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47. At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our
Saviour instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood.
He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross
throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust
to His beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and
resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity
[36], a paschal banquet in which Christ is eaten, the mind is
filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us
[37].
48. The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ's
faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there
as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good
understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the
sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full
collaboration. They should be instructed by God's word and be
nourished at the table of the Lord's body; they should give thanks to
God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands
of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer
themselves; through Christ the Mediator [38], they should be
drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each
other, so that finally God may be all in all.
49. For this reason the sacred Council, having in mind those
Masses which are celebrated with the assistance of the faithful,
especially on Sundays and feasts of obligation, has made the following
decrees in order that the sacrifice of the Mass, even in the ritual
forms of its celebration, may become pastorally efficacious to the
fullest degree.
50. The rite of the Mass is to be revised in such a way that the
intrinsic nature and purpose of its several parts, as also the
connection between them, may be more clearly manifested, and that
devout and active participation by the faithful may be more easily
achieved.
For this purpose the rites are to be simplified, due care being taken
to preserve their substance; elements which, with the passage of
time, came to be duplicated, or were added with but little advantage,
are now to be discarded; other elements which have suffered injury
through accidents of history are now to be restored to the vigor which
they had in the days of the holy Fathers, as may seem useful or
necessary.
51. The treasures of the bible are to be opened up more lavishly,
so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of
God's word. In this way a more representative portion of the holy
scriptures will be read to the people in the course of a prescribed
number of years.
52. By means of the homily the mysteries of the faith and the
guiding principles of the Christian life are expounded from the sacred
text, during the course of the liturgical year; the homily,
therefore, is to be highly esteemed as part of the liturgy itself; in
fact, at those Masses which are celebrated with the assistance of the
people on Sundays and feasts of obligation, it should not be omitted
except for a serious reason.
53. Especially on Sundays and feasts of obligation there is to be
restored, after the Gospel and the homily, "the common prayer" or
"the prayer of the faithful." By this prayer, in which the people
are to take part, intercession will be made for holy Church, for the
civil authorities, for those oppressed by various needs, for all
mankind, and for the salvation of the entire world [39].
54. In Masses which are celebrated with the people, a suitable
place may be allotted to their mother tongue. This is to apply in the
first place to the readings and "the common prayer," but also, as
local conditions may warrant, to those parts which pertain to the
people, according to tho norm laid down in Art. 36 of this
Constitution.
Nevertheless steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be
able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary
of the Mass which pertain to them.
And wherever a more extended use of the mother tongue within the Mass
appears desirable, the regulation laid down in Art. 40 of this
Constitution is to be observed.
55. That more perfect form of participation in the Mass whereby the
faithful, after the priest's communion, receive the Lord's body
from the same sacrifice, is strongly commended.
The dogmatic principles which were laid down by the Council of Trent
remaining intact [40], communion under both kinds may be granted
when the bishops think fit, not only to clerics and religious, but
also to the laity, in cases to be determined by the Apostolic See,
as, for instance, to the newly ordained in the Mass of their sacred
ordination, to the newly professed in the Mass of their religious
profession, and to the newly baptized in the Mass which follows their
baptism.
56. The two parts which, in a certain sense, go to make up the
Mass, namely, the liturgy of the word and the eucharistic liturgy,
are so closely connected with each other that they form but one single
act of worship. Accordingly this sacred Synod strongly urges pastors
of souls that, when instructing the faithful, they insistently teach
them to take their part in the entire Mass, especially on Sundays and
feasts of obligation.
57. §1. Concelebration, whereby the unity of the priesthood is
appropriately manifested, has remained in use to this day in the
Church both in the east and in the west. For this reason it has
seemed good to the Council to extend permission for concelebration to
the following cases:
1.
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a) on the Thursday of the Lord's Supper, not only at the Mass of
the Chrism, but also at the evening Mass.
b) at Masses during councils, bishops' conferences, and synods;
c) at the Mass for the blessing of an abbot.
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2. Also, with permission of the ordinary, to whom it belongs to
decide whether concelebration is opportune:
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a) at conventual Mass, and at the principle Mass in churches when
the needs of the faithful do not require that all priests available
should celebrate individually;
b) at Masses celebrated at any kind of priests' meetings, whether
the priests be secular clergy or religious.
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§2.
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1. The regulation, however, of the discipline of con-celebration
in the diocese pertains to the bishop.
2. Nevertheless, each priest shall always retain his right to
celebrate Mass individually, though not at the same time in the same
church as a concelebrated Mass, nor on Thursday of the Lord's
Supper.
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58. A new rite for concelebration is to be drawn up and inserted
into the Pontifical and into the Roman Missal.
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