Benedict XVI and Sacred Liturgy

One is so pleased to note that Pope Benedict XVI has already made a great impact on the faithful, not only with his excellent homilies but also with the reverent manner he celebrates the Eucharist and all that forms part of Sacred Liturgy.

Not only does the Holy Father really live the truth that he is celebrating Mass in persona Christi, but he truly communicates this noble expression to all those present for his celebrations as well as to those who very meaningfully follow such celebrations on TV programmes.

The Holy Father has more than once referred himself to his predecessor John Paul II's encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucaristia, stressing the term in persona Christi, which means: "in specific, sacramental identitication with the eternal High Priest who is the author and principal of this sacrifice of his, a sacrifice which, in truth, nobody can take his place".

In one of his homilies Pope Benedict has made it clear that the Church draws its great strength from the Eucharist explaining in simple terms that the ecclesial communion of the eucharist assembly is "communion with its proper Bishop, visible principal and foundation of unity in the particular Church. It is also communion with the Roman Pontiff, and also with the Episcopate the clergy and the entire people of God".

One was not at all surprised when the Holy Father, in his address to the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on April 20, the day after his election, referred to the letter which John Paul II had addressed to all the members of the clergy on the occasion of the celebration of Maundy Thursday this year. He wrote this letter on March 13 from the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.

Pope Benedict XVI told the 114 cardinals for the concelebration that his predecessor often stressed that all priests should recall every day that they should be inspired by the words of Eucharistic consecration, which they repeat every day in persona Christi.

Both John Paul II and Benedict XVI have encouraged priests to reflect in silence, and in depth, that "if the whole Church draws life from the Eucharist, all the more then must the life of the priest be shaped by the Eucharist. The words of institution must be more than a formula of consecration. They must be a 'formula of life'."

No wonder, in his address to the cardinals on April 20, Pope Benedict appealed to all priests to make full use of solemnity and correctness in celebrations.