“In Communion with God”: The Inculturation of the Christian Liturgical Theology of Giulio Aleni in His Explication of the Mass (Misa Jiyi)

Abstract

Liturgical practice and its theological interpretation are not only very important to the Chinese inculturation of Catholicism in particular and Christianity in general but also of great significance in the establishment of an indigenized Christian faith and system of life. This paper will analyze the methodological approaches and historical inspirations for the inculturation of Christian liturgical theology through Giulio Aleni’s (1582–1649) Explication of the Mass (Misa Jiyi, 弥撒祭义), the first book to utilize Chinese cultural resources to systematically interpret the Mass (Eucharist). Continuing the general Jesuit accommodation initiated by Matteo Ricci, Aleni established an indigenized liturgical system of theology through intercultural learning, borrowing, and creative construction. Three of his contributions especially stand out. First, Aleni explained the significance of the Mass in terms of the Chinese philosophical–ethical concepts of “repaying the roots” (baoben, 报本) and “giving thanks” (gan’en, 感恩). Second, he elaborated on communion with the Trinitarian God in the Mass through Jesus Christ by drawing on the ancient Chinese teachings of repaying (chou, 酬), commemoration (shi, 示), and hope (wang, 望), which Aleni related to “giving thanks to the Father,” “commemorating Jesus,” and “invoking the Holy Spirit.” Finally, he provided a deep spiritual explanation of the Mass, using the traditional Confucian concepts of “self-restraint” (keji, 克己), “self-reflection” (fanji, 反己), and “spiritual meditation” (chouyi, 抽绎) to help believers understand the activities of repentance, commemoration, and prayer in the Mass. Overall, Aleni emphasized that the essence of the Mass was to achieve “communion with the heart of heavenly Lord” (xihe tianzhuzhixin, 翕合天主之心), which, as a pivot of faith, could be extended into daily life through its spiritual practice. Aleni, therefore, established a comprehensive system of “liturgy-spirituality-life” for Chinese Christians by indigenizing Christian liturgical theology through intercultural learning. His creative synthesis yielded a dynamic balance between Christian and Chinese traditions, absorbing Confucian resources to imaginatively enrich and expand the Christian tradition, while encouraging the creative transformation of the Christian tradition into the Chinese cultural community.

1. Introduction

Liturgical inculturation plays an important role in the spread and development of Christianity in China. According to the Catholic tradition, “every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree” (Pope Paul VI 1963, p. 7). On the one hand, liturgy is the salvation of God through which humans are saved and sanctified; on the other hand, it is the public celebration of God’s people, in which humans praise, offer sacrifice to, and glorify God. Through the liturgy, divine grace is symbolized and realized by visible things; thus, it is of special importance for building up the Church, spreading the faith, and nurturing believers. A very important area of inculturation, therefore, encompasses the liturgical explication and practice of local churches. In fact, liturgical inculturation should be the central task undertaken by the local believing community (Chia 2022, p. 80). Few scholars, however, have examined the reception and interpretation of the Catholic liturgy—especially its core, the Eucharist (also called the Holy Communion or Mass)—within the historical and cultural context of China1 (Law 1985; Law 1999, pp. 255–64; Li 2019, pp. 22–39; Seah 2017, pp. 86–120; Yang 2022).

Since the late-sixteenth-century arrival of Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) and Michel Ruggieri (1543–1607) in the Guangdong city of Zhaoqing (肇庆), Catholic missionaries have been explaining and interpreting the Catholic liturgy through Chinese language and culture. Although many works did so prior to Giulio Aleni, especially with respect to baptism, repentance, and the Eucharist2 (Ricci and Ruggieri 1584, 1585; Vagnoni 1615; Pantoja 1617; Rocha 1619), it was not until Aleni that a systematic introduction to Christian liturgy engaged in deep intercultural dialogue with Chinese resources.

Otherwise known as P. Julius Aleni, Ai Rulue 艾儒略, and Siji (思及, courtesy name), Giulio Aleni (1582–1649) was a second-generation Italian Jesuit missionary who won for himself the title “Xilai Kongzi” (西来孔子, Confucius from the West). Aleni departed for China in 1613, arriving in the Fujian province in 1625 (where he remained until his death), working primarily in the cities Fuzhou, Xinghua, and Quanzhou (Pan 2013, p. 60). About 25 of his writings have been handed down, five books of which deal with Christian liturgy in the Chinese language3 (Ye 2012; Zhang 2014). Among these works, the two-volume Explication of the Mass (Sacrifici Missae explicatio, 弥撒祭义)4 (Legge 1882, pp. 210–15), also known as Explication of Divine Service (Zhaoshi Jiyi, 昭事祭义), remains the first theological work in Chinese that systematically expounds the Eucharist with distinctive intercultural characteristics.

In the spirit of intercultural theology, Aleni first explained Catholic liturgy with concepts from the Chinese classics, interpreting the Mass as an offering of humankind to the “God of heaven and earth,” “the great Father of heaven, earth, humans, and all things,” an offering that “repays the roots” (baoben, 报本) and “gives thanks” (gan’en, 感恩). At the same time, however, Aleni adhered to the basic principles of Christian liturgical theology by underscoring the singularity of the Eucharist as a sacrifice. With Christology as the core of the Mass and thanksgiving as its focus, Aleni emphasized that believers should commemorate and thank God for his birth and salvation in the Mass through prayer, repentance, and meditation, thereby communing with God. Finally, Aleni stressed that the Mass is a spiritual offering that believers should extend into their daily lives through contemplation of and communion with God, using the Mass as a pivot to cultivate virtue and establish a “liturgy-spirituality-ethics” life system.

Aleni’s liturgical theology is strongly inculturated, drawing on Chinese classics such as Liji (The Book of Rites, 礼记) and other cultural resources to explain Catholic liturgy, also elaborating the spiritual dimension of liturgy from the perspective of spiritual–moral cultivation in the Confucian tradition, in order to establish a holistic life system based on liturgy. For Aleni’s localized liturgical theology, Catholicism is a way of life centered around liturgy. His Explication of the Mass constitutes a pioneering work in the inculturation of Catholic liturgical theology, providing not only a significant example of the liturgical theology and practice of Chinese Catholicism today but also an important reference for the localization of Catholicism worldwide.

2. Divine Service (Zhaoshi), Repaying the Roots (Baoben), Giving Thanks (Gan’en): Expressions of the Mass with the Chinese Classics

Explication of the Mass is also named Explication of Divine Service (Zhaoshi 昭事), with the word zhaoshi (昭事) meaning to serve and worship diligently and openly and implying sacrifice. Before “misa” (弥撒) became the definitive word for Christian liturgy, zhaoshi was used interchangeably with “Mass” by Ming- and Qing-Dynasty Catholics. For example, The Order of Mass (Misa Jingdian, 弥撒经典), which was translated by Ludovic Bugli (Li leisi, 利类思), is also called The Classics of Zhaoshi (Zhaoshi Jingdian, 昭事经典)5 (Law 1985; Law 1999, pp. 255–64). This is consistent with Matteo Ricci’s strategy of “Jesuit accommodation,” which drew on indigenous cultural resources from the Chinese classics and applied them to Catholic theory and practice6 (Mungello 1988, pp. 1–9). In The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven (Tianzhu Shiyi, 天主实义), Ricci referred to the divine name in the Christian faith, Deus or God, as Shangdi (上帝) from the ancient Chinese classics, maintaining, “Our Christian God is what the Chinese classics call Shangdi” (Zhou 2017, p. 243). Because the Chinese classic Shang Shu (Classics of Books, 尚书) implored readers, “Be careful to serve and worship Shangdi diligently” (zhaoshi shangdi, 昭事上帝) (Legge [1865] 1983), early European missionaries and Chinese Christians understood zhaoshi as the proper attitude of serving and worshiping God. According to Yang Tingyun (杨廷筠), “To admire God is equivalent to serving Shangdi diligently and openly (zhaoshi) in our Confucianism” (Yang [1614] 2013, p. 9).

This use of the word zhaoshi for the liturgical nature of the Mass is in line with the general religious emotions of humankind towards the transcendent. The word “liturgy” in Greek, leitourgia, means service for and on behalf of people; it is, therefore, consonant with zhaoshi’s meaning of “serving diligently.” And since the word “liturgy” was officially used by the Latin Church in the 16th century to refer exclusively to the Mass, the interchangeable use of “Mass” and “liturgy” by the missionaries is consistent with wider applications of these terms at this time. Thus, under the influence of Jesuit accommodation, local Chinese cultural resources of “serving Shangdi diligently” (zhaoshi Shangdi, 昭事上帝) were invoked to express, understand, and interpret Christian liturgy. This offers us a general context for understanding Giulio Aleni’s localization of liturgical theology.

The Chinese word “misa” (弥撒) is a phonetic transliteration of “Mass,” the Latin Missa, which is found in the imperative “Ite missa est”—“Go! It is the dismissal.” Thus “Mass” originally referred to the “dismissal,” the last part of the Eucharist. During the 4th to 8th centuries, however, “Mass” began to signify the entire Eucharist. Thus, the essential meaning of “Mass” is the Lord’s Supper or Passover Supper, the last supper of Jesus before he was betrayed. Although the word “misa” does not literally mean “offering,” it represents the sin offering of Jesus to the Father. Catholic tradition emphasizes that “the Eucharist is a true and special offering”7 (Denzinger and Schönmetzer 2013, p. 651), that “Our Lord and God, in death, offered himself once for all to the Father to perform eternal salvation for them” and to “establish a new Passover”8 (Denzinger and Schönmetzer 2013, p. 653). On “the night of his offering,” Jesus gave a “visible offering” (as human nature demands) to the Church; thus, the Mass is “a reenactment of that offering made on the bloody cross, the commemoration of which is left until the end of the world”9 (Denzinger and Schönmetzer 2013, p. 652). Theologically speaking, the Mass is an offering to the Father through the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is, at the same time, a holy offering, one of bread and wine that symbolizes the reconciliation of humans and God.

At the very beginning of his Explication of the Mass, Aleni used the word “offering” (xian, 献) to explain the sacrificial nature of the Mass10 (Tang 2018, p. 2024):

The great liturgy of offering sacrifices to the True Lord of heaven and earth is called the Mass in the western language, which should be translated as an offering (xian, 献) in the Chinese language. The Priest officiates at the liturgy and offers to God on behalf of all people. Those learners of Dao (xuedao zhiren, 学道之人, i.e., Christians) should be clean in their mind and pure in heart and soul, very devout, and dedicated to God with one heart and mind. Thus God gives humans their blessings11.

(Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 397)

In interpreting the Mass as “offering,” Aleni stressed, on the one hand, the vicarship of the priest who celebrates the Mass by “offering to God on behalf of all people” (代众献于天主), emphasizing, on the other hand, that the Mass is an interaction between humans and God, in which humans become “very devout and dedicated to God with one heart and one mind,” with God in turn “giving humans their blessings” due to their piety. By using the word “offering,” this process of “offering-blessing” reflects the close relationship between God and humans in the liturgy.

Aleni next used two philosophical concepts from traditional Chinese culture—“repaying the roots”12 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 383) and “giving thanks”13 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 386)—to explain the meaning of the Mass. In Chinese philosophy, the first concept, “repaying the roots,” means to return to the masters of both the household and the state so as not to forget the roots from which humans come14 (Wang 2016, p. 308). “Root”, therefore, has two meanings: master and origin. In traditional Chinese culture, sacrificial ceremonies enjoyed priority above all rituals because they emphasized remembering the origin and repaying the roots, thereby reflecting the moral foundation of traditional patriarchal society—respecting ancestors and showing filial piety to parents.

The second concept, “giving thanks” (gan’en, 感恩), means to be touched by wholehearted love. In its original meaning, Aleni explained, “Gan (感) means to touch the heart, with xin (心) as the radical part and xian (咸) as the phonetic part” (Tang 2018, p. 2203); “En (恩) equals to hui (grace, 惠), with xin (心) as the radical part and yin (因) as the phonetic part”; and “Hui (惠) means benevolence, with xin (心) as the radical part and zhuan (叀) as the phonetic part” (Tang 2018, p. 809). Since zhuan (叀) is another form of wholehearted (zhuan, 专) (Tang 2018, p. 644), it is easily composed with en (恩), meaning benevolent and wholehearted love (Tang 2018, p. 2157). With this cultural inspiration, Aleni emphasized that giving thanks is not just about being touched; it is also an action of returning favors. If a person receives a favor but does not give thanks or is grateful but forgets or cannot repay, then that person is a sinner. According to Aleni, the feeling of thanksgiving must be put into action by attending Mass. Only by doing so can humans constantly see the benevolence of the Father without forgetfulness or laziness. For him, this way of giving thanks constitutes a true natural virtue of humankind, the root of all human virtues in daily life.

With respect to the external performance of the ceremony, Aleni used the Chinese word xian (献, offering) to indicate the sacrificial nature of both the Mass and Chinese sacrifice. In explaining the spirit of Christian celebration, he likened it to Confucianism’s moral principles of “repaying the roots” and “showing filial piety to parents,” both of which are present in Chinese sacrificial ceremonies. Thus, Aleni illustrated the dynamic equivalence of the Mass and Chinese sacrifice, enabling Chinese believers to develop a deeper understanding of the former and to accept it more easily and internally. He emphasized that the thanksgiving inspired by the Mass is the root of virtue in daily life, thereby laying the groundwork for later interpretations of the significance of spiritual practice in Mass.

3. A Chinese Narrative of the Trinitarian and Christological Nature of the Mass

After explaining the Mass as “repaying the roots” and “giving thanks,” Aleni turned to the Trinity and Christology—the core of the Christian faith—to construct an inculturated Christian liturgical theology. He stressed the Trinitarian presence in the Mass, seeing it as an offering to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. He also associated the different persons of the Trinity with the different objects of thanksgiving in the Mass, implying the presence of the Trinity in the Mass. During Mass, Christians thank the Father who “created us” (生成我等), the Son who “showed signs of his passion” (示受难之迹), and the Holy Spirit who “strengthened me” (加我力量)15 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 385). The three functions of the Mass—chou (酬, repaying), shi (示, commemoration), and wang (望, hope)—correspond to giving thanks to the Father, commemorating Jesus, and crying out to the Holy Spirit. Aleni also used different types of Chinese sacrifices, such as qi (祈, praying for blessings) and bao (报, returning favors), to explain the “prayer,” “thanksgiving,” and “offering” of the Mass16 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 402), thus making it easier for believers to understand the nature of the Mass in the context of Chinese culture.

Since the Council of Trent had emphasized that the Mass was a sacred offering—that Jesus “offered his body and blood to the Father in the form of bread and wine”17 (Denzinger and Schönmetzer 2013, p. 651)—Aleni accordingly maintained that the Eucharist, as the sacrifice of the Mass that represented the body and blood of Jesus in the bread and wine18 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 399), was the “supreme liturgy” and “was alone established by God himself when he came down on the earth”19 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 401). The Eucharist was “the source of life and death” and “the entirety of all praise and greatness”; thus, its value included and surpassed all tangible beautiful things.

Aleni also detailed the Christological foundation of the Mass to his Chinese audience, showing how the Paschal of Jesus Christ interweaves the divine and human with respect to the salvation mystery of the communion between God and humans. The Mass reveals the salvation mystery of the Trinity, commemorating the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, which is the greatest mystery in the Christian faith. Jesus received the honor of the king through bodily suffering and resurrection, as Aleni states: “he holds power in the flesh” (rousheng woquan, 肉身握权). By atoning for the sins of all nations, Jesus was honored to “sit at the right hand of the Father” and “to determine the rewards and punishments of all the nations”20 (Aleni [1629] 2014, pp. 462–63). Jesus revealed both the nature of God (love and almighty) through his incarnation and the nature of humans (vulnerability) by “suffering in the flesh” on the cross, establishing through this sacrifice a new, permanent covenant and delivering the hope of salvation for all nations. Jesus revealed the sublimity of God’s love both through the vulnerability of humans and the mystery of God’s salvation, giving humankind the hope of salvation through God’s love. The crucifixion of Jesus is, therefore, the unity of sacrifice and salvation, death, and resurrection.

In Aleni’s view, the commemoration of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection allows believers to experience the mystery of the entire history of salvation from creation to end, encountering the “profound meaning of the Trinity” in order to “attain genuine knowledge” (了此真知), “experience authentic salvation” (体此真德), and “One who attends Mass can be called truly blessed” (与此弥撒者是谓真福). In this way, the integrated Christian framework of knowing–experiencing–living is formed by meditating on the mystery of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as God’s salvation while attending Mass. This lays the foundation for spiritual and moral growth in the lives of Christians.

Although Aleni used the Chinese cultural practices of “offering,” “repaying the roots,” and “giving thanks” to show the consistency between the Mass and Chinese sacrifice, he also highlighted the differences between the Mass and Chinese sacrifice so that Chinese Christians could appreciate the distinctiveness of the Mass. First, the Mass is a “public worship” for the faith community, rather than a private “solitary practice”21 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 388). Second, the Mass is also an ecclesial event, a “liturgy in the church” celebrated by the priest. And, since the people who attend the Mass are “sharing one space with God,” it is not only an earthly liturgy but also a heavenly liturgy that is sacred22 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 404). Third, Aleni stressed that believers should build a “living church in their hearts,” a place of worship in the invisible space of the heart, by means of the three Christian virtues—faith as foundation, hope as mark, and love as roof—with the four cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance serving as four walls23 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 409). Believers, therefore, must not only attend Mass regularly but also keep alive the “church of the heart” (心中之活堂), revering God wholeheartedly and serving God respectfully, so that “the preciousness of a heart is like a church” (堂之贵焉必矣)24 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 410).

Aleni strongly held that the Mass is a liturgical act and that thanksgiving to the Father and Jesus must be expressed through the visible participation of the entire person: “we should repay the one who created our soul with our inner respect, as well as repay the one who created our body with our outward respect”25 (Aleni [1629] 2014, pp. 388–89). Using traditional Confucian virtues of filial piety and loyalty to the emperor, Aleni explained both that the “filial love of an instant” (一念之爱) towards parents should be expanded and completed externally in the Christian faith towards God by serving Him sincerely, and that the “reverence of an instant” (一念之敬) towards the emperor should be expanded and completed externally in the Christian faith towards God by resisting invasion, the threat of the Devil, from outside. This indicates that the external acts of the liturgical service are the necessary means for people to express their inner feelings and to cultivate their religious emotions. In particular, Aleni stressed that since the spirituality of humans is given by God, Mass is a spiritual offering through which humans can pray to God with their spirituality, thereby communicating continuously with God in an unspeakable manner. By means of this offering, believers “make their hearts the godly altar of the Mass” (成一心中神台), carefully following the rites when celebrating Mass so that they can enter the heavenly kingdom, even though they are still present at an earthly altar.

In sum, Aleni referred to Chinese cultural tradition by using the concept of “repaying and returning to our origin” to interpret the Mass as an offering of “giving thanks” and “repaying the roots,” thereby helping Chinese believers to better understand the significance of the Mass. Nevertheless, he adhered to traditional Christian principles, highlighting the Trinitarian and Christological nature of the Mass, the public and ecclesial nature of the Mass, and the transcendental dimension of the liturgy. He stressed the inner spiritual formation of believers, in Confucian terms, like “single-mindedness” (zhuanyi, 专一) and “sincerity with reverence” (chengjing, 诚敬), so that the Christian liturgical activities could attain a profound Chinese philosophical significance. Through this work of inculturation, Aleni enriched and deepened the self-understanding of the Christian faith through deep learning from Chinese cultural resources.

4. Liturgical Spirituality: The Spiritual Dimension of the Mass

Expounding further on the sacrificial significance of the Mass, Aleni emphasized that its offering is spiritual. Through it, believers establish a spiritual bond with God in the sacrifice, integrating spiritual experiences, such as thanksgiving, commemoration, prayer, repentance, self-restraint, and communion, into the activities of the Mass. Drawing on the Confucian method of spiritual cultivation to “examine” (shencun, 审存) and “interpret meditatively” (chouyi, 抽绎) the meaning of the Mass, Aleni elaborated Christian spiritual formation with the resources of Confucian heart–mind cultivation26 (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). He maintained that believers should contemplate Jesus’ mystery of Paschal, appreciate the grace of God, and sincerely repent throughout the Mass, all in order to “be in communion with the heart of God” (xihe tianzhu zhixin, 翕合天主之心). In line with the Jesuit spiritual tradition, Aleni introduced Chinese heart–mind cultivation into liturgical theology27 (Ganss 1992, p. 8), creating a distinctive Chinese liturgical spirituality.

4.1. To Encounter God Day by Day (Riri Shenhe, 日日神合)

For Christians, the foundation of spirituality is Christology—how the individual connects to the birth, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and return of Jesus Christ. Aleni held that the Mass is the microcosm of the life of Jesus, the salvation of the Trinity28 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 461). Giving special emphasis to the pivotal role of Jesus in the history of salvation, Aleni asserted that Jesus is the foundation of the Mass and the pivot of salvation history. Aleni, therefore, laid the foundation for a spirituality of the Mass with the life of Jesus at its center.

In the spirit of the Council of Trent’s teaching that the Mass should be celebrated every day, Aleni compared the Eucharist both to “daily bread” and to medicine “to cure diseases of my soul,” advocating that believers should “encounter God day by day” by “being in one body with Jesus”29 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 405). To achieve a dedicated attentive state of “no break or interval, no roughness or fineness, no self or others, no inside or outside” (无间无息，无粗无精，无我无人，无内无外)30 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 406), Aleni stressed that the Mass should center on the remembrance of the mystery of Jesus’ incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection; thus, the liturgical instruments, furnishings, and vestments should all focus on commemorating the works of Jesus. In this way, the Mass could offer a personal encounter between believers and Jesus.

According to Aleni, there must be icons in the Mass to inspire people to draw closer to God. The purpose of the Jesuits’ visit to China, as Aleni said, was “to proclaim the grace of Jesus’ life”31 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 387). Here, Aleni placed special emphasis on the difference between “setting icons” in the Mass and the Chinese sacrificial practice encapsulated in Confucius’ statement that “when offering sacrifices to ancestors, it is as if they are really in front of us; when offering sacrifices to the gods, it is as if the gods are really in front of us” (祭如在，祭神如神在)32 (Legge [1893] 1991, p. 159). For Aleni, this demonstrated Confucius’s belief in the real presence of the deities in the sacrifices and, therefore, the spiritual piety and reverence of humans during the sacrifices. As Neo-Confucians explained, the deities present in the sacrifices enjoy offerings through invisible qi (气, vital energy), which establishes real communication between humans and the deities, achieving oneness in their inner being (Li 2018, pp. 463, 468). In response to questions from Chinese believers about image in the Mass—for example: “It seems sufficient for my heart with sincerity to look up at the heaven and give thanks to God with prudence. Why must I paint God with an image?”33 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 387)—Aleni maintained that the Mass must include an image of Jesus since its essence is to give thanks for the birth, crucifixion, and salvation of Jesus. Thus, it is necessary to “have an icon to inspire people to be closer and show respect to God.” Aleni also pointed out that since Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice to the Father, we must have His icon in Mass to commemorate the great goodness of Jesus. Aleni, therefore, declared, “it is strictly prohibited that there is no image of our Lord in the Mass” (所以不容不设吾主之像也).

Furthermore, Aleni said that the Mass is the encounter, connection, and communion between God and humans. It is precisely the “rare opportunity” of the Mass that allows believers to “have the privilege of seeing God”34 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 532). In this sense, attending Mass is a process that is “in the favor of the Lord” and “of incomparable merit”35 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 532). Because of the real presence of Jesus in the Mass—“God himself has come to me” and “God himself has come down”—“all our requests will be granted, and we will be happier than anyone else in the world”36 (Aleni [1629] 2014, pp. 402–4). Thus, by attending Mass, believers receive favors and blessings that are rarely found in this world.

4.2. The Symbolic Meeting, Subtle Meeting, and Spiritual Meeting

Aleni held that Christians in the Mass realize an intimate relationship with the Lord through thanksgiving in three ways. Firstly, since the Mass is a microcosm of Jesus’ life, believers should fully understand all aspects of it, meditating on the salvific works of Jesus during each part. The second half of Aleni’s Explication of the Mass as a Sacrifice, therefore, divides the Mass into three parts—“preparation liturgy” (将祭), “formal liturgy” (正祭), and “withdrawal liturgy” (撤祭)—with a total of 33 sections that correspond to the 33 years of Jesus’ life, thereby showing the close relationship between the Mass and Jesus37 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 431).

On the one hand, Aleni asked believers to fully understand the meaning of the Mass, meditating on the entire service to infuse it with the mysterious grace of Jesus Christ, the Lord (通知其义，随节忝想，一一吻合玄旨). On the other hand, Aleni held that if one were not able to grasp the overall meaning of the Mass, one should meditate on the meaning of a single section of it (随取一端，常作一观). Thus, Aleni’s content included both a meditation on the entirety of Jesus’s life and spiritual exercises for each individual section of the Mass.

Secondly, Aleni stressed that believers should “be in communion with God” through the “three meetings” in the Mass: the “symbolic meeting” (象会), the “subtle meeting” (默会), and the “spiritual meeting” (神会). Overall, this encouraged believers to meditate on the great goodness of Jesus’ salvation through the words, objects, and images of the Mass, fully immersing themselves in its atmosphere and integrating their spirits with God.

The “symbolic meeting” connects liturgical objects with Jesus and his crucifixion and resurrection by means of their similarity of shape or meaning38 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 426). In the interpretation of the instruments used in the Mass and the clothing worn by the priests39 (Aleni [1629] 2014, pp. 411–12), Aleni made ample use of symbols, adopting the allegorical interpretation commonly used in the Middle Ages, for which the Mass constituted a reenactment of the life of Jesus (Cheslyn et al. 1992, p. 64). There are many objects used in Mass that can be interpreted in terms of the symbolic meaning of Jesus’ crucifixion or the person of Jesus himself, such as the altar, the cross, the tablecloth, the veil, the candles, and more. For example, in explaining the vestments of the priests in the Mass, Aleni held that each was linked to the commemoration of Christ and his crucifixion. Thus, by meditating on the symbolic meaning of the paraphernalia, furnishings, and vestments of the Mass, believers could meet Jesus while attending Mass. Believers could also seek the “five virtues” by meditating on the “five injuries” suffered by Jesus during his crucifixion40 (Aleni [1629] 2014, pp. 513–14). In this way, the “symbolic meeting” connected the crucifixion of Jesus to the suffering of the believer, making faith a vivid and direct picture rather than an abstract doctrine.

For the “subtle (or tacit) meeting,” Aleni employed fragrance as a metaphor for faith. Christian teaching is like fragrant incense, which people delight in smelling and which influences people unconsciously. When believers attend Mass, they are imbued with the great goodness of Jesus, just like fragrance, and when they cultivate virtues, they emit pleasing fragrances. Since the Mass, therefore, exerts an imperceptible influence, “people should take the scenes of the Mass inwardly to unite with it subtly and tacitly” (此景人当默会)41 (Aleni [1629] 2014, pp. 490–91).

The “spiritual meeting,” finally, concerns the communion of the spirits of believers with God in prayer. For example, Aleni held that if believers met God earnestly through the petition of The Our Father, their spirits would be in communion with God when they prayed to him. Aleni stressed that when reading the sacred scriptures, one should concentrate one’s mind—“knowing its meaning while chanting every single sentence, and its significance every single word”—as if one were really “seeing God above,” making “earnest petition to Him face to face.” By doing so, one would be “in communion” with God, eliminating the “separation between the holy and the mortal” and achieving spiritual unity with God42 (Aleni [1629] 2014, pp. 516–17).

In his elaboration of the liturgical Mass as an important occasion to perform spiritual exercises, Aleni followed the Jesuit tradition of enacting Christian meditation during liturgical celebration43 (Chupungco 2012), while drawing on the Chinese Confucian language of moral–life cultivation as a cultural resource for his Chinese audience. Thus, Aleni’s spiritual terminology included both Christian meditation and Confucian cultivation. Situated in both traditions, his inculturation was not an external strategy of convenience or persuasion but an internal way of thinking and practicing. Through a dynamic equivalence between Confucian and Christian spirituality, his inculturated theology creatively synthesized Christian liturgical–spiritual theology and Confucian life cultivation.

4.3. The Equivalence between the Liturgical–Spiritual Exercise and the Moral–Life Cultivation

In addition to encouraging believers to contemplate the Mass, Aleni urged believers to be dedicated and single-minded to God during the Mass through their continuous thanksgiving, repentance, and self-restraint.

The practice of repentance, also known as confession, reconciles humans to God through Christ, urging humankind to view themselves in the light of the gospel and to deepen their relationship with God. As a routine component of the Mass, repentance usually begins at the entrance rite. After greeting the congregation, the priest leads them in the recitation of the Confiscator, accompanied by three thumps on the chest to express repentance. The Catholic tradition also stresses the confession of sins by believers to the priest before the Mass. Aleni highlighted the need for salvation from original sin through repentance, as well as the need to focus on thanksgiving in everything from repentance to self-restraint, putting spirituality into moral practice in one’s daily life and thereby cultivating virtue.

For starters, Aleni held that repentance is a prerequisite for obtaining the favor and salvation of God. The original sin and basic crimes for which humankind repents are deeply rooted in and inseparable from human nature, just like salt in water and oil in flour. Believers must, therefore, sincerely repent and mend their ways to attend Mass44 (Aleni [1629] 2014, pp. 474–75).

Secondly, Aleni believed that repentance involves continuous self-examination, especially when receiving the Eucharist, as one must first repent of one’s own sins, clear away distractions, and seek reconciliation with the Lord. The “actual Communion” (实领) and “spiritual Communion” (神领) of the Eucharist are commended, while “vain Communion” (徒领) is opposed45 (Aleni [1629] 2014, pp. 526–27). “Actual Communion” is when believers receive the Eucharist in the Mass after sincere repentance, obtaining its real favor and efficacy. “Spiritual Communion,” in contrast, is when believers receive the Eucharist spiritually with an earnest heart, meditating on and thanking God for his favor at any time, regardless of space or form. Through “spiritual Communion,” believers can obtain the effects of the Eucharist, even if they have not physically received it, provided they have sincerely repented. “Vain Communion,” finally, is when believers receive the Eucharist without sincerely repenting; this offends God and brings disaster. Aleni, therefore, maintained that the reception of the Eucharist should be based on sincere repentance: “It is better to be well prepared and receive it spiritually than to be inadequately prepared and receive it actually”46 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 527). Rather than honoring God superficially, believers should seek oneness with God through constant, sincere repentance and communication, thereby obtaining the real effects of the Eucharist.

Adhering to the principle of theological inculturation, Aleni also linked the practice of repentance to the traditional Chinese practice of virtue cultivation, especially Confucian self-examination (fanguan zhuji, 反观诸己) and self-restraint (keji, 克己), the former from Mencius, the latter from Confucius himself. Both engage in moral and virtuous introspection of one’s own behavior, which Aleni called “finding one’s own fault” and “reflecting on oneself and showing honor to others.”

Self-examination is, firstly, to reflect on one’s sins, asking the Lord to forgive them, to bestow more grace, and to increase one’s strength47 (Aleni [1629] 2014, pp. 476–78). Sin is forgiven due to the gratitude and repentance of the sinner. Sincerity of heart and reverence for God (fanji jingxin, 反己敬信)48 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 476) are to thank God for his great goodness out of a deep understanding of God’s salvation49 (Aleni [1629] 2014, pp. 472–73). The purpose of both is to give thanks to God and ask for his grace. Thus, Aleni transforms these terms from their original Confucian meanings to the context of Christian spiritual cultivation, especially liturgical celebration.

Although self-restraint involved eliminating one’s own bad desires in Confucianism, it was used by Aleni for Christian spirituality and morality. On the one hand, Aleni pointed out that self-restraint, just like repentance, is the means by which the recipients of the sacrament gain the favor of God and strengthen their ability to overcome bad desires, “being in communion with the heart of God”50 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 497). On the other hand, self-restraint is the capability to endure unbearable things for the Lord, taking up “my own cross”51 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 508). Thus, Aleni also transformed self-restraint from a key practice of Confucian cultivation to one of Christian practice, an integral part of Christian spirituality.

Aleni pointed out, finally, that the ultimate goal of spirituality in the Mass is to be “in communion with the heart of God” (xihe tianzhu zhixin, 翕合天主之心)52 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 531). “To be in communion with God is the most important thing in the Mass”53 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 432), as it brings a peaceful mind and stronger faith to believers. To reach such a spiritual goal of being in communion with God, Aleni stressed that believers should take the Mass as the pivot and put into practice its spirituality in their daily cultivation and life. “At the Mass, meditate on and interpret the essence of the liturgical actions” (与弥撒时，抽绎所行之事义). “In the Mass, listen respectfully to the main points of what have been preached” (与弥撒后，恭听所讲之要道). “After the Mass, examine and keep the essence of what you have gained” (与弥撒往，审存所得之精要)54 (Aleni [1629] 2014, p. 544). With Mass as the pivot, believers should meditate on the meaning of everything that occurs before, during, and afterwards, especially focusing on the birth and salvation of Christ. After attending Mass, believers should listen carefully to the sermon of the day, reflecting on their spiritual experience in the Mass. In this way, believers will be able to take the Mass as a guide to their faith and life and to establish an integrated system of “liturgy-spirituality-ethics.”

5. Conclusions: Aleni’s Liturgical Inculturation and Its Significance

Through intercultural dialogue, Aleni established a localized, liturgical theology within a Chinese cultural context. His goals were not only for Catholic liturgy to be understood and accepted by means of traditional Chinese culture but also for Catholic liturgical theology to be creatively transformed by incorporating Chinese cultural resources into a dynamic and integrated belief system. The liturgical theology established by Aleni in his Explication of the Mass is, therefore, very instructive for Catholicism in particular and Christianity in general within a present-day Chinese cultural context.

By adhering to the Jesuit accommodation policy during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Aleni interpreted the meaning of the Mass such that the Chinese and Western liturgical traditions could attain mutual understanding of gratitude to “ancestors” and thanksgiving to God based on “serving Shangdi diligently and openly.” In his explanation of the sacrificial significance of the Mass, Aleni pointed out that the core of the Mass is the birth, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. He emphasized that believers should meet Jesus in the Mass in three ways: the “symbolic meeting” (xianghui, 象会), the “subtle/tacit meeting” (mohui, 默会), and the “spiritual meeting” (shenhui, 神会). In each part of the Mass, they should inwardly understand God’s grace, confess their sins, and receive the Eucharist, both spiritually and bodily. Grounded in the core interpretation of the Mass in the Christian tradition, Aleni expounded Christian spiritual practices of the Mass in dialogue with the Confucian moral–spiritual tradition by relating the Mass deeply to the life practices of believers.

Drawing on the Chinese philosophical concept of xinxingxue (心性学, the learning of the heart-mind and human nature), Aleni expanded the theological significance of the Mass by integrating spirituality within it, widening the Chinese expression of Christian liturgy by drawing on Chinese (mainly Confucian) philosophy to underscore the role of the Mass in life cultivation. Aleni maintained that attending Mass improves self-cultivation day by day, and that the practice of liturgy brings inward understanding of its doctrine. The Mass is, therefore, not only an external liturgy but also a continuous internalization of doctrine, one that contributes to the cultivation of life and morality. In this way, the liturgy expands from the action of the body to the understanding of the heart and mind, then back to a strengthened bodily worship. The liturgy, therefore, involves a process of “body-mind-body” cultivation through its practice in daily self-cultivation and its greater effect on life, thereby becoming an integrated system of “liturgy-spirituality-ethics” with Mass as the pivot. This system takes Christian faith as its core, and repentance, self-restraint, and spiritual meditation, combined with daily activities, such as reading scripture and performing liturgy, as its practical content. Thus, the faith of believers is replete with fresh life practice, constantly returning to the moment of meeting Christ.

Aleni provided a general methodology for the inculturation of Catholic liturgical theology. Christianity should be based on its own tradition yet go deep into the Chinese cultural tradition, forging a creative synthesis while matching a dynamic equivalence between Christian and Chinese traditions. For Aleni, as for us today, the moral and spiritual cultivation ideas and practices contained in Chinese culture should become an important resource for Christianity in building its theology and liturgy. In a deep dialogue with the fundamental ideas and practices of Chinese culture, an inculturated Chinese Christianity in both outer expression and inner spirit can be formed.