Vocation: Sister Disciples Of The Divine Master

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A Pauline Centenary Pastoral Tool

ALBERIONE AND THE LITURGICAL MOVEMENT, n. 14

A Doctoral Thesis Presented at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute ***

THE FEATURES OF BLESSED ALBERIONE'S TEACHINGS ON THE LITURGY

“The Eschatological Aspect of the Liturgy” & CONCLUSION

In this month of November dedicated to the contemplation of the “last things”, it is opportune to take up Blessed Alberione's insight on the eschatological aspect of the liturgy. As we conclude the Pauline Centenary Year, we also present some final observations regarding the role of our beloved Founder in the Liturgical Movement of the Church.

THE ESCHATOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE LITURGY

“Everything comes from God-beginning, to return to God-end: for his glory and the happiness of mankind”, remarks Blessed James Alberione. In his theological vision, protology (study of the beginning) and eschatology (study of the end or final events) coincide in the life of the Blessed Trinity. What lies between protology and eschatology is salvation history, that is, the history of humanity on the way to salvation, through Christ and in the Church, together with Mary.

The liturgy has an emphatic eschatological dimension. The liturgy of the Church is a symbol of the ineffable liturgy celebrated in paradise and is a means to it. The liturgy we have here prepares us for the eternal liturgy and the possession of God who is “love”. Those who love beautiful celebrations, sacred music and ceremonies, and are imbued with the liturgical spirit have a foretaste of their future participation in the heavenly liturgy, exercised by the eternal High Priest Jesus Christ and assisted by the apostles, martyrs, confessors, bishops, virgins, etc. There the virgins with the entire choir of angels sing: “Holy, holy, holy!”

Our liturgy here on earth accompanies us to the heavenly gates where the most beautiful and perfect liturgy begins, uniting us more intimately with God in the Trinitarian life. Blessed Alberione exclaims: “How would it be in paradise? We will see the angels, the elders, the martyrs, the confessors, the virgins, the patriarchs, the prophets. We will see the most Blessed Virgin and Christ, radiant with his glorious wounds. We will contemplate the most holy Trinity and hear the eternal song: “Holy, holy, holy!”

Indeed, the beautiful liturgy on earth, with its magnificent rites, solemn chants, orderly ceremonies, etc. is simply a reflection and a means of arriving towards the glorious liturgy celebrated in paradise.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The Way-Truth-Life Method: Blessed Alberione's Unique Pastoral Approach to the Liturgy: Our investigation of our Founder's liturgical writings and other writings and our study of the works he carried out on behalf of the liturgical life of the Church showed that the great bulk of his thoughts and actions were simply an expression, reformulation and realization of his fundamental understanding of the liturgy perceived in its dogmatic, moral and cultic aspects. His threefold understanding of the liturgy as leges credenda, orandi et agendi (law of belief, prayer and acting) is essentially Christological and based on Christ's auto-revelation: “I am the way, the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). He was convinced that this was the most complete notion of the liturgy and he devised a unique pastoral program geared to present to the faithful the dogmatic-moral-cultic treasures contained in the liturgy of the Church in order to lead the total person back to God in his/her integrality: mind, will and heart. The process of recapitulation or Christification occurs through Christ, the way, truth and life at work in the liturgy.

No other figure of the Liturgical Movement had initiated and perfected a pastoral plan based on the threefold notion of the liturgy as truth, morals and worship. No other personage had activated a pastoral action that sought to harness the potential energy of the liturgy in its threefold entity as leges credenda, orandi et agendi . Blessed Alberione proved that this liturgical plan is workable and efficient. Indeed, his examples could be a source of inspiration for a more integral pastoral renewal in the Church today.

The Figure of Blessed Alberione: Implications for the Life of the Church: After his death on November 26, 1971, it was resolutely acknowledged that Fr. Alberione was a “true missionary of the Church” who drew missionary zeal and personal sanctification from his intimate union with Jesus in the Eucharist. Considering that Fr. Alberione has lived fully the inherently apostolic character of the Church and taking into account that he had been shaped and thoroughly imbued with the liturgical spirit, and knowing that we can no longer ignore the hidden but vital contributions he rendered in the Liturgical Movement of the 20th century, we may ask who could be a better figure to inspire us in the living the liturgy as the life and mission of the Church. Indeed he had crystallized and incarnated the principle that the liturgy is the source and summit of the apostolate of the entire Church, in accordance with what had been declared by the Sacrosanctum Concilium : “The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows ... From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, grace is poured forth upon us as from a fountain, and the sanctification of men and women in Christ and the glorification of God to which all other activities of the Church are directed, as toward their end, are achieved with maximum effectiveness.”

The motivation animating our Founder's apostolic works were precisely the very goals of liturgy: “the glory of God and the salvation of humankind”. For him, apostolate is in view of bringing souls back to the Eucharistic Divine Master, the way, truth and life, who is the principle of restoration and recapitulation, and through him, back into the bosom of the Trinity, where the life and mission of the Church originally begins and ends. Moreover, he has shown us that the liturgy is the fountainhead of life and the principle of sanctity and Christification. In the final analysis, the liturgy is the spirituality of the Church. For him, moreover, the whole history of humankind is nothing but a process of Christification in the personal and cosmic level, and is geared towards an eschatological and cultic end. Indeed, through his life and works, Blessed James Alberione has shown that the liturgy is indeed the culmen et fons of the life of the Church.

(THE END)

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