Novus Ordo's eviscerated office for the feast of Christ the King

[Geremia]

The Breviary Office of Christ the King

The hymn Te saeculorum Principem of First Vespers has had the following verses omitted:

                    The wicked mob screams out.
                    "We don't want Christ as king,"
                    While we, with shouts of joy, hail
                    Thee as the world's supreme King.
                    May the rulers of the world publicly
                    honour and extol Thee;
                    May teachers and judges reverence Thee;
                    May the laws express Thine order
                    And the arts reflect Thy beauty.
                    May kings find renown in their submission
                    and dedication to Thee.
                    Bring under Thy gentle rule our
                    country and our homes.
                    Glory be to Thee, Jesus, supreme over
                    All secular authorities;
                    And glory be to the Father and
                    The loving Spirit through endless ages.

The hymn Aeterna Imago Altissimi has been transferred from Matins to Lauds, and the following changes made. The last two lines of the second verse stated that the Father had entrusted to Christ, as His right, "absolute dominion over the peoples" (Cui iure sceptrum gentium Pater supremum credidit). This has been replaced by an admonition that we, as individuals, should willingly submit ourselves to Christ (tibi volentes subdimur qui iure cunctis imperas).

The following verses have, not surprisingly, been omitted completely:

                    To Thee, Who by right claim rule over all men,
                    We willingly submit ourselves;
                    To be subject to Thy laws
                    Means happiness for a state and its peoples.
                    Glory be to Thee, Jesus,
                    Supreme over all secular authorities;
                    And glory be to the Father and
                    The loving Spirit through endless ages.

A version of the Vexilla Regis has been abolished completely. Originally found in Lauds, some of its verses read:

                    Christ triumphantly unfurls His
                    Glorious banners everywhere;
                    Come nations of the world, and
                    On bended knee acclaim the King of kings.
                    How great is the happiness of a country
                    That rightly owns the rule of Christ and
                    Zealously carries out the commands God gave to men.
                    The plighted word keeps marriage unbroken,
                    The children grow up with virtue intact and
                    Homes where purity is found
                    Abound also in the other virtues of home life.
                    Beloved King, may the light from Thee
                    That we desire, shine on us in all its glory;
                    May the world receive the gift of peace,
                    Be subject to Thee and adore Thee.

A number of readings from Quas primas itself were included in the Office, and they explained the traditional teaching on Church and State with great clarity. They have all been removed, showing how blatantly the compilers of the new Breviary went about their task of eliminating liturgical references to the Social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The removal of these readings from Quas primas must certainly be seen as an affront to the memory and the teaching of Pope Pius XI, at whose behest the Office had been composed only forty years earlier, with the specific aim of reminding rulers that they are bound to give public honour and obedience to Our Lord. Could this great Pope possibly have imagined that within four decades he would have a successor who would totally mutilate the Office that he had approved so recently, and that this mutilation would have the objective of removing any suggestion that rulers are bound to give honour and obedience to Our Lord? Pope Paul VI stated explicitly to the rulers of the world that the Church asked no more of them than freedom to pursue its mission.

The thoroughness with which Archbishop Bugnini's Consilium expunged every specific expression of Our Lord's Social Kingship from the liturgy can hardly be denied. Its members did not even miss a reference to Our Lord's Social Kingship in the Good Friday liturgy. The first of the Solemn Collects, the one for the Church, read:

Let us pray, dearly beloved, for the holy Church of God: that our God and Lord may be pleased to give it peace, keep its unity and preserve it throughout the world: subjecting to it principalities and powers, and may He grant us, while we live in peace and tranquillity, grace to glorify God the Father almighty.

This prayer has been replaced by the following:

Let us pray, dear friends, for the holy Church of God throughout the World,
that God, the almighty Father guide it, and gather it together
so that we may worship him in peace and tranquillity.

Lest anyone should imagine that an undue significance has been placed upon changes in the Breviary and Missal relating to the doctrine of Christ the King, a comment by Archbishop A. Bugnini, Great Architect of the Liturgical Revolution, should prove very illuminating.

[Geremia]

felix festum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Regis! 🥳 🎉