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Recoletos School of Theology

THEOLOGY OF THE LITURGY

Readings:

Adam, Adolf. Foundations of the Liturgy: An Introduction to Its History and Practice.
(Collegeville, 1992).
Carstens, Christopher. Principles of Sacred Liturgy: Forming a Sacramental Vision.
(Chicago, 2020).
Chupungco, Anscar. What, Then, Is Liturgy? Musings and Memoir. (Collegeville,
2010).
_____________. “A Definition of Liturgy,” Handbook for Liturgical Studies I.
Introduction to the Liturgy. (Collegeville, 1997) 3-10.
Dalmais, Irénée Henri. “Theology of the Liturgical Celebration,” The Church at
Prayer I. (Collegeville, 1987) 229-280.
Dix, Gregory. The Shape of the Liturgy (London, 1960).
Irwin, Kevin. Liturgical Theology. A Primer. (Collegeville, 1990).
Kavanagh, Aidan. On Liturgical Theology. (New York, 1984).
Lang, Uwe Michael. Signs of the Holy One: Liturgy, Ritual and Expression of the
Sacred. (San Francisco, 2015)
_____________. The Voice of the Church at Prayer: Reflections on Liturgy and
Language. (San
Francisco, 2012).
Power, David. Unsearchable Riches. The Symbolic Nature of Liturgy. (New York,
1984).
Schmemann, Alexander. Introduction to Liturgical Theology. (New York, 1986).
Second Vatican Council. Constitution on Sacred Liturgy: Sacrosanctum Concilium.
(Vatican, 1965)
Vagaggini, Cipriano. Theological Dimensions of the Liturgy. (Collegeville, 1974).
Verheul, Ambrose. Introduction to the Liturgy: Towards a Theology of Worship.
(Hertfordshire, 1964).

1. Introduction

a. Mediator Dei, 25: Liturgy is “the public worship which our Redeemer as
head of the Church renders to the Father, as well as the worship which the
community of the faithful renders to its Founder, and through him to the
heavenly Father. In short, it is the worship rendered by the Mystical Body
of Christ in the entirety of its head and members.”
b. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7: “…the liturgy is considered as the exercise of
the priestly office of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy by means of signs
perceptible to the senses, human sanctification is signified and brought
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about in ways proper to each of these signs; in the liturgy the whole public
worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is by the
Head and his members.”
c. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10: “the liturgy is the summit toward which the
activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from
which all her power flows.”
d. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 8: “In the earthly liturgy we take part in a
foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of
Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims.”

2. Salvation History and the Liturgy

a. Pope Leo I: “What was visible in Christ passed over to the sacraments of
the Church” (Sermon 72).

CCC 1085: “His Paschal mystery is a real event that occurred in our
history, but it is unique: all other historical events happen once, and they
pass away, swallowed up in the past. The Paschal mystery of Christ, by
contrast cannot remain only in the past, because by his death he destroyed
death, and all that Christ is - all that he did and suffered for all men -
participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being
made present in them all. The event of the Cross and Resurrection abides
and draws everything toward life.”

b. S. Marsili: “The liturgy is the final phase of the history of salvation”

(Anamnesis I).

Origen: “When we eat the flesh of the Lamb of God, we stand in the
evening of time.” After this, a new day breaks.

c. Note on salvation history: preparation (creation, call of Abraham, Exodus,

the kingdom); realization (Christ’s incarnation, ministry, death and
resurrection, Pentecost); final stage (celebration of the liturgy “until he
comes again”).

3. Liturgy as Encounter with God

a. The liturgy as personal encounter with God, i.e. with the persons of the
Trinity and patterned after the ad extra workings of God: the Father sent
the Son and the Son sent the Holy Spirit from the Father. Hence the
Trinitarian dimension of the liturgy: cf. Ancient doxology: Ad Patrem, per
Filium, in Spiritu Sancto - to the Father (Theological aspect), through the Son
(Christological aspect), in the Holy Spirit (Pneumatological aspect).
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b. The liturgy as a personal encounter with God in the community of the

worshipping assembly under the leadership of its pastors. Hence the
ecclesiological dimension of the liturgy.

c. The liturgy as a personal encounter with God through signs and symbols.
Hence the symbolic dimension of the liturgy.

4. The Theological Aspect of the Liturgy

a. Christ’s life orientation: to the Father; the paradigm of our encounter with
God through the liturgy.

b. Illustration: the paschal typology of Jn 13,1 (Exodus, Christ’s Passover,

and the sacraments of initiation).

c. Roman liturgical tradition: “When we are at the altar, let our prayers be
always directed to the Father” (Synod of Hippo in 393); applications (the
eucharistic prayer, other presidential prayers, general intercessions at
Mass).

5. The Christological Aspect of the Liturgy

a. The most important approach to an understanding of the sacraments is

from the vantage point of Jesus Christ himself. His person, mission and
activity are the basis of Christian faith and the source that nourishes the
Church in the activity by which it communicates salvation.

b. CCC, 1115: “the mystery of Christ’s life are the foundations of what he
would henceforth dispense in the sacraments, through the ministers of the
Church for ‘what was visible in our Savior passed over into his
mysteries.’”

c. Christ the Sacrament of encounter with the Father (descending line);

Christ our Mediator with the Father (ascending line).

d. Concept of sacrament: sign, manifestation, presence; cf. concept of symbol.

e. Christ the Sacrament of the Father: his human nature as sign; his ministry
of preaching and healing and his death and resurrection as manifestation
of God; his whole being as the presence of the Father among us. Cf. St.
Augustine: “There is no other sacrament from Christ” (Letter 187).
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f. Christ our Mediator with the Father: the concept of mediation; the
uniqueness of Christ’s mediation: definitive reconciliation (mediation)
through the blood of the cross (priesthood). “There is one mediator
between God and humankind” (1 Tm 2:5; cf. Heb 9:15-28) which connects
the concept of mediation with the priesthood; the place of the Mother of
God and the saints in the economy of salvation.

The elements of mediation: (God; in human nature; through sacrifice: as

priest; effective and definitive reconciliation: as mediator).

g. The classical structure of the Roman prayers.

6. The Pneumatological Aspect of the Liturgy

a. CCC, 1092: “In this sacramental dispensation of Christ's mystery the Holy
Spirit acts in the same way as at other times in the economy of salvation:
he prepares the Church to encounter her Lord; he recalls and makes Christ
manifest to the faith of the assembly. By his transforming power, he
makes the mystery of Christ present here and now. Finally the Spirit of
communion unites the Church to the life and mission of Christ.” 
b. The role of the Holy Spirit in the liturgy from the perspective of his role in
the life and mission of Jesus. The role of the Holy Spirit in the life of
Christ is the same role in the liturgy.

c. The Holy Spirit of Christ:

o In the incarnation (divina comercia the “humanization” of God: Jesus as

Son, huios, through the incarnation; our “divinization” through the
sacrament of baptism);

o St. Ambrose (Initiation in the 4 th century): “As the Virgin conceived in

her womb the Son of Man by the power of the Holy Spirit so does the
Church gives rebirth to her children in baptism through the fount of
the same power.”

o At his baptism and in his mission (Jesus as the anointed one, the
Christos or Messiah; the Pentecost of the Church; our mission through
the sacrament of Confirmation);

o At his death and glorification (Jesus as Lord, Kyrios or Sender of the

Spirit; the biblical typology of Jn 19:34).

d. The Holy Spirit in the Liturgy:

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o Liturgy as anamnesis: concept of anamnesis (ritual memorial, paschal

mystery as chief object, and real presence of the object of memorial);

o Liturgy as epiclesis: concept of epiclesis (invocation of God for the

bestowal of the Holy Spirit upon people and things to be consecrated
[consecratory epiclesis] and upon the communicants [communion
epiclesis]); the liturgical gesture of epiclesis;

o Just as the paschal mystery culminated in the mystery of Pentecost, so

does anamnesis culminate in epiclesis; thus every liturgical action as
anamnesis of the the paschal mystery culminates in epiclesis or
bestowal of the Holy Spirit

o Anamnesis and epiclesis in various liturgical actions: sacraments and

blessings, liturgy of the hours, liturgical year.

o Conclusion. The relationship between liturgy and Christian life.

7. The Ecclesiological Aspect of the Liturgy

a. The Church as worshipping community (1 Peter 2:9-10; the tradition of

Didache and Ignatius of Antioch); the Church as temple (Ep 2:22; Rm
8:15); the Church’s place of worship or the domus ecclesiae.

b. The liturgy as preeminent action of the Church (SC 7; 10): the liturgy is
essential to the definition of Church.

c. The liturgy as epiphany of the Church (SC 41; LG 26): in liturgical

celebrations the Church is manifested as the sacrament of Christ, as the
one holy, catholic and apostolic Church gathered here and now; unity
with the universal Church and the local bishop; the parish community.

d. The communal celebration of the liturgy (SC 26): the public character of
liturgy; active participation.

e. The celebration of the priestly people: the priestly people and the
sacraments of initiation; the ordained ministers and the sacrament of
orders; the lay ministers and institution; active participation: role of the
presider, other ministers and the assembly.

f. CCC, 1118: sacraments are “of the Church” in the double sense that they
are “by her” and “for her.”
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● by the Church: she is the sacrament of Christ’s action at work in her

through the mission of the Holy Spirit
i. sacraments are administered in and by the Church
ii. the Church is the universal sacrament, which brings the
divine saving will to fruition by commission of Christ, the
primordial sacrament
iii. it is an instrument in the hands of Christ; it is his arm, as it
were, that is extended and visible to all human beings; it is
the abiding sign of his nearness and his helping love
● for the Church: the “sacraments make the Church,” since they
manifest and communicate to men the mystery of communion with
God who is love, One in three persons
iv. every sacrament that is administered and received serves the
building up of the Mystical Body of Christ; it extends that
body and gives it new life
v. the sacraments, each according to its special purpose and
gift of grace, bring new members into the communion of the
Church or initiate new life, lifegiving ties with the Church
and its head.
vi. SC, 59: purpose of the sacraments - to sanctify men, to build
up the body of Christ, and finally, to give worship to God

8. The Symbolic Aspect of the Liturgy

a. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7: “…the liturgy is considered as the exercise of

the priestly office of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy by means of signs
perceptible to the senses, human sanctification is signified and brought
about in ways proper to each of these signs; in the liturgy the whole public
worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is by the
Head and his members.”

b. CCC, 1145: “A sacramental celebration is woven from signs and symbols.

In keeping with the divine pedagogy of salvation, their meaning is rooted
in the work of creation and in human culture, specified by the events of
the Old Covenant and fully revealed in the person and work of Christ.”

c. CFC, 1522: sacraments communicate through touch (anointing, imposing

hands, washing, embracing), through gestures (standing, bowing, sitting,
kneeling), and through words (proclaimed, listened to, spoken and
responded to). It is through these human means of communication that
the divine life and love is communicated in the sacraments
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Vatican II Liturgical Renewal

1. Features of the Constitution on Liturgy:

a. Return to classical form with its cultural traits of simplicity, brevity,

and practicality, with exclusion, whenever feasible, of later forms like
Franco-Germanic.
b. A more theological and spiritual approach to the liturgy in place of the
purely rubristic and legalistic: the liturgy as exercise of Christ’s priestly
office to which he associates the Church (SC 6, 7, and 10).
c. Application of fundamental principles: active participation (SC 14)
which should govern liturgical reform (hence catechesis, formation of
seminarians, active ministry of the laity, intelligible texts and rites, use
of the vernacular); importance of the Word of God in liturgy (SC 24);
d. need for reform of existing rites (mass, other sacraments, sacramentals,
divine office);
e. need to adapt the liturgy to the culture and traditions of various
peoples.

3. Post Conciliar Reform: revision of the Roman Missal (Sacramentary) now on

its third edition; rites of sacraments, sacramental’s, and blessings; liturgy of
the hours; liturgical calendar. Although the Constitution is a work of
compromise between two extreme camps of progress and conservatism (cf.
question of vernacular, concelebration, communion under both kinds, music),
many of its unresolved issues were overcome during the papacy of Pope Paul
VI (total use of vernacular, more eucharistic prayers, type of oil for the
anointing of the sick, changes in the Order of the Mass).