Active participation in the liturgy – what it really means

"It is not enough to assist at sacred rites, to take part in ceremonies and collective prayers; this must all be vivified by personal, interior prayer."

Mass at the end of the Pilgrimage, Walsingham, England – ‘In Search of Christianity’, David Gilbert Wright

Editors’ Notes

What does active participation really mean? This has been a question discussed for decades, and in recent months some non-traditionalists – typically quite recent converts, who have positioned themselves as online influencers – have been arguing that in the decades leading up to Vatican II, the popes wanted all Catholics always to be following every individual prayer in the Missal at all times.

Needless to say, the matter is more complicated than that, and a few weeks ago, we mentioned that this is a subject worth exploring in detail. To this end, we are publishing this first essay by a friend of The WM Review, Manuel de Meer Méndez, who reviews this concept in the light of the theology of “the Mystical Christ,” which he present in his book Inner Missal – Theology of Participation (EU readers click here).

As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases through our Amazon links. See also The WM Review Reading List (with direct links for US and UK readers).

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Active Participation – what it really means
Manuel de Meer Méndez

In a sense, something was missing at Golgotha: the disciples. That's why the mass is, in a sense, more than the cross: it is the sacrifice of the Head and the members, it is the kiss of the Bridegroom and the Bride, it is the sap of the Vine and the branches.

Thus, it is no coincidence that Mystici Corporis Christi (1943) preceded Mediator Dei (1947), for only through a thorough understanding of a subject can one truly delve into the mysteries of its action: Agere sequitur ese. As Pius XII teaches:

"Every act of the will presupposes an act of the intelligence, and before one can express the desire and the intention of offering oneself in sacrifice to the eternal Godhead, a knowledge of the facts and truths which make religion a duty is altogether necessary."[1]

What is “active participation”?

Here rests the very foundation of the concept of active participation. Being parts of such a Body, each and every member has to collaborate in its action:

"[E]ach member of the faithful enters the scene. He does not attend the spectacle but lives his own existence.”[2]

This is why "the liturgy of the Church had always been understood as a common ACT (…) rather than an exercise of Common prayer."[3]

However, it is essentially an interior activity. Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen OCD writes:

"Therefore, it is not enough to assist at sacred rites, to take part in ceremonies and collective prayers; this must all be vivified by personal, interior prayer which raises the heart to God with the desire of knowing and of conversing with Him."[4]

This activity is to be carried out "with such earnestness and concentration that they may be united as closely as possible with the High Priest, according to the Apostle, 'Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus'."[5] Participation is, hence, activity: but it tends to identification with Christ’s dispositions, acts, ends and functions.

Contemplation as the highest activity

As a consequence, the highest active participation is contemplation. Fr Gabriel writes:

"The life of the soul which has reached total union may be defined as one simple, continual, most intense exercise of love, by means of which it gives itself to God unceasingly. All its faculties, not only purified, but perfectly harmonized, are wholly employed in the divine service."[6]

If we focused only on the spiritual order, we could ask the following question. If the Mass is the sacrifice of the mystical Christ, Head and Body, and the latter comprises all its members no matter where (or when) they are, then why is physical attendance even necessary?

Simply because a merely moral presence is not enough for an incarnated God.

How could it be otherwise for Him who said: "It is not good for man to be alone"[7]? He wishes to fill this need, He wants to be with us: "I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you."[8] However, He also call us to come with Him: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself."[9] He demands exactly what He offers, which represents the fullest meaning of vocation: a giving and a calling.

True presence

Moral union was not enough for our Lady, either. Is there any heartless individual, foolish enough to ask why it was necessary for the Virgin to stand at the foot of the Cross?

Unfortunately, the crucifixion is not the only time her Immaculate Heart sheds light on this issue through suffering. Although often misunderstood, the third sorrow of our Lady (the Loss of the Child Jesus) truly consists of the fear, anguish and pain of thinking Jesus started its mission without permitting her Mother to collaborate and follow him. She craved after the piercing of the prophesied sword (Lk 2:35). As Jesus did, so does she, “desire with desire” to be present.[10]

If, God forbid, someone judges these reasons to be insufficient because they just do not entail a connection of necessity, then it should be concluded that such a man suffers from a profound malaise of the soul. But what is more, in his pure reasons there is no reason: for contingency – precisely because not necessary – gravitates with the weight of God’s will, it bears a marvelous note of gift.

This ultimate reason – this fundamental form of causation – stands out in the mere Institution of the sacrificial re-presentation as a declaration that merely moral or spiritual union with the Mass is not enough for a incarnate God.

The free and generous gift of God

The general blindness towards the validity, convenience and supremacy of this determining will as a cause can be measured by the corruption of sense of the words gratuity and gratuitous: the former, as opposed to what is due became beyond what is due, while the latter, as opposed to necessary became arbitrary.[11]

Thus, the call of our dying Lord, the burning heart of the most lovely Mother and the free gift of the diffusive God coalesce in a mysterious reality: presence. Presence is all a man can do to fulfill the natural aspiration of offering himself. As Higinio Marin said, “being present also means becoming a present.”[12] It is futile to try and quench the insatiable thirst of giving oneself.

Hegel has an idea that may enlighten this longing, because it is what defines and distinguishes spirit: a reality which is capable of being itself the very content of communication.

Passive physical presence is insufficient

However, physical presence is not the only requisite, nor is it a passive presence that is required: it has a twofold quality.

On the one hand, neutral physical presence becomes moral presence when effected by the intention of participating: "for to the noble mind rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind."[13]

On the other hand, the social nature of man demands this moral presence to be visibly signified: any text on communication  in sacris may develop this point.

Besides, isolated individuals are not the only possible attendants: “moral persons” are also attendants of the mass. So families can truly participate as families – which means that it is not indifferent for infants to be at Mass, as well as others who are impeded from the full and active use of reason. Thus associated with the Mass, Arintero suggests, they do grow.[14] St Augustine also wrote that "[t]hose who say that infancy has nothing in it for Jesus to save, are denying that Christ is Jesus for all believing infants."[15]

It is also not indifferent for the state (and indeed, every other “moral person”) to offer public worship to God through the holy sacrifice of the mass.

The particularity of each given mass

So far it follows that each Mass has its own individuality, which is determined by both presence and interior activity: "Heavens make our presence and our practises pleasant and helpful to him!"[16] As Lemonnyer wrote:

"It is always, undoubtedly, the Mass of Jesus Christ and of the whole Church, which is his Body in the order of grace. But it is also very especially the Mass of this priest and of this attendance [congregation]."[17]

No matter how new this may sound in modern ears, it is long ago already written in the Roman Missal:

"Be mindful, O Lord […] of all here present, whose faith and devotion are known to Thee, for whom we offer, or who offer up to Thee this Sacrifice."[18]

And it is through these particular masses that the Whole Christ can be said to advance “in wisdom, and age, and grace” (Lk 2:52). Every association lives, grows and acts through its members, as beautifully expressed by the Apostle: “[W]e may in all things grow up in him who is the head, even Christ” (Eph 4:15).

However, this multiplicity should not mislead any Christian for whom each mass should be offered (in his own capacity as non-priests) “as if it were his first Mass, his last Mass and his only Mass.” (Sicut prima, sicut ultima, sicut unica.)

The Christian life is ordered towards the cross

What is more, the whole life of each Christian must tend to his own Golgotha – the mass – for "it is the will of Jesus Christ that the whole body of the Church, no less than the individual members, should resemble Him,” as Pius XII taught.[19]

The same Christ stated the purpose of his life tended towards the cross – since its beginning in Mary’s womb:

"Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith: Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldest not: but a body thou hast fitted to me: Holocausts for sin did not please thee. Then said I: Behold I come: in the head of the book it is written of me: that I should do thy will, O God."[20]

Nevertheless, there is more to be said, given that the theology of the Eucharist obliges to go further.

All these things are transfigured by the Sacrament of love: Gratia non tollit naturam, sed perficit.

It may seem that there is no link between Sacrifice and Sacrament. As a result, Grimaud says:

"[T]oo often, the faithful have become accustomed to look upon the Mass and Communion as two magnificent but entirely independent realities.

“For many the Mass is nothing more than 'the means of procuring consecrated hosts'."[21]

Such is the bond that "active participation is perfect when 'sacramental' participation is included."[22]

Sacramental participation

Firstly, communion necessarily increases interior devotion: it incites the activity of the soul. Tortolo writes: "What the flesh and blood of man can never do, the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ can do."[23]

But it also completes identification with Christ, for it is no longer necessary to imitate that which is now possessed. Dom Columba Marmion taught: "By Communion, then, we enter fully into the thoughts of Jesus and fully realize the desires of his Heart in instituting the Eucharist."[24]

The mystery of presence is magnified and ennobled by the mystery of the real presence: that tiny Host that may – must – be consumed: "Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you."[25]

Romano Amerio wrote: "That presence is in fact the highest expression of the attributes of the Holy Trinity: its power, wisdom and love reflected in the structure of the creation."[26]

Moreover, Hegel’s notion of spirit might be quite an accurate observation if it were not for Jesus’ words: "[H]e that shall drink of the water that I will give him, shall not thirst for ever: But the water that I will give him, shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting.”[27]

Communion reaches then that impossible gift which is the same giver Himself. This new gift does not only tend to unity, but achieves it: "this is the end of communion: the fusion of hearts and souls."[28]

The effects of Holy Communion on the Whole Christ

As a sacrament, communion both signifies the grace which effects, and effects the grace which signifies.[29] And this grace is none other than social unity in him who is the Head. St Thomas writes:

“The reality of the sacrament is the unity of the mystical body, without which there can be no salvation.”[30]

Communion is the bond of the Whole Christ "from whom the whole body, being compacted and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in charity." (Eph. 4:15-16)

Besides, Arintero notes that "[the use of reason] is not necessary for the bread of life to truly nourish."[31] As such, the abuse of delaying communion in children should be fought against, "so those who eat would eat,” said St Augustine, “those who drink would drink; they would hunger and thirst: they would eat life and drink life."[32]

In fact, "communion is almost the only means those innocent creatures have to grow in grace."[33] St Augustine writes:

"Yes, they are infants, but they are His members. They are infants, but they receive His sacraments. They are infants, but they share in His table, in order to have life in themselves."[34]

And Arintero teaches the same:

"They grow without any effort and without thinking about it, merely ex opere operato, upon receiving […] the augmentative grace of the Eucharist."[35]

But all these considerations of the effects on individuals, the reception of the sacraments, and the implications of particular given masses end in the Whole Christ. It is through these means that the Whole Christ will grow, even through such little children, "until we all meet into the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ."[36]

For this reason, Fr Grimaud writes:

"No one, therefore, neither in his thought nor in his love can separate 'his' Communion and 'his' Mass.

“For all, Communion is, for our happiness, the principal, the intimate and perfect participation in the Sacrifice of Christ."[37]

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Manuel De Meer Méndez is the author of Inner Missal – Theology of Participation (EU readers click here).

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[1] Pius XII. Mediator Dei, 32

[2] Hanna Skandar. Paroles de saint Charbel

[3] Edward Black. The Dialogue Mass

[4] Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, OCD. Divine Intimacy

[5] Pius XII. Mediator Dei, 80

[6] Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, OCD. Divine Intimacy

[7] Gn 2:18

[8] Jn 14:18

[9] Jn 12:32

[10] Lk 22:15

[11] Cf. David Caley. Últimas conversaciones con Iván Illich

[12] Higinio Marín. Sexualidad, deseo e intimidad

[13] William Shakespeare. Hamlet

[14] Cf. Juan González Arintero, OP. Evolución orgánica

[15] Saint Augustine. Sermon 174

[16] William Shakespeare. Hamlet

[17] P. Antoine Lemonnyer, OP. La Comunión en la Misa

[18] Roman Missal

[19] Pius XII. Mystici Corporis Christi, 47

[20] Heb 10:5,7

[21] Charles Grimaud. Mi Misa

[22] Sagrada Congregación de Ritos. De musica sacra et Sacra Liturgia, 3 de septiembre de 1958

[23] Mons. Adolfo Tortolo, VOT. La Santa Misa, fuente de santidad sacerdotal

[24] Dom Columba Marmión, OSB. Jesucristo en sus misterios

[25] Jn 6:54

[26] Romano Amerio. Iota unum

[27] Jn 4:13,14

[28] P. Vicente María Bernadot, OP. De la Eucaristía a la Trinidad

[29] Cf. Leo XIII. Apostolicae Curae

[30] Summa IIIa, q.73, a.3

[31] Juan González Arintero, OP. Evolución orgánica. Arintero writes:

In the first eleven centuries, everywhere they received communion even without the use of reason, because it is not necessary for it to truly nourish the bread of life; which is almost the only means those innocent creatures have to grow in grace.

Later, in the West, it was delayed for them until they could discern that bread from the ordinary: so that they would receive it with respect. However, in practice, many times this discernment is awaited until they have so much malice that the remedy is already late; and sometimes they are even allowed to depart from this world without being given it as viaticum, when without it they will almost certainly faint.

It is undoubtedly easier for them to receive communion well and fruitfully than to make a sufficiently painful and purposeful confession. It is desirable and even hoped that the increasing appreciation of frequent communion will advance the time of administering it to children, so that the majority do not go beyond seven years without receiving it, and some receive it even earlier, when they already know how to discern this heavenly bread to some extent.

This happens, fortunately, in certain devout families, where especially the girls, already well instructed, disposed, and with sufficient discretion at around six years old, begin to receive communion then.

[32] Saint Augustine. Sermon 131

[33] Juan González Arintero, OP. Evolución orgánica

[34] Saint Augustine. Sermon 174

[35] Juan González Arintero, OP. Evolución orgánica

[36] Eph 4:13

[37] Charles Grimaud. Mi Misa