Sacrosanctum Concilium

Sacrosanctum Concilium -The Constitution of Sacred Liturgy
Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) is one of the prominent and most revolutionary

documents that evolved from the Second Vatican Council. The document is the most discussed
encyclical which produced more than post-conciliar documents. The encyclical is divided into
seven chapters that discuss different liturgical ceremonies in the Catholic Church. The main
aim of this document is to restore and promote the Sacred Liturgy for the modern era without
uprooting it from the sacred tradition.
The first chapter deals with certain general principles for this restoration and promotion
of Sacred Liturgy. The chapter points out the importance of Liturgy as the summit towards
which the activity of the Church is directed and it is the fountain from which all her power
flows. The presence of Christ as the host, celebrant, gospel reading, hymns and praises, and the
mystical body which is the communion of faithful itself gives us more vigour to actively take
part in the Liturgy. It stresses our rights and obligations which we acquired through baptism to
participate actively in the liturgical celebration. The clerics are responsible to create awareness
among the flocks about the invisible grace which we acquire through the visible signs in
Liturgy. The encyclical gives more emphasis on the need of giving proper training in the
formation houses for liturgy by sound professors.
The liturgy consists of the unchangeable elements divinely instituted and the elements
which are subject to changes with time. The council is trying to reform the liturgy by working
on this latter part to make it more easily comprehensible to the people by eliminating less
suitable and useless repetitions. The Roman Pontiff is the supreme authority of the Liturgy but
also the Local Ordinaries could make proper changes according to the need of the diocese. No
priest has the authority to eliminate or add anything to the liturgy. The encyclical also
highlights the need of avoiding differences between two rites in the adjacent regions as far as
possible. But at the same time, the Church which studied lessons from her past does not wish
to impose a rigid uniformity in matters. The importance of Sunday as Lord's Day and the need
for liturgical commissions in each diocese are also highlighted in this first chapter.
The Eucharist is the memorial of death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The second
chapter focuses on the Eucharist which is the most sacred mystery and the Divine Liturgy. The
Council proposes the need for revision in liturgy to make it more easily understandable to the
people for devout and active participation. The document gives mainly two ways for the
revision of the liturgy i) simplified liturgy by omitting the duplicated and parts which were
added for little advantage, and ii) by restoring useful and necessary parts from the days of Holy
Fathers which were lost through accidents over time.The document highlights the esteemed
importance of homily in the Eucharistic celebration and instructs the priests to never omit
homily on Sunday and other Feast days.
The third chapter deals with other sacraments and the sacramental. The sacraments are
filled with many signs and these signs should be easily comprehensible to the faithful. The
Council emphasized the reformation of liturgy to the vernacular for active participation. More
than the revision of liturgy the Council also tried to direct the faithful to the following matters
such as
i) Bringing back catechumenate for adults under the local ordinary.

ii) The sacrament of Extreme Unction could be given to the sick, not only at the point
of death.
iii) More emphasis should be given to the duties of spouses in the sacrament of
marriage.
iv) Eucharistic celebration could be included during the burial function of infants.
Divine Office is the official prayer of the Church and the next chapter highlights the
need and importance of this prayer in the life of the faithful. The purpose of the divine office
is the sanctification of the day. It is the very prayer which Christ Himself with His Body
addresses to the Father. The priests (clerics of major order) should pray ceaselessly for the
salvation of world and has the obligation to pray the entire office every day. The divine office
helps us to ceaselessly praise the Lord and also acts as nourishment for personal prayer.
The fifth chapter in SC deals with liturgical year. The liturgical calendar helps us to
recall the mysteries of salvation which is from the incarnation of Jesus the son of God to His
second coming. Thus the faithful always remembers and be in the track of salvation. The
document highlights the importance of Easter as the feasts of feasts or the most solemn feast.
As a preparation for the most solemn feast the Church highlights the need for recalling the
baptismal oaths and a life of penance in the Lenten season. Mother Mary is given a great
importance in the liturgical year for Her inseparable link with her Son's saving power. The
Church also remembers the saints and martyrs on particular days as examples to the faithful
who had drawn all men to Father through Jesus and through their merits she begs for God's
favor.
According to the Council, the Church has a treasury of Sacred Music and the next
chapter discusses about the need of preserving this treasury. Sacred music accompanied by the
whole community creates a holy atmosphere and raise the minds of the faithful to a divine
realm. Thus the faithful will be able to actively participate in the liturgical ceremonies. To
understand the importance of sacred music the seminarians should be given proper training and
practices in their formation houses. The document highlights importance and special
significance of Gregorian chant and pipe organ in the Roman liturgy. The Council also reminds
the need of preserving and using traditional music composers should also arise from the faithful
communities creating music with Christian spirit which has conformity with the Catholic
doctrines.
The final chapter of encyclical is about the Sacred art and Sacred furnishings. The
Sacred art expresses the infinite beauty of God and the turns the mind of faithful devoutly
towards God. The construction of churches should be taken with at most care because the
churches should have enough space for the liturgical services and also for the active
participation of the faithful. Placing images in the church is also promoted by the document for
the veneration of faithful but at the same time they warn the faithful not to deviate from
veneration to adoration of saints. To lead the faithful in the proper path of devotion and to
impart knowledge about the sacred art, the formation houses should give proper training for
seminarians about the history and developments of Sacred art and its role in the church’s
history.
The document Sacrosanctum Concilium is a great treasury for the Catholic Church,
which is the fundamental document on the most integral part of Church, the liturgy. It helped
the Church to be modern and at the same time with roots in the Fathers of the Church. The
document was interpreted in different ways in each part of the world. The different emphasis
given to the matters in document has created several divisions in some Churches especially in
our Church. Our Church has taken much steps to reform the liturgy and thus we should give
adequate respect to the Options allowed in the liturgy due to cultural backgrounds of particular
dioceses. All should have the key notions of the document Sacrosanctum Conciliuim in the
heart which aims at the unity more than uniformity.

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Sacrosanctum Concilium -The Constitution of Sacred Liturgy

Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) is one of the prominent and most revolutionary

i) Bringing back catechumenate for adults under the local ordinary.

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