Magisterium, Second Vatican Council

5. God who "wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4), "who in many times and various ways spoke of old to the fathers through the prophets" (Heb. 1:1), when the fullness of time had come sent his Son, the Word made flesh, anointed by the Holy Spirit, to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the contrite of heart,[8] to be a bodily and spiritual medicine:[9] the Mediator between God and man.[10] For his humanity united with the Person of the Word was the instrument of our salvation. Therefore, "in Christ the perfect achievement of our reconciliation came forth and the fullness of divine worship was given to us."[11]

The wonderful works of God among the people of the Old Testament were but a prelude to the work of Christ Our Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God. He achieved his task

_______________________________________________________ 8. Cf. Is. 61:1; Lk. 4-18. 9. Cf. St. Ignatius of Antioch: Ad Ephesios, 7:2 10. Cf. 1 Tim. 2:5. 11. Sacramentarium Veronese (Leonianium).

principally by the paschal mystery of his Blessed Passion, Resurrection from the Dead, and Glorious Ascension, whereby "dying, he destroyed our death, and rising, restored our life."[12] For 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."[13]

6. Accordingly, just as Christ was sent by the Father so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. this he did so that they might preach the Gospel to every creature[14] and proclaim that the Son of God by his Death and Resurrection had freed us from the power of Satan[15] and from death, and brought us into the Kingdom of his Father. But he also willed that the work of salvation which they preached should be set in train through the sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical life revolves. Thus by Baptism men are grafted into the paschal mystery of Christ; they die with him, are buried with him and rise with him.[16] They receive the spirit of adoption as sons "in which we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15) and thus become true adorers such as the Father seeks. [17] In like manner as often as they eat the Supper of the Lord they proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. .[18] That was why on the very day of Pentecost when the Church appeared before the world those "who received the word" of Peter "were baptized." And "they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread and in prayers ... praising God and being in favour with all the people" (Acts 2:41-47). From that time onward the Church has never failed to come together to celebrate the paschal mystery, reading those things "which were in all the scriptures concerning him" (Lk. 24:27), celebrating the Eucharist in which "the victory and triumph of his death are again made present,"[19] and at he same time "giving thanks to God for his inexpressible gift" (2 Cor. 9:15) in Christ Jesus, ,"in

_______________________________________________________ 12. Easter Preface of the Roman Missal. 13. Prayer before Second Lesson of Holy Saturday (Roman Missal, before restoration). 14. Cf. Mk. 16:15. 15. Cf. Acts 26:18. 16. Cf. Rom. 6:4; Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1; 2 Tim. 2:11. 17. Cf. Jn 4-23 18. Cf. 1 Cor. 2:26. 19. Council of Trent, Session 23: Decree on the Holy Eucharist, ch. 5.

praise of his glory" (Eph. 1:12) through the power of the Holy Spirit.

7. To accomplish so great a work Christ is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, "the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the cross, "[20] but especially in the eucharistic species. by his power he is present in the sacraments so that when anybody baptizes it is really Christ himself who baptizes.[21] He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised "where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them" (Mt. 18:20).

Christ, indeed, always associates the Church with himself in this great work in which God is perfectly glorified and men are sanctified. the Church is his beloved Bride who calls to her Lord, and through him offers worship to the eternal Father.

The liturgy, then, is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. It involves the presentation of man's sanctification under the guise of signs perceptible by the senses and its accomplishment in ways appropriate to each of these signs. In it full public worship is performed by the mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and his members.

From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the Priest and of his Body, which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others. No other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree.

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, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, Minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle.[22] With all the warriors of the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the Lord; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we

_______________________________________________________ 20. Council of Trent, Session 22: Doctrine on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, ch. 2. 21. Cf. St. Augustine, Tractatus in Ioannem VI, ch. 1, n. 7. 22. Cf. Apoc. 21:2; Col. 3:1; Heb. 8:2.

eagerly await the Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ, until he our life shall appear and we too will appear with him in glory. [23]

9. The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church. Before men can come to the liturgy they must be called to faith and to conversion. "How then are they to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how are men to preach unless they be sent?" (Rom. 10:14-15).

Therefore the Church announces the good tidings of salvation to those who do not believe, so that all men may know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent and may be converted from their ways, doing penance.[24] To believers also the Church must ever preach faith and penance; she must prepare them for the sacraments, teach them to observe all that Christ has commanded,[25] and encourage them to engage in all the works of charity, piety and the apostolate, thus making it clear that Christ's faithful, though not of this world, are to be the lights of the world and are to glorify the Father before men.

10. Nevertheless the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the fount from which all her power flows. for the goal of apostolic endeavour is that all who are made sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of his Church, to take part in the Sacrifice and to eat the Lord's Supper.

The liturgy, in its turn, moves the faithful filled with "the paschal sacraments" to be "one in holiness";[26] it prays that "they hold fast in their lives to what they have grasped by their faith."[27] The renewal in the Eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the faithful and sets them aflame with Christ's insistent love. From the liturgy therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, grace is poured forth upon us as from a fountain, and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God to which all other activities of the Church are directed, as toward their end, are achieved with maximum effectiveness.

_______________________________________________________ 23. Cf. Phil. 3:20; Col. 3:4. 24. Cf. Jn. 17:3; Lk. 24:27; Acts 2:38. 25. Cf. Mt. 28:20. 26. Postcommunion for both Masses of Easter Week. 27. Collect for Mass of Tuesday of Easter Week.

11. But in order that the liturgy may be able to produce its full effects it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds be attuned to their voices, and that they cooperate with heavenly grace lest they receive it in vain. [28] Pastors of souls must therefore, realize that, when the liturgy is celebrated, something more is required than the laws governing valid and lawful celebration. It is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite and enriched by it.

12. The spiritual life, however, is not limited solely to participation in the liturgy. The Christian is indeed called to pray with others, but he must also enter into his bedroom to pray to his Father in secret; [29] furthermore, according to the teaching of the apostle, he must pray without ceasing. [30] We also learn from the same apostle that we must always carry around in our bodies the dying of Jesus, so that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal Flesh. [31] That is why we beg the Lord in the Sacrifice of the Mass that "receiving the offering of the Spiritual Victim" he may fashion us for himself "as an eternal gift." [32]

13. Popular devotions of the Christian people, provided they conform to the laws and norms of the Church, are to be highly recommended, especially where they are ordered by the Apostolic See.

Devotions proper to individual churches also have a special dignity if they are undertaken by order of the bishops according to customs or books lawfully approved.

But such devotions should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some way derived from it, and lead the people to it, since in fact the liturgy by its very nature is far superior to any of them.

_______________________________________________________ 28. Cf. 2 Cor. 6:1. 29. Cf. Mt. 6:6. 30. Cf. 1 Th. 5:17 31. Cf. 2 Cor. 4:10-11 32. Secret for Monday of Pentecost Week.