Bowing during the TLM

[StatCrux]

So I wasn’t exactly sure why this was happening. The priest seemed to be bowing a lot during the Gospel.

What I gathered was he was bowing every time he said Jesus Christ, but I’m not sure.

So: why was he bowing? Does he do that throughout the Mass or just during the Gospel.

Thanks,
SC

 

[AJV]

So I wasn’t exactly sure why this was happening. The priest seemed to be bowing a lot during the Gospel.

What I gathered was he was bowing every time he said Jesus Christ, but I’m not sure.

So: why was he bowing? Does he do that throughout the Mass or just during the Gospel.

Thanks,
SC

In both the OF and the EF one should bow the head when mentioning the Holy Name. This is observed throughout the Mass-

However, in the EF, sometimes the inclinations are towards the crucifix (reduced in the 1962 missal), sometimes to the Host, sometimes straight in front (which includes to the book) . The biretta, if worn when the Holy Name is pronounced should be doffed. In some places, though, there is a unofficial rule that for the homily, if the Name is mentioned a lot, the doffing is observed for only the first X times (usually 3 or 5)

 

[parvenu74]

However, in the EF, sometimes the inclinations are towards the crucifix (reduced in the 1962 missal), sometimes to the Host, sometimes straight in front (which includes to the book).

In the traditional form of the Mass, the ruberics require the priest to make a bow of the head only when mentioning the name of the Saint of the day (dulia), a head and shoulder bow for the name of Our Lady (hyper-dulia), and a full bow toward the tabernacle when saying the name of Jesus.

I have no idea what the ruberics of the novus ordo Mass (NOM) require.

 

[AJV]

In the traditional form of the Mass, the ruberics require the priest to make a bow of the head only when mentioning the name of the Saint of the day (dulia), a head and shoulder bow for the name of Our Lady (hyper-dulia), and a full bow toward the tabernacle when saying the name of Jesus.

I have no idea what the ruberics of the novus ordo Mass (NOM) require.

I actually thought it was slightly different:

Jesus: head bow 90 deg. looking at the feet, possibly slight bending of shoulders.
Mary: head bow- some say a kind of 45 deg. angle toward the feet, some more.
Saint/Pope- tiny inclination, just moving the chin up and down.

The rubrics do not envision any bow to the tabernacle but to the crucifix at the name of Jesus. The 1962 missal removes this direction for some of these bows (e.g. at Collects) and so one should technically bow straight ahead.

The profound or moderate bows at the names of Jesus and Mary were, I think, usually found in the monastic liturgies

 

[MrS]

I have no idea what the ruberics of the novus ordo Mass (NOM) require.

Interesting statement… is there a published Rubrics for the NO ??

Perhaps if there was or is, a lot of the abuses-turned-norms could be addressed civily

 

[AJV]

Interesting statement… is there a published Rubrics for the NO ??

Yes the GIRM, the Ceremonial of Bishops, the GILH, the Introduction to books like the Lectionary, etc.

However, the rubrics of the NO do not approach the level of distinction or detail found in the Traditional rubrics. Some people like it that way. I remember reading an article in which the writer criticised the GIRM in the MR 2002 for describing the movement of the priests’ hands at the final blessing. Which actually wasn’t that much.

Though the above traditional distinction on bows is not, I think, made in the rubrics of the Missal, but rather by rubricists based on the traditional Caeremoniale.

 

[BobP123]

I actually thought it was slightly different:

Jesus: head bow 90 deg. looking at the feet, possibly slight bending of shoulders.
Mary: head bow- some say a kind of 45 deg. angle toward the feet, some more.
Saint/Pope- tiny inclination, just moving the chin up and down.

Mary’s bow is to the missal, Jesus’s bow is to the crucifix.

There is also a bow at the “simul adoratur et conglorificator” during the Creed.

 

[brotherhrolf]

And we haven’t even begun to talk about genuflecting!

 

[Leeta]

Also there are several places in the Gloria and there are others in the Credo where the priest and everyone present is to bow the head. This instruction is written in red in it.
In the Gloria:
At 'Deo"
Adoramus…
Gratias…
Jesu…
Suscipe…
Jesus…

Credo:
Deum
Jesum…
Maria…
adoratur…

The places are starred in my German 1962 Schott. Maybe it is because the Germans were and are so precise and thorough in everything they undertake.

Also there are places where everyone is to make the sign of the cross whereever a red cross appears-at the end of the Gloria (‘in Gloria…’ , at ‘benedictus’…in the Sanctus and at the end of the Credo-‘Et vitam.’…At ‘Indulgentiam’ when one can hear it, too.

 

[AJV]

Mary’s bow is to the missal, Jesus’s bow is to the crucifix.

There is also a bow at the “simul adoratur et conglorificator” during the Creed.

This was pre-1962: a lot of bows at Jesus were directed to the cross and at Mary to the book, or if there was a prominent statue of her behind the altar, then to it.

According to the 1962, most bows to the cross when something is said (accompanied by the “caput Cruci inclinat” or similar in the rubrics) are only when the priest is at the center of the altar. This includes the bows at the Gloria Patri, at the Gloria, Credo, Offertory Oremus and so forth. When at the side of the altar, the rubric is usually only “caput inclinat”, even at the Name of Jesus- so the priest should bow in front.