50 years on, a fascinating glimpse of how liturgical reform became a juggernaut

Today is the 50^th anniversary of the Instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium, signed by both the Prefect of the soon-to-be abolished Sacred Congregation of Rites, and the President of the Concilium, the temporary institution in charge of the liturgical reform. It now represents a fascinating snapshot of a fast-moving action sequence.

In 1967 the Novus Ordo Missae, the New Order of Mass, did not yet exist, although a thoroughgoing reform had been promised since the 1955 Holy Week reforms. Eucharisticum Mysterium is one of a long series of documents making preparatory tweaks to how Mass should be celebrated, in preparation for the big day when the new Mass would be revealed to the world.