Liturgiae Instaurationes (SC Instruction 3)

1970-sep-05

Liturgiae Instaurationes (Instruction #3)

"The third Instruction, Liturgicae instaurationes, of 5 September 1970, was issued by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, the body that succeeded the Sacred Congregation of Rites and the "Consilium". It provided directives on the central role of the Bishop in the renewal of the Liturgy throughout the diocese."
(see Liturgiam authenticam, second paragraph)

1. [...]
The effectiveness of liturgy does not lie in experimenting with rites and altering them over and over, nor in a continuous reductionism, but solely in entering more deeply into the word of God and the mystery being celebrated. It is the presence of these two that authenticates the Church's rites, not what some priest decides, indulging his own preferences.

Keep in mind, then, that the private recasting of ritual introduced by an individual priest insults the dignity of the believer and lays the way open to individual and idiosyncratic forms in celebrations that are in fact the property of the whole Church.

The ministry of the priest is the ministry of the universal Church: its exercise is impossible without obedience, hierarchic communion, and the will to serve God and neighbor. The hierarchic character and sacramental power of the liturgy as well as the respectful service owed to the believing community demand that the priest fulfill his role in worship as the "faithful servant and steward of the mysteries of God". [9] Without imposing any rite not decreed and sanctioned by the liturgical books.