Appropo music/decor and delay Holy Communion

[margarete]

Sorry for the long title, wanted to include everything. I am wondering if any of this is not “kosher” for church. On Christmas Day, our church was decorated with many colored boxes and bright ornaments(our priest said it had to do with a Max Lucado story.) The nativity, I couldn’t see, but was told it was in the side corner with the Tabernacle. Also, after all finished the communion hymn, the organist played, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” And finally, the choir had to wait until after Mass to receive Holy Communion. I don’t want to bash or complain about our church or pastor. I just want to know what is appropriate, as we are trying ti instill as much “right” in our boys as possible.
Thank you,
Margarete

 

[MusicMan]

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” as a brief instrumental after the Communion hymn is probably not an instrumental envisioned by the rubrics, but probably not that big of a deal either.
It is recognizable as a secular Christmas carol, but how many organists have played a Bach Prelude and Fugue or some other secular organ work as a prelude, at Offeratory time, or after the Communion Hymn?

The issue of the Choir receiving Communion after Mass is an interesting one. The GIRM instructs the musicians to begin the Communion Hymn right after the priest’s Communion, and it really doesn’t do a good job of addressing when the musicians are to receive Communion. Without looking it up, I think the GIRM instructs the musicians to receive discreetly at an appropriate time.

Most churches deal with this by having the musicians receive when the EMHCs do, while others have them receive last after the hymn finishes and as the priest/deacon are starting to clean up the altar.

Still other churches will have them receive after Mass by having an EMHC remain after Mass and take the reserved sacrament out of the Tabernacle and to the musicians. Sometimes there will be an EMHC who is a member of the Choir who will handle this instead of keeping one of the other EMHC’s after Mass.

Much like the issue of posture during The Lord’s Prayer, this is something that the GIRM is unclear on, so liturgists have used their supposed “powers to interpret” the GIRM to come up with all sorts of confusion.

There really isn’t an answer.

 

[margarete]

Thank you for the info. I do want to make sure that the way our church practices/expresses our faith falls into approved guidelines. I don’t want to nit-pick or criticize (I see too much of that,) but I don’t want to make/endorse any glaring errors, either.
Thanks!
Margarete