The Spirit of the Liturgy
by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
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Book Summary Information
Author: Joseph Cardinal RatzingerBrand: Ignatius Press
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); German (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-09-01
ISBN: 0898707846
Number of pages: 250
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Book Reviews of The Spirit of the Liturgy
Book Review: A Call to Rediscover the Sacred Liturgy
Summary: 5 Stars
In 1946 the young Joseph Ratzinger read Romano Guardini's classic work The Spirit of the Liturgy. Some fifty four years later the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith published this work under the same title. Why?
Part of the answer is found in Guardini's book. According to Ratzinger it "helped us to rediscover the liturgy in all its beauty, hidden wealth, and time-transcending grandeur, to see it as the animating centre of the Church, the very centre of Christian life," at a time when the liturgy was, for the laity, "largely concealed beneath instructions for and forms of private prayer." And part of the answer is found in the liturgical state of the Catholic Church at this, the dawn of the third Christian millennium. Ratzinger again: "[the liturgy] has been endangered by climatic conditions as well as by various restorations and reconstructions. In fact, it is threatened with destruction if the necessary steps are not taken to stop these damaging influences."
So, Cardinal Ratzinger, believing that the liturgy of the Roman rite is in a state of crisis, has written this book to call for "a new reverence in the way we treat" the liturgy and "a new understanding of its message and its reality" lest the Catholic Church suffer "irreparable loss." To that end Ratzinger hopes that this book will contribute to the emergence a new liturgical movement in the Church in much the same way as Guardini's book was seminal to the classical liturgical movement of the twentieth century.
What are we to make of Cardinal Ratzinger's rather dramatic assumption? Is the liturgy in crisis? There is little doubt that liturgical reform and practice following the Second Vatican Council has occasioned much debate, has been implemented in different places in manners that vary radically and at times substantially, and has - most sadly - been the ground of real division in the Church. We can also observe an increasing number of scholarly works addressing this question: Aidan Nichols' Looking at the Liturgy and the volume Beyond the Prosaic edited by Stratford Caldecott are but two. No matter what our perspective, then, it is clear that what the liturgy is and how it should be celebrated is an issue today. Given this, it is only fair to give the considerations of this rather well-placed Cardinal a hearing.
And he has quite a lot to say. The first part of the book deals with the essence of the liturgy, what liturgy is in reality, in relation to the cosmos and to history, and with its biblical origins. These are fundamental theological questions that have all too often been ignored in recent years. Thus, if the liturgy is of its essence the unique confluence of "the spiritual movement of the Old Testament, the process of inner purification within the history of religion, human quest and divine response," we can understand that Christian worship that is purely, or even predominantly, the action of the worshipping community is erroneous, and we can see that to call the liturgy an "assembly," or the Mass a "meal" is deficient.
Ratzinger's account of the essence of the liturgy informs his practical conclusions. Because Christian liturgy "is never performed solely in the self-made world of man" but "is always a cosmic liturgy...wherever possible, we should definitely take up again the apostolic tradition of facing the east, both in the building of churches and in the celebration of the liturgy." The Cardinal underlines this point at some length, going so far as to say that Mass with the priest facing the people during the liturgy of the Eucharist has led to the situation where "less and less is God in the picture." He adds: "looking at the priest has no importance. What matters is looking together at the Lord. It is not now a question of dialogue but of common worship, of setting off toward the One who is to come."
With regard to the Blessed Sacrament, he reminds us that "if the presence of the Lord is to touch us in a concrete way, the tabernacle must also find its proper place in the architecture of our church buildings." The importance of sacred time, the liturgical calendar with its seasons and feasts, is discussed.
The chapter on images and religious art contains a frank admission that "a new iconoclasm which has frequently been regarded as virtually mandated by the Second Vatican Council," has "left behind a void, the wretchedness of which we are now experiencing in a truly acute way." He reminds us of the philosophical truth that "through the appearance of the beautiful we are wounded in our innermost being, and that wound grips us and takes us beyond ourselves; it stirs longing into flight and moves us towards the truly Beautiful, to the Good in itself."
As with our art and our altars, Ratzinger calls us to focus our liturgical music once again on God, insisting that "the cosmic character of liturgical music stands in opposition to the two [prevailing] tendencies of the modern age...music as pure subjectivity, music [and] as the expression of mere will. We sing with the angels."
A timely correction of the widely misunderstood concept of "active participation" in the liturgy is given:
"Doing must really stop when we come to the heart of the matter: the oratio. It must be plainly evident that the oratio is the heart of the matter, but that it is important precisely because it provides a space for the actio of God...The almost theatrical entrance of different players into the liturgy, which is so common today...quite simply misses the point...If the liturgy degenerates into general activity, then we have radically misunderstood the "theo-drama" of the liturgy and lapsed almost into parody."
In the discussion of liturgical posture, the importance of retaining kneeling is underlined:
"It may well be that kneeling is alien to modern culture - insofar as it is a culture, for this culture has turned away from the faith and no longer knows the One before whom kneeling is the right, indeed the intrinsically necessary gesture. The man who learns to believe learns to kneel, and a faith or a liturgy no longer familiar with kneeling is sick at the core. Where lost, kneeling must be rediscovered..."
And certain liturgical behaviours are bluntly ruled out:
"It is totally absurd to try to make the liturgy "attractive" by introducing dancing pantomimes...which frequently...end with applause. Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of the liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment."
Ratzinger considers the importance of silence in the liturgy, and goes on to argue that "it really is not true that reciting the whole Eucharistic prayer out loud...is a prerequisite for the participation of everyone in this central act of the Mass." He reflects on the role of liturgical vestments and on how the incarnational nature of the Christian faith is essentially reflected in its use of material things - bread, wine, water, oil, etc. - in the liturgy.
As well as these practical conclusions The Spirit of the Liturgy contains a contribution to the current debate over reform of the Roman rite as a whole. Whilst not taking either of the more prevalent uncritical stances (`we should go back, wholesale, to what we had before' or `Paul VI's reform was faultless'), Ratzinger suggests that all was not well at the top following the Second Vatican Council:
"...the impression arose that the pope really could do anything in liturgical matters, especially if he were acting on the mandate of an ecumenical council. Eventually, the idea of the givenness of the liturgy, the fact that one cannot do with it what one will, faded from the public consciousness...The pope's authority is bound to the Tradition of faith, and that also applies to the liturgy. It is not "manufactured" by the authorities. Even the pope can only be a humble servant of its lawful development and abiding integrity and identity."
And, as Ratzinger has said in other publications, these principles were not necessarily respected in the official reform following the Council. But, whilst the examination of such historical realities is of the utmost importance in deciding upon any future `reform of the reform,' that is not the main thrust of this book.
What The Spirit of the Liturgy is, is an urgent call to each of us to rediscover the focus of the liturgy on the Incarnate God. In particular, this book reminds those entrusted with the preparation for and the celebration of the sacred liturgy - in its humblest or in its most splendid contexts - of their duty to allow the liturgy once again to become that sacred encounter of God who was made flesh and blood for our salvation. This after all was Guardini's aim, and it was the aim of the classical liturgical movement which Cardinal Ratzinger seeks to revive.
Summary of The Spirit of the Liturgy
Considered by Ratzinger devotees as his greatest work on the Liturgy, this profound and beautifully written treatment of the "great prayer of the Church" will help readers rediscover the Liturgy in all its hidden spiritual wealth and transcendent grandeur as the very center of our Christian life.In his own foreward to the book, Cardinal Ratzinger compares this work to a much earlier classic of the same title by Romano Guardini because Ratzinger feels that his insights here are similar with what Guardini achieved in his time regarding a renewed understanding of the Liturgy.
"My purpose here is to assist this renewal of understanding of the Liturgy. Its basic intentions coincide with what Guardini wanted to achieve. The only difference is that I have had to translate what Guardini did at the end of the First World War, in a totally different historical situation, into the context of our present-day questions, hopes and dangers. Like Guardini, I am not attempting to involve myself with scholarly discussion and research. I am simply offering an aid to the understanding of the faith and to the right way to give the faith its central form of expression in the Liturgy."
-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
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