Re-Reading Sacrosanctum Concilium: Article 85

Vatican website translation:

85. Hence all who render this service are not only fulfilling a duty of the Church, but also are sharing in the greatest honor of Christ’s spouse, for by offering these praises to God they are standing before God’s throne in the name of the Church their Mother.

Latin text:

85. Omnes proinde qui haec praestant, tum Ecclesiae officium explent, tum summum Sponsae Christi honorem participant, quia laudes Deo persolventes stant ante thronum Dei nomine Matris Ecclesiae.

Slavishly literal translation:

85. Thus all who attend these [services] both fulfill an office of the Church and participate in the highest honor of the Bride of Christ, because rendering God’s praises they stand before the throne of God in the name of Mother Church.

 

Art. 85 continues art. 84 in its designation of the faithful who celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours. It should be clear that the Divine Office is envisioned as the prayer of the entire Church, not simply a clerical duty or the monastic opus Dei. The article also emphasizes one aspect of the celebration of the Hours: the praise of God. Later articles will describe the other aspect: supplication for the needs of the Church and the world.

Pray Tell readers may want to discuss how effectively the reformed Liturgy of the Hours is serving as a liturgical prayer sanctifying time for the Church as a whole and for its various sub-divisions.

Michael Joncas

Ordained in 1980 as a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN, Fr. (Jan) Michael Joncas holds degrees in English from the (then) College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, and in liturgical studies from the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN and the Pontificio Istituto Liturgico of the Ateneo S. Anselmo in Rome. He has served as a parochial vicar, a campus minister, and a parochial administrator (pastor). He is the author of six books and more than two hundred fifty articles and reviews in journals such as Worship, Ecclesia Orans, and Questions Liturgiques. He has composed and arranged more than 300 pieces of liturgical music. He has recently retired as a faculty member in the Theology and Catholic Studies departments and as Artist in Residence and Research Fellow in Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota.

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Comments

2 responses to “Re-Reading Sacrosanctum Concilium: Article 85”

  1. Jonathan Day

    Many years ago, in Palo Alto, I was part of a group that sang Vespers each Sunday, in Latin, I believe from the (postconciliar) Graduale Romanum; this was part of the group that Dr William Mahrt had organised at what was then the Stanford Newman Centre.

    Apart from a few retreats, some at monasteries, this the only regular personal encounter I have ever had with the Liturgy of the Hours. It is rarely part of parish life, at least in my experience. As some commentators on section 84 noted, full participation in the Liturgy of the Hours has none of the restrictions that apply to receiving Communion at Mass, so it has real ecumenical potential. A missed opportunity…

    Reply
    1. Peter Haydon

      @Jonathan Day – comment #1:
      Whatever the Pray Tell equivalent of “Like” is.

      Reply

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