Varietates Legitimae 30: Calling Upon Competence

Our consideration of Preliminary Conditions for Inculturation of the Liturgy wraps up here:

30. To prepare an inculturation of the liturgy, episcopal conferences should call upon people who are competent both in the liturgical tradition of the Roman rite and in the appreciation of local cultural values. Preliminary studies of a historical, anthropological, exegetical and theological character are necessary. But these need to be examined in the light of the pastoral experience of the local clergy, especially those born in the country. (Cf. Ad Gentes 16, 17) The advice of “wise people” of the country, whose human wisdom is enriched by the light of the Gospel, would also be valuable. Liturgical inculturation should try to satisfy the needs of traditional culture (Cf. Ad Gentes 19) and at the same time take account of the needs of those affected by an urban and industrial culture.

In 1994, there was still a value placed upon competence. More so, this section seems to presume a collaboration between bishops, liturgists, cultural experts, native clergy, and “local wisdom.” I’m not sure why non-mission nations would not benefit from this type of wide counsel. Do you? Any readers from Asia or Africa with any experience of this sort of collaboration. I know occasional commenter Fr Brendan from Japan has lamented the intrusion of the curia (not mentioned here) into matters of liturgy.

 

Varietates Legitimae 29: Different Situations

The CDWDS considers “different situations” through the lens of national conferences and situations. But it acknowledges this can be a difficult discernment:

29. The different situations in which the church finds itself are an important factor in judging the degree of liturgical inculturation that is necessary. The situation of countries that were evangelized centuries ago and where the Christian faith continues to influence the culture is different from countries which were evangelized more recently or where the Gospel has not penetrated deeply into cultural values. (66. In the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium attention is drawn to Nos. 38 and 40: “above all in the missions.”) Different again is the situation of a church where Christians are a minority of the population. A more complex situation is found when the population has different languages and cultures. A precise evaluation of the situation is necessary in order to achieve satisfactory solutions.

The first situation describes most of the Americas, where evangelization began centuries ago. Has this evangelization always penetrated deeply into leadership? That’s an unmentioned factor. The CDWDS recognizes the American situation of the past century or more where different Christian (let alone Catholic) cultures have settled into place. Do you see any particular challenges there?

 

Varietates Legitimae 28: “In their own language”

Section (b) Preliminary Conditions for Inculturation of the Liturgy begins with VL 28. And we have praise for the vernacular:

28. The missionary tradition of the church has always sought to evangelize people in their own language. Often indeed, it was the first apostles of a country who wrote down languages which up till then had only been oral. And this is right, as it is by the mother language, which conveys the mentality and the culture of a people, that one can reach the soul, mold it in the Christian spirit and allow to share more deeply in the prayer of the church. (Cf. Redemptoris Missio, 53)

After the first evangelization, the proclamation of the word of God in the language of a country remains very useful for the people in their liturgical celebrations. The translation of the Bible, or at least of the biblical texts used in the liturgy, is the first necessary step in the process of the inculturation of the liturgy. (Cf. SC 35, 36, Canon 825.1)

So that the word of God may be received in a right and fruitful way, “it is necessary to foster a taste for holy Scripture, as is witnessed by the ancient traditions of the rites of both East and West.” (Cf. SC 24) Thus inculturation of the liturgy presupposes the reception of the sacred Scripture into a given culture. (Cf. SC 24, Catechesi Tradendae, 55)

The Word of God is paramount in evangelization. We read about it in RCIA, in the Vatican II documents Ad Gentes, Dei Verbum, and of course, Sacrosanctum Concilium.

 

Varietates Legitimae 27: Ordering Liturgy

The Church reinforces good order from the top:

27. In the liturgy the faith of the church is expressed in a symbolic and communitarian form: This explains the need for a legislative framework for the organization of worship, the preparation of texts and the celebration of rites. (Cf. SC 22, 26, 28, 40, 3, 128; Code of Canon Law, Canon 2 and passim) The reason for the preceptive character of this legislation throughout the centuries and still today is to ensure the orthodoxy of worship: that is to say, not only to avoid errors, but also to pass on the faith in its integrity so that the “rule of prayer” (lex orandi) of the church may correspond to “rule of faith” (lex credendi). (GIRM 2; Paul VI, Discourse to the Consilium for the Application of the Constitution on the Liturgy, Oct. 13, 1966: AAS 58 (1966), 1146; Oct. 14, 1968: AAS 60 (1968), 734.)60

However deep inculturation may go, the liturgy cannot do without legislation and vigilance on the part of those who have received this responsibility in the church: the Apostolic See and, according to the prescriptions of the law, the episcopal conference for its territory and the bishop for his diocese. (SC 22, 36, 40, 44-46, Code of Canon Law 47ff, 838)

 

Varietates Legitimae 26: Sacramentals and Sacraments

Aside from the celebration of Mass, there are important traditions, seemingly not founded from Christ himself, or from Scripture, which state and reinforce unity, nd which are assumed to be grounded in the apostolic tradition:

26. The church of Christ is made present and signified in a given place and in a given time by the local or particular churches, which through the liturgy reveal the church in its true nature. (Cf. Lumen Gentium 28; also 26.) That is why every particular church must be united with the universal church not only in belief and sacramentals, but also in those practices received through the church as part of the uninterrupted apostolic tradition. (Cf. St. Irenaeus, Against the Heresies, III, 2, 1-3; 3, 1-2: Sources Chretiennes, 211, 24-31; cf. St. Augustine, Letter to Januarius 54, 1: PL 33, 200: “But regarding those other observances which we keep and all the world keeps, and which do not derive from Scripture but from tradition, we are given to understand that they have been ordained or recommended to be kept by the apostles themselves or by the plenary councils, whose authority is well founded in the church”; cf. Redemptoris Missio, 53-4; cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to Bishops of the Catholic Church on Certain Aspects of the Church Understood as Communion, May 28 1992, Nos. 710.) This includes, for example, daily prayer, (Cf. SC 83) sanctification of Sunday and the rhythm of the week, the celebration of Easter and the unfolding of the mystery of Christ throughout the liturgical year, (Cf. SC 102, 106, appendix) the practice of penance and fasting, (Cf. Paul VI, apostolic constitution Paenitemini, Feb. 17, 1966: AAS 58 (1966), 177-198.) the sacraments of Christian initiation, the celebration of the memorial of the Lord and the relationship between the Liturgy of the Word and the eucharistic liturgy, the forgiveness of sins, the ordained ministry, marriage and the anointing of the sick.

 

Varietates Legitimae 25: Liturgy of the Eucharist

The Liturgy of the Eucharist is a sensitive area:

25. The whole life of the liturgy gravitates in the first place around the eucharistic sacrifice and the other sacraments given by Christ to his church. (SC 6) The church has the duty to transmit them carefully and faithfully to every generation. In virtue of its pastoral authority, the church can make dispositions to provide for the good of the faithful, according to circumstances, times and places. (Council of Trent, Session 21, Chap. 2, SC 48ff, 62ff) But it has no power over the things which are directly related to the will of Christ and which constitute the unchangeable part of the liturgy. (SC 21) To break the link that the sacraments have with Christ, who instituted them, and with the very beginnings of the church, (Inter Insigniores 107-108) would no longer be to inculturate them, but to empty them of their substance.

This might go without saying, but there is still concern about the occasional fringe element that suggests raisin bread or grape juice, or jokes about pizza and beer or donuts and coffee. No serious liturgist even thinks about substantial changes to the Liturgy of the Eucharist. And most serious adaptations proposed, such as substituting rice flour for wheat, or mustum for wine, involve an understandable outreach to those who suffer because of the “accidents” of the substance involved.

 

Varietates Legitimae 24: The Paschal Mystery

Rather than some comfortable concept like organic development, the real fruit of Vatican II is a recovered sense of the Paschal Mystery:

24. Since the church is the fruit of Christ’s sacrifice, the liturgy is always the celebration of the paschal mystery of Christ, the glorification of God the Father and the sanctification of mankind by the power of the Holy Spirit. (SC 7) Christian worship thus finds its most fundamental expression when every Sunday throughout the whole world Christians gather around the altar under the leadership of the priest, celebrate the Eucharist, listen to the word of God, and recall the death and resurrection of Christ, while awaiting his coming in glory. (SC 6, 47, 56, 102, 106; old GIRM 1, 7, 8) Around this focal point, the paschal mystery is made present in different ways in the celebration of each of the sacraments.

 

Varietates Legitimae 23: The Word of God

The importance of the Word is summarized:

23. The church is nourished on the word of God written in the Old and New Testaments. When the church proclaims the word in the liturgy, it welcomes it as a way in which Christ is present: “It is he who speaks when the sacred Scriptures are read in church.” (SC 7) For this reason the word of God is so important in the celebration of the liturgy (SC 24) that the holy Scripture must not be replaced by any other text, no matter how venerable it may be. (GILM 12)  Likewise the Bible is the indispensable source of the liturgy’s language, of its signs and of its prayer, especially in the psalms. (CCC 2585-2589, which references earlier sources)

The GILM source is quoted in its entirety in the endnotes, in case anybody skips looking up references.

How does this apply to inculturation? Clearly, it’s important to keep the proclamation of the Word centered on biblical texts. Where would new texts fit that speak of God through the voice of culture? Probably the homily. Possibly in music. Likely the composed texts: prayers of the faithful.

Any thoughts on this? You’ve all been very quiet on this most important document.

 

Varietates Legitimae 22: Three Characteristics

Three characteristics of the Church are revealed in the liturgy:

22. The nature of the liturgy is intimately linked up with the nature of the church; indeed, it is above all in the liturgy that the nature of the church is manifested. (cf. SC 2, Vicesimus Quintus Annus 9) Now the church has specific characteristics which distinguish it from every other assembly and community.

It is not gathered together by a human decision, but is called by God in the Holy Spirit and responds in faith to his gratuitous call (ekklesia derives from klesis, “call”). This singular characteristic of the church is revealed by its coming together as a priestly people, especially on the Lord’s day, by the word which God addresses to his people and by the ministry of the priest, who through the sacrament of orders acts in the person of Christ the head. (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, 2)

Because it is catholic, the church overcomes the barriers which divide humanity: By baptism all become children of God and form in Christ Jesus one people where “there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female” (Gal. 3:28). Thus church is called to gather all peoples, to speak the languages, to penetrate all cultures.

Finally, the church is a pilgrim on the earth far from the Lord (cf. 2 Cor. 5:6): It bears the marks of the present time in the sacraments and in its institutions, but is waiting in joyful hope for the coming of Jesus Christ (cf. Ti. 2: 13). (cf. Lumen Gentium 48; SC 2 and 8) This is expressed in the prayers of petition: It shows that we are citizens of heaven (cf. Phil. 3:20), at the same time attentive to the needs of mankind and of society (cf. 1 Tm. 2: 1-4).

These three characteristics: God’s gracious call, the Church’s universality, and the nature of the Church as a pilgrim body not quite completely in the world–not only in inculturation are these worth considering. Preachers, musicians, catechists, and many others might find aspects of ministry in need of adjustment or reorientation in light of a serious consideration of these.

How would these principles, for example, affect the Church in discerning various controversies in which we find ourselves?

And in terms of inculturation, it should become a little clearer as we move through this chapter (VL21-32) where the discussion of that is heading.

Any discussion from the readers on this?

 

Varietates Legitimae 21: Liturgy Defined

Chapter II, Requirements and Preliminary Conditions for Liturgical Inculturation” covers the next twelve numbered sections of VL. First, we address, “Requirements Emerging From The Nature of the Liturgy.”

This is Liturgy 101, if you will, a very basic reminder of the very definition of Christian worship:

21. Before any research on inculturation begins, it is necessary to keep in mind the nature of the liturgy. It “is, in fact the privileged place where Christians meet God and the one whom he has sent, Jesus Christ” (cf. Jn. 17:3).(Vicesimus Quintus Annus, 7) It is at once the action of Christ the priest and the action of the church which is his body, because in order to accomplish his work of glorifying God and sanctifying mankind, achieved through visible signs, he always associates with himself the church, which, through him and in the Holy Spirit, gives the Father the worship which is pleasing to him. (SC 5-7)

As we review this section, VL 21-27, we will get a snapshot of how the Catholic Church sees liturgy in the mid-1990′s. Not that there will be anything substantive omitted or added, but these sections will give the student of VL and of the Catholic liturgy a summation of the foundation of liturgical theology.

Other comments?

 

Varietates Legitimae 20: A Necessary Discernment

Summing up Chapter I:

20. The challenge which faced the first Christians, whether they came from the chosen people or from a pagan background, was to reconcile the renunciations demanded by faith in Christ with fidelity to the culture and traditions of the people to which they belonged.

And so it will be for Christians of all times, as the words of St. Paul affirm: “We proclaim Christ crucified, scandal for the Jews, foolishness for the pagans” (1 Cor. 1:23).

The discernment exercised during the course of the church’s history remains necessary, so that through the liturgy the work of salvation accomplished by Christ may continue faithfully in the church by the power of the Spirit in different countries and times and in different human cultures.

How would you sum up the first twenty sections of Varietates Legitimae? My sense is that the liturgy must utilize a familiar cultural language in such a way that does not compromise the Gospel. At the same time, the liturgy must be a means of engaging and challenging the non-believer, the neophyte, and the Christian to continue in openness to metanoia, to change and conversion.

Over the next several sections, we’ll see how the Church approaches inculturation in liturgy and what sort of ground will make for a fruitful harvest in this area.

 

Varietates Legitimae 19: Respect and Purification

The Church insists that inculturation is a two-way street. It will accommodate, but in turn, expects “purification” and “sanctification.”

19. The liturgy, like the Gospel, must respect cultures, but at the same time invite them to purify and sanctify themselves.

In adhering to Christ by faith, the Jews remained faithful to the Old Testament, which led to Jesus, the Messiah of Israel; they knew that he had fulfilled the Mosaic alliance, as the mediator of the new and eternal covenant, sealed in his blood on the cross. They knew that, by his one perfect sacrifice, he is the authentic high priest and the definitive temple (cf. Heb. 6-10), and the prescriptions of circumcision (cf. Gal. 5: 1-6), the Sabbath (cf. Mt. 12:8 and similar),³⁶ and the sacrifices of the temple (cf. Heb. 10) became of only relative significance.
In a more radical way Christians coming from paganism had to renounce idols, myths, superstitions (cf. Acts 19: 18-19; 1 Cor. 10: 14-22; 2: 20-22; 1 Jn. 5:21) when they adhered to Christ.

But whatever their ethnic or cultural origin, Christians have to recognize the promise, the prophecy and the history of their salvation in the history of Israel. They must accept as the word of God the books of the Old Testament as well as those of the New³⁷ They welcome the sacramental signs, which can only be understood fully in the context of Holy Scripture and the life of the church.³⁸

36. Cf., also St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Magnesians, 9: Funk 1, 199: “We have seen how former adherents of the ancient customs have since attained to a new hope; so that they have given up keeping the sabbath, and now order their lives by the Lord’s day instead.”
37. Cf. Vatican Council II, Dei Verbum, 14-16; Ordo Lectionum Missae ed. typica altera Praenotanda, 5: “It is the same mystery of Christ that the church announces when she proclaims the Old and New Testament in the celebration of the liturgy. The New Testament is, indeed, hidden in the Old and, in the New the Old is revealed. Because Christ is the center and fullness of all Scripture, as also of the whole liturgical celebration”; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 120-123, 128- 130, 1093-1095.
38. Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1093-1096.

 

Varietates Legitimae 18: Vatican II on Inculturation

Our history of inculturation brings us to Vatican II:

18. In our own time, the Second Vatican Council recalled that the church “fosters and assumes the ability, resources and customs of each people. In assuming them, the church purifies, strengthens and ennobles them…. Whatever good lies latent in the religious practices and cultures of diverse peoples, it is not only saved from destruction but it is also cleansed, raised up and made perfect unto the glory of God, the confounding of the devil, and the happiness of mankind.” (Lumen Gentium 17, also 13) So the liturgy of the church must not be foreign to any country, people or individual, and at the same time it should transcend the particularity of race and nation. It must be capable of expressing itself in every human culture, all the while maintaining its identity through fidelity to the tradition which comes to it from the Lord. (Catechesi Tradendae, 52-53; Redemptoris Missio, 53-54; Catechism of the Catholic Church 1204-1206.)

The ideals are high. If the Roman liturgy cannot live up to them in a specific time and place, do we assume the culture being penetrated is incapable of being “ennobled,” or does it serve as a mirror to the Church–that the fault is possibly our own?

 

Varietates Legitimae 17: A Bit of East and West

Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, Constantinople, as well as Milan, Gaul, Britain, the Iberian Peninsula …

17. The creation and the development of the forms of Christian celebration developed gradually according to local conditions in the great cultural areas where the good news was proclaimed. Thus were born distinct liturgical families of the churches of the West and of the East. Their rich patrimony preserves faithfully the Christian tradition in its fullness. (Catechism 1200-1203) The church of the West has sometimes drawn elements of its liturgy from the patrimony of the liturgical families of the East. (Cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, 14-15) The church of Rome adopted in its liturgy the living language of the people, first Greek and then Latin, and, like other Latin churches, accepted into its worship important events of social life and gave them a Christian significance. During the course of the centuries, the Roman rite has known how to integrate texts, chants, gestures and rites from various sources (32) and to adapt itself in local cultures in mission territories, (33) even if at certain periods a desire for liturgical uniformity obscured this fact.

32. Texts: cf. the sources of the prayers, the prefaces and the eucharistic prayers of the Roman Missal; chants: for example the antiphons for Jan. 1, baptism of the Lord; Sept. 8, the Improperia of Good Friday, the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours; gestures: for example the sprinkling of holy water, use of incense, genuflection, hands joined; rites: for example Palm Sunday procession, the adoration of the cross on Good Friday, the rogations.

33. Cf. in the past St. Gregory the Great, Letter to Mellitus: Reg. XI, 59: CCL 140A, 961-962; John VIII, bull Industriae Tuae, June 26, 880: Patrologia Latina, 126, 904; Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, Instruction to the Apostolic Vicars of China and Indochina (1654): Collectanea S.C. de Propaganda Fide, I 1 Rome, 1907, No. 135; instruction Plane Compertum, Dec. 8, 1939: AAS 32 (1940), 2426.

The Roman Rite has enriched itself, to the benefit of Roman Catholics all over the world, because of this openness to absorb artistic aspects from local cultures. It is lamentable that such openness is no longer welcome.

 

Varietates Legitimae 15-16: Jewish and Gentile Roots

Jewish worship and Gentile traditions underlie the early Christian Eucharist:

15. In gathering together to break the bread on the first day of the week, which became the day of the Lord (cf. Acts 20:7; Rv. 1: 10), the first Christian communities followed the command of Jesus who, in the context of the memorial of the Jewish pasch, instituted the memorial of his passion. In continuity with the unique history of salvation, they spontaneously took the forms and texts of Jewish worship and adapted them to express the radical newness of Christian worship.(Catechism 1096) Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, discernment was exercised between what could be kept and what was to be discarded of the Jewish heritage of worship.

16. The spread of the Gospel in the world gave rise to other types of ritual in the churches coming from the gentiles, under the influence of different cultural traditions. Under the constant guidance of the Holy Spirit, discernment was exercised to distinguish those elements coming from “pagan” cultures which were incompatible with Christianity from those which could be accepted in harmony with apostolic tradition and in fidelity to the Gospel of salvation.

Not quite sure why the qualifier “those elements” is here; everything European and religious was pagan at the time. The only non-pagan world religions of the first century were in Asia. There is the influence of European mystery religions, I suppose.