Krakowiak, Czesław (Wydawnictwo Towarzystwa Naukowego Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego, 2008)
The encyclical Mediator Dei was the Apostolic See’s response to the achievements of the liturgical movement and at the same time it became the beginning of the general reform of liturgy during Pius XII’s pontificate. Then it became an inspiration for the work on the Constitution on Liturgy during the Vatican Council II. In the article the author first writes about the reactions to the publication of the encyclical and about the role of the Commission for Liturgical Reform established by Pius XII in 1948, as well as of its secretary Annibale Bugnini. Next he discusses the main guidelines for the reform of the Paschal Eve (1951) and of the Holy Week (1955). A further reform of liturgy concerned the Church’s liturgical Calendar (considerable simplification of the tables) and the Breviary. The need to reform the liturgical books was only pointed to and it was effected only after the Vatican Council II.
