Pristina sanctorum patrum norma
Pristina sanctorum patrum norma (Latin: time-honored norm of the fathers ) is a criterion for continuity in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church . The reference to this standard calls for "respecting the tradition of the Church, which is recognized as legitimate", namely in the "double effort to be faithful to the foundation and tradition as well as to ensure that the understanding and form of the Eucharistic celebration are up to date (adaptation, inculturation)."
Emergence
The criterion was introduced by Pope Pius V when the Roman Missal was published in 1570 in his Bull Quo primum , stating that "selected scholars", after carefully examining old sources, "restored the missal according to the rules and rites of the Holy Fathers" .
The Second Vatican Council included the term in the central section 50 of its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium , in which it ordered the revision of the Mass Ordos:
- “Therefore the rites should be made simpler while faithfully preserving their substance. What has been duplicated or inserted less successfully over the course of time should be omitted. On the other hand, some things that have been lost due to the unfavorable times, should, as far as it seems appropriate or necessary, be restored according to the time-honored norm of the fathers . "
The General Introduction to the Current Roman Missal (Nos. 6, 8, 10) elaborates:
- “Among other things, the Second Vatican Council stipulated that some rites should be restored according to the venerable norm of the fathers . These are the same words that St. Pius V used in his Apostolic Constitution 'Quo primum', with which the Tridentine Missal was published in 1570. The correspondence of the quoted words already indicates how both Roman missals want to preserve the same tradition despite a time gap of four centuries. If one looks at the content of this tradition, one also sees how the old missal is advantageously improved by the new one. [...] Today the 'norm of the fathers', which the editors of the missal Pius V followed, can be seen more clearly through numerous scientific papers. [...] The new missal therefore testifies to the prayer style of the Roman Church and protects the beliefs handed down from the last councils: at the same time, however, it is also a great advance in liturgical tradition. "
The liturgical scholar Josef Andreas Jungmann , who was significantly involved in the drafting of the liturgical constitution of Vatican II, describes in his commentary on the constitution the criterion as an "ideal" which in the time of Pope Pius V "could not be achieved due to a lack of historical preparatory work" could. When the fathers of Vatican II included the term in the formulation of the double norm in section 50 of the constitution - elimination of duplications and unfortunate insertions, restoration of lost elements - they thought, according to Jungmann, "of the uncovering of that form of the mass which it showed in the Roman sacraments and (oldest) ordines, in which it was a real community service before its clericalization in the northern countries ”.
With the concept of the “time-honored norm of the fathers” contrasts an exaggerated “ liturgical archaeologism ”, which only allows the pure origin at the beginning as the norm of the liturgy and the Pope Pius XII. in his encyclical Mediator Dei (no. 203) in November 1947 as failed.
Remarks
- ^ Hans Bernhard Meyer: Eucharist. History, theology, pastoral care; Church service. Handbook of Liturgical Studies, Part 4; Regensburg 1989; ISBN 3-7917-1200-4 ; P. 520.
- ↑ Josef Andreas Jungmann: Constitution on St. Liturgy. Introduction and commentary, in: Lexicon for Theology and Church , 2nd edition, The Second Vatican Council, Commentary Part I, Herder Verlag, Freiburg-Basel-Wien 1966, p. 54.