Liturgical Law & Liturgical Resources

by Michael J. Ernst

Liturgical Law & Liturgical Resources

Liturgical law is that part of Canon Law which deals with the sacred liturgy (i.e. the Mass and the Divine Office). Until recently there was much debate about whether the 1917 Code of Canon Law was in force for the traditional Latin Mass. The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei’s recent instruction (April 30, 2011) stated that “with regard to the disciplinary norms connected to celebration, the ecclesiastical discipline contained in the Code of Canon Law of 1983 applies.” And “furthermore, by virtue of its character of special law, within its own area, the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum derogates from those provisions of law, connected with the sacred Rites, promulgated from 1962 onwards and incompatible with the rubrics of the liturgical books in effect in 1962.” Thus it is unclear whether the Code of Canon Law of 1917 may still be in effect with regard to areas where the current code is in conflict with the 1960 Code of Rubrics. I have included them in any case. Thus, the four sources of liturgical law are as follows:

1.) The Codes of Canon Law of 1917 and of 1983:
http://www.jgray.org/codes/cic17lat.html
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM

2.) The rubrics of the liturgical books (below are links to a copy of the New Roman Missal of 1962, and an English translation of the 1960 Code of Rubrics as used in the 1962 Missal and Breviary):
http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/missale-romanum-1962.pdf
http://maternalheart.org/library/1962rubrics.pdf

3.) Decisions of the former Congregation of Sacred Rites (S.R.C.) as well as current decisions by the current Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, which may be printed in the future (I have included links to a multi-volume set of the decisions of the S.R.C. The last edition was published in the 1920s and was due for a reprint in the 1960s, but that obviously never happened. The most recent edition available on-line is from the late 1800s, though this includes about 90% of all their decisions, which are organized by date and listed by diocese.) Decreta authentica congregationis sacrorum rituum:

S.R.C. Decrees Vol. 1:
http://books.google.com/books?id=5tlLAAAAYAAJ&dq=decreta%20sacrorum%20rituum&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false

S.R.C. Decrees Vol. 2:
http://books.google.com/books?id=IaaVdsXIl2QC&dq=decreta%20sacrorum%20rituum&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false

S.R.C. Decrees Vol. 3:
http://books.google.com/books?id=2dpLAAAAYAAJ&dq=decreta%20authentica%20congregationis&pg=PP7#v=onepage&q&f=false

4.) Legitimate custom (defined as a custom that has been in use for at least 100 years and that has not been proscribed.)

Of these four sources, the Code of Rubrics is the subject to the most interpretations. Because of this the Congregation of Sacred Rites was established in 1588 to be an arbitrating body and its decisions carried the full force of law. The rubrics are generally divided into three categories: preceptive, directive, and facultative. The rubrical scholar Canon J.B. O’Connell defines them thus: “Preceptive rubrics are those which bind in conscience and are real laws; directive rubrics are those that do not per se bind in conscience, but set forth–by way of counsel or direction–the approved way of carrying out a liturgical act; facultative rubrics are those which permit of a choice between two courses, or between doing something or omitting something, or which allow liberty to follow existing usage.” There has been great debate among liturgical scholars for centuries as to whether accidental rubrics are all preceptive or not. As well, each liturgical author who has written a manual or work on liturgical law draws upon the legitimate local customs of his country. In the English language we have access to four major liturgical works:

1.) A translation of Papal Master of Ceremonies, Msgr. Giuseppe Baldeschi’s Ceremonial According to the Roman Rite. This is the Roman customary at its best.
http://books.google.com/books?id=b8cCAAAAQAAJ&dq=baldeschi&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

2.) The Third Plenary Council of Baltimore’s Ceremonial for the Use of the Catholic churches in the United States of America (a.k.a. The Baltimore Ceremonial). This is the earlier (and better) American customary.
http://books.google.com/books?id=0qY_AAAAYAAJ&dq=ceremonial%20for%20use%20catholic&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

3.) Fr. Adrian Fortescue’s Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described (available in re-prin by St. Michael’s Abbey Press, revised and updated by Dom Alcuin Reid—though many I know take issue with his interpretations.) This work gives the perspective of the widely-used English customary.

4.) Canon John Berthram O’Connell’s The Celebration of Mass (in reprint by Preserving Christian publications). O’Connell’s work mostly avoids local usages and customaries, but there are one or two nods to Irish customary.

Of these only O’Connell’s work was written and updated at the time of the 1960/62 liturgical changes, though Dom Alcuin updated Fortescue’s work to include them as well. And only these two works mention Missa Cantata with incense (a usage that, previously, was only allowed by indult). O’Connell’s work, however, is the most thorough.

Finally, here are a few other liturgical manuals that can be of help:

The Compendium Sacræ Liturgiæ juxta Ritum Romanum by Fr. P. Innocentius Wapelhorst, O.F.M. This work, completely in Latin, is a liturgical manual following the German customary.
http://books.google.com/books?id=0qQRwvfV5EQC&dq=Wapelhorst%20Compendium%20Sacrae%20Liturgiae&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false

The Rites of Holy Week by Fr. Frederick McManus. This is a liturgical manual for the 1955 Holy Week rites.
http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/rubrical-guides/documents/the-rites-of-holy-week.pdf