Tridentine Latin Mass Documents
Homily of Dario Cardinal Castrillon-Hoyos
- The complete text of the homily of His Eminence Dario Cardinal
Castrillon-Hoyos, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and President,
Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei", made at the Solemn Pontifical High Mass
offered at the Patriarchal Basilica of St. Mary Major held in Rome on May
24, 2003, is provided herewih through the courtesy of His Eminence.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
Three figures today attract our attention as believers in this Patriarchal
Basilica of Saint Mary Major: Mary Most Holy, today’s Peter
and Saint Pius V.
1. Mary Most Holy, Mother of God
Let our first attention, then, be to Mary Most Holy, the Mother of God,
the Theotokos.
Divine Providence has gathered us in this Basilica, the first Marian Church
of Rome and of the West, Catholics coming from various parts of the world,
united in the same faith. We turn to you, Mother of God, happy to be received
in your house, in the context of this Year of the Rosary, proclaimed
by our Holy Father.
Salve, sancta Parens, enixa puérpera Regem, qui caelum terramque
regit in saecula saeculorum.
Everything in this holy temple speaks to us of the mystery of the Incarnation
of the Word of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Here, she appears to
us in her permanent relationship with the lofty mystery of the Most Holy
Trinity. The Father, who, in his saving plan, wants to send His Son into
the world, asks Mary of Nazareth for her collaboration and consent. The
Holy Spirit overshadows her, the ark of the New Covenant, the temple of gold.
Thus the miracle comes to pass: ecce concipies in utero et paries filium
et vocabis nomen eius Iesum. Mary gives flesh to the Eternal Word
(cf. Lk. 1:30-38).
But this temple brings us back in spirit not only to Bethlehem, to the
“et incarnatus est” of our profession of faith, of which the “confessio”,
under this altar, is a permanent reminder, with the venerated relics of
the manger. This basilica brings us back also to our common hope in the
resurrection in glory. It is sufficient to contemplate the splendid mosaic
of the apse: Mary, from the annunciation to her glorious assumption.
There the entire existence of Mary Most Holy is presented to the prayerful
contemplation of the believer. Here it is the mystery of our entire
existence which is reproduced.
In fact, one of the intuitions of the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council,
in continuity with the entire Traditio Ecclesiae, is the relationship
which is established between the Most Holy Virgin Mary and the Church, of
which she is the most eloquent icon. The eighth chapter of the Dogmatic
Constitution Lumen gentium is dedicated to the “Most Holy Virgin
Mary, Mother of God in the mystery of Christ and of the Church”. “Acknowledged
and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the Redeemer”;
“she is also the beloved daughter of the Father and the temple of
the Holy Spirit”, and, at the same time, “a wholly unique member of the
Church and its type and outstanding model in faith and charity. The
Catholic Church taught by the Holy Spirit, honors her with filial affection
and devotion as a most beloved mother” (Lumen gentium, n. 53).
Thus the same Council teaches that the Holy Virgin to us as always present
to the daily vicissitudes of the Church and of its every member and presents
her once again to our affections as our contemporary: Auxilium Christianorum.
In her we contemplate all the beauty of the Church, as she was conceived
and born in the divine heart of its Founder, in whom all is light and there
are no shadows. These latter, in our historical pilgrimage, come from the
human nature of its members, poor sinners who are always in need of conversion
and salvation.
2. THE SUCCESSOR OF PETER
The second figure who is intensely present to us today is the venerated
person of the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome and, as such, the Successor
of Saint Peter. He is – as the Second Vatican Council teaches in continuity
with the First Vatican Council -- “the perpetual and visible source and
foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of
the faithful” (Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, Const. Lumen gentium,
23; cf. First Ecumenical Vatican Council, Const. Pastor Aeternus,
Prologue, DZ 3050-3051).
Among the fluctuations of history, he is “the Rock”. This is the
Aramaic expression used by the Divine Founder of the Church in reference
to Simon and recounted in the sixteenth chaper of Saint Matthew’s Gospel.
But in order to understand better the concept of Christ regarding the rock,
the conclusion of chapter seven of the same Gospel sheds further light for
us. For Jesus the rock, the cornerstone, is the one on which the edifice
is based, so that even when the most terrible storm breaks out, the house
remains standing. The consistency, then, of the name conferred upon Peter
is clear. The concept of Rock implies that of consistency, of resistence,
of coherence, of firmness, of solidity and of strength.
With the eloquence which characterizes him, Saint Leo the Great taught:
“This disposition of the Truth remains forever; and Peter, persevering in
the firmness of rock which was granted to him, never again abbandoned the
rudder of the Church. In fact he was placed at the head of all the others
and, thus, when he was called ‘rock’, when he was indicated as ‘foundation’,
when he was constituted ‘custodian of the kingdom of heaven’, when he was
given the charge of binding and losing, whose judgments remain firm even in
heaven, we were given to understand what was his union with Christ by means
of the mystery of these titles” (St. Leo the Great, Sermon 3).
It is to John Paul II, our beloved Pope, that our thought goes, our
prayer and our profound and affectionate sense of ecclesial communion.
In these twenty-five years his life and his supreme apostolic ministry have
been characterized by and untiring defense of the Truth, by his complete
dedication to the cause of the unity of the Church and by his prophetic and
courageous pastoral work for the promotion of a true and just peace among
nations and among all men. As his physical person becomes more fragile, so
much the more strong does his moral and spiritual role rise before mankind.
“And when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren!” (Lk. 22:32).
We are only too aware of the tempests and the challenges presented to the
Mystical Body of Christ. Such is the lot of the Church, divine in her essence
and human in her members. We suffer from so many contradictions which human
nature and sin can inflict on the troubled history of our humanity and on
the steps of the Church on her pilgrim way toward the definitive Fatherland.
But, we are invited constantly to renew our trust in the Lord of History,
the Founder and invisible Head of his Mystical Body: “Have no fear
... I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).
The Church is victorious because of the permanent assistence of the Holy
Spirit, who is the guarantor of the continuity of the Catholic faith: “and
the gates of hell shall not prevail” (Mt. 16:18). Victorious because in
the Sacraments the grace that transforms and sanctifies is assured to us.
The Church is victorious, because it is built on the rock of Peter, which
is none other than the rock of Christ himself. She is victorious because
that mark of Catholicity which is indispensable in order to remain in the
mystical company of the Body of Christ is guaranteed with her legitimate
Shepherds. The Church is victorious in her saints: so many and emblematic
are the figures of great holiness with which the Holy Father has expanded
the catalogue of saints and proposed as models to us during this quarter
of a century of his Pontificate!
“Duc in altum [Cast out into the deep]!”, John Paul II exclaims
and in him the voice of the Good Shepherd resounds. “Men of little faith,
why do you doubt?”. “Let down your nets for a catch ... Duc in altum!”
And they made a great catch of fish (cf. Lk. 5:4).
“Duc in altum!”. We want to launch out on the high seas in the bark
of Peter. With Saint Leo the Great, we want to reaffirm our faith: “The
stability which he, Peter, become rock, took from the rock Christ, is also
passed on in his heirs ...”(S. Leo, Sermon 5). We want to say with
Saint Jerome: “I do not follow any other primacy than that of Christ; and
for this reason I place myself in communion with the chair of Peter” (Letter
to Damasus).
We are here to pray with the Auxilium Christianorum [Mary, Help of Christians]
in order to bind our affection to the Vicar of Christ with warmth and we
do this with the most powerful reality which exists: the holy sacrifice of
the Mass with which “the work of our Redemption is accomplished” (Second
Vatican Council, Const. Sacrosantum Concilium, n. 2). An absolutely all-powerful
reality, in which the one Sacrifice of the Cross is renewed in an unbloody
manner, rendering substantially present the Body and Blood of Christ. In
the Mass our only Savior constantly re-presents, re-actualizes the infinite
fruit of the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross, offered in reparation for our
sins.
3. The Venerable Rite of Saint Pius V
A providential coincidence today allows us to offer worship to God, celebrating
the divine Sacrifice according to the Roman Rite which took form in the
Missal referred to as that of Saint Pius V, whose mortal remains lie in
this very Basilica. Here is the third figure particularly present at this
celebration.
You yourselves, dear faithful who are particularly attached to this rite
which, for centuries, has constituted the official form of the Roman Liturgy,
have taken the initiative for today’s celebration. And I was very happy
to be able to comply with your request, which goes far beyond the number
of those present, both because it was motivated by filial devotion to the
Holy Father, in proximity to the twenty-fifth anniversary of his Pontificate,
and in recognition of the fruits of holiness which the Christian people have
obtained from the Most Holy Eucharist within the sphere of this rite.
The so-called rite of Saint Pius V cannot be considered as extinct and
the Authority of the Holy Father has expressed his benevolent welcome towards
the faithful who, while recognizing the legitimacy of the Roman Rite renewed
according to the indications of the Second Vatican Council, remain attached
to the preceding rite and find in it effective spiritual nourishment on
their path of holiness. On the other hand the same Second Vatican Council
declared that “Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully recognized rites to
be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future
and to foster them in every way. The Council also desires that, where
necessary, the rites be revised carefully in the light of sound tradition
and that they be given new vigor to meet present-day circumstances and needs”
(Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, Const. Sacrosanctum Concilium,
n. 4).
The ancient Roman Rite preserves in the Church, then, its right of citizenship
in the multiformity of Catholic rites, whether Latin or Oriental. What unites
the diversity of these rites is the same faith in the Eucharist mystery,
whose profession has always assured the unity of the holy, Catholic and apostolic
Church.
John Paul II, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Motu Proprio Ecclesia
Dei, exhorted “all Catholics to perform acts of unity and to renew their
loyalty to the Church, so that their legitimate diversity and different
sensitivities, which deserve respect, will not divide them but spur them
to proclaim the Gospel together; thus – continued the Holy Father – moved
by the Spirit who makes all charisms work towards unity, they can all glorify
the Lord, and salvation will be proclaimed to all nations” (ORE, 11 November
1998, p.7).
All of this constitutes reason for special gratitude to the Holy Father.
We are profoundly grateful for the sensitive and fatherly understanding
which he manifests toward those who desire to maintain alive in the Church
the richness represented by this venerable liturgical form, which nourished
his childhood and youth, which was that of his priestly ordination, of his
first Mass, of his episcopal consacration, and which thus forms a part of
his most beautiful and spiritual memories.
I know that you are immensely grateful to the Holy Father for the invitation
which he made to the Bishops of the whole world “to show understanding and
renewed pastoral attention to the faithful who are attached to the former
rite and, on the threshold of the third millennium, to help all Catholics
live the celebration of the holy mysteries with a devotion that truly nourishes
their spiritual life and is a source of peace” (ORE 11 November 1998, 7).
Devotion which, as Aquinas taught, must be the highest, “propter hoc
quod in hoc sacramento totus Christus continetur” (III, q. 83, a.
4, ad 5).
We are all called to unity in the Truth, with mutual respect for diversity
of opinions, based on the same faith, proceeding “in eodem sensu”
and mindful of the Augustinian maxim: “in necessariis unitas, in dubiis
libertas, in omnibus caritas”.
Conclusion
In the name of all of you as well as of all who associate themselves with
us in this celebration, I pray once again with the Holy Church, to the Most
Holy Trinity, who has given us Mary as our Help: “concede propitius, ut,
tali praesídio muniti certantes in vita, victóriam de hoste
malígno cónsequi valeámus in morte.” (Missale Romanum,
Collect for the Mass of the day).
Praised be Jesus Christ.
Dario Card. Castrillon-Hoyost
May 24, 2003
Originated July 23, 2003
Return to Home Page