Throughout his 2026 Wednesday General Audiences, Pope Leo XIV has focused on offering reflections and instruction regarding the documents of the Second Vatican Council. On May 20, he began his catechesis on the council’s constitution on the sacred liturgy, explaining the importance of the rituals of the Church and how Christ cares for His Church through the Mass.
The 130-paragraph document Sacrosanctum Concilium, Latin for “This Sacred Council,” includes sections on active participation in the liturgy, the nature of the sacred liturgy, reform of the liturgy, the Eucharist, sacramentals, the Liturgy of the Hours, the liturgical calendar, and sacred art.
Pope Leo said May 20 that he will be teaching on the document in a series format. He encouraged everyone to “allow ourselves to be shaped inwardly by the rites, symbols, gestures and above all the living presence of Christ in the liturgy, which we will have the opportunity to explore in the coming Catecheses.”
The Council Fathers’ intention in writing Sacrosanctum Concilium, according to Pope Leo, was “not only to undertake a reform of the rites, but to lead the Church to contemplate and deepen that living bond which constitutes and unites her: the mystery of Christ.”
The liturgy “is at once the space, the time and the context in which the Church receives her very life from Christ,” because in the liturgy, “the work of our redemption is accomplished,” he explained, quoting the constitution.
In the Mass, the faithful are immersed in the mysteries of the sacred Triduum, he continued.
“Here, then, is the Christian Mystery: the Paschal event, that is to say, the passion, death, resurrection and glorification of Christ,” he said, “which is made sacramentally present to us precisely in the liturgy, so that every time we take part in the assembly gathered ‘in his name’ we are immersed in this Mystery.”
The Church was born from the side of Christ when He was pierced by a lance on the cross, Pope Leo said, and in the Liturgy, Christ “continues to act,” sanctifying and uniting the Church “to His offering to the Father.”
Pope Leo at his May 20 General Audience:
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"As we continue our series of catecheses on the Second Vatican Council, today we consider the Dogmatic Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. This document teaches that the liturgy immerses us in the mystery of… pic.twitter.com/8ildJ9L2XC
Emphasizing Christ’s presence at Mass in the ministers, those gathered, the Word, and “in the highest degree, in the Eucharist,” the Augustinian Pope recalled how Saint Augustine wrote that in celebrating the Eucharist, the Church “receives the Body of the Lord and becomes what she receives,” becoming the Body of Christ.
“This,” Pope Leo said, “is the ‘work of our redemption,’ which conforms us to Christ and builds us up in communion.”
He recalled how Sacrosanctum Concilium states that this communion is achieved through “rites and prayers” in the liturgy and then reflected on the importance of ritual.
“The rituality of the Church expresses her faith – in accordance with the familiar saying lex orandi, lex credendi – and at the same time shapes ecclesial identity: the proclaimed Word, the celebration of the Sacrament, the gestures, the silences, the space – all this represents and gives form to the people gathered by the Father, the Body of Christ, the Temple of the Holy Spirit,” he said.
He then reflected on how the liturgy affects the rest of the activity of the Church, noting that the constitution defines the liturgy as “the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed” and “the font from which all her power flows.”
The Church’s work is not just the liturgy, but “all her activity,” Pope Leo said, mentioning her preaching and care for the poor, “converges towards this ‘summit.’”
Conversely, the liturgy sustains the faithful and encourages them in their fidelity to belief and mission, he continued, adding that “in other words,” lay participation at Mass “is at once ‘internal’ and ‘external.’”
This calls the faithful to allow the liturgy to transform their daily lives, saying that “it is in this way that our life becomes a ‘living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God’, fulfilling our ‘spiritual worship,’” he said, referencing Romans 12:1.
He concluded by saying that in this way, as Sacrosanctum Concilium states, “‘the liturgy daily builds up those who are within into a holy temple of the Lord’, and forms an open community, welcoming to all.
“Indeed, it is inhabited by the Holy Spirit, it introduces us into the life of Christ, it makes us His Body and, in all its dimensions, it represents a sign of the unity of the entire human race in Christ. As Pope Francis said, ‘the world still does not know it, but everyone is invited to the supper of the wedding of the Lamb (Rev 19:9).’”
Before the catechesis, Pope Leo also offered a personal welcome to Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church Aram I, who this week is visiting the Vatican.
The Pontiff also urged the faithful to pray for peace in Lebanon and the Middle East amid suffering from violence and war, and said that he prays for the Holy Spirit to intercede for Aram I during his visit in Rome as Pentecost approaches.