Conference of Mons. Guido Marini, Prelate of Honor of His Holiness and Master of Pontifical Celebrations, in Sant’Andrea della Valle
On Saturday, June 5, 2021, we had the grace, in our Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle, located in Rome, to cordially welcome Archbishop Guido Marini, an outstanding personality of the pontifical liturgy, like a master of ceremonies who accompanies the Roman Pontiff. in the various celebrations it carries out. From 10:00 am to 12:30 pm, we were able to share with Bishop Marini an interesting lecture on different aspects of the liturgy of the Catholic Church. Some of the religious from the Theatine Houses of San Gaetano in Rome and San Gaetano de Morlupo took part in the meeting, together with the members of our General House and the International Theatine College “San José María Tomasi”.
Below we transcribe a synthesis that Fr. Ambrosio Cots Dorca, C.R., left us on the presentation of Bishop Marini. It should be noted that it was Father Ambrosio himself – a friend of the papal prelate – who managed the presence of Mgr. Marini among us and who also served as moderator of the conference.
Liturgical Formation
Archbishop Guido Marini
The Liturgy is celebrating the Primacy of God, God above all. It is entering the realm of God. It is not pure ceremony. It is God who is present. The Liturgy is essential, it is a determining experience of the life of faith. The Eucharist is an encounter with the Lord, in a liturgical context. The Eucharist is the center and foundation of our faith.
Bishop Marini highlights 7 elements of the liturgical experience:
1) It is a work of salvation: The Actor is Jesus Christ. Through the rite salvation is actualized. The center is not me, nor the assembly. Christ presides, dead and risen. In it, the deposit of faith must be transmitted, not my words, but the living Word of God. The life of Christ in the liturgy, and the liturgy of Christ in human life. Touching Jesus alive, who gives Life. That is the Liturgy: Christ lives in our midst.
2) The Church is the second great protagonist. Christ is the bridegroom, the Church the bride (cf. SC I). The Church is the sacred actor. The whole Church is the protagonist of the liturgy. Communion with God and the saints continues in time and in eternity. It is part of a body: us, not the individual me. Universality is touched. Not personalities, it is betraying the rite. It is the we of the Church that is important, not me.
Romano Guardini: Not to subjectivisms but to objectivity. The subject is the church. Get rid of personalities. It is the Church who celebrates, not what I like, but what the Church likes. We are members, not the Head. United to Him. The important thing is the We, to forget personalities. Forget themselves, like John the Baptist: May He increase and I decrease.
3) The third element is prayer: Prayer is the form of the Liturgy. It is addressing God. It is not self-celebration of the human assembly. Not celebrating ourselves, the assembly, but Christ. Either it celebrates God or it is self-celebration. The liturgy is oriented to God, not to ourselves. The liturgy is prayer. The liturgy with the signs actualizes the mystery of God. The sign is holy, it opens to the Mystery of God. The sign can be with an open purpose, prayer, or a closed purpose, which prevents prayer (cf. Benedict XVI, Sacramentum caritatis,). Celebrating is an art (Ars celebndi), they are signs that open to the divine Mystery.
4) Cosmic dimension: It is a recapitulation of everything in Christ, creation and history. Everything has its origin and destination in God. God gives a new meaning. Christ is the Savior of time and of the Universe. The liturgical rite is a true ecology, of love for the Creator. It gives a new transparency to the creation.
The mystic Divo Barsotti affirms that what I love will be with me in Paradise. The resurrection is not just spiritual. The flesh will rise again. Only sin will not be with God.
5) Participation: Communion with what is done, let it be my life. Need for communion with Christ. Liturgical action is participatory. It is the act of Christ with us. You have to ask yourself: Has the ritual changed something? That indicates authentic participation. May the act of Christ be mine. The liturgy is choral.
6) Evangelization: The liturgy evangelizes, capturing its beauty. It is not an aesthetic or artistic question, it is not enough. You have to communicate God. With the noble simplicity of beauty. That evangelizes: entering the mystery of God. But another beauty evangelizes, the beauty of Love. The heart must feel love, living the liturgical experience. Welcome it. Charity evangelizes. The beautiful, the art evangelizes and from there move on to the Love of God and among us. Beauty saves, says a Russian author, and the supreme beauty is Christ. Christ saves.
7) Heaven and Earth touch: The liturgy is anticipation of future reality. Brings hope and guides the present. The liturgy is a compass that points to eternity. We are pilgrims. Christianity does not have a circular view of history. The liturgy must anticipate the experience of God, the one that awaits us in Paradise, in eternity.
