We have come back to the last Sunday of the liturgical year. In the post-Conciliar calendar of the Roman Church this is the Solemnity of Christ the King. In the older calendar, this is celebrated (with a rather different meaning) at the end of October.
Each year Holy Church presents to us the history of salvation, from Creation to the Lords Coming (the First and also the Final).
Todays Solemnity is an anticipation of the season of Advent, which focuses on the different ways in which the Lord comes to us, especially in the Second Coming.
At this time of year (November) we are also considering the Four Last Things: death, judgment, heaven and hell. We are praying for the Poor Souls in Purgatory in a special way this month.
The Solemnity of Christ the King brings to our attention the fact that the Lord is coming precisely as King and Judge not merely as friend or savior or role-model.
In the great Dies Irae prayed at Requiem Masses for so long (and still today), Christ is identified as King of Fearful Majesty and Just Judge.
Consider todays feast in light of what we read in 2 Peter 3: 10-12: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! Christ Jesus will judge us all, dear friends, and submit all things to the Father (cf. 1 Cor 15:28). Having excluded some from His presence, our King, Christ Jesus, will reign in majestic glory with the many who accepted His gifts and thereby merited eternal bliss.
COLLECT (2002MR):
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
qui in dilecto Filio tuo, universorum Rege,
omnia instaurare voluisti,
concede propitius,
ut tota creatura, a servitute liberata,
tuae maiestati deserviat ac te sine fine collaudet.
While this Collect is of new composition for the Novus Ordo, it is similar to what was in the 1962 Missale Romanum for this feast with variations in the second part: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui dilecto Filio tuo universorum Rege, omnia instaurare voluisti: concede propitius; ut cunctae familiae gentium, peccati vulnere disgregatae, eius suavissimo subdantur imperio so that all the families of peoples, torn apart by the wound of sin, may be subject to His most gentle rule.
Universus is an adjective and universorum a neuter plural, all things. Since we have another all things in omnia I will make universorum into the whole universe. Our Latin ears perk up when we hear compound verbs (verbs with an attached preposition like sub or de or cvm).
In our own copies of A Latin Dictionary. Founded on Andrews edition of Freunds Latin dictionary. revised, enlarged, and in great part rewritten by. Charlton T. Lewis, Ph.D. and. Charles Short, LL.D. (aka Lewis & Short or L&S) we find that de-servio expands the meaning of servio to mean serve zealously, be devoted to, subject to. Col-laudo, more emphatic than simple laudo, means to praise or commend very much, extol highly.
You veterans of WDTPRS know how maiestas is synonymous with gloria which in early Latin writers such as Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose and in early liturgical texts, the equivalent of biblical Greek doxa and Hebrew kabod. This glory and majesty is Gods own transforming power, a sharing of His life, that transforms us into what He is in an everlasting deification.
Instauro is a wonderful word which deserves more attention: to renew, repeat, celebrate anew; to repair, restore; to erect, make. It is synonymous with renovo. Etymologically instauro is related to Greek stauros. Turning to a different L&S, the immensely valuable Liddell & Scott Greek Dictionary, we find that stauros is an upright pale or stake. Stauros is the word used in the Greek New Testament for the Cross of Jesus. Also the word immediately makes us think not only of the motto on the coat-of-arms of Pope St. Pius X, but also the origin of that motto Ephesians 1:10: For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Eph 1:9-10 RSV). There have been, by the way, some changes in the Latin texts of this passage. The older Vulgate says instaurare omnia in Christo while the New Vulgate says recapitulare omnia in Christo.
Recapitulare is related to Latin caput (head) and was deemed by the scholars behind the New Vulgate as a better translation of the Greek anakephalaioô, to sum up the argument. This harks to the headship of Christ over the Body of the Church and expresses that He is the Final Statement, the Conclusion of All Things. At any rate, in 1925 and in the 1960s when the older version of Vulgate was in use, the Collect had instaurare and not recapitulare.
Why all this about recapitulare?
The phrase, renew/reinstate all things in Christ points to the Kingship of Jesus. In everything that Jesus said or did in His earthly life, He was actively drawing all things and peoples to Himself. In the time to come, when His Majesty the King returns in gloria and maiestas this act of drawing-to-Himself (cf. John 12:32) will culminate in the exaltation of all creation in a perfect unending paean of praise. In the meantime, by virtue of baptism and our integration into Christus Venturus (Christ About-To-Come), we all share in His three-fold office of priest, prophet, and also king. We have the duty to proclaim His Kingship by all that we say and do. We are to offer all our good works back to Him for the sake of His glory and the expectation of His Coming. This glorious restoration (instaurare) is possible only through the Lords Cross (Greek stauros). The Cross is found subtly in the midst of this Collect, where it is revealed as the pivot point of all creation (creatura).
LITERAL VERSION:
Almighty eternal God,
who desired to renew all things
in Your beloved Son, the King of the universe,
graciously grant
that the whole of creation, having been freed from servitude,
may zealously serve Your majesty and praise You greatly without end.
The first objective of our participation in the Churchs sacred rites is to praise God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and give God glory.
Liturgical and Biblical Latin is rich with words and phrases which exalt and express praise of God. In fact, the concepts of glory and majesty are nearly interchangeable in this light. We, on the one hand, render up honor and glory to God in a way external to God. On the other hand, glory and majesty are also divine attributes which we in no way give Him, which He has or rather is in Himself by His nature.
When we come into His presence, even in the contact we have with Him through the Churchs sacred mysteries, His divine attribute of splendor or glory or majesty, whatever you will, has the power to transform us. His majestic glory changes us. This MYSTERY changes us. So, it is right to translate these lofty sounding attributions for God when we raise our voices in the Churchs official cult.
ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Almighty and merciful God,
you break the power of evil and make all things new
in your Son Jesus Christ, the King of the universe.
May all in heaven and earth
acclaim your glory
and never cease to praise you.