The Liturgical Movement

     "The central idea to be realized by the Liturgical Movement is the following: 'To have the Christian people all live the same spiritual life, to have them all nourished by the official worship of holy Mother Church.'
      The means to be employed toward this end are of two kinds. The first have reference to the acts of worship itself; the others to the liturgical activity exercised outside these acts.

The Acts of Worship

In this field, the members of the Liturgical Movement desire to contribute with all their strength to the attainment of the following aims.
1. The active participation of the Christian people in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by means of understanding and following the liturgical rites and texts.
2. Emphasis of the importance of high Mass and of Sunday parish services, and assistance at the restoration of collective liturgical singing in the official gatherings of the faithful.
3. Seconding of all efforts to preserve or to reestablish the Vespers and Compline of Sunday, and to give those services a place second only to the that of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
4. Acquaintance, and active association, with the rites and sacraments received or assisted at, and the spread of this knowledge among others.
5. Fostering a great respect for, and confidence in, the blessings of our Mother Church.
6. Restoration of the Liturgy of the Dead to a place of honour, observance of the custom of Vigils and Lauds, giving greater solemnity to the funeral services, and getting the faithful to assist thereat, thus efficaciously combating the dechristianising of the rite of the dead.

Liturgical Activity outside of cultual acts

A. Piety

Consecration of A Home To The Sacred Heart of Jesus

1. Restoration to a place of honor among Christians of the traditional liturgical seasons: Advent, Christmas Time, Lent, Easter Time, octaves of feasts, feasts of the Blessed Virgin, the Apostles, and the great missionary saints of our religion.
2. The basing of our daily private devotions, meditation, reading, etc. on the daily instructions of the Liturgy, the Psalms, the other liturgical books, and the fundamental dogmas of Catholic worship.
3. Reanimation and sublimation of the devotions dear to the people by nourishing them at the source of the Liturgy.

B. Study
1. Promotion of the scientific study of the Catholic Liturgy.
2. Popularisation of the scientific knowledge in special reviews and publications.
3. Promotion of the study and, above all, the practice of liturgical prayers in educational institutions.
4. Aiming to give regular liturgical education to circles, associations, etc., and to employ all the customary methods of popularisation to this end.

C. Arts
1. Promoting the application of all the instructions of Pius X in his motu proprio on Church music.
2. Aiming to have the artists that are called to exercise sacred art, architecture, painting, sculpture, etc. receive and education that will give them an understanding of the spirit and rules of the Church's Liturgy.
3. Making known to artists and writers the fruitful inspiration to art that the Church offers in her Liturgy.

D. Propaganda
1. Using all means to spread popular liturgical publications that show the import of the principal part of the Liturgy: Sunday Mass, Vespers, Sacraments, Liturgy of the Dead, etc.
2. Reawakening the old liturgical traditions in the home that link domestic joys with the calendar of the Church, and using for this end especially the musical works composed for such purposes.

Heads of Families Might Revive the Ritual of Washing The Feet of Those In Their Home

   
To all Catholics we address a burning appeal in favor of the activities that aim to realize as far as possible the program of liturgical restoration we have here outlined."

---Dom Beauduin, from 'The Liturgical Life of The Church'

    "With the disappearance of the mentality that produced that mode of life, the Liturgy is found to be no longer a part of the life of the people.  In its place have arisen those expressions of devotion which are to the Liturgy what every modern corruption is to the reality for which it is substituted.  There is need for reform-- but at which end shall the reformers start?  They have apparently attempted to cure the disease by removing those symptoms only which appear on the surface.  There can be no doubt-- any parish priest can verify this-- that even to this day the prayer which is offered up publicly is of a nature which is consonant with and produced by the culture of the congregation.  You may cut down their 'devotions' and drive them to Vespers in the evening, but their attendance, as a general rule, at these services is unnatural and incompatible with the principles upon which their daily life is built.  It  is these which must first be changed."  

---Anonymous