In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen
My dearly beloved in Our Lord,
Pope St Pius X, whose feast we have celebrated at the beginning of September, said that if the liturgy, the cult through which God is officially honored by, the Church, is not understood by the faithful, it will become fruitless sentimentality.
This is unfortunately the state of affairs which we now find ourselves in. The doctrinal and ascetic content of the liturgy, foremost of the Holy Mass, has become a book with seven seals for most.
Therefore I want to start giving you not only the sentiment of the Church about what is most sacred to her, but the doctrine in her own words, with just minimal comments.
The Holy Council of Trent issued its decree on the doctrine of the Sacrifice of the Mass on September 17, 1562, shortly before the closing of the Council after 17 years:
“The sacred and holy, ecumenical and general Synod of Trent – lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, the same Legates of the Apostolic Sec presiding therein – to the end that the ancient, complete, and in every part perfect faith and doctrine touching the great mystery of the Eucharist may be retained in the holy Catholic Church; and may, all errors and heresies being repelled, be preserved in its own purity; (the Synod) instructed by the illumination of the Holy Ghost, teaches, declares; and decrees what follows, to be preached to the faithful, on the subject of the Eucharist, considered as being a true and singular sacrifice.”
Just as the “pastoral” and wish-washy language of “Vatican2” is soul-emptying, the language of the Catholic magisterium is solemn and enlightening in the true sense of the term! The authority of the Council is established, and its purpose clearly defined. Where there is no hatred for heresy and error, there is no love of the Truth! Roncalli’s (John XXIII) and Montini’s (Paul VI) declared intention of Vatican2 not condemning anyone or anything, would have made them suspect of heresy if they had not already been classified as such by the Holy Office earlier on, long before they occupied the See of Peter…
“CHAPTER I.
On the institution of the most holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Forasmuch as, under the former Testament, according to the testimony of the Apostle
Paul, there was no perfection, because of the weakness of the Levitical priesthood; there
was need, God, the Father of mercies, so ordaining, that another priest should rise,
according to the order of Melchisedech, our Lord Jesus Christ, who might consummate,
and lead to what is perfect, as many as were to be sanctified. He, therefore, our God and
Lord, though He was about to offer Himself once on the altar of the cross unto God the
Father, by means of his death, there to operate an eternal redemption; nevertheless,
because that His priesthood was not to be extinguished by His death, in the last supper,
on the night in which He was betrayed, - that He might leave, to His own beloved Spouse the
Church, a visible sacrifice, such as the nature of man requires, whereby that bloody
sacrifice, once to be accomplished on the cross, might be represented, and the memory
thereof remain even unto the end of the world, and its salutary virtue be applied to the
remission of those sins which we daily commit, - declaring Himself constituted a priest for
ever, according to the order of Melchisedech, He offered up to God the Father His own
body and blood under the species of bread and wine; and, under the symbols of those
same things, He delivered (His own body and blood) to be received by His apostles,
whom He then constituted priests of the New Testament; and by those words, Do this in
commemoration of me, He commanded them and their successors in the priesthood, to
offer (them); even as the Catholic Church has always understood and taught. For, having
celebrated the ancient Passover, which the multitude of the children of Israel immolated
in memory of their going out of Egypt, He instituted the new Passover, (to
wit) Himself to be immolated, under visible signs, by the Church through (the ministry of)
priests, in memory of His own passage from this world unto the Father, when by the
effusion of His own blood He redeemed us, and delivered us from the power of darkness,
and translated us into his kingdom. And this is indeed that clean oblation, which cannot
be defiled by any unworthiness, or malice of those that offer (it); which the Lord foretold
by Malachias was to be offered in every place, clean to his name, which was to be great
amongst the Gentiles; and which the apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, has not
obscurely indicated, when he says, that they who are defiled by the participation of the
table of devils, cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord; by the table, meaning in both
places the altar. This, in fine, is that oblation which was prefigured by various types of
sacrifices, during the period of nature, and of the law; in as much as it comprises all the
good things signified by those sacrifices, as being the consummation and perfection of
them all.”
Many points of the doctrine here exposed, are further illustrated and explained either in the teaching of the same Council about the Holy Eucharist (Session XIII, Oct. 11, 1551) and about Communion under both species, and for little children (Session XXI, July 16, 1562) and a little later in the Roman Catechism, the Catechism of the Council of Trent, published under Pope St Pius V in 1566.
It is very much worth going through this magisterial text, passage by passage, in order to interiorize it and to make sure that you properly understand what the Church teaches! It is also worth procuring yourself a “good, old” book edition which contains the many scriptural references in the doctrinal text.
“CHAPTER II.
That the Sacrifice of the Mass is propitiatory both for the living and the dead.
And forasmuch as, in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the mass, that same
Christ is contained and immolated in an unbloody manner, who once offered Himself in a
bloody manner on the altar of the cross; the holy Synod teaches, that this sacrifice is truly
propitiatory and that by means thereof this is effected, that we obtain mercy, and find
grace in seasonable aid, if we draw nigh unto God, contrite and penitent, with a sincere
heart and upright faith, with fear and reverence. For the Lord, appeased by the oblation
thereof, and granting the grace and gift of penitence, forgives even heinous
crimes and sins. For the victim is one and the same, the same now offering by the
ministry of priests, who then offered Himself on the cross, the manner alone of offering
being different. The fruits indeed of which oblation, of that bloody one to wit, are
received most plentifully through this unbloody one; so far is this (latter) from derogating
in any way from that (former oblation). Wherefore, not only for the sins, punishments,
satisfactions, and other necessities of the faithful who are living, but also for those who
are departed in Christ, and who are not as yet fully purified, is it rightly offered, agreeably
to a tradition of the apostles.”
This chapter is eminently important, therefore you should try to read and understand it very well.
The identity of the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and of Holy Mass is clearly established: “the victim is one and the same (…) the manner alone of offering being different”, ie. the one bloody offering on the Cross, and the offering in an unbloody manner at Mass.
And the propitiatory purpose of the Mass is clearly taught against Luther and all those who follow him, including the Montini rite of Mass which has purged practically all passages to that effect; and which supports heterodox views about Purgatory because it refuses to use the term “soul” when speaking of the dead!
Let us be “careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace”, as the Church exhorts us with the words of St Paul (Epistle). Let us be certain that we understand that this unity in charity must be founded on the rock of the one and only Truth: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism” (ibid.). Let us not tempt Our Lord by inquiring out of vain curiosity, as a doctor of the law does in today’s Gospel, but let us “do the truth in charity”, as St Paul exhorts us in the same chapter (Eph 4:15)
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
P. Arnold Trauner (paterarnold@hotmail.com), njemački i engleski
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