11. But in order that the liturgy may be able to produce its full effects, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds should be attuned to their voices, and that they should cooperate with divine grace lest they receive it in vain [28] . Pastors of souls must therefore realize that, when the liturgy is celebrated, something more is required than the mere observation of the laws governing valid and licit celebration; it is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite, and enriched by its effects.
14. Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy...
30. To promote active participation, the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes. And at the proper times all should observe a reverent silence.
48. The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration. They should be instructed by God's word and be nourished at the table of the Lord's body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves; through Christ the Mediator [38], they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all.
OFFICE FOR THE LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
The Priest and the Canon of the Mass
In the consecration of the Eucharist, the ordained priest never acts alone but always in and with Christ's Mystical Body, the Church, whose members, through the infused virtues of faith and charity, participate in the action of Christ the Head as represented by the priest. Pope Pius XII states in his encyclical Mediator Dei, that the faithful too "offer the divine Victim, though in a different sense." This teaching is confirmed by reference to the writings of Pope Innocent III and St. Robert Bellarmine on the Mass. Pius XII also points to the fact that the liturgical prayers of offering are generally used in the first person plural, as in various parts of the Canon of the Mass.[16] The Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy follows Mediator Dei when it proclaims that "Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith," which is the Holy Eucharist, "should give thanks to God [and], by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves."[17] As the Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium" teaches, "the faithful join in the offering of the Eucharist by virtue of their royal priesthood."[18] Through the indelible character they received in baptism, the faithful participate in Christ’s priesthood and hence also in his sacrificial offering of himself to the Father in the Holy Spirit.
[39.] ...[the liturgical books] fostered acclamations of the people,
responses, psalmody, antiphons, and canticles, as well as actions or
movements and gestures, and called for sacred silence to be maintained
at the proper times...
[40.] ...it does not follow that everyone
must necessarily have something concrete to do beyond the actions and
gestures, as if a certain specific liturgical ministry must necessarily
be given to the individuals to be carried out by them.
...the
Church, after the manner of Saint Thomas the Apostle, prostrates herself
in adoration before the Lord who was crucified, suffered and died, was
buried and arose, and perpetually exclaims to him who is clothed in the
fullness of his divine splendour: "My Lord and my God!" [102]
[43.]
For the good of the community and of the whole Church of God, some of
the lay faithful according to tradition have rightly and laudably
exercised ministries in the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy.
[44.] ... the most important of these ministries are those of acolyte [112] and lector [113] by temporary deputation...
[151.]
Only out of true necessity is there to be recourse to the assistance of
extraordinary ministers in the celebration of the Liturgy. Such
recourse is not intended for the sake of a fuller participation of the
laity but rather, by its very nature, is supplementary and provisional.
[252] Furthermore, when recourse is had out of necessity to the
functions of extraordinary ministers, special urgent prayers of
intercession should be multiplied that the Lord may soon send a Priest
for the service of the community and raise up an abundance of vocations
to sacred Orders. [253]
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