liturgies of the Triduum, lead us to the
merciful face of God the Father.
The Theology of the
Liturgy (excerpts)
Joseph Ratzinger 2001
The Second Vatican Council defined
the liturgy as “an action of Christ the
Priest and of his Body, which is the
Church.”1 The work of Jesus Christ is
referred to in the same text as the work
of the redemption that Christ accomplished especially by the Paschal Mystery of his Passion, of his Resurrection
from the dead, and his glorious Ascension. By this Paschal Mystery, by “dying he destroyed our death, and rising,
restored our life.”2
At first sight, in these two sentences,
the phrase “the action/work of Christ”
seems to have been used in two different senses. “The work of Christ” refers
first of all to the historical, redemptive
actions of Jesus, his death and his Resurrection; on the other hand, the celebration of the liturgy is called “the
work of Christ.”
In reality, the two meanings are inseparably linked: the death and Resurrection of Christ, the Paschal Mystery,
are not just exterior, historical events.
In the case of the Resurrection, this is
quite obvious. It extends into history
yet transcends it in two ways: it is not
the action of a man but an action of
God, and hence it carries the risen Jesus beyond history, to that place where
he sits at the right hand of the Father.
But the Cross is not a merely human
action, either. The purely human aspect is present in the people who led
Jesus to the Cross. For Jesus himself,
the Cross is not primarily an action,
but a passion, and a passion that signifies his oneness with the divine will – a
union, the dramatic character of which
is shown to us in the Garden of Gethsemane.3 Thus the passive dimension
of being put to death is transformed
Photo: Sergey Kozhukhov.
Creative Commons
into the active dimension of love; death
becomes the abandonment of himself
to the Father for men. In this way, the
horizon again extends, as it does in the
Resurrection, far beyond the purely
human aspect and far beyond the one-
“The ‘Paschal Mystery’
constitutes the core of ‘the
work of Jesus’” and is “the
real content of the liturgy.”
time fact of being nailed to a cross and
dying. This surplus with respect to the
mere historical event is what the language of faith calls a “mystery,” and in
the term “Paschal Mystery” it has summarized the real core of the redemptive
event. If we can say accordingly that
the “Paschal Mystery” constitutes the
core of “the work of Jesus,” then the
connection with the liturgy is immediately evident: precisely this “work of
Jesus” is the real content of the liturgy.
In it, the “work of Jesus,” through the
faith and the prayer of the Church, continually penetrates history. Thus, in the
liturgy, the present historical moment
is transcended, leading into the permanent divine-human act of redemption.
In it, Christ is really the responsible
cance has been discerned, that symbolism can be transferred, so to speak,
and applied to any aspect of our lives
through the ordering of time, space,
art, and music in accordance with it.
This is number’s special mystery.
When we apply the liturgical numbers
of the cosmos to the rhythms and actions of our lives, extending beyond
that part lived in the church building,
the whole of life becomes infused with
a liturgical rhythm. We can imbue all
our activities and work with a heavenly grace and beauty if the application
of this symbolism is appropriate to that
to which it is applied.
In the sixth century, St. Benedict, the
founder of the Benedictine Order, underlined an aspect of “liturgical number” in chapter 16 of his Rule by looking to the Old Testament: “the prophet
says: ‘Seven times daily I have sung
your praises’ [Psalm 119:164]. We
will cleave to this sacred number if we
perform our monastic duties at Lauds,
Prime, Tierce, Sext, None, Vespers,
and Compline.” Man cannot address
his attention to prayer constantly, but
must attend to the needs of life. Yet,
these seven occasions of prayer during the day are seven portals through
which grace pours into daily life and,
to the degree we cooperate, sanctifies
the times between prayer by integrating them with the cosmic rhythm of
the liturgy.
1) Pope St. Leo the Great, Sermon 6 on Lent, 1; from
Office of Readings, Thursday after Ash Wednesday.
2) Benedict XVI, The Spirit of the Liturgy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000), pp. 70, 76.
subject: it is the work of Christ; but in
it he draws history to himself, into this
permanent act which is the locus of our
salvation.
If we go back to Vatican II, we find
these connections described as follows: “In the liturgy, through which,
especially in the divine Sacrifice of the
Eucharist, ‘the work of our Redemption is carried on,’ the faithful are most
fully led to express and show to others
the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.”4 […]
[T]he expression “Paschal Mystery”
unambiguously refers to what happened in the days from Holy Thursday
to Easter Sunday: the Last Supper as
an anticipation of the Cross, the event
on Golgotha, and the Lord’s Resurrection. In the expression “Paschal Mystery,” these happenings are seen synthetically as a single, coherent event,
as “the action of Christ,” as we heard
the Council say in the introduction to
this lecture – an action that takes place
historically and at the same time transcends the moment. Because this event
is interiorly an act of worship rendered
to God, it could become divine worship
and so be present to all times. The paschal theology of the New Testament…
means precisely this: that the seemingly profane event of Christ’s crucifixion
is an atoning sacrifice, a healing act of
reconciling love by the incarnate God.
Paschal theology is theology of redemption, liturgy of the atoning sacrifice. The Shepherd has become Lamb.
The vision of the lamb that appears in
the story of Luke – the lamb that gets
entangled in the undergrowth and ransoms the son – has come true: the Lord
becomes Lamb; he allows himself to
be bound and sacrificed in order to set
us free.
1) SC 7, cf. CCC 1070.
2) SC 5; cf. CCC 1067.
3) Cf. Francois-Marie Léthel, Théologie de l’agonie du
Christ (Paris, 1979).
4) SC 2; XXX 1068.
page 9
Questions of Faith
What is the Year
of Mercy Indulgence?
N
ot everything Catholic is easily understandable. The meaning and use
of “indulgences” is one such element.
Their apparent abuse at the time of Martin Luther and the Protestant rupture to
which indulgences are irrevocably tied
have made a complex practice even more
difficult to comprehend. The resulting
ignorance has hampered Catholics from
taking full advantage of the spiritual
goods which indulgences offer as occasions of grace, holiness, and solidarity
with others—particularly in this Year of
Mercy.
Indulgences rest on three premises: 1) sin, even after it is forgiven, has
long-standing consequences; 2) all men
and women, especially the baptized, are
able—in fact, bound—to assist one another; and 3) the prayers, sacraments, and
actions of the Church are a “salve” (not
unrelated to “salvation”) to injuries and
imperfections.
First, sinful, evil actions have many ill
effects, what the Church calls a “double
consequence.” A sin breaks our communion with God (in the case of serious sin)
or at least weakens it (as in the case of a
lesser or venial sin). This rupture is called
by the Church the “eternal punishment”
of sin, and it is remitted principally in
the Sacrament of Confession or, as may
be more aptly called in this discussion,
of “Reconciliation,” since it reconciles
us with God. In addition to the breaking
or weakening of the relationship with
God, sin also entails a “temporal punishment,” which is an unhealthy attachment
to something other than God, a disordered
way of thinking and acting.
Consider it this way: I may tell a lie
about a coworker and, after coming clean,
receive her forgiveness – but her reputation may be sullied and my propensity
to lie remain, and for these I must make
reparation. These are the “double consequences” of sin: the broken communion
with the one offended and from which I
seek reconciliation and forgiveness and,
even after forgiveness is received, the
consequences that remain – the her shattered reputation and my disordered deception– to be repaired. The practice of
“indulgences” deals not with performing
an action in order to obtain forgiveness
but with these “temporal punishments” of
sin. To “be perfect, as my heavenly Father is perfect” (see Matthew 5:48), these
disorders need to be purged in the world
to come in Purgatory, or in this life via
prayer, charity, virtue, sacraments – and
with the help of indulgences.
The second key to understanding
indulgences is found in the bonds we
share, not only naturally but especially
supernaturally. A human being shares
natural bonds with others, whether his
family, city, or nation. In these relationships, we are required to show a certain
solicitude toward others, and others in
turn are bound to show us a degree of
care. Justice, friendship, generosity, piety
and other virtues help define the nature of
relationships even before such relationships are considered Christian. Natural
bonds are only strengthened with faith
and the supernatural life. St. Paul’s analogy of the Church as the Mystical Body
presumes the natural integrity and unity
of a biological, human body. Not only
do men and women care for one another
from naturally altruistic motives, but all
in the Church work for the good and salvation of others. Because I have sinned,
page 10
“I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the
Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers
and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our
God.” Thus, I pray the Confiteor in Mass
for others; and others in turn pray for me.
This supernatural ability we have to assist
one another is likened to the “Church’s
treasury,” provided by the merits of
Christ’s saving death and resurrection,
and available to all through the bonds of
charity and love.
While the bad news is that the consequence of sin is disorder, a punishment not necessarily inflicted by God
but brought upon ourselves from not living rightly, the good news is that we can
help one another—even the dead “whose
lives have changed, not ended”—to overcome temporal punishment. How we do
help one another? One way is through indulgences. But we must understand one
more thing about indulgences.
These gifts of Christ for his Church
are not magic; they are not automatic
and mechanical incantations that force
God’s forgiveness; they are not commodities that buy grace or heaven or happiness—any more than sacraments, rites, or
prayers are. Rather, an indulgence is the
elimination, in full or in part, of temporal
punishment due to sin when we sincerely
and devoutly perform some approved
prayer or action as a sign of our desire
to see to the reparation of the damage
caused by sin.
Take, for example, this Year of Mercy’s various Holy Doors, found in every
cathedral throughout the world, and in
other significant shrines and places of pilgrimage. To pass through the Holy Door
is not some superstitious segue from point
A to point B that somehow equates with
entering heaven (so don’t say “Open Sesame!” when approaching). Rightly understood and practiced, passing through
the Holy Door is an encounter with Jesus,
who is himself “the Door,” and through
whom those who pass “will be saved, and
will come in and go out and find pasture”
(John 10:9). To pass through the Holy
Door as if it were a talisman is superstition and yields nothing; instead, we ought
to pass through the Holy Door seeing
Jesus, praying to Jesus, and loving Jesus
as a source of grace for oneself and others. As Pope Francis has put it, “To gain
an indulgence is to experience the holiness of the Church, who bestows upon all
the fruits of Christ’s redemption, so that
God’s love and forgiveness may extend
everywhere” (“Misericordiae Vultus” 22).
Today indulgences are classified as
either “plenary” or “partial.” The distinction is based first of all on the significance
of the action: reciting the prayer “Angel
of God” is considered a partial indulgence, while reciting the Rosary may be
a plenary one – the latter deemed more
important in the spiritual life. But we are
also asked to carry out an indulgenced act
with purity of heart; with such purity we
receive the Christ-life, or grace, offered
to us. When we carry out those most important indulgenced activities without
sin, the “plenary” or full indulgence is
granted, for these acts are performed with
the purest intention and love. Insofar as
we fail to meet this level of spiritual perfection, the indulgence is called “partial,”
since the grace is not received by us in
its full measure and, likewise, the “temporal punishment” of our sin is not fully
repaired.
In addition to the indulgenced act, the
Church provides us other prayers meant
for our own spiritual good and that of others. The usual conditions for receiving a
plenary indulgence, in addition to the act
itself and being “free form all attachment
to sin,” are 1) sacramental confession, 2)
the reception of Holy Communion, and
3) prayers for the intentions of the Holy
Father. The sacrament of confession may
take place “several days” before or after
the indulgenced act, but the reception of
Holy Communion and the prayers for the
Pope “fittingly” happen on the same day
as the action. Also, while the customary
prayers for the Holy Father’s intentions
are an Our Father and a Hail Mary, any
prayer said for his intentions may suffice. (Other details on indulgences are
outlined in the Manual of Indulgences
(“Enchiridion Indulgentiarum”). Like the
graced-encounter with Christ in his Holy
Door, receiving the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist and praying for
the pope are traditionally good things to
do, serving to make the individual soul,
the Church, and the world more Christlike. The Church “spurs us on” to do such
good works of devotion, prayer, and charity (see CCC 1478), and this encouragement to the good is the first principle of
each indulgence.
The good that comes from the acts
and prayers that make up the indulgence
can be applied to the individual doing and
praying, or to one who is deceased and
purging his or her attachments to temporal goods. Again, this idea of sharing the
spiritual benefits of indulgences with our
neighbors, living and dead, should not be
a challenge our belief: even the good on
the natural plane—a father’s good job, or
a city’s good police force, or a country’s
good economic news—is felt by others
and benefits them.
We should now be in a place to understand, appreciate, and celebrate the indulgences associated with the Year of Mercy.
During the year, the plenary indulgence is obtained by:
1. making a pilgrimage to and through
a Holy Door or other place designated by the diocesan Bishop;
2. for those unable to make pilgrim-
age to such a place—such as the
sick, elderly, and homebound—
the indulgenced act consists of
living “their sickness and suffering as an experience of closeness
to the Lord who in the mystery of
his Passion, death and Resurrection indicates the royal road which
gives meaning to pain and loneliness. Living with faith and joyful
hope this moment of trial, receiving communion or attending Holy
Mass and community prayer, even
through the various means of communication” (“September 1 Letter
from Pope Francis to Archbishop
Rino Fisichella, President of the
Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization”);
3. for those who are incarcerated
and unable to cross a Cathedral’s
or Shrine’s Holy Door, they are to
direct “their thought and prayer to
the Father each time they cross the
threshold of their cell [to] signify
for them their passage through the
Holy Door” (ibid.);
4. for all, performing one of the spiritual or corporal works of mercy.
In addition to one of these four acts
above, the usual conditions for benefiting
from an indulgence also apply:
1. Being free from all sin,
2. receiving sacramental confession,
3. receiving Holy Communion,
4. and praying for the Holy Father’s
intentions.
In the words of the Holy Father, an
“indulgence” is precisely an “indulgence
on the part of the Father who, through the
Bride of Christ, his Church, reaches the
pardoned sinner and frees him from every
residue left by the consequences of sin,
enabling him to act with charity, to grow
in love rather than to fall back into sin”
(“Misericordiae Vultus” 22). With clarity
of mind and purity of heart, may the Year
of Mercy’s indulgence lead to our salvation and that of the whole world.
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who desired to gather the whole human race into one people,
unshackled from the chains of slavery;
a time of mercy and forgiveness;
grant that your Church, ever expanding in freedom and peace,
may brilliantly shine out to all as a sacrament of salvation;
and make known and active in the world the mystery of your love.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Homily of Pope Francis on the Occasion of Opening
the Holy Door at St. Peter Basilica,
December 8, 2015 (excerpt)
T
his Extraordinary Year is itself a gift
of grace. To pass through the Holy
Door means to rediscover the infinite
mercy of the Father who welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of them. It is he who seeks
us! It is he who comes to encounter us!
This will be a year in which we grow
ever more convinced of God’s mercy.
How much wrong we do to God and his
grace when we speak of sins being punished by his judgment before we speak
of their being forgiven by his mercy (cf.
Saint Augustine, De Praedestinatione
Sanctorum, 12, 24)! But that is the truth.
We have to put mercy before judgment,
and in any event God’s judgment will
always be in the light of his mercy. In
passing through the Holy Door, then,
may we feel that we ourselves are part
of this mystery of love, of tenderness.
Let us set aside all fear and dread, for
these do not befit men and women who
are loved. Instead, let us experience the
joy of encountering that grace which
transforms all things.
Today, here in Rome and in all the dioceses of the world, as we pass through
the Holy Door, we also want to remember another door, which fifty years ago
the Fathers of the Second Vatican Counpage 12
cil opened to the world. This anniversary
cannot be remembered only for the legacy of the Council’s documents, which
testify to a great advance in faith. Before
all else, the Council was an encounter. A
genuine encounter between the Church
and the men and women of our time.
An encounter marked by the power of
the Spirit, who impelled the Church to
emerge from the shoals which for years
had kept her self-enclosed so as to set
out once again, with enthusiasm, on her
missionary journey. It was the resumption of a journey of encountering people where they live: in their cities and
homes, in their workplaces. Wherever
there are people, the Church is called to
reach out to them and to bring the joy of
the Gospel, and the mercy and forgiveness of God. After these decades, we
again take up this missionary drive with
the same power and enthusiasm. The
Jubilee challenges us to this openness,
and demands that we not neglect the
spirit which emerged from Vatican II,
the spirit of the Samaritan, as Blessed
Paul VI expressed it at the conclusion of
the Council. May our passing through
the Holy Door today commit us to making our own the mercy of the Good
Samaritan.
January 2016
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Prayer at the Opening of the Holy
Doors for the Year of Mercy in
Cathedrals Around the World:

The Year of Mercy Begins.

Transcription

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