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An Advent
examination of liturgical fidelity
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
Advent is an excellent time for us as members of a faith community and
individuals to examine our fidelity to the directives of the General
Instruction of the Roman Missal, that is, how the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass is to be celebrated in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church.
In Mass, as a faith community, we adore the Father, through Christ, in
the Holy Spirit. As a faith community, we join ourselves to Christ in
giving thanks and in acknowledging the great things God has done. In
Mass, as a faith community, we seek the strength we need to faithfully
live out our baptismal covenant. The Mass is the greatest celebration we
have as Catholics. It is the time in which we, as a community, are most
Catholic.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) calls us to embrace
this communitarian nature of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It reminds
us that Mass is the sacrament of unity in which we, as God’s people, are
nourished from the table of God’s word and with Christ’s Body and Blood.
This unity is expressed particularly in common posture, in singing,
reverential silence and in sharing together the one bread and one cup.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the action of Christ and the prayer of
a community bonded to one another and to that Christ by baptism and
confirmation. The General Instruction has as its goal active ordered
participation in the most precious gift God has given to his Church —
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The GIRM assumes that every Sunday and feast day Mass will be celebrated
with song, with a cantor, with one or two readers and with other
assisting ministers. It assumes that Communion will be distributed from
bread and wine consecrated at that Mass. It assumes that the liturgical
books will be beautiful and appropriate to the celebration rather than
disposable pages or booklets. It assumes processions and common posture.
There is tension between the call to communitarian worship and a deeply
entrenched mindset that looks upon Mass as time for private prayer. This
is particularly true at the time of the Communion Rite.
The GIRM allows for moments for silent (private) prayer: the Act of
Penitence; after the invitation to prayer (opening prayer); at the
conclusion of a Scripture reading; following the homily; and in the
period of silence following the distribution of holy Communion. The
thrust, however, is not private prayer but communitarian worship.
As diocesan bishop, I have called the people of our Local Church to take
special note of the Communion Rite. This has been done because the
General Instruction clearly identifies the diocesan bishop as the
“moderator, promoter and guardian” of the liturgical life in his Local
Church. So, what is the “expected” way to participate in the Communion
Rite in this Local Church? What does the General Instruction of the
Roman Missal envision?
When the priest celebrant receives holy Communion, a Communion chant is
begun. People approach Communion stations in procession, ideally moving
forward from the rear of the worship space led by a cross bearer. Holy
Communion is to be received standing. The person receiving Communion
bows his/her head and shoulders slightly before the sacrament as a
gesture of reverence and then receives Communion, responding “Amen” to
the formula: the Body of Christ, the Blood of Christ.
The proper way to receive Communion in the hand is to extend hands chest
high, 10 to 12 inches away from the body. This is a clear signal that
the communicant has chosen to receive in the hand. If right handed, the
right hand is placed palm flat under the left hand. When the Body of the
Lord is placed on the palm flat left hand, the right hand is used to
place the host in the mouth. The obvious adjustment is made if a person
is left-handed. Communicants are not to reach out and grab the host nor
are they to hold their hands little finger to little finger nor are they
to cup their hands. Hands are not to be soiled, but freshly washed.
After returning to their place, all are to remain standing until the
distribution of holy Communion has been completed. A sacred silence for
private thanksgiving is then observed for a period of time, or a psalm
or another canticle of praise or hymn may be sung.
While all this is rudimentary, it is amazing how many seem oblivious to
it or reject it. Some genuflect before receiving, others kneel, many
fail to bow, reception in the hand often is not done properly.
Although these procedures are not followed in all dioceses, they are
directed for our Local Church, as allotted by the GIRM and in compliance
to the directives of the GIRM.
There is more to the General Instruction than the Communion Rite, of
course. The General Instruction says that it is “commendable that
silence be observed in the church, in the sacristy, in the vesting room,
and in adjacent areas” prior to the celebration of Mass “so that all may
dispose themselves to carry out the sacred action in a devout and
fitting manner” (no. 45). A number of parishes need to take this rubric
into consideration. In-pew visiting has gotten out of hand. We gather
not for a party but for a solemn, albeit joyful, celebration which of
its nature needs to free of secular distraction.
Here’s another one that is commonly ignored: “The Creed is sung or
recited by the priest together with the people with everyone standing.
At the words by the power of the Holy Spirit … and became man, all make
a profound bow; but on solemnities of the Annunciation and the Nativity
of the Lord, all genuflect” (no. 137).
The tradition of a genuflection to acknowledge the presence of the
Blessed Sacrament too seems to be suffering neglect. A genuflection is
made by bending the right knee to the ground. It should be done
gracefully and with deliberation. If the Blessed Sacrament is reserved
in a separate chapel, a profound bow to the altar is to be made (no.
274).
The privatization of the liturgy was an anomaly that crept into
liturgical practice over centuries. However, the liturgy of the Church,
of its nature, is communitarian. Mass is not the prayer of individuals
who come together to pray, but the action of a praying community.
Posture, processions and community singing are designed to emphasize
this communitarian nature. Mass is not “mine.” Rather, it belongs to the
Church and it is the Church that directs how it is to be celebrated.
Some individuals find what the Magisterium has directed through the
General Instruction challenging, but Mass should never be turned into a
protest. The General Instruction warns against “private inclination or
arbitrary choice.”
To all those who have embraced what we are expected to do, God bless.
May we be made ever more holy by our conscious, active and fruitful
participation in the mystery of the Eucharist (no. 5). |
