Pope receives 'Compendium Eucharisticum':
All about the Sacrifice of the Mass and
what Catholics, including priests, should know
Translated from
the 10/22/09 issue of
At the General Audience yesterday, Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments, presented to the Pope the
Compendium eucharisticum (Vatican Publishing House, 2009, 467 pp) edited by his dicastery and published Oct. 19.
The need for such a book - a compendium of theology and spirituality on the Eurhcaristic Sacrifice - was indicated by the 11th Ordinary Assembly of the Bishops' Synod in 2005 on the theme of the Eucharist as the 'source and summit of the life and mission of the Church".
Responding to the suggestion by the Synodal fathers, Benedict XVI then ordered the publication of "a compendium that will assemble texts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, prayers, explanations of the Eucharistic prayers in the Roman Missal, and other texts that may be useful for the correct understanding, celebration adn adoration of the Sacrament of the altar".
This was Paragraph 93 in the Holy Father's post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Sacramentum caritatis published on February 22, 2007. The Pope also expressed the hope that the Compendium may help "the Christian people to believe, celebrate, and to live ever better the Eucharistic mystery" and that it may inspire "every faithful Christian to make his own life a true act of spiritual worship".
The central idea of the book, therefore, is to find a unified approach to the Eucharist among theology, celebration of the Mass and Eucharistic adoration, and popular piety.
As indicated by the Synodal sssembly, the compendium offers material for study, prayer and contemplation.
[The first edition is in Latin, but it will be published soon in the other official languages of the Vatican.]
A CNA report based on the OR item presents the Compendium
as 'a manual on how to say the Mass'. In his blog entry today,
Father Z presents more details about the compendium
1.It is divided into 3 sections: doctrinal, liturgical, and devotional.
2.It has a number of appendices: Book IV of the Imitation; section of 1983 Latin Code; section of 1990 Eastern Code on the Eucharist.
3.The preface is by the Prefect of the Cong. for Divine Worship, Card. Canizares. It clearly speaks of both forms of the Roman Rite being of equal importance.
4.The doctrinal section contains excerpts from the decree of the Council of Trent on the Eucharist; Vatican II; the Compendium of the Catechism on the Eucharist; a commentary on the Four Eucharist prayers.
5.The liturgical section contains the Ordo Missae of the Novus Ordo; the Ordo Missae of the 1962 Missale Romanum; the Office of Corpus Christi from the Liturgia Horarum; the complete Office for Corpus Christi from the 1961 Breviarium Romanum; two Votive Masses of the Holy Eucharist; the Order of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament; 7 Litanies; and a number of Eucharistic hymns.
6.The devotional part contains the prayers before Mass, the prayers after Mass, vesting prayers for the priest and for the bishop, and other devotional prayers.
Irrelevant P.S.: I have been wondering why Mons. Gaenswein was at the GA yesterday when his mother died on Tuesday. Is he not going home for a few days at least?
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/10/2009 22:38]