|
The
Use of Rubrics in Liturgical Celebration
Edited
by the Rev. Msgr. Keith Patrick Steinhurst, P.A.
from
a larger piece written by the Rev. Lawrence Yates
for
the Latin Mass Society's February 2000 Newsletter
Part
1 - Are Rubrics Optional?
In the last Newsletter (January 2000) we viewed the Church as it was
in 1958, recalling the feeling of calmness, sincerity and
organization of that time. One aspect of this organization is
rubrics. The Old Testament devotes several pages to very detailed
regulations regarding the worship of God. Should we expect to be any
less meticulous when we have the privilege, unique to the Catholic
Church, of the Real Presence during Mass and in the tabernacle?
The study of rubrics is a fascinating but complicated exercise, not
to be undertaken lightly. Many books have been written on the
subject, and the replies and decisions of the Congregation of Sacred
Rites during its 400 years of existence are numbered in the
thousands. An article of this nature is necessarily limited in its
scope and I shall simply attempt, in this one, to consider the nature
and value of the rubrics in general.
The fundamental base on which rubrics are built is theology, or
rather dogma. It is not by chance that the well-known rubricists were
primarily doctors of theology. Adrian Fortescue, Klaus Gamber, J. A.
Jungmann, S.J., and E. J. Mahoney all fall into this category. The
reasons will become clear as we proceed.
Two
quotations from J. B. O'Connell give us a start:
"The Sacred Liturgy is the worship of God by the Church. By
divine worship is meant the recognition and acceptance of the
excellence and sovereign lordship of God and the manifestation of
this recognition and acceptance. In other words, it is the exercise
of the virtue of religion, by acts of adoration and praise, of
thanksgiving, of propitiation and of petition."
"The rubrics are the rules (laws, directions, suggestions) that
are contained in the liturgical books for the right ordering of
liturgical functions. For the most part, if not entirely, the rubrics
are positive ecclesiastical laws, and so a) they bind under pain of
mortal or venial sin, according to the gravity of the matter with
which they are concerned; and b) apart from such considerations as
the giving of scandal, contempt for the law, and the like, a
sufficient and proportionately grave cause excuses from the
observance of an (accidental) rubric."
O'Connell
goes on to describe an accidental rubric as one which is directive,
but then observes that:
"the accidental rubrics, no less than the substantial ones, are
laws, and hence are preceptive, except when they themselves state
clearly that they are not".
It should be noted that even a prelate is required to kneel during
the Communion of the faithful.
Debates on this subject went on among rubricians for many years, but
even those who claimed that some rubrics were not preceptive
(commanding) admitted that it was difficult or impossible to say
which these rubrics were. For our purposes the situation is made
sufficiently clear in the Code of Canon Law (1917) which refers to
rubrics as liturgical laws, without drawing any distinction between
preceptive and directive rubrics, and orders that the rites and
ceremonies which are prescribed by the Church in the approved
liturgical books are to be accurately observed. The Code of 1983 is
no less forceful, as the following extracts show.
Canon
838
It is the prerogative of the Apostolic See to regulate the liturgy
of the universal Church, to publish liturgical books and review their
vernacular translations, and to be watchful that liturgical
regulations are everywhere faithfully observed.
Canon
846
The
liturgical books, approved by the competent authority, are to be
faithfully followed in the celebration of the sacraments.
Accordingly, no one may on a personal initiative add to or omit or
alter anything in those books.
The
only safe approach to the rubrics is suggested by O'Connell in his summing-up:
"With reverence and love towards God, out of obedience and
loyalty to His Church, should they, each and all, be fulfilled."
The Church, and only the Church, has the right to lay down the rules
regarding the worship of God. The very fact that they regulate our
dealings with God should be sufficient to establish the value of, and
the need for, rubrics. What we do in our own private devotions is our
own affair, but in the liturgy, which is the public worship of God,
the rules must be formulated by the supreme authority of the Church.
I hesitate to use the expression lex orandi, lex credendi that may
be considered to have been overworked in the pages of our
Newsletters, but it is essential to my purpose.
This is where the dogmatic element shines forth. If we genuinely
believe that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is really, truly and
substantially present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the
consecrated Host, then we can begin to understand the rubrics.
Without this firm belief, the rubrics have no meaning or purpose.
From observing some activities, even within the sanctuary, I wonder
if this fact is seriously considered.
The rubrics, then, serve two purposes. They regulate the public
worship of God and they direct and suggest actions that will ensure
the reverence and honor to be given to the Blessed Sacrament. Hence
many rubrics are very precise.
A complete set of instructions was issued by Pope Clement XII in
1731 for the ordering of the Forty Hours Exposition. These
instructions remained in force until the publication of Eucharisticum
Mysterium on 25th May 1967, and had served as guidelines for any
ceremony that involved the Blessed Sacrament exposed. It is sometimes
necessary, while serving on the altar, to perform what appear to be
almost acrobatic feats in order to meet the requirements of the
rubrics. One may, for instance, be told to make a left turn where the
more natural movement would be a right one, the reason being that
only a left turn, in that particular case, will ensure that one does
not turn the back towards the tabernacle.
I have recently been disturbed to see that altar servers, having
communicated, proceed to sit during the Communion of the faithful.
How widespread this practice is I do not know, but it should be
stopped. At the very least it displays complete disregard for the
Blessed Sacrament exposed. It should be noted that even a prelate is
required to kneel during the Communion of the faithful. Nobody is
exempt from this rule. With a strong faith in, and devotion to, the
Blessed Sacrament, such erroneous practices should never develop.
The
conclusions to be drawn from the foregoing may be summarized as follows:
1.
The rubrics are obligatory, and not optional.
2.
The rubrics are issued by the supreme authority of the Church with
the clear intention that they be obeyed.
3.
The rubrics have all been designed for a specific purpose that a
little thought may reveal.
4.
The rubrics are laws that carry penalties for non-observance.
5.
The doctrinal connection is very important, e.g. a simple
genuflection performed with reverence is an act of faith in the Real
Presence; the priest crosses himself with holy water when leaving the
sacristy as an act of faith in the Most Holy Trinity, in whose honor
he is about to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
6.
It is not possible to separate rubrics from dogma. They are so
closely intertwined that any attempt to ignore or change the rubrics
must raise doubts about what we really believe. This has become very
clear over the past thirty years.
There
can be no greater evaluation of the rubrics than that contained in
the exhortation of Pius XII to the bishops of the world in Mediator Dei:
"Readily provide the young clerical student with facilities to
understand the sacred ceremonies, to appreciate their majesty and
beauty and to learn the rubrics with care, just as you do when he is
trained in ascetics, in dogma and in canon law and pastoral theology.
This should not be done merely for cultural reasons and to fit the
student to perform religious rites in the future correctly and with
due dignity but especially to lead him into closest union with Christ
the Priest so that he may become a holy minister of sanctity."
Part
2 - The relationship of the rubrics to the Laity and the Clergy
We have previously considered the nature and value of the rubrics in
general and we must now move on to examine the application of the rubrics.
There is a very solemn and significant stage in a Pontifical High
Mass that clearly demonstrates the aim of the rubrics. The early part
of the Mass takes place with the bishop at his throne in full
pontifical vestments, including mitre and crozier. At the Offertory
he comes in procession to the foot of the altar steps. His mitre and
crozier are taken away and he mounts the steps. Shortly after, when
he begins the Preface, his skullcap is removed. From this moment on,
bereft of his insignia and bare headed, like any other priest, he
stands before God to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. No further
reverences are made to the bishop as everyone concentrates on what is
happening at the altar.
Each rubrical movement has led us forward, step by step, to the
awesome moment of the Consecration. After Communion the skullcap is
replaced and he is invested with mitre and crozier for the blessing
and final procession.
We see here that all the honors given to the prelate, or indeed to
any other celebrant in the external rite, show him to be the
representative of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Stripped of all
insignia he performs the greatest act on earth; a power denied to the
angels, a power possessed by a priest alone, the power to change
bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord.
The power, in fact, to command Almighty God to be present on the
altar, before who even the prelate, be he pope or bishop, kneels in
humble adoration.
Giving full consideration to these facts can anyone say that a
priest is, or should be, regarded as any other man? It must further
be noted that the celebrant never leaves the altar while the Blessed
Sacrament is present. At the time of the 'Kiss of Peace' it is the
assistants who come to him and not vice versa.
Studying and applying the rubrics is not merely a matter of learning
a long list of do's and don'ts. It is essential to go beyond that and
to look for the reasons. A feeling for the liturgy needs to be
cultivated which leads to a realization that everything is important
and that there are no spectators, but all are players. These points
were stressed many times by Popes St. Pius X, Pius XI and Pius XII.
The celebrant has the unique power to offer the sacrifice, but the
liturgy does not fulfill its purpose unless each and every one of us
offers himself to God as part of the sacrifice.
Mgr. Rudolph Michael Schmitz gives an admirable exposition of the
true situation in his concluding remarks to the second colloquium of
CIEL (International Center for Liturgical Studies):
Worship "in spirit and in truth" cannot dispense with a
correct exterior rite. Thus we see that the Church has taken a long
time, not without problems, to establish this rite. For if one wants
to produce a ceremonial... (continue to page 2)
RETURN
TO THE ARTICLES INDEX
Main
Page | Supreme Pontiff | Members
| Papal Orders
Christian
Orders | Religious Orders | Links
|
