

It is of the essence of the Church that she be both human and divine, visible and yet invisibly equipped, eager to act and yet intent on contemplation, present in this world and yet not at home in it and she is all these things in such wise that in her the human is directed and subordinated to the divine, the visible likewise to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, which we seek. For the liturgy, "through which the work of our redemption is accomplished," most of all in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church. The Council therefore sees particularly cogent reasons for undertaking the reform and promotion of the liturgy.Ģ. This sacred Council has several aims in view: it desires to impart an ever increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions which are subject to change to foster whatever can promote union among all who believe in Christ to strengthen whatever can help to call the whole of mankind into the household of the Church.


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