Father Vagaggini’s Article On Liturgy Document

Following is a translation of an article on the document on the liturgy approved by the Fathers of the ecumenical council on Dec. 7. The article, by Father Cipriano Vagaggini, O.S.B., one of the papally appointed council “experts,” appeared in L’Osservatore Romano on Dec. 8.

The constitution De Sacra Liturgia has had a happy outcome.

Let us be frank: some months ago when the Fathers of the council received this schema there were many who were very favorably impressed. Nevertheless there were some who were more or less troubled by that inclination deemed perhaps too daringly aimed toward a little known and uncertain future.

Even among those most favorable toward the liturgy and to the schema, not all dared hope for such complete success. The first remarks in the discussion — always made with an admirable balance of the fullest freedom and of the most responsible discipline, for which the Church holds the key — could at times give the impression that a storm was gathering over the schema.

However, as the discussion progressed, ideas and standpoints cleared up rapidly. From opinions expressed in the hall, it readily appeared that the schema — though in a thorny field filled with problems as delicate as they were urgent — was moving forward with prudence and equilibrium, even if accompanied by a frank understanding of the needs of the Church in the world of today.

The Fathers made numerous comments about the preamble and Chapter I. Their remarks occupy fully 249 pages of large format. But the corrections requested by the overall majority were, in fact, minor ones, intended mainly to improve the wording and to complete it in some secondary manner. Thus, when the voting was reached, there was a favorable judgment that was, remarkably, virtually unanimous.

Therefore, Chapter I of the schema De Sacra Liturgia on “General Principles for Reforming and Fostering the Liturgy,” has had the honor, not scheduled, of representing the first fruits which the Second Vatican Council begins to offer to the world.

Use of Vernacular In Worship Approved

December 10, 1962

The use of the language of the people in the liturgy was voted broad approval in the first session of the Second Vatican Council.

This was revealed in a commentary, accompanied by ample quotations from the actual text, published in the Vatican City newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.

Before the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council, Catholics received the Eucharist by approaching and kneeling at the Communion rail. (CNS photo from The Pilot)

The commentary was written by Father Cipriano Vagaggini, O.S.B., liturgical scholar who is one of the “experts” appointed by Pope John XXIII to aid the work of the council.

The Benedictine priest, who is vice rector of Rome’s Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm, disclosed that the council Fathers voted to let such bodies as national and regional bishops’ conferences decide on the vernacular question. The decisions of these conferences need only confirmation by the Holy See.

Father Vagaggini’s article underlines point for point important elements of the preface and the first chapter of the “constitution” on the liturgy which were approved by the council Fathers on Dec. 7. There were 2,118 council Fathers present at that meeting. A total of 1,922 voted in favor of the text, 11 against, 180 in favor but with reservations, and 5 votes were void.

That part of the constitution quoted in L’Osservatore which refers to the use of the vernacular is Article 36 of the text, which reads:

“The use of the Latin language, except by particular dispensation, is to be preserved in the Latin rites.”

Commission to Tackle Project on Sources of Revelation

December 8, 1962

The membership has been announced of the special commission set up by Pope John XXIII to recast the controversial project on sources of Revelation proposed at the ecumenical council.

The presidency of the commission is shared by Augustin Cardinal Bea, S.J., and Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani.

Cardinal Ottaviani is president of the council’s Theology Commission, which presented the project. Cardinal Bea is president of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, spearhead of opposition to the project on the ground that it is too rigid and unnecessarily offensive to non-Catholics.

When discussion of the problem threatened to become long and difficult, Pope John intervened to stop debate on it at the council’s 24th general meeting (Nov. 21). It was announced at that time that a special mixed commission would be organized to put the project into more acceptable form, and that it would be made up of several cardinals, and some members of the Theology Commission and of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity.

Compared to Opening, Pope Is Relatively Absent as First Session Closes

December 8, 1962

The first phase of the Second Vatican Council closed simply, its ritual muted to a minimum.

But what set the final ceremony in sharpest contrast with the opening of two months before was not its relative austerity, since the pomp of a solemn procession and the richness of cope and miter were missing. Nor was it even the relative brevity of the closing ceremony, though it took only a third of the time of the opening.

The most striking difference was the absence of Pope John XXIII through most of the morning.

The Pope, who had been ailing for almost two weeks, appeared in the council hall only to deliver a 25-minute speech.

But his voice was reassuringly firm and vibrant. It seemed to give evidence of fatigue only at the end, when he gave the apostolic benediction. Then it faltered a moment and broke — but whether from fatigue or emotion could not be said.

For more than an hour, throughout the Mass that opened the ceremony, priests and laity jamming the vast basilica could be seen glancing at the Pope’s empty throne. Anxiety was written on their faces.

Text of Pope’s Address Closing First Session of Council

Following is the text of an English translation made available by the Vatican of the address of Pope John XXIII given at the formal closing of the first session of the Second Vatican Council.

Venerable Brethren:

The first session of the work of the council, begun on the feast of the Divine Motherhood of Mary, comes to an end on today’s feast of the Immaculate Conception in the radiance of the grace of her who is God’s mother and our own.

She provides the mystic link between today’s ceremony and that of the splendid opening of the council on the 11th of October, while her two feasts sound the keynote of our prayer of thanksgiving.

The deep significance of these two feasts is all the more striking when one reflects that our predecessor, Pius IX, the Pope of the Immaculate Conception, inaugurated the First Vatican Council on this same feast day of Our Lady. It is good to commemorate these happy coincidences, which, in the light of history, help one to recognize how many of the Church’s great events take place in Mary’s presence, in testimony and assurance of her motherly protection.

The council, in its reality, is an act of faith in God, of obedience to His laws, of sincere endeavor to correspond with the plan of redemption according to which the Word was made flesh of the Virgin Mary. And as today we pay reverence to the most pure stem of the root of Jesse from which the flower has sprung — “The flower from his root shall rise up” — our hearts are filled with a joy that is all the greater in that we see this flower blossoming in the season of Advent.

Now that the bishops of the five continents are returning from this hall to their beloved dioceses to continue the pastoral service and guidance of their flocks, we should like to dwell a little on what has been done so far and, encouraged and enlightened by this, to map out the future while waiting for the fulfillment of what yet remains to be done to bring the great enterprise to a happy conclusion.

At Closing Meeting, Pope Cites Council’s Achievements So Far

Closing General Congregation
December 8, 1962

Pope John XXIII is pictured in an undated photo. (CNS file)

Pope John XXIII, speaking to the Catholic bishops of the world, stressed that the work of the ecumenical council will continue during its nine-month recess and foresaw the council’s possible end by Christmas, 1963.

Pope John, in an address at the concluding ceremonies of the council’s two-month-long opening session, declared that the council “really remains open during the next nine months” until the start of its second session next September.

The Pope, speaking in St. Peter’s basilica after a Mass on the feast of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8), made these other points:

— The sometimes “sharply divergent” views of the council Fathers manifested during the first session, were a healthy demonstration to the world of the “holy liberty” that exists within the Church.

— The volume of work accomplished by the first session shows that “a good beginning has been made.”

— The bishops of the world, in the months ahead, should continue their studies in preparation for the second session.

— The results to be expected from the council will be of benefit both to the Catholic Church and to “our brethren who treasure the name of Christian.”

Pope John reviewed the council from three aspects: its beginning, its continuance and the results expected from it.

Decision on Revelation Dispute Called Turning Point of Council

December 7, 1962

Pope John XXIII’s creation of a special commission to study the disputed proposal on the sources of Revelation was “a turning point in the Second Vatican Council,” Father John B. Sheerin, C.S.P., said here.

Father Sheerin, of New York, editor of the Catholic World and a member of the U.S. bishops’ press panel, also told newsmen at the panel’s final meeting (Dec. 7) that the Pope’s act in setting up a special committee to coordinate revisional work during the council’s long recess “means that a counter-reformation theology won’t be able to exert influence on the schemata.”

(Pope John ordered [Nov. 21] that a special commission made up of members of the Theology Commission and of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity be set up to revise the proposal on Revelation. This proposal, submitted to the council by the Theology Commission, headed by Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani, was criticized in the council as too rigid and formal.

(The committee set up to carry on the work of the council between the first and second sessions was announced Dec. 6, two days before the first session’s end.)

Bishop Albert R. Zuroweste of Belleville, Ill., chairman of the committee which set up the press panel, said that the council has made the bishops “intellectually richer but financially poorer.”