God's people need time to unwind mystery of liturgy, cardinal says

Published: 2007-04-24

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (CNS) -- God's people need time to unwind the mystery of the liturgy, both during Mass and over time, said Cardinal Godfried Danneels during a lecture at Boston College April 17. Cardinal Danneels, the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium, was co-author of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy ("Sacrosanctum Concilium"), approved by the Second Vatican Council. It called for the translation of the Mass from Latin to the vernacular. The document, promulgated Dec. 4, 1963, ordered an extensive revision of worship so that people would have a clearer sense of their own involvement in the Mass and other rites. The cardinal spoke at the annual Canisius Lecture, sponsored by the university's Jesuit Institute. His talk was titled "The Sacred Liturgy: Revisiting 'Sacrosanctum Consilium' Forty Years After Vatican II." "The liturgy needs time to deliver its riches," he said to students, faculty and priests. The faithful need time and space to enter into the event and to leave the chaos of the world behind, and to do that they also need silence, the cardinal said.

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