Pope at Audience: The liturgical year renews Christ’s saving work

By Vatican News

Pope Leo on Wednesday addressed pilgrims in gathered in St Peter’s Basilica for his weekly Audience, centred on the fifth chapter of the Conciliar Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium.

The Pope began by noting that referring to the cycle of Christian feasts as the ‘liturgical year’ became widespread in ecclesiastical language thanks to the work of the Servant of God, Abbot Prosper Guéranger (1805–1875).

In this regard, Pope Pius XII described the liturgical year not as a lifeless recollection of events from the past, but as the living presence of Christ in His Church, through which the mysteries of salvation remain present and active. Pope Leo explained that it should therefore be understood as a continual renewal of Christ’s saving work in history. By journeying through its seasons and celebrations, the Church remains united with the Lord’s redemptive action, allowing the faithful to receive His grace.

Pope Leo went on to explain that “the encounter with Jesus, who died and rose again for us, is the purpose that the Church always pursues, placing the celebration of the Paschal event at the centre of every moment”.

The Pope continued his cycle of catechesis on Sacrosanctum Concilium   (@Vatican Media)

For this reason, the Council Fathers described Sunday as “the foundation and kernel of the whole liturgical year” and “the original feast day.”

The Pope noted that Sunday is the dies Domini, the Day of the Lord. Even in languages whose name for Sunday refers to the “day of the sun,” he added, Christians can recognise a reference to Christ, the true “sun of righteousness” who enlightens every person.

Sunday, the weekly Easter

Pope Leo then went on to recall that Pope Saint John Paul II taught that Sunday is the day of the Lord, the day of the Church, the day of man and, finally, the “day of days”.

“Since Sunday is the weekly Easter,” he said, it makes present Christ’s resurrection and reveals the meaning of time itself, directing human history towards the Lord’s return.

Pope Leo explained that in order to sanctify Sunday, “it is fundamental to celebrate the Eucharist” as, according to the Council Fathers, by doing so and listening to the Word, and coming together in gathering, “the Christian community makes visible its communion with the Lord and bears witness to its belonging to Christ and its fidelity to the Church”.

Such an assembly, he warned, “cannot be substituted by a solely virtual presence,” nor can it be reduced to a passive gathering. The liturgy is fulfilled through the active participation of brothers and sisters who come together to thank God for the “living hope” received through Christ’s resurrection.

Advertisement

The Pope therefore urged communities to seek “the best possible conditions” to enable those who cannot take time off work on Sundays to participate in Mass.

The liturgical year

Furthemore, Pope Leo traced the development of the liturgical year. He explained that the weekly celebration of Easter was joined, from the second century onwards, by the annual Easter solemnity, followed by the joyful fifty-day season culminating in Pentecost and preceded by Lent.

The Christmas cycle later developed around the mysteries of Christ’s Incarnation, birth and manifestation to the world. The Church also incorporated celebrations honouring the Blessed Virgin Mary, the martyrs and the saints.

The liturgical year, the Pope concluded, sacramentally presents the history of salvation, guiding believers from expectation of the Messiah through the Paschal Mystery and towards the hope of future glory.

By enabling Christians to participate ever more deeply in the mystery of Christ, he said, the liturgical year becomes “the guiding principle and the essential framework for all pastoral action.”