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INTRODUCTION
Odo Casel is considered as a preeminent theologian of the Liturgy, as the
great father of the 20th century liturgical movement that led to the liturgical reform.
Actually his liturgical theology of mysteries is considered as the most fruitful
theological idea of the 20th century, and it had a great influence in the Constitution
on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium of the Second Vatican Council. His
influence can be better seen in the controversy that arose during the redaction of
the Constitution regarding how the presence of Christ takes place in the liturgical
actions of the Church.[1]
Since that time most of the leaders of the Movement had been Benedictine.
Two centers stood out as especially notable: the Benedictine Abbey of Mont Csar in
Belgium where Dom Lambert Beauduin worked and the Benedictine Abbey of MariaLaach in Germany under the leadership of Abbot Ildefons Herwegen.[3]
The goals of the Liturgical Movement may be summarized as follows.
A change in the way the laity participated in the liturgy: from mute
spectators to full, active, intelligent participants. However, this movement toward
more active participation in the liturgy was seen as only one part of the movement
to renew the life of the Church.
A restoration of a biblical and patristic base to the Christian worship
and the Christian way of living as a Church. The biblical and patristic movements
produced new insights into the worship of the early Church and the close connection
between liturgy and life.
The liturgical pioneers found the connection between liturgy and life
in Mystical Body theology. How can we claim to be the Body of Christ at worship in
our churches if we are not the Body of Christ in action in the world?
The liturgical pioneers wanted to increase our awareness of sin and
the need for salvation, the need for faith something sorely needed in our highly
secularized world today. The scholastic approach to sin, salvation, and faith often
lacked the richness found in biblical and patristic times.
The liturgical pioneers sought to restore an awareness of the process
of conversion as a necessary part of the Rite of Christian Initiation. Simply baptizing
people was not enough to ensure active membership in the Church. There must be
a gradual process of questioning and seeking that ends in a personal desire for
initiation, a desire that is affirmed by the whole community.
The liturgical pioneers fostered the recognition of the connection
between initiation and ministry. Baptism involved a deputation for ministry. Ministry
was not something limited to the clergy. All of us share in the responsibility for
carrying on Christ's work in the world. In fact, that is precisely what we recommit
ourselves to each time we gather for Eucharist.
In short, the liturgical pioneers sought to renew the way we live as
Church, the way we relate to God and one another. Their goal was to re-invigorate
our faith and bring about a new Pentecost, a new reformation, a new birth of a
sense of Church that goes beyond the doors of the building to embrace the world.
[4]
This movement criticized the Christian thought of the Middle Ages with its
subjectivism and individualism that was so attractive to the nineteenth century.
Instead, it focused its interest on the Christian thought of the first four centuries.
There were exciting new theological developments. One of the most
interesting of these has been the theology of mysteries of Dom Odo Casel, monk of
Maria-Laach. [5]
Casel and his supporters, with an exaggerated optimism, considered the encyclical
as a confirmation of the substance of his conception of the mystery of worship.
Casel suddenly died of a stroke on March 21, 1948, immediately after the
Easter Mass, after the celebration in which culminated the Mystery of the Cult to
which had devoted his entire life. [6]
Although Casel agreed that these mysteries did not directly influence the
first Christian rituals, he claims that they were a kind of providential preparation in
human nature that would be brought about in Christ. He claims that these mysteries
gave Christianity the pattern in which the divine grace would be brought about to
human nature.[10] For Casel the mystery is "a sacred ritual action in which a saving
deed is made present through the rite; the congregation, by performing the rite,
takes part in the saving act, and thereby wins salvation."[11]
saving deed for the Church; the Church, in turn, enters the mystery through this
deed."[12] The mystery is the cross, the Resurrection of Christ, His ascension into
glory, and through whom, salvation is given to man. He has become the now the
Pneuma, the life-giving Spirit, that radiates all the gifts he gained to all human kind.
[13] Casel affirms:
But the high-point of the whole saving drama is the death and crown of
resurrection, when Christ entered the inmost heart of God in all his manhood, and
found everlasting redemption. The pasch of the Lord, his death and exaltation is the
mystery of redemption proper, the high-point of God's plan. The saved Church
comes out from it; the new covenant is built on it, the eternal covenant of Christ's
blood. Upon it rests all salvation.[14]
This mystery of Christ is an action that took place in the past and can never
be repeated, because it is perfect. However, the mystery of Christ is made actual by
the Church in the mystery of worship. Christian worship is an action in which Christ,
invisible but present in Spirit, performs his saving work through the Church. In
Christian worship it is the Lord who acts in the mystery himself, not alone, as he did
in the primeval mystery of the Cross, but now together with his Church.[15] Louis
Bouyer comments that for Casel, "... the Mystery is permanently embodied in the
liturgy,more especially in the Mass, but also in all the sacraments and even in the
sacramentals, in the Divine Office, in the feasts of the liturgical year, and in the
whole Christian life, since this life is nothing less than the expansion of what is given
in the sacramental order."[16]
human being has seen or can see" (1Ti 6:16) has revealed himself in Christ. In other
words, the Mystery is he who dies in a human way on the Cross, revealing the love
of the Father . It is the mystery that John affirms: "No one has ever seen God. The
only Son, God, who is at the Father's side, has revealed him" (Joh 1:18)" Therefore,
Christ is the Mystery of God manifested in a personal and earthly way to man. It is
the union of the Word of God and the human nature in the person of Jesus Christ.
This mystery involves all and each one of the theandric and savings actions of Jesus
Christ: His incarnation, life, passion, death and Resurrection. Consequently, all of
Christ's actions can be called mysteries. This mystery of salvation is transmitted
through the Church to all generations, leading all humanity to salvation, not only
through words, but also through sacred actions. Consequently, Christ lives in the
Church by means of faith and the mystery celebrated and lived.[20]
c)
Through the Church, especially in the Sacraments, Christians meet the
person of Christ, his saving actions, and the working of his grace. Casel affirms:
"Since Christ is no longer visible among us, in St Leo the Great's words, 'What was
visible in the Lord has passed over into the mysteries.' We meet his person, his
saving deeds, the workings of his grace in the mysteries of his worship. St Ambrose
writes: 'I find you in your mysteries.'"[21]
like a wife separated from her husband, unconsecrated and unable to come to the
Father. But then too, without the Church, it is through the Church that Christ is fully
Christ. Without the Church Christ would be priest without people, no high priest, nor
"prince of Salvation." Without the Church he would not be able to be the one who
saves and glorifies his people.[24] Casel never reduced the life of the Church only to
Liturgy. However he claims that "The all-important fact is that Christianity is a
mystery religion in virtue of its own very nature and the liturgy of mysteries is the
central and essential activity of this religion."[25]
For the liturgy, "through which the work of our redemption is accomplished,"
...is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and
manifest to others, the mystery of Christ...[30]
Here we can notice the influence of Casel's language and theological ideas:
Christ's mystery in God's revelation in the saving action of his incarnate Son
and the redemption and healing of the Church. It continues after the glorified Godman has returned to his Father, until the full number of the Church's members is
complete; the mystery of Christ is carried on and made actual in the mystery of
worship. Here Christ performs his saving work, invisible, but present in Spirit and
acting upon all men of good-will.[31]
Before Second Vatican Council, the Church had always considered the
Resurrection as a truth of faith; and the death of Christ on the Cross was the saving
event celebrated in the liturgy.[32]
One of the novelties of Casel's theology is his understanding of the mystery of
Christ, that is His redemptive work celebrated in the Christian liturgy. It is not
limited to his death on the Cross. As is stated above, the Christian mystery is
Christ's passage from death to life, through the Cross to the Resurrection, that is the
Paschal Mystery:
The content of the mystery of Christ is, therefore, the person of the god-man and
his saving deed for the Church; the Church, in turn, enters the mystery through this
deed. For Paul, Peter, and John, the heart of faith is not the teachings of Christ, not
the deeds of his ministry, but the acts by which he saved us. 'We can see one who
was made a little lower than the angels, I mean Jesus, crowned now with glory and
honour for the pains of his death.. . .' Through his death and resurrection, through
his blood the Lord has found 'everlasting redemption'.[33]
The liturgical-theological term "Paschal Mystery" had not been used before in any
magisterial document of the Church. In Sacrosanctum Concilium this expression
appears eight times. It is found in the central passages of the Constitution and the
meaning of the term nucleates all the conciliar doctrine regarding the Christian
liturgy. This means it is in the "Paschal Mystery" in which the Sacrosanctum
Conciluim's teachings regarding the worship and liturgical celebration is based.
For example in chapter 1, when talking about the nature of the sacred
liturgy, the document begins with a Christological approach, which includes Casel's
notion of Paschal Mystery. The document states that Christ fulfilled his redemptive
work through the Pascal Mystery:
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 achieved His task principally by the paschal mystery of His
blessed passions resurrection from the dead, and the glorious ascension, whereby
"dying, he destroyed our death and, 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"[34]
The Paschal Mystery and its celebration constitutes the essence of Christian
worship in its daily, weekly and yearly unfolding. The Second Vatican Council clearly
teaches this.[35]
to the Father. Here again we meet the essential meaning of the mystery of worship.
[37]
Fr. Vagaggini explains how the person and the work of Christ are continued
in the Church according to section 6:
- Christ was sent by the Father, and he sent his apostles.
.- He was anointed with the Holy Spirit to carry out his work, and He sent the Holy
Spirit over his Apostles to do the same.
- He fulfilled His office by preaching salvation, by His theandric acts, but especially
by His Paschal mystery.
.- Similarly, He ordered his Apostles and gave the power to preach, exercise and
apply the Salvation.
- They preached the Salvation through the Sacraments and the Sacrifice, around
which the whole Church was built and grew.
- The Church was born, that is, the great Sacrament, whose center, from the very
beginning was and has been always her liturgical life.
- Consequently, all men, through the Liturgy of the Church, are inserted into the
Paschal Mystery of Christ, receive divine life, and as adopted sons of God, are able
to adore and glorify God.[39]
The Sacrosanctum Concilium affirms that in the origin of the Church the
paschal event is present, "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."[40] Since that moment the Church became effectively associated by
Christ, as a loving wife, to the historic realization of the salvific project of God. The
Paschal Mystery of Christ is the constant object of the preaching of the Church and
the sole content of her celebrations. To the extent that believers are introduced into
this mystery through the faith and the Sacraments, the Church continues
concentrating and actualizing her life, she continues forming and building herself.
[41] The sacramental celebrations signify for the Church the most privileged
moments for the communion with the mystery of Christ, from whom she has her
origin. That is why that through the liturgy the Church fulfills her apostolic mission.
[42]
When the bishops gathered for the Second Vatican Council, one of the main
points immediately established in relation to the liturgy is that Christ is always
present in the Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. In these celebrations,
he is present in different ways; in the Eucharist, in the minister, in the Sacraments,
in the Word of God, and in the assembled people:
To accomplish so great a work, Christ is always present in His Church,
especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass,
not only in the person of His minister... but especially under the Eucharistic
species...He is present in the sacraments... He is present in His word... He is
present, lastly, when the Church prays and sings... Rightly, then, the liturgy is
considered as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ... in the liturgy the
whole public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by
the Head and His members... every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of
Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing
all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and
to the same degree.[43]
For Odo Casel, the Mystery of Liturgy, the cultic mystery, the mystery of
worship, das Kulmisterium, means the presence of the saving actions of Christ in
the Christian liturgical rituals. The Salvation achieved once two thousand years ago
can now be reached by all humanity through the Christian liturgy.
For Casel, the function of the liturgy goes beyond than a merely functional of
phenomenological activity. Liturgy is the Mystery of Christ in the entire worship of
the Church; all the theandric actions of Jesus are present in each of all the rites of
the Church. The essence of the sacred rites or liturgical actions is the redemptive
work which Jesus Christ continues in his Church by means of her rites.[49]
When Casel affirms that what is present in the liturgical celebrations is the
redemptive work of Jesus Christ, he is not excluding, either the person of Christ, or
the incorporation of the community of believers to the redemptive work through the
worship celebration. Also, Casel affirms that what is present in the liturgical
celebration is not exclusively the redemptive work of the Cross, but the totality of
the life of Christ, understood and interpreted as the Paschal Mystery, this means the
events from the Incarnation to the glorification of Christ to the right of the Father.
[50]
When Casel talks about the totality of the presence of the Paschal Mystery of
Christ in the liturgy, he never understands it in the historical modality, but as a
pneumatic event. The historical event cannot be repeated again, it is irreversible.
What is made present in the liturgical rite, is the eternal substance of the salvific
event; the accessory circumstances are not present. He does not refer to a historical
presence as if it was a new historical event of the mystery of Christ, nor as a
repetition of the event.
For him, the presence of the Paschal Mystery of Christ takes place in a
sacramental way, or "in mysterio," under the veils of rites and symbols. What
occurred in another time under the historical accidents, takes place now under the
veil of sacramental signs. The salvific act, which is out of time because it is a
theandric act attributed to the Divine Word enters through the Sacrament in time
and history, in such way that can be shared by the worship community.[51]
4. The view of the liturgy as the summit towards which the activity of the
Church is directed and the source from which all her power flows.
As we read above, the liturgy is the source of the greatest efficacious Grace.
It is in the Liturgy where Jesus and the entire Pascal Mystery is present. It is and has
been the center of the life of the Church since her beginning. It is the best means of
sanctification of men in Christ, and of glorification of God. Consequently is to the
liturgy that all the works of the Church are directed and have as the end. [52] That
is why Sacrosanctum Concilium affirms that the entire liturgy, but specially the
Eucharistic Mystery, is the final end of all the actions of the Church and it is also the
source of power of such actions:
Nevertheless the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is
directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows. For the aim
and object of apostolic works is that all who are made sons of God by faith and
baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part
in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord's supper.[53]
and reduce all to itself -God forbid- but as that which directs, inspires and
permeates with its own spirit everything else, without prejudice to the nature and
function of each.[55]
For Odo Casel, Christianity is a mystery. This means a work of God, the
attainment of a salvific and eternal plan for man, and fulfilled in time and in the
world, and returning to God as its end. This saving Mystery is realized by Christ the
Savior together with his mystical body, the Church in all her actions.[56] He says:
When we place the words 'mystery' and 'liturgy' side by side, and take mystery as
mystery of worship, they will mean the same thing considered from two different
points of view. Mystery means the heart of the action, that is to say, the redeeming
work of the risen Lord, through the sacred actions he has appointed: liturgy,
corresponding to its original sense of 'people's work', 'service', means rather the
action of the Church in conjunction with this saving action of Christ's. We saw
above, that Christ and the Church work together inseparably in the mystery...[57]
For Casel, the redemptive work of Christ is made present in all the liturgical
actions, but the Eucharistic liturgy has a major place. Due to the centrality of the
Eucharist in the sacramental organism, testified for all the theological tradition and
the organic reference of all the Sacraments to the Eucharist, Casel always placed
the Eucharist in the preeminent place.
For him, the presence of the Lord in the Eucharist is higher in grade
compared to the other Sacraments and liturgical actions. He established a criterion
of analogy to determine the grade or way of presence of the Salvific act in the
liturgical actions of the Church. In the other Sacraments and liturgical actions the
presence of the Passion is not associated to the substantial presence of the Body
and Blood as it is in the Eucharist. In the liturgical actions it is present only as virtus
participata a Christo. However, this presence is also an objective reality that cannot
be conceived without the presence of the salvific act of Christ.[58] The sense of the
preeminence of the Eucharist over all other liturgical actions and activities of the
Church can be noticed in the Casel's following statements:
The mass is a memorial of Christ's death; his body, sacrificed and his blood poured
out are shown to us. But that this body and blood should become food and drink for
life is fruit and symbol of the resurrection to everlasting life. Through these
mysteries the Church takes her share in the passion of Christ, the passion by which
'he died to sin', and through this dying she takes her share in his life which 'he lives
for God'. Through the cross she is filled with the pneuma, made holy, brought to
glory, deified..[59]
The mass is always the high-point of liturgy, because it contains the mystery of
redemption in its source, the passion and resurrection of Jesus. But from the source
a mighty stream of mysteries flows into the Church's ground, and on its banks the
Spirit's Word forms ever new pictures in the liturgy, to clothe and express the rites.
[60]
CONCLUSION:
One of the problems that Pope Paul VI faced during the redaction of
Sacrosanctum Concilium was the question of the presence of Christ in the liturgical
actions of the Church. For Pope Paul VI, Christ is not present in the same way in
each of the actions of the Church. In the Constitution, it can be seen a certain
hierarchy or levels of such presence, having preeminence the Eucharistic liturgy.
When Pope Paul VI assures that the presence of Christ in the Eucharist is "real" he
does mean in an exclusive way, as if in the other ways of Christ's presence were not
"real." All and each of the ways of presence mentioned by the pope in the
constitution are "real." However, the realism of the presence correspond to the
Eucharist per excellence. It was in this matter in which the Doctrine of Mysteries of
Odo Casel was vital, since it gives a balanced, logical and theologically acceptable
conception of the presence of Christ in the Christian Mysteries.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Casel, Odo. The Mystery of Christian Worship. New York: Crossroad Publications,
1999.
Casel,Odo. El Misterio del Culto Cristiano. San Sebastian: Ediciones Dinor, 1953.
Bouyer, Louis. Liturgical Piety, Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press,
1955.
Ferrone, Rita. Liturgy : Sacrosanctum Concilium. New York: Paulist Press, 2007.
Vagaggini, Cipriano, "General Norms for the Reform and Fostering of the Liturgy," in
The Commentary on the Constitution and on the Instruction on the Sacred Liturgy
by a Committee of Liturgical Experts, ed. Congregatio Sacrorum Rituum, 62-78.
New York: Benziger Bros., 1965.
Martimort, Aime Georges, ed. The Church at Prayer: Introduction to the Liturgy/New
Edition. "From the Council of Trent to Vatican Council II", by P. Jounel, Collegeville,
MN: The Liturgical Press, 1987.
Vogel, Dwight W., ed. Primary Sources of Liturgical Theology: A Reader. "Mystery
and Liturgy," by Odo Casel. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000.
Nichols, Aidan, ed. Beyond the Blue Glass: Catholic Essays on Faith and Culture. Vol
1, Odo Casel Revisited, by Aidan Nichols. London: Saint Austin Press, 2002.
White, James F. 1964. "What is the liturgical movement." Perkins School of Theology
journal 17, no. 2-3: 20-25. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost
(accessed September 15, 2011).
Tuzik, Robert L. 1994. "The Liturgical Movement and the Future Church." Liturgical
Ministry 3, 100-106. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed
September 15, 2011).
White, James F. 1964. "What is the liturgical movement." Perkins School of Theology
journal 17, no. 2-3: 20-25. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost
(accessed September 15, 2011).
Neunheuser, Burkhard. 1960. "Mystery presence." Worship 34, no. 3: 120-127. ATLA
Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed September 22, 2011).
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reflection; and finally his theological work, which includes Christology, spirituality
and mysticism.
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in God's grace, are not entirely free from venial faults or have not fully paid the
satisfaction due to their transgressions. Temporal punishment is even after the sin
itself has been pardoned by God.
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The most keenly debated theme in the reformation was the meaning of the central
Christian rite, variously called "the Eucharist," "the Mass," "the Sacrament of the
Altar," "the Breaking of Bread," "Holy Communion," or "the Lord's Supper."<!--[if !
supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]-->
In order to understand what the Reformers of the Eucharist intended to refute and
modify, it is necessary to study the Eucharistic teaching of the Church of the Middle
Ages.
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