Having provided a succinct doctrinal foundation in arts. 47-48, art. 49 initiates the Council Fathers\u2019 structural and practical reforms of the celebration of the Mass.<\/p>\n
Vatican website translation:<\/p>\n
For this reason the sacred Council, having in mind those Masses which are celebrated with the assistance of the faithful, especially on Sundays and feasts of obligation, has made the following decrees in order that the sacrifice of the Mass, even in the ritual forms of its celebration, may become pastorally efficacious to the fullest degree.<\/p>\n
Latin text:<\/p>\n
49. Quapropter, ut Sacrificium Missae, etiam rituum forma, plenam pastoralem efficacitatem assequatur, Sacrosanctum Concilium, ratione habita Missarum, quae concurrente populo celebrantur, praesertim diebus dominicis et festis de praecepto, ea quae sequuntur decernit.<\/strong><\/p>\n Slavishly literal translation [thanks to Jonathan Day]:<\/p>\n 49. Therefore, in order that the sacrifice of the Mass, even in the forms of its ritual, may achieve the fullest pastoral efficacy, this most Sacred Council, having in mind Masses that are celebrated with the people engaged [or \u2018with the people present in large numbers\u2019], especially on Sundays and feasts of precept, has decreed what follows.<\/p>\n It should be noted that the ultimate justification for the liturgical reforms proposed by the Council Fathers is that \u201cthe sacrifice of the Mass\u2026may achieve the fullest pastoral efficacy.\u201d In other words, the reforms are not intended as exercises in antiquarian recovery, as restless desires for novelty, as inculcations of particular theological or political agenda, or as experiments in aesthetic uplift. They are aimed at helping the worshiping assembly more powerfully engage what the Council Fathers earlier in Chapter One declared to be the purpose of the liturgy: the glorification of God and the sanctification of the faithful. The reforms envisioned are especially intended for Masses at which the faithful are bound to be present by ecclesiastical law, namely, on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation (although the reforms are not forbidden in other circumstances). \u00a0Pray Tell<\/em> readers may wish to keep this overarching goal in mind as they evaluate particular reforms of the celebration of [Roman Rite] Eucharist over the last fifty years.<\/p>\n Jonathan Day calls our attention to the particular usage of \u201cconcurrente populo\u201d: In the Vatican website translation it is rendered \u201cwith the assistance of the people,\u201d but in English \u201cassist\u201d as applied to lay participation at Mass appears to be a false analogue with the French \u201cassister,\u201d meaning \u201cbe present at.\u201d The Latin \u201cconcurro,\u201d of course, literally means to \u201crun together,\u201d but it also means to \u201cengage in battle\u201d; the Latin \u201cconcurrentia\u201d (and French \u201cconcurrence\u201d) means \u201ccompetition.\u201d The implication is unquestionably of peers \u201crunning together.\u201d It would not be inaccurate to render the phrase \u201cwith the people concelebrating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It should be noted that the ultimate justification for the liturgical reforms proposed by the Council Fathers is that \u201cthe sacrifice of the Mass\u2026may achieve the fullest pastoral efficacy.\u201d In other words, the reforms are not intended as exercises in antiquarian recovery, as restless desires for novelty, as inculcations of particular theological or political agenda, or as experiments in aesthetic uplift. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19,3814,32],"tags":[2263],"class_list":["post-19788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mass","category-re-reading-sacrosanctum-concilium","category-vatican-ii","tag-re-reading-sacrosanctum-concilium"],"yoast_head":"\n