Blessing yourself after the Confiteor... is it appropriate?

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gez722

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I seem to remember that after the Confiteor that various missals (or at least the missalette in our church) would state that the congregation may make the sign of the cross while saying “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life”. I see that some people still bless themselves in this manner, but I can’t find any mention of this practice in the GIRM or in any of the missals that I use. Was this practice eliminated from the Mass? Does anybody remember seeing it mentioned in missals? I personally like doing it, but if it’s not mentioned in the GIRM should I be doing it?

God Bless,
Gary
 
gez722 said:
I seem to remember that after the Confiteor that various missals (or at least the missalette in our church) would state that the congregation may make the sign of the cross while saying “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life”. I see that some people still bless themselves in this manner, but I can’t find any mention of this practice in the GIRM or in any of the missals that I use. Was this practice eliminated from the Mass? Does anybody remember seeing it mentioned in missals? I personally like doing it, but if it’s not mentioned in the GIRM should I be doing it?

God Bless,
Gary
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Sure, go ahead!

We had a visiting priest from the Philippines who did it, too.

Anna
 
gez722 said:
… I personally like doing it, but if it’s not mentioned in the GIRM should I be doing it?..
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No.

It is not in the 2002 Roman Missal. It is not in the GIRM or Order of Mass.

A bow of the head is required at the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From the 2002 General Introduction to the Roman Missal (GIRM) which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html :
“275. … a. A bow of the head is made when the three Divine Persons are named together and at the names of Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of the Saint in whose honor Mass is being celebrated.”

So a bow of the head should be made when saying “I asked blessed Mary, ever virgin”.

The other rubric is:
“that I have sinned through my own fault
They strike their breast:
in my thoughts and in my words,”

If the intention were that everyone make the sign of the cross there would be instructions to do so, as there are at the beginning of Mass.
 
John_Lilburne said:
No.
If the intention were that everyone make the sign of the cross there would be instructions to do so, as there are at the beginning of Mass.
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I agree… even though I like doing it I feel I should stick to what the missal says. I may be going nuts, but I could swear it used to be in the missal:confused:

God Bless,
Gary
 
John, the Sign of the Cross is a universal gesture of prayer. There’s never an inappropriate time for someone to employ it.

And being that our venial sins are forgiven us in the penitential rite it’s a lovely thought to thank God for his gift of mercy by making a sign of the cross at this point.
 
gez722 said:
I agree… even though I like doing it I feel I should stick to what the missal says. I may be going nuts, but I could swear it used to be in the missal:confused:

God Bless,
Gary
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It used to be there before 1970. It went a bit like this:

Priest: I confess to God almighty
Minister/Server: May the almighty God have mercy on you…

M/S:I confess to God almighty
P.: May the almighty God have mercy on you…

Then the priest would say: May the almighty God grant us pardon, absolution and remission of our sins. During this prayer all would make the sign of the cross.

After 1970, the priest and people made a common confession. Then the priest alone said “May the almighty God have mercy us (change from you)”. The last prayer ("May the almighty God grant us pardon, absolution… ") was supressed but because the priest alone was speaking, many people still made the sign of the cross at that point.
 
This is the flip side of the ‘orans position during the Our Father’ argument. There is nothing in the Roman Missal that either mandates the gesture or prohibits it. So, it is up to the prudential judgement of the individual. There is absolutley nothing wrong with crossing yourself at this point, the same way there is nothing ‘wrong’ with holding your hands together, fingers interlaced in prayer when the proest says ‘let us pray’/‘oremus.’

Now, it would be wrong for the priest to mandate that the laity perform this gesture (since it is not mandated in the rubrics). It would also be wrong if someone made an inappropriate gesture (there is nothing in the GIRM that forbids giving the priest the finger when he says ‘let us pray/oremus,’ but this would clearly be wrong).

So, if you feel uncomfortable, don’t sign yourself. But at the same time feel free to do it if you want. Nothing wrong here.
 
I’ve just consulted my handy 1964 St. Joseph Missal and…

…following the Confiteor, the priest says, “May the Almighty and Merciful Lord grant us pardon, + absolution, and remission of our sins.” In latin of course.

Note that the “+” indicates that the priest and congregants cross themselves.

And so I conclude that in the Pauline Mass it is not prescribed for us to cross ourselves but it would be the norm for any Mass following the 1964 Tridentine Missal.

It is also possible despite the fact that neither the GIRM nor current Pauline convention calls for us to bless ourselves, that the custom from the Tridentine Mass has lived on for some, perhaps out of habit. Not unlike some who continue to receive the Eucharist on the tongue, despite 90%+ of today’s Catholics receiving in the hand.

Hope that helps.
 
AMDG1 said:
It is also possible despite the fact that neither the GIRM nor current Pauline convention calls for us to bless ourselves, that the custom from the Tridentine Mass has lived on for some, perhaps out of habit. Not unlike some who continue to receive the Eucharist on the tongue, despite 90%+ of today’s Catholics receiving in the hand.
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Forgive me for nitpicking but:
-Communion on the tongue remains the normative practise and communion on the hand is by indult. This is not comparable to crossing oneself because it is explicitly allowed.
-While receiving in the hand may be common in the USA, it is not necessarily so in other parts of the world.
 
Receving on the tongue is the canonical norm. Reeceiving in the hand is allowed only by an indult (ie., permission to break from “the norm”).
 
Just more confusion created when the Mass of Paul VI was forced on the faithful.

Nobody seems to know what to do during Mass. When do we sit, stand or kneel? Why do some churches not kneel at all?

Hold hands at the Our Father, orans posture, or just fold hands?

Communion on the tongue or Communion in the hand?

Stand or kneel to receive Communion?

It sounds like basically we can do whatever we want to do during almost any part of the Mass. Since there’s nothing in the GIRM stating that I can’t stand on my head during the Our Father, I think I’ll do it at Christmas Mass.

Oh wait, I’m going to the Tridentine Mass for Christmas. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to behave in a manner that gives glory to God.

Darn!
 
Swiss_Guard said:
It sounds like basically we can do whatever we want to do during almost any part of the Mass. Since there’s nothing in the GIRM stating that I can’t stand on my head during the Our Father, I think I’ll do it at Christmas Mass.

Oh wait, I’m going to the Tridentine Mass for Christmas. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to behave in a manner that gives glory to God.

Darn!
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I checked my old 1962 missal, and I didn’t see anything prohibiting standing on your head during the Our Father. The current GIRM assumes the same common sense and decorum that is assumed at your Tridentine mass. The problem is not the Paulin rite or the new GIRM, but the implementation.
 
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