Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

A Contribution to the Discussion on the Feast of The Divine Mercy 121 tion for the clues I sought. The “Note” o f the editor o f Liturgical Studies, Michael A. Mathis, C.S.C., referring to the publication in English o f the precious work o f the later Cardinal, Jean Danielou, S.J., entitled The Bible and Liturgy, only served to confirm the inspiration, and as though opened the door to the inner sanctum o f the matter at hand. The “Note’s” message is amazing! We need to pay attention to the whole o f it. It declares: The rites o f the Church and the greater feasts o f her liturgical year were intended to be an unfailing means, not only for transmit­ ting the grace o f the Sacraments, but also for instructing the faith­ ful in their meaning and in the meaning o f the whole Christian life. During the last centuries, however, the faithful had too seldom taken proper advantage o f this primal source o f Christian initiation and growth. The reason is that they have lost familiarity, both with the scriptural types and figures required for doing so and with the significance given to these types and figures by Christ Himself, by the Apostles, and by the Fathers. Too often, in fact, rites and feasts have come to be treated like sacred but mysterious heirlooms hav­ ing no vital meaning for ordinary Christians today, since they do their work anyway, whether they are fully understood or not. It is to remedy, if only in part, this most unfortunate, not to say deplorable, situation that Father Danielou has written the present work. Taking advantage of the findings of modem scholarship, he here examines the sign-language o f the Sacraments and o f the Feasts — more particularly, that o f Baptism, Confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist, as well as o f the Sabbath — as this language is explained by the Fathers, who, in turn, based their interpretation on those given in the New Testament and in Tradition. The present study is published in the hope, therefore, that it will prove o f great value to all who are interested in learning, and instructing others in, the meaning of Christianity as this is expressed in its primary and basic idiom (that is, in the liturgy). University o f Notre Dame — June 6, 1956 In view o f the many years I spent in searching for material regarding my topic, I need to emphasize how exhilarating the discovery o f that last paragraph of the “Editor’s Note” was for me. The words Fr. Mathis used