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Programme Welcome & Prayer Review of the nature of the Sacred Liturgy and Holy Mass The Ars celebrandi – some things to consider Useful (Re)sources

Reading for the October holiday … Sacrosanctum Concilium General Instruction of the Roman Missal Sacramentum Caritatis – Benedict XVI Catechism of the Catholic Church Sacramentum Redemtionis

We did half-expect to see the priest’s hands burst spontaneously into flame as he handled the distilled essence of the Mind that invented the universe.

Earth Unites With Heaven Of all things Catholic, there is nothing so familiar as the Mass. With its timeless prayers, hymns, and gestures, the Mass is like home to us. Yet most Catholics will go a lifetime without seeing beyond the surface of the memorized prayers. Few will glimpse the powerful supernatural drama they enter into every Sunday. Pope John Paul II has called the Mass “heaven on earth,” explaining that “the liturgy we celebrate on earth is a mysterious participation in the heavenly liturgy. (p3) The Mass – and I mean every single Mass – is heaven on earth.” SCOTT HAHN, The Lamb’s Supper (p5)

In our liturgy here on earth, we receive a foretaste of and a share in the heavenly liturgy that is celebrated in the holy city Jerusalem towards which we are wending our pilgrim way and in which Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tabernacle. Sacrosanctum Concilium 8 cf CCC 1326

[T]he Liturgy is the peak towards which the Church’s activity tends, just as it is the also the fountain-head from which all its activity flows. Sacrosanctum Concilium 10

The celebration of Mass … In it is found the high point both of the action by which God sanctifies the world in Christ and of the worship that the human race offers to the Father, adoring him through Christ, the Son of God, in the Holy Spirit. GIRM 16

The wonderful works of God among the people of the Old Testament were but a prelude to the work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God. He accomplished this work principally by the Paschal mystery of his blessed Passion, Resurrection from the dead and glorious Ascension, whereby “dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life.” 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.” For this reason, the Church celebrates in the Liturgy above all the paschal mystery by which Christ accomplished the work of our salvation. CCC 1067

It is true to say that Christ always joins with himself in this great work, in which God is perfectly glorified and men sanctified, the Church his most dearly beloved Bride: she calls upon her Lord and through him presents her worship to the Eternal Father. Sacrosanctum Concilium 7

The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of praise by which the Church sings the glory of God in the name of all creation. This sacrifice of praise is possible only through Christ: he unites the faithful to his person, to his praise, and to his intercession, so that the sacrifice of praise to the Father is offered through Christ and with him, to be accepted in him. CCC 1361

When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ’s Passover, and it is made present: the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present. CCC 1364 With him, she herself is offered whole and entire … The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer and work, are untied with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value. CCC 1368

In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist ‘body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and, therefore, the whole Christ, is truly, really, and substantially contained.’ CCC 1373

Biscuit break!

Mother Church greatly desires that all the faithful may be brought to take that full, intelligent, active part in the liturgical celebrations which the nature of the liturgy itself requires, and which in virtue of their baptism, is the right and duty of the Christian people, ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people’ (1 Pet 2:9; cf. 2:4-5) Sacrosanctum Concilium 14

Before Mass Whole life!! Confession Fasting Personal study & prayer Arrive on time

Architecture Churches, therefore, should be suitable for carrying out the sacred action and for ensuring the active participation of the faithful. Sacred buildings and requisites for divine worship should, moreover, be truly worthy and beautiful and be signs and symbols of heavenly realities GIRM 288

Art “Images of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saints, in accordance with the Church’s most ancient tradition, should be displayed for veneration by the faithful in sacred buildings and should be arranged so as to usher the faithful toward the mysteries of faith celebrated there. GIRM 318 Everything related to the Eucharist should be marked by beauty. Sacramentum Caritatis 41

Sacred Vessels Sacred vessels are to be held in special honour … made from precious metal … Non-absorbent materials Clearly distinguishable from those intended for everyday use GIRM

Vestments It is fitting that the beauty and nobility of each vestment derive not from abundance of overly lavish ornamentation, but rather from the material that is used and from the design. GIRM 344

During Mass “We need to be aware, therefore, that “participation” does not refer primarily to external activity or function during the celebration of Mass; rather, it refers to a deeply spiritual, interior participation of mind and heart, filled with devotion and penetrating the very depths of the mysteries we celebrate.” USCCB Ministries Reader Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion

Prayers and Gestures

Singing and silence

Emphasising the importance of the ars celebrandi also leads to an appreciation of the value of liturgical norms. The ars celebrandi should foster a sense of the sacred and the use of outward signs which help cultivate this this sense. These texts contain riches which have been preserved and express the faith and experience of the People of God over its two-thousand-year history. Sacramentum Caritatis 40

It doesn’t always need to be Holy Mass … Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament Prayer time Assemblies

Useful Websites YouTube: bustedhalovideo

Task Choose one area of the ars celebrandi and discuss how this is experienced in your school and how you could improve it.

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