The Reform of the Liturgy

by Annibale Bugnini

From his several vantage points as secretary of the preparatory commission on the liturgy (1960 1962), peritus of the Second Vatican Council and its commission on the liturgy, secretary of the Consilium for the Implementation of Constitution on the Liturgy (1964 1969), and secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Archbishop Annibale Bugnini is in a unique position to tell the complete story of the reform of the Roman liturgy. His careful account of the development of the rites illuminates the meanings and purposes behind the reforms, as well as the compromises that were made for the sake of reform. Fascinating from a purely historical standpoint, The Reform of the Liturgy has a deeper value as an adjunct to catechesis. Although an eminently scholarly work, it deserves the attention of a wider audience. Anyone having anything to do with teaching or preparing the liturgy will benefit greatly from this prodigious work.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1990

About the author

Annibale Bugnini, C.M. was a Roman Catholic prelate. Ordained in 1936 and named archbishop in 1972, he was secretary of the commission that worked on the reform of the Catholic liturgy that followed the Second Vatican Council, until he was abruptly demoted from the Roman Curia and sent to a relatively minor diplomatic posting in Iran.

Bugnini became a controversial figure and remains one among some Catholics, due to his role in the changes to the Catholic Mass and other liturgical practices in the mid-20th century (both before and after Vatican II).

Reviews

[Fr. Peter Mottola · Rating 3 out of 5]

An incalculably important work for any serious student of (modern) liturgy, this account gives an enormous amount of detail about many minute choices made in the composition of the new Missal and other liturgical books. As a history, I found it very helpful in teaching a liturgical practicum (to name just one of many examples: it explains precisely why decisions were made to change elements of the ritual of baptism). Because it is, more than a little, Bugnini's Apologia pro vita sua, everything must be taken with a grain of salt (compare, e.g., the memoirs of Louis Boyer on the same events), but no one had the same depth of involvement in the liturgical reforms of the 20th century, and therefore this is a work that can not be ignored. Anyone who proposes to publish on the subject of the "Ordinary Form" ought to have first read this book.

For all its heft, the book remains somewhat incomplete. Despite their importance, the materials covering the reforms under Pius XII are scanty: the Bea psalter and the reformed Holy Week are covered in only nine pages out of 934. A more accurate title for the book would contain the range of dates "1960–1975". The ending of the book is similarly disappointing: the penultimate chapter introduces new concepts which are discussed not at all, e.g. liturgical dance.

This book may be a danger to those with high blood pressure, as the traditionally-minded will be continually provoked by the arrogance, audacity, and nonchalance with which the Consilium dispatched beloved devotions and centuries-old treasures. But Bugnini, who wrote this while serving in exile in Iran, pulls no punches and reveals much of what he was thinking, so the reader certainly comes away with a robust understanding of the theory and method of the reform.

Recommended only to serious academics, and perhaps those few remaining souls who still believe in the desirability of a Reform of the Reform.