In this final catechesis on the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, we recall the reasons the Council Fathers promoted a liturgical reform. The need arose for the faithful to celebrate the liturgies more consciously and actively, …participating fully in the salvific mystery. From this conviction arose the need to make the richness of the biblical texts and prayers more accessible to all the faithful, and to streamline the order of the celebration compared with that set out in the liturgical books then in use.
Moreover, the desire for a “general reform” did not come about suddenly, but had been evident in the actions of successive Popes since the beginning of the twentieth century, in keeping with the demands of the Liturgical Movement. The assertion that the faithful should not attend celebrations “as strangers or silent spectators” had already been raised in Pope Pius XI… Furthermore, one may recall Pius XII’s interventions regarding the ordering of the rites of Holy Week, which he rescheduled to the hours corresponding to the events of Easter, after they had for centuries been brought forward to the morning hours. Nor should it be forgotten that Saint John XXIII regarded it necessary to simplify the rubrics of the Breviary and the Missal, approving this with his Motu proprio.
The liturgical reform promoted by the Second Vatican Council is thus firmly rooted in the living tradition of the Church. A correct understanding of it also enables us to reject the abuses that occurred in certain sectors of the Church during the post-Conciliar period, and which, unfortunately, still occur from time to time today, where some of the principles underlying the reform itself have been taken to extremes or misunderstood.
It is worth recalling that the Conciliar Constitution affirms that “Liturgical services are not private functions, but are celebrations of the Church, which is the ‘sacrament of unity’, namely, the holy people united and ordered under their bishops… It is therefore the primary responsibility of pastors, of bishops but also of each individual priest, to safeguard and promote a liturgy which, while respecting liturgical norms, shines with noble simplicity (cf. no. 34) and thus manifests the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.