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The Modern Rite

After the Council...in the place of the liturgy as the fruit of organic development came fabricated liturgy. We abandoned the organic, living process of growth and development over centuries, and replaced it - as in a manuacturing process - with a fabrication, a banal on-the-spot product. Klaus Gamber (d. 1989), with the vigilance of a true prophet and the courage of a true witness, opposed this falsification, and, thanks to his incredibly rich knowledge, indefatigably taught us about the living fullness of a true liturgy.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

As pertinent today as when he first raised his concerns, Monsignor Gamber's insights cannot but inform contemporary debate and pastoral practice. His essays consider:

• The Difficulties in Reforming the Liturgy
• The Sacrifice of the Mass
• Mass Facing the People
• The Problem of the Vernacular
• Criticism of the New Ordo Missae
• The Changes to the Calendar of the Saints
• Communion in the Hand
• Making Worship Relevant
• Continuity in Liturgical Development
• An Ecumenical Liturgy for the Future

A Pope and a Council on the Sacred Liturgy

In 1947 Dom Lambert Beauduin, father of the twentieth century liturgical movement, acclaimed Mediator Dei as "a solemn, unique document by which the supreme authority rehabilitates the liturgy - yesterday's Cinderella - in its rights and claims of primacy...Popes Pius X and Pius XI had spoken decisive words, but...Pius XII is the first to explain in a magisterial document, vibrant with apostolic ardour, the basic prerogatives which entitle the liturgy to a post of the first order in the spiritual life." Another writer declared that the liturgical movement had finally "come of age".

With Sacrosanctum Concilium, as one Father declared following the Council, the liturgical movement was seen to have "reached its maturity".

Yet Nichols asserts Sacrosanctum Concilium "carried within it, encased in the innocuous language of pastoral welfare, some seeds of its own destruction." And ongoing debate questions whether the ideals of the liturgical movement have in fact been realised.

These texts are a tutorial in liturgical spirituality and tradition. Their comparison informs assessment of the liturgical practice of the Church today, and considerations for future reform.

Liturgy the Life of the Church

In a tribute to the late Msgr Klaus Gamber, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger endorsed an observation made to him by a young priest: "Today we need a new Liturgical Movement". In its origins, the Liturgical Movement was not primarily concerned with ritual reform. First and foremost it sought the return of liturgical spirituality to its rightfully central place in Christian life. As Dom Beauduin eloquently explains in this volume:

"It is impossible...to overemphasise the fact that souls seeking God must associate themselves as intimately and as frequently as possible with all the manifestations of the hierarchical priestly life [the Liturgy]...which places them directly under the influence of the priesthood of Jesus Christ Himself."

That is the primary law of the sanctity of souls. For all alike, wise and ignorant, infants and adults, lay and religious, Christians of the first and Christians of the twentieth century. leaders of an active or a contemplative life, for all the faithful of the Church without exception, the greatest possible active and frequent participation in the piestly life of the visible hierarchy, according to the manner prescribed in the liturgical canons, is the normal and infallible path to a solid piety that is sane, abundant, and truly Catholic, that makes them children of their holy mother the Church in the fullest sense of this ancient and Christian phrase.

Liturgy the Life of the Church without doubt one of the Liturgical Movement's seminal works, provides a sound foundation for those who accept the challenge and the urgency of reviving and of realising this vision in the twenty-first century.

The Beginners Guide to Chant

"Gregorian chant...is...the chant proper to the Roman Church, the only chant she has inherited from the ancient fathers, which she has jealously guarded for centuries in her liturgical codices, which she directly proposes to the faithful as her own..." - Saint Pius X, Tra le sollecitudini, no 3.

"The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services." - Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, no 116.

Why yet another book on Gregorian Chant? Many books have talked about chant as if it were a dead science. It is a living art form.

The Beginner's Book of Chant is offered to those parishes, schools and communities who wish to dive head-first into its singing. Using the simplest of the chants in common use it gives practical instruction on reading the traditional notation, methods of interpretation, rehearsal techniques and accompaniment together with a potted history of its development through to the current day.

For further information or comments please contact info@farnboroughabbey.org