Love for the Liturgy
The Liturgical dimension of the Pauline Charism

Translated by M. Lucille Van Hoogmoed, PDDM

Father James Alberione lived in an age of important events, one of which was the "liturgical movement." It began with the National Congress of Catholic Works which took place in Malinas, Belgium, in September of 1909. There the Benedictine monk, Lambert Beaudoin, had a great influence upon the liturgy. During the pontificate of Pius X, the seeds of the liturgical reform sprouted at the end of the nineteenth century. This century was marked by great figures who urged Europe toward renewal. Among these were: de Gueranger (1805-1875), founder of the liturgical movement in Solesmes; L. Beaudoin (1873-1953), who extended the movement to Belgium and Germany where the abbey of Maris Laach made new contributions, especially through the efforts of I. Herwegen and O. Casel.

MATURATION OF THE LITURGICAL MOVEMENT

Romanticism favored a return to tradition at the beginning of this age. After 1901 the liturgical movement suffered a setback with the outbreak of World War I. During the two world wars, and even after the second, a series of initiatives were unfolded in the liturgical field with the development of magazines, articles, missals and commentaries on the Liturgical Year.

Liturgical weeks were promoted among the clergy and laity to foster a deeper understanding of the liturgy as the source of the spiritual life. Following the Second World War, it would find its "Magna Carta" in the encyclical of Pius XIII, Mediator Dei, issued in November 1947.

The liturgical work of Pius X... had a profound influence upon Fr. Alberione. Just as his years of formation and initial years of ministry were marked by his interest and effort directed toward the liturgy, so his entire life was characterized by this concern. His habitual phrase was: "The editions must encompass dogma, morals and worship." Divine Providence called upon him to sign, together with the Council Fathers, the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium on December 4, 1963.

Bible and the Liturgy

Since the beginning, the clear purpose of the Pauline foundations is the diffusion of the Gospel and of the Scriptures as they enable us to know Jesus Christ. For this reason, Fr Alberione founded the International Catholic Bible Society with its motto of "A Bible in every family."

The understanding of the liturgy springs from the Bible. It is impossible to draw many people to the liturgy without first leading them to the Scriptures. In his final years he insisted:

"A return to the liturgy and to the Bible are inseparable realities. Furthermore, this is one of the greatest fruits the Church hopes to obtain through the liturgical reform: with her and in her to draw the Bible to all people and all people to the Bible.

"The increasing dechristianization of life, of art, and of thought comes from a lack of liturgical-biblical oxygen in which the people have lived for centuries. Painful consequences have derived from this separation between the liturgy and the Bible over the centuries: the simple people, who make up the majority, understand neither the Mass, nor the sacraments, nor the other celebrations…. A homily separated from the Bible is not the Word of God but merely human reasoning.

"What is the liturgy? It is the actualization of the Bible…if Bible reading is missing there is no comprehension of the meaning nor of the fruits of the liturgy…. Liturgy is the sacramentality of the Bible. Here lies the necessity of the Bible for the people: if this is not the case the liturgy means nothing to them; furthermore, they will give less praise to God and their prayer will not be complete."

Therefore, it is necessary to draw the Bible and the liturgy toward the people through publications which would be available to the largest number of people.

Pauline editorial activity, from its first decades, placed special emphasis on publication of a liturgical nature. Already in 1921 a leaflet entitled, Una Buona Paarola (A Good Word) was published. This was later replaced by La Domenica (Sunday). In 1926 La Domenica Illustrata (illustrated) was published. The parish liturgical bulletin began in 1932 to assist the faithful toward a deeper understanding and appreciation of the liturgy of the Church. In 1952 this was replaced by the liturgical magazine La Vita in Christo e nella Chiesa (Life in Christ and in the Church) and entrusted to the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master, a congregation founded in 1924 for a Eucharistic, Priestly and Liturgical apostolate.

Father Alberione personally designed its program: "The woman who assists 'alter Christus,’" the priest, from his initial call to the formation, from his public ministry to his death and beyond through suffrages: this is the first flame this magazine fosters. Understanding the treasures of the liturgy, diffusion of all that pertains and nurtures the liturgical in this Church: this is the second flame this magazine fosters."

THE LITURGY: THE BOOK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

This is a unique denomination of the liturgy which is frequently encountered in the writings and homilies of Fr Alberione. In the presentation of a daily missal prepared by the Paulines in 1935 he wrote:

"The liturgy is simultaneously the law of prayer, the norm of activity and the rule of faith. The liturgy of the Church is therefore to be interpreted in accordance with its integral and total meaning. It is the great book of the Holy Spirit.

"Through prayer, acts of worship, sacred things, the Holy Spirit enlightens and manifests all with grace:

"The Holy Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groaning. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will" (Rm 8:26-27).

"Many books already exist for the people. These contain commentaries and explanations which are simple or lofty, critical and pious. It is necessary, however, to understand the complete thought of the Church. She always presents us with dogma, morals and worship even though one of these aspects may predominate in accordance with the purpose and specific circumstances involved. On the other hand, the liturgy seeks to raise the entire person to God; mind, will and heart. Therefore the reflections, commentaries and introductions should be simultaneously: dogmatic, to enlighten the faithful concerning the truths contained in the various mysteries of the liturgical year, in which the Church wishes to instruct us: moral, which will lead to the imitation of the life of Jesus Christ, of the Virgin Mary and of the saints presented to us daily; and prayerful.

"For the most part, the missal is a book of prayers, which contains the greatest of all prayers: the renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross. The current daily missal is complete in this sense because it is elaborated in the light of the Church, of Jesus Christ who said: "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life" (Jn 14:6). Therefore, it can be very beneficial to those who use it."

LITURGY AS A VEHICLE FOR SALVATION

In his presentation of Life in Christ and in the Church, Fr. Alberione stated: "God the Father speaks through creation and nature is his great book. The Son speaks through his works and preaching, the Gospel is his great book. The Holy Spirit speaks and acts through the Sacraments, the sacramentals, prayers, the liturgy is his great book." The liturgy is light for souls since it is based on dogma. It is a guide for souls since it directs all toward the Christian life and the life of perfection. It is sanctification for souls since it is the ordinary means for communicating grace and supernatural life.

These affirmations are filled with consequences. Today, thirty-four years after the promulgation of the constitution on the Liturgy, liturgical studies are based upon a deeper biblical and theological reflection which dictates the language, symbolic meaning, the communication codes for its participants through words, gestures and images. All of this is justified to make liturgy the vehicle of salvation for each person who enters it with his human faculties of receptivity and response. In a way, Fr Alberione sensed all of this.

In the second place, the consequences can be discovered in the very role of the Sister Disciples within the Pauline Family. Like the entire Pauline family, they fulfill the apostolate of proclaiming Christ to the people through their liturgical activity. It is not only through prayer that they participate together with the other Institutes more directly involved with the means of social communication.

They are inserted in the Pauline charismatic mandate through their liturgical apostolate. They do this by cultivating art in its various expressions: music, painting, sculpture, architecture, preparing all types of liturgical vessels and decorations, and above all by liturgical catechesis through the use of the press and audiovisual materials.

On January, 1958, the solemnity of the Epiphany, Fr. Alberione emphasized the ministry of the Sister Disciples to manifest Jesus through the liturgy: "Manifest Jesus through your words, certainly, this can also be done in many ways, through instruction and preaching bur also through work, pictures, statues and all that constitutes liturgy. It is all a manifestation of Jesus Christ made in the spirit of the Church and of the Gospel.

The first to manifest Jesus Christ was the Blessed Virgin. She carried the Son of God Incarnate in her womb and showed him to all without preaching, in silence, through her deeds. Then Jesus manifested himself through his miracles and his words. He also manifested the Father by speaking about the Father and making him known: "I revealed your name" (Jn 17:5).

Fr Alberione continues: "Jesus is the liturgy itself and Mary is the mother of the liturgy. If the Sister Disciples work in the spirit of Mary, they will manifest Jesus as Mary manifested him, not so much by words but by actions. All the teachings of the Church can be expressed in words and in works, actions, pictures, sculpture, construction of churches….Your field is vast and requires constant instruction."

LITURGY, SOURCE OF LIFE IN CHRIST

From the liturgy we receive the nourishment to grow in the life of Jesus Christ until we are identified with him. There are innumerable meditations of Fr. Alberione to his spiritual children following the liturgical year as an "itinerary of faith": "The liturgical year with its various celebrations draws all to know Jesus, to imitate Jesus, and to live Jesus."

Normally, for Fr Alberione, the Gospel reading for the current day, feast or liturgical season was the theme for his meditation which, keeping in mind the group to which it was directed, would become a relevant word pronounced by God for the present day and for the specific persons or Institute being addressed. Here we see the genius of this man of God who was able to read historical events in the light of the Word of God. He knew how to convert liturgy into life and life into liturgy, that is, to respond to God the Father in the Church through Jesus Christ, with the power of the Holy Spirit which, in the liturgy, raises all to the fullness of salvation.

In his later years he repeated this call ever more frequently: "work for the glory for God until we are able to say 'for me to live is Christ' (Phil 1:21; Gal 2:20) by living the liturgical year. Each year the Lord enables us to reach a higher and deeper perfection: 'Christ lives in me.' Jesus Christ lives in us his thoughts are our thoughts, his desires our desires, and our desires and intentions are those of Jesus."

CONCLUSION

From the vast quantity of material on this theme, it is obvious that Fr Alberione was a man who carried out the directives of the liturgical movement and later of the liturgical reform implemented by the Vatican Council. He was not a man of theory but one of action!

For him the liturgy, with its center in the Eucharist, both in the liturgical year as well as the daily celebration, has the purpose of forming Jesus Christ in every Christian and religious so that "one who belongs to God may be perfect" (cf. 2 Tim 3:16) and arrive at the measure of Christ and can say with St. Paul, "For me to live is Christ" (Gal 2:20). When all is said and done this is the final goal of the liturgy of the Church.

FR. JAMES ALBERIONE AND THE LITURGY

In the autobiographical book Abundantes Divitiae Gratiae Suae (AD), Father Alberione speaks of his "liturgical spirit." Here is an excerpt:

He profited greatly from reading the books of W. Durand, Gavanti, Barin, etc. He was particularly impressed by what St. Pius X accomplished with regard to sacred chant, the breviary and the teaching of the liturgy. When he became master of ceremonies and sacristan in the seminary, and master of ceremonies to the bishop, entrusted with preparing the ceremonial book, he found more and more delight in the prayer of the Church and in praying with the Church. Consequences: those assignments led him to desire churches suitable for beautiful liturgical celebrations.

One day the bishop confided to him: "Once I preferred to preach dogma; later, moral doctrine Now I think it more helpful to explain the prayers of the liturgy, together with the dogmatic and moral teachings associated with them." This served him as a directive. Gregorian chant and sacred music have been held in high esteem in the Pauline family; work on a missal for the people was begun very early, being compiled by our students; then the liturgical bulletin, Life in Christ and in the Church, by the Congregation of the Sister Disciples, whose purpose is liturgical. All this was done, considering the liturgy in its full and realistic meaning.

The Divine Master dwells eucharistically in one hundred and fifty chapels (in 1954) of the Pauline family. Three principal churches: these are dedicated to the Divine Master, the Queen of the apostles and St. Paul, in accord with the three main devotions. The three churches were constructed according to the principles published some years previously in Appunti de Teologia Pastorale. He gave a sketch of each one to the architect for the development of the design, and together with the sketch he gave a general plan so that the church would have unity and a harmonious theme in every aspect: architecture, sculpture, paintings, windows, furnishing. It was to correspond to the purpose for which a Pauline church is built. (AD 71-77)

Home | www.alberione.org | Contact Us

Copyright © 1999-2003, Daughters of St. Paul. All Rights Reserved.