Program of Liturgical Formation

Program of Liturgical Formation

For Pastoral Agents, Clergy and Lay Ministers of your Arch/Diocese

The first document of the Second Vatican Council, Sacrosantum Concilium, promulgated on December 4th 1963, marked the beginning of a new phase in the liturgical life of the Church. The forty years that have passed, since the Second Vatican Council, have emphasized the “liturgical movement” which was being fermented since the last century. This emphasis has been cristalized with the implementation of the Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy. With clear theological definitions of biblical and patristic bases the liturgical renovation gave way to the edition of new texts and the creation of national and diocesan commissions and educational institutions like the National Hispanic Institute of Liturgy, to mobilize the liturgical reform and to help transform the hearts of the faithful in every community.

The National Hispanic Institute of Liturgy (INHL) maintains the efforts of renovation in the Hispanic community and wishes to invite, through this program, all the pastoral agents to participate in the liturgical prayer of the Church with all of its beauty and dignity.

The phases of this program are designed in such a way that they could be adapted to the local needs of the Arch/Dioceses.

Objectives:

·  To prepare a Formation Program for the Diocese that requests the help of the Institute on specific subjects of liturgical ministries.

·  To promote by Regions, the availability of the Institute faculty teams ready to offer the designed modules and to make known the program to different Arch/Dioceses.

Goals:

·  These three levels of formation are geared to all liturgical ministries in the Hispanic community that bring animation to the parish life in those Dioceses without sufficient personnel to form the Hispanic people in their own language and culture.

·  Other adapted themes are offered also to respond to the actual needs of the clergy, pastoral teams and other lay ministers involved in liturgy.

The program proposes three phases:

1st: A basic level; 2nd: An intermediate level; 3rd: A deeper level

Each phase could be offered in three weekends or in an intensive condensed day. Integrating three elements: liturgical formation, the practical experience and the spirituality of the Church.

These phases could also be offered in three weekends or in three consecutive years according to the pastoral planning of each Arch/Diocese.

Each phase consists of:

·  A liturgical catechesis.

·  Integration at a pastoral level from the space of human relationships with tools and methods that will bring us to a living understanding of the liturgy and its spirituality.

·  An experience of liturgical expression including multicultural aspects of art and aesthetics in its various forms.

Level 1: The Liturgical Year and Sacramental Life

Liturgical Catechesis:

·  Anthropological bases of the liturgy. Why does the human being celebrate?

·  Time and Sacred space, including secular time and sacred time.

·  What is liturgy from this perspective?

·  The Triduum and Sunday as the center of sacred time.

·  The Easter Season: Special times and the liturgical cycles; the liturgical calendar with its sanctoral. The festivities of the Virgin Mary.

·  Special circumstances in the celebration of the Sacraments during certain liturgical cycles.

Pastoral Integration:

·  The concept of “ministry” as seen by Vatican II.

·  The ministry of the assembly and the liturgical ministries.

·  The full, active, conscious, and responsible participation.

·  The Eucharist as “fountain and summit” – liturgical spirituality.

·  Multicultural elements in popular religiosity and in the official liturgy of the Church.

Liturgical Expression:

·  Celebrations with signs and symbols.

·  Use of the five senses in active participation (not as an observer).

·  How to apply these concepts: environment and aesthetics.

·  The relationship between the celebration of the liturgy and life. (Building the community “Being bread for others”.)

Level II: The Eucharistic Celebration

Liturgical Catechesis:

·  The Eucharistic celebration in the history of the Church.

·  The Eucharist and the Fathers of the Church: The development of the theology of the Eucharist.

·  The Two Tables: The Word and the Altar.

·  The parts of the Mass.

·  The community and Sunday celebrations.

Pastoral Integration:

·  The liturgy as center in the life of the faithful and the community.

·  The liturgical books and the liturgical cycles with emphasis in the Lectionary and the spirituality of the readings of Sacred Scripture.

·  Structure of the Eucharistic Prayer.

·  The ministers within the Eucharistic celebration.

Liturgical Expression:

·  Function of the liturgical Ministries.

·  Catechesis and the spiritual life of the parish.

·  The music and other elements of art and environment in the Eucharistic celebrations.

Level III: Sacramental Liturgy – The community and Sunday celebrations.

Liturgical Catechesis:

·  Sacramental Liturgy: The Sacraments of RICA

·  Mistagogy and the Sacraments.

·  Liturgical documents: Lumen Gentium, Sacrosantum Conciliium, General Instruction for the use of the Roman Missal.

·  Documents of the local Church (USCCB).

·  Marian cult and the Sanctoral cylce of the Liturgical Year.

Pastoral Integration:

·  Liturgical Team in its coordinating, planning and organizing functions to elevate the quality of the liturgy and the spiritual life of the parish.

·  Support for those responsible of the liturgical catechesis and the spiritual life of the parish.

·  Support to the clergy in the promotion and implementation of the spirit of the liturgy according to the local needs.

·  Orientation and celebrations in the absence of a presbyter.

Liturgical Expression:

·  The Liturgy of the Hours and the sanctification of time.

·  Dedication of the Church: The development from the domestic church to the Cathedral.

·  The Architecture and development of the music.

·  The liturgical art in the sacred objects.

·  Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament.

·  The Book of Blessing and the Order of Christian Funeral.

The National Hispanic Institute of Liturgy (INHL) will welcome requests by:

·  The Diocesan Bishop

·  The Office of Worship

·  The Hispanic Ministry Office

·  Departments of Faith Formation and Religious Education

·  Institutes of Lay Ministry

·  Parishes, Pastors and Liturgical Teams

v  Note: This program could be adapted to respond to any requested needs.

Requests should include: Date, Place, Program Level, Language, Nature of Group, Contact Person

For more information and cost please contact:

The National Hispanic Institute of Liturgy

620 Michigan Ave. N.E.

P.O. Box 18

Washington, DC 20064

Phone: 202-319-6450

Fax: 202-319-6449

Email:

Website: http://liturgia.cua.edu