Article 1
CELEBRATING THE CHURCH'S LITURGY
I. Who Celebrates?
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Liturgy is an "action" of the whole Christ (Christus totus). Those
who even now celebrate it without signs are already in the heavenly liturgy,
where celebration is wholly communion and feast
The
celebrants of the heavenly liturgy
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The book of Revelation of St. John, read in the Church's liturgy, first reveals
to us, "A throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne":
"the Lord God."1 It then shows the Lamb, "standing, as
though it had been slain": Christ crucified and risen, the one high priest
of the true sanctuary, the same one "who offers and is offered, who gives
and is given."2 Finally it presents "the river of the water
of life . . . flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb," one of most
beautiful symbols of the Holy Spirit.3
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"Recapitulated in Christ," these are the ones who take part in the
service of the praise of God and the fulfillment of his plan: the heavenly
powers, all creation (the four living beings), the servants of the Old and New
Covenants (the twenty-four elders), the new People of God (the one hundred and
forty-four thousand),4 especially the martyrs "slain for the word
of God," and the all-holy Mother of God (the Woman), the Bride of the
Lamb,5 and finally "a great multitude which no one could number,
from every nation, from all tribes, and peoples and tongues."6
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It is in this eternal liturgy that the Spirit and the Church enable us to
participate whenever we celebrate the mystery of salvation in the sacraments.
The
celebrants of the sacramental liturgy
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It is the whole community, the Body of Christ united with its Head, that
celebrates. "Liturgical services are not private functions but are
celebrations of the Church which is 'the sacrament of unity,' namely, the holy
people united and organized under the authority of the bishops. Therefore,
liturgical services pertain to the whole Body of the Church. They manifest it,
and have effects upon it. But they touch individual members of the Church in
different ways, depending on their orders, their role in the liturgical
services, and their actual participation in them."7 For this
reason, "rites which are meant to be celebrated in common, with the
faithful present and actively participating, should as far as possible be celebrated
in that way rather than by an individual and quasi-privately."8
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The celebrating assembly is the community of the baptized who, "by
regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated to be a
spiritual house and a holy priesthood, that . . . they may offer spiritual
sacrifices."9 This "common priesthood" is that of Christ
the sole priest, in which all his members participate:10
Mother Church earnestly
desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active
participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature
of the liturgy, and to which the Christian people, "a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people," have a right and an obligation
by reason of their Baptism.11
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But "the members do not all have the same function."12
Certain members are called by God, in and through the Church, to a special
service of the community. These servants are chosen and consecrated by the
sacrament of Holy Orders, by which the Holy Spirit enables them to act in the
person of Christ the head, for the service of all the members of the
Church.13 The ordained minister is, as it were, an "icon" of
Christ the priest. Since it is in the Eucharist that the sacrament of the
Church is made fully visible, it is in his presiding at the Eucharist that the
bishop's ministry is most evident, as well as, in communion with him, the
ministry of priests and deacons.
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For the purpose of assisting the work of the common priesthood of the faithful,
other particular ministries also exist, not consecrated by the sacrament of
Holy Orders; their functions are determined by the bishops, in accord with
liturgical traditions and pastoral needs. "Servers, readers, commentators,
and members of the choir also exercise a genuine liturgical
function."14
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In the celebration of the sacraments it is thus the whole assembly that is
leitourgos, each according to his function, but in the "unity of the
Spirit" who acts in all. "In liturgical celebrations each person,
minister or layman, who has an office to perform, should carry out all and only
those parts which pertain to his office by the nature of the rite and the norms
of the liturgy."15
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