Circular No. 15 S.

2019

To: The Clergy, Religious and all the faithful of the Diocese of Maasin
Re: Turning to God (“Ad Orientem, ad Deum”)

Dear People of God,

As we celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King this year today, November
24, 2019, let us pledge once again, as His people, the Diocese of Maasin,
to turn more ardently and devotedly to God who sent JESUS, His only
begotten son, our king and our Saviour. One of the particular ways to
express concretely our turning to God is in the celebration of the liturgy.

We remind ourselves of a very important understanding of the liturgy as

explained by Cardinal Sarah, the prefect of the congregation for Divine
Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, “God, not man, is at the center
of Catholic liturgy. We come to worship Him. The liturgy is not about you
and I; it is not where we celebrate our own identity or achievements, or
exult or promote our own culture and local religious customs. The liturgy is
forst and foremost about God and what He has done for us. In His Divine
Providence Almighty God founded the church and instituted the Sacred
Liturgy by means of which we are able to offer Him through worship in
accordance with the New Covenant established by Christ.” The Cardinal
in his address “authentic implementation” of the Vatican II Documents on
the Liturgy, “invited all priests to celebrate the Mass Ad Orientem,…and
that it is very important that we return as soon as possible to a common
orientation, of priests and the faithful turned together in the same direction
– Eastwards or at least towards the apse – to the Lord who comes, in those
parts of the liturgical rites when we are addressing God. This practice is
permitted by current liturgical legislation. It is perfectly legitimate in the
Modern Rite. Indeed, I think it is a very important step in ensuring that in our
celebrations, the Lord is truly at the center.”

Indeed, we, in our Diocese need to make God truly the center of our life
(sic). We just celebrated with gratitude our Golden Anniversary as a
Diocese, and we renewed our commitment to become true disciples of
Christ. We need to constantly focus our gaze on Jesus, whom we are
following, even in our celebration of the Liturgy.

Therefore, beginning this new liturgical year, the first Sunday of Advent,
December 1, 2019, the celebration of Mass “ad orientem” will start in the
Diocese of Maasin. The celebrant and the faithful will face or turn together
in the same direction to the Lord, represented in the Altar and the crucifix,
in those parts of the Liturgical Rites when we are addressing God. Likewise,
the lay ministers, who are duly commissioned by the Bishop, through the
Parish Priests to lead the Sunday Celebration of the Word and Communion,
(Kasaulugan sa Pulong, KSP)will do likewise.

The Diocesan Commission on Liturgy will do whatever is necessary so that

the priests, the Lay Liturgical Ministers for the Kasaulugan sa Pulong (KSP) in
the chapels, and the faithful in general will be informed on the particular
way of implementing this mode of celebrating the Mass, and its meaning
and spirituality.

We hope that introducing this way of worshipping God in the liturgy, we

become “fellow worshippers united in the one same act of adoration.” The
Clergy (Bishop, Priests, and Deacons) and the Lay Prayer -Leaders will lead
the Faithful towards the Lord and not be at the center of liturgical worship
themselves. “We bishops have a great responsibility and one day we shall
have to answer to the Lord for our stewardship. We are the owners of
nothing! As St. Paul teaches, we are merely ‘the servants of Christ and the
stewards of the mysteries of God’… We are responsible to ensure that the
Sacred realities of the liturgy are respected in our Dioceses and that our
priests and deacons not only observe the liturgical laws but know the spirit
and power of the liturgy from which they emerge.” (Cardinal Sarah)

With Mary our Mahal nga Patrona, Assumed into Heaven, we may always
turn to the Lord in heaven, as we celebrate the mysteries of our faith here
on earth.

May God be praised now and forever.

PRECIOSO D. CANTILLAS, SDB,DD

Bishop of Maasin

Rev. Fr. Mark Vincent D. Salang

Chancellor

November 24, 2019

Maasin City, Southern Leyte, Philippines