Vocation: Sister Disciples Of The Divine Master

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A Pauline Centenary Pastoral Tool

ALBERIONE AND THE LITURGICAL MOVEMENT, n. 9 *****

A Doctoral Thesis Presented at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute

THE FEATURES OF BLESSED ALBERIONE'S TEACHINGS

ON THE LITURGY

"The Christological Aspect of the Liturgy"

According to our Founder Blessed James Alberione, Christian worship could be considered from three vantage points: God, to whom we render glory, satisfaction or reparation, thanksgiving and supplication; the human person, who goes to God and to whom God, as the father, communicates his goods; and Jesus Christ, who is between us as the Mediator--as the way through which we ascend to God and God descends to us. Mankind and God come together in Jesus Christ since both the divine and human natures are united in his one sole person. To reinforce his idea concerning the Christological reality of the liturgy, Blessed Alberione quoted the great doxology of the Eucharistic prayer: "Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father." His vivid Christological understanding of the Church's liturgy is focused on the vital role of Christ in the plan of salvation.

I. CHRIST IS THE "LEITOURGOS": For Blessed Alberione, Christ is the "leitourgos", the one doing the liturgy, and even more, Christ is the "liturgy" itself. He remarked that we are Christ's working members and that "cum ipso" (= "with him"), we are able to glorify, thank, make supplication and reparation to God for our offenses. "Always we come to act in Christ and with Christ", he explained.

Evidently inspired by the Compendio di Liturgia, the Italian translation of Ludwig Eisenhofer's book, Grundriss der Katholischen Liturgik, Blessed Albeirone wrote: "Jesus Christ is not just the supreme legislator of the liturgy, but also, the true leitourgos or the principal minister, that is, the essential actor. He prays, makes offering, pardons the sins, communicates grace, adores, thanks, makes reparation, supplicates, etc. The executors of worship are the secondary ministers. They are the organs of Christ and the representatives of the Church."

Moreover, his Christ-centered vision of the liturgy could be verified in the following statement he made concerning the sacraments: "It is Jesus Christ who is at work in the transformation of the bread and the wine ... so it is in the other sacraments. It is always Jesus at work. So it is in the sacrament of confirmation; so it is in the sacrament of orders; so it is in the sacrament of matrimony. It is always Jesus at work and he who confers grace."

Hence, Christ is the "leitourgos" because he is present and at work in the sacraments, being the liturgy's principal minister and essential actor. Repeating the idea presented by Pope Pius XII in the encyclical Mediator Dei. Blessed Alberione mentioned moreover that the priesthood of Christ is actuated perennially in the liturgy.

II. THE TWOFOLD END OF THE LITURGY IS GLORY TO GOD AND SALVATION OF MANKIND: Backed by the common understanding of the twofold end of sacred worship, Blessed Alberione was very consistent, if not insistent, with regard to the motives of the liturgy. He asserted: "The liturgy has a double end. The first concerns God, while the second concerns us. We are the ones who ought to honor God, ‘Glory to God and peace to mankind'." In Blessed Alberione's understanding, the pax hominibus motive is identical with the soteriological end, which is our salvation and sanctification. He reiterated, moreover, that the twofold end of the liturgy - to give due worship to God and to sanctify our souls - is always actuated through Jesus Christ. The glorification of God and our salvation and sanctification, carried out per Christum Dominum nostrum, are the very motives of Christ's incarnation.

Underlining Christ's vital role in the accomplishment of the God-centered cultic end, Blessed Alberione remarked: "In the liturgy, God is avowed publicly. The ceremonies that we celebrate; the churches that are built and which generally are the most beautiful buildings in the cities; the solemn unfolding of the liturgy--this is public worship. Nonetheless, it is not just our work. It is carried out in Christ. Everything passes through Christ. And our voice--our worship--is valorized and confirmed by the merits of the passion, redemption and the prayer itself of Jesus in the liturgy. And it is accepted and becomes pleasing to the Father in heaven. Hence, we adore more worthily in Christ and supplicate more worthily in him."

Similarly, Blessed Alberione emphasized Christ's role in accomplishing the soteriological end of the liturgy. He explained: "The liturgy, then, has for its end the communication of the divine life through the Mediator Jesus Christ, the "leitourgos", who carries out this public worship by means of the priests. The life of Christ becomes communicated to souls. Thus, the sacrament of baptism; thus, the sacrament of the Eucharist; thus, the holy sacrifice of the Mass; thus, all the other sacraments; and then, all the ceremonies and complex of celebrations that we have in the Church of God which are meant to prepare the soul to receive grace--God's life in us--or communicate this grace--this grace of God's life in us--or make it bear fruit and endure, so that, in living the life of God, we may be worthy to reach and share one day in the eternal liturgical celebration in Paradise."

III. THROUGH THE LITURGY, CHRIST INTRODUCES US TO THE TRINITY: Another interesting idea contained in Blessed Alberione's teachings is that in Christ, who is present and at work in the liturgy, we are led into the Trinity. He stated that the devotion to Jesus Master is in order to ascend better to the most holy Trinity: "In Christ we reach the Trinity--per ipsum et cum ipso et in ipso, etc. as it is said in the Mass. With Jesus, in Jesus, glory to the Father, glory to the Son, glory to the Holy Spirit ... Gloria in excelsis Deo ... Through him be able to glorify, thank, make reparation and supplication to the most holy Trinity."

Through the liturgy and the sacraments, which are the acts of Christ, we are able to live in intimate communion with the three divine Persons. And this is especially true in Communion. Blessed Alberione asserted: "In holy communion, there is a physical union with Jesus as well as a spiritual, transforming union with him. The soul becomes united also to the most holy Trinity, to the three divine Persons, because the Son of God is always united to the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Father continually generates the Son and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father with the Son. This action is accomplished in us when Jesus is found in us. Hence, the most holy Trinity dwells in us."

Furthermore, one of Blessed Alberione's firm convictions is that the life of intimate union with the Trinity, made possible through the liturgy and the sacraments, demands that our entire life be transformed into a "Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit".

(TO BE CONTINUED)

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