National Centre for Liturgy to host a celebration on the Sacred Liturgy
One of the first issues considered by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), and the matter that had the most immediate effect on the lives of individual Catholics, was the revision of the liturgy. The central idea was that there ought to be greater lay participation in the liturgy.
On 22 and 23 November the National Centre for Liturgy in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth will host a special event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.
This event will comprise a round table discussion on the topic “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy – then and now” on 22 November with speakers:
- Father Jan Michael Joncas, a priest of the Archdiocese of St Paul, Minneapolis
- Bishop Harold Miller, Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Dromore
- Sister Ann Codd PVBM, Resource Person, Council for Pastoral Renewal and Adult Faith Development
- Father Peter McVerry SJ, Founder of the Peter McVerry Trust
- Dr Frank Lawrence, Lecturer in Early Music History at the School of Music UCD
The event continues that evening with a public lecture at 7.30pm in Renehan Hall in Maynooth, Co Kildare with guest speaker Father Jan Michael Joncas and the response delivered by Julie Kavanagh, Pastoral Resource Person, Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin. The event concludes on Saturday 23 November with a Music Workshop with Jan Michael Joncas from 10.00am – 3.00pm.
Sacrosanctum Concilium was approved by the assembled bishops and Pope Paul VI and published on December 4, 1963.
“Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people (1 Peter 2:9; cf. 2:4–5), is their right and duty by reason of their baptism.” Sacrosanctum Concilium 14
Notes to Editors
Speaker biographies
Jan Michael Joncas is a priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul, Minneapolis, MN, and serves as Artist in residence and Research Fellow in Catholic Studies at the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul, MN.
Bishop Harold Miller is Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Dromore. He is chair of the Liturgical Advisory Committee, including during the time when it produced the new Book of Common Prayer and a member of the Hymnal Revision Committee.
Julie Kavanagh is the Pastoral Resource Person for the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin and a member of the Council for Liturgy of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Sister Anne Codd PVBM is an Irish Presentation Sister. She is Resource Person for the Council for Pastoral Renewal and Adult Faith Development of the Irish Episcopal Conference.
Father Peter McVerry SJ has been working with Dublin’s young homeless for more than 30 years. He has campaigned tirelessly for rights of these young people and in 1979 he opened a hostel to address their urgent need for accommodation.
Dr Frank Lawrence is Lecturer in Early Music History at the School of Music UCD. His doctoral dissertation at UCD is a study of the oldest extant notated musical source from Ireland – a mid-twelfth century chant manuscript.
- The National Centre for Liturgy is based at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Co Kildare. The Centre houses the National Secretariat for Liturgy, offers programmes in liturgical formation and provides an advisory service on liturgical matters. The director of the National Centre for Liturgy is Father Danny Murphy, a priest of the Diocese of Cloyne.
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- The booking form for and an information leaflet on this event is available from the National Centre for Liturgy website www.liturgy-ireland.ie
- Bishop Brendan Leahy, Bishop of Limerick offers a reflection on Sacrosanctum Concilium – why it was such a key text then and why it remains so today – on the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference www.catholicbishops.ie
- Sacrosanctum Concilium and all of the documents of the Second Vatican Council are available to read on www.vatican.va
ENDS
For media contact: Catholic Communications Office Maynooth: Martin Long 00353 (0) 86 172 7678 and Brenda Drumm 00353 (0) 87 310 4444
