Each year Holy Church presents to us the history of salvation, from Creation to the Lord’s Coming (His First and also His Final Coming). At this time of year, as we move in the Northern Hemisphere into the darkness of autumn and winter, as we head toward the end of the liturgical year, we more and more in the Church’s liturgy consider the Four Last Things: death, judgment, heaven and hell. This feast reminds us that the Lord Jesus is indeed coming and that He will not come as “friend” or “brother” or “gentle shepherd” with hugs and a fluffy lamb on His shoulders. He will come as King and our Judge. The Dies Irae prayed at Requiem Masses identifies Christ as “King of Fearful Majesty” and “Just Judge”. He is of course a King and Judge of mercy to those who submit themselves to His rule.
What will His coming be like? Not with hugs and fluffy lambs. Will it be all trumpets and angels with harps and banners? Consider the description of His Coming in 2 Peter 3: 10-12 (Douay-Rheims):
“But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence and the elements shall be melted with heat and the earth and the works which are in it shall be burnt up. Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of people ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness? Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of the Lord, by which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with the burning heat?”
Christ Jesus will judge us all, dear friends, and submit all things to the Father (cf. 1 Cor 15:28). Having excluded some from His presence, our King, Christ Jesus, will reign in majestic glory with the many who accepted His gifts and thereby merited eternal bliss.
In the post-Conciliar, Novus Ordo calendar, the Solemnity of Christ the King is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, just before Advent begins. In the traditional Roman calendar it falls on the last Sunday of October. The feast was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925, as Pius Parsch says in The Church’s Year of Grace, to “renew in the minds and hearts of the faithful the ancient concept of Christ as divine King who, enthroned at the right hand of the Father, will return at the end of time in might and majesty.” It also falls during October, a month of celebration for Communists, who impose radical atheistic materialism. The different editions of the Missale Romanum give different emphases to this feast, though both look to the end times and the definitive coming of Christ’s Kingdom.
Since all of the prayers are of relatively modern origin, those for the older, traditional Mass and the Novus Ordo both written in the 20th century, we can dispense this week with abstruse references to 9th century sacramentaries. I am sure you will miss them.
This week we can do something a little different. I want to put the three main orations of the older, traditional Missale Romanum along with those of the so-called Novus Ordo. We will forsake the Latin this time as well as vocabulary from the never to be neglected Lewis & Short Dictionary. Since the1973 lame-duck ICEL versions don’t convey what the Latin really says, I will dig into the WDTPRS archive for our own slavishly literal renderings of the prayers. For the translations of the older prayers, we can use the version in the beautifully bound hand missal from Baronius Press, The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual (2007).
What is the point of this exercise? Let’s see what theological changes were made to the feast by the reformers. How we pray has a reciprocal relationship with what we believe: change the prayer and you change the belief.
OLDER COLLECT (1962MR)
Baronius Press:
Almighty and everlasting God,
who in Thy beloved Son,
the King of the whole world,
hast willed to restore all things,
mercifully grant that all the families of nations
now kept apart by the wound of sin,
may be brought under the sweet yoke of His rule.
In this Collect Christ is King “of the whole world” (Latin: universorum Rex) and the goal is that all nations be brought under His “yoke”, His rule. The “yoke” from the Latin word iugum, is a symbol of subjugation. The ancient Romans made conquered armies pass under a yoke as a sign of their status.
NEWER COLLECT (2002MR)
LITERAL VERSION:
Almighty eternal God,
who desired to renew all things
in Your beloved Son, the King of the universe,
graciously grant
that the whole of creation, having been freed from servitude,
may zealously serve Your majesty and praise You greatly without end.
The first part of the prayer is the same as the older version, as you can see even from the different translations. In the second part, however, instead of a reference to “nations”, we hear of “the whole of creation”. Instead of “nations” being subjected to the King, “creation” is freed from the bondage caused by the Fall and sin. In the older prayer there is an emphasis on this world, probably because of the rise of atheistic Communism. In a sense, the older prayer has strong political overtones. The newer prayer has in mind the Prince of this world, the Enemy who dominates material creation until the end times, when Christ will return. Both prayer have an eschatological vector to them, however. They both aim at the ultimate triumph of Christ.
OLDER SECRET (1962MR)
Baronius Press:
O Lord, we offer Thee the Victim of man’s redemption:
grant, we beseech Thee, that Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord,
Whom we are immolating in this sacrifice,
may Himself bestow on all nations the gifts of unity and peace.
Once again we see the emphases on “nations”, meaning not just the Gentiles, or non-Jews, but on the actual nations of the earth. Furthermore, the Latin has “nations” capitalized, “Gentes”.
NEWER SUPER OBLATA (2002MR)
LITERAL VERSION:
O Lord, offering to You the victim sacrifice of the reconciliation of humanity,
we are praying submissively that Your Son Himself
will grant all peoples the gifts of unity and of peace.
Again, the first part of the prayer is same as the older. In the Latin there are minor changes, but it is effectively the same. The second part, however, shows the theological change desired by the snipping and pasting experts of Fr. Bugnini’s Consilium. In the older prayer there is an explicit appeal to “sacrifice” with also a strong verb “immolate”. This sacrificial language was removed from the newer prayer. But this prayer retains the reference “nations” (gentes).
OLDER POSTCOMMUNION (1962MR)
Baronius Press:
We have received the food of immortality and beg, Lord,
that we who are proud to fight under the banner of Christ our King,
may reign with Him for ever in His realm above.
There is clear military imagery and language. We have a sense from this prayer that we are soldiers of a Militant Church under a great Captain and King. We have been given food for the march to battle and glory.
NEW POST COMMUNION (2002MR)
LITERAL VERSION:
Having been remodeled according to the nourishment of immortality,
we beseech You, O Lord,
that, we who glory in obeying the mandates of Christ the King of all things,
will be able to live with Him without end in the heavenly kingdom.
The first part of the prayer and the very last part are essentially the same as they were before the Conciliar reform. The middle part eliminates the military images. Instead of fighting through the victory and glory in heaven, we “live” (vivere) with Him in the heavenly kingdom.
All in all, it is hard to find fault with the newer prayers for the Solemnity of Christ the King, celebrated at the end of the liturgical year. The change of placement of the feast and the change of the theology of the prayers probably reflect the soft approach to Communism adopted by Rome in those years, called ostpolitik, a conscious de-emphasis of triumphant language and imagery. It is as if the writers of the newer prayers did not want to give the impression that Christ was to be accepted as Lord and King by political entities in this earthly existence.
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It also seems that Bugnini expunged references to Christ’s kingship over political entities in some of the hymns, readings, and prayers for the new Divine Office. Thankfully, the Roman Breviary of 1962 expresses the role of Christ over political entities and continues to be a part of the Church’s official prayer life. Christ’s kingship is not only spiritual, eschatological, or for individuals.
From the 1962 Roman Breviary:
The Hymn Te Saeculorum Principem:
“May the rulers of the world PUBLICLY honour and extol Thee;
May teachers and judges reverence Thee;
May the laws express Thine order
And the arts reflect Thy beauty.”
The Hymn Vexilla Regis:
“Christ triumphantly unfurls His
Glorious banners everywhere;
Come nations of the world, and
On bended knee acclaim the King of kings.
How great is the happiness of a country
That rightly owns the rule of Christ and
Zealously carries out the commands God gave to men.”
This post depresses me even more than I’ve been lately. I’m not able to go to a Mass in the EF because none are offered in my town. I have read too much stuff like this regarding the OF to allow me to really pray the Mass anymore. I am too aware of how ICEL and the Consilium apparently had a pro-ecumenical, anti-sacerdotal, anti-sacrificial, anti-Original Sin, anti-Roman, anti-Latin, anti-penance bias in the liturgical changes. Translations may improve things somewhat, but the original texts themselves seem to avoid hard topics and distinctly Catholic doctrines. Gospel and Epistle readings that are “hard to accept” are bracketed in misallettes so that they can be conveniently skipped over. I may be a little overly-sensitive to this, but I see an undeniable pattern here.
I am so heart-broken over this, and I want to just ask someone who really knows the answer, “Why did this have to happen?”
Vexilla Regis is one of my favorites, and there is a fantastic watercolor by David Jones with this title. http://gorsedd-arberth.blogspot.com/2010/01/vexilla-regis-sir-bediveres-horse.html
We need to try and bring back the idea of the Kingship of Christ, and I think priests should do so from the pulpit. Americans, I guess understandably, have trouble with the concepts of king and queen. These majestic titles and the necessary reasons why Christ is King, (and Mary, Queen), need to be taught.
Thanks, Father, as well, for referring to the Church Militant, a phrase also out of popular knowledge and use. I was actually corrected for using the term a long time ago, when I was teaching religion in a supposedly conservative high school. Needless to say, those who cannot see that we are the Church Militant lack fortitude, knowledge, and prudence, and are not living up to the graces given at Confirmation.
BTW, I don’t mean to judge the men in ICEL and the Consilium, so I probably shouldn’t say that they were “anti-” anything. Maybe they just wanted to emphasize other aspects of Catholic doctrine. But why de-emphasize traditional aspects when they are part of who we are?
RichR,
I can definitely identify with what you are feeling. Unfortunately, it has also become difficult for me to attend Mass in the Ordinary Form because I constantly think about the changes that were made to the Sacred Liturgy after the Council. I do all that I can to stay focused on the valuable parts of the Ordinary Form and Christ’s Presence on the Altar, but often, I am distracted and just sit there wondering how the Extraordinary Form and Ordinary Form can seem so radically different. The banal music, cold church designs, and folksy style of many priests so often identified with the Novus Ordo also do not really help things. Sadly, I think the thought also crosses one’s mind: Does my attendance at the Ordinary Form actually encourage inappropriate Sacred Liturgy, and does my attendance at the Novus Ordo delay its inevitable replacement with an ethos and form of worship that is more appropriate? Tough questions.
In any event, God has called us to live through this difficult period of Church history, and if we have no access to the Extraordinary Form, we must fulfill our Sunday Obligation at the Ordinary Form. We should try to use this difficult period of time as a means of our own sanctification and for the good of souls. We also need to have Hope because all will be made right one day.
I’ve never seen these older prayers- I really like them!
Rarely, and with great caution, do I disagree with Fr. Z on these matters, but this, it seems, is one of those times. I do find fault with the changes in the prayers. For the 40 years since these changes were made (among others), as least regarding the Church in America, we have done nothing but cave ‘as a nation’ to the secularists and atheists. When Roe was issued, no massive and concerted army marched out in protest. If ever there was a time for the Church Militant to stand and fight for their King, that time is now. If ever there was a time to remind actual nations that no nation stands above God, no nation can grant itself godlike powers, etc., venit tempus.
Supertradmum–I love the painting Vexilla Regis, the poem, and the prayer. I’m wondering if you can clarify for me how they all relate to each other–the horses being set free, for instance, Christ Triumphant, and the fall of Camelot–I’m really curious about this and don’t quite see it from the article in the link. Thanks!
I have to refer to a post I made under the previous “Pope Benedict on faith in the public square” topic. If we accept a more temporal notion of the Kingship of Christ, that seems to me to lead directly to the concept of the Catholic Confessional State as being the only morally acceptable organization for governments. If that is the case, how would we implement that (especially here in the US), and, other than banning abortion and not recognizing homosexual “rights,” what would such a state actually do (do we round up and imprison atheists, etc.)?
Michael Val
(who apologizes if he is going off-topic)
It seems to me that the changes to the prayers for Christ the King do indeed raise questions about confessional states, official religion, religious freedom, Church and state relations,….
Jason Keener: It also seems that Bugnini expunged references to Christ’s kingship over political entities in some of the hymns, readings, and prayers for the new Divine Office.
Yes. Although Te saeculorum principem is still the I and II Vespers hymn in the (new) Latin Liturgy of the Hours, its 6th verse has been deleted; in English translation it reads
The rulers of the nations all
Shall at Thy feed adoring fall,
All judges magnify Thy name,
All laws and arts show forth Thy fame.
Rich R,
You ask, “Why did this have to happen?”.
It’s been said that Pope Paul VI grieved that “from some frissure the smoke of Satan has entered the Temple of God” referring to the Vatican.
You might find an interview with the Vatican’s chief exorcist, Fr. Gabriele Amorth , helps to answer your question. If you scroll about half-way down to where you see AMORTH: The Second Vatican Council, the priest gives a practical example of how the directives of that Council were carried out.
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=2879
I sort of wish we could sing the “rex tremendae” from Verdi’s Requiem at Christ the King Mass–that would get the point across! (Actually, the entire “Dies Irae” would do it)
The feast as intended by Pius XI does not emphasize very much the Last Judgement. In the traditional rite, the antiphons of the Divine Ofice for this feast remind very much those of Christmas (Rex pacificus, etc.) portraiting Our Lord as the Prince of Peace who will rule over all peoples.
Regarding the idea of confessional state, until the last council the Church taught that is a good thing in the countries where it is possible and should be preserved where it has traditionally existed. Elsewhere, the governments still are obliged to respect the Law of God (the natural law and the Decalogue). Now, the fear of the God and His Law being gone all that is left is fear of the European Court of Human Rights and its case law.
A country with predominantly Catholic population is like a big community of faithful to which mutatis mutandis Acts 4:32 and what follows applies. Therefore, a confessional state is not there to force conversions, but to protect the existing flock. Would a confessional state imprison atheists? Do Malta and Liechtenstein imprison them? Did Italy do this before the council?
At this time of year, . . . , we more and more in the Church’s liturgy consider the Four Last Things: death, judgment, heaven and hell. . . . He will not come as “friend” or “brother” or “gentle shepherd” with hugs and a fluffy lamb on His shoulders. He will come as King and our Judge. The Dies Irae prayed at Requiem Masses identifies Christ as “King of Fearful Majesty” and “Just Judge”.
The new divine office combines the Four Last Things and Christ the King by using the Dies Irae as the hymn for the Office of Readings for the weekdays of the last week of the year (following Christ the King on the 34th Sunday).
Though only for those who pray the office in Latin. The Liturgia Horarum largely retains the classical Latin hymns of the Breviarium Romanum, but for the English-language Liturgy of the Hours ICEL dumped these great hymns, many dating back to patristic times, and replaced them with songbook stuff of the sort typically heard at vernacular Masses instead of the chants prescribed in the Missale Romanum.
Thankfully (as I understand it) Liturgiam authenticam will require that a new translation of the Liturgy of the Hours include translations of the great classical hymns of the divine office.
I for one like the references to 9th century sacramentaries.
There are a few states that are still confessional states. Malta and Chile come to mind.
Collect term-by-term: http://gmr.sourceforge.net/html/tempus.html#_christ_the_king_collect
In the Collect, my Angelus Press Missal uses the English word “yoke,” but Latin imperio.
There have been some who have suggested that moving this feast to the end of the liturgical year indicated that Christ’s Kingship would not come until the end of this age.