Canadian Catholic "rules"

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

I hope someone can help me. Where do I find out what the rules are for Mass here in Canada. Do we follow the GIRM…how do I find out?

No one in our parish kneels during the Consecration…our priest has told us (me and my husband) not to kneel as we need to be sensitive to the community and be unified…

We would really like to know if kneeling is required.

And I would just like to have resources I can turn to when other questions arise…

Malia

 

[HagiaSophia]

cccb.ca/PublicStatements.htm?CD=50&ID=154

Re GIRM for Canada

At the bottom is a link for an address to contact for information.

 

[jms]

Hi Malia,

I think that until the translation and ‘adaptations’ (can’t remember if that’s the right term) for Canada are agreed to by the Canadian Bishops and approved by the Vatican, it seems to be whatever the parish priest decides is the norm for their parish. Where I live some parishes have started implementing some of the things from the American version and others are still doing what they’ve always been doing - which covers quite a broad spectrum of practices. I’m thankful that in my parish the custom is to kneel and our whole mass is pretty conservative.

In one of the neigbouring parishes they kneel for the Consecration, but then they have that weird procession with the people from the back of the Church coming up the aisle towards the front during the Agnus Dei and then everyone stands until they come back from Communion (starting with the people from the back - ‘the last shall be first, etc’). The EMHC’s there do not receive Communion until after everyone else has received.

From what I’ve observed, I think that in most of the Churches in our area, including our Cathedral, the custom is to kneel. As to how long it will take for Canada to implement the new GIRM - who knows? …considering that it took 15 years to issue the Degree of Promulgation for Ex Corde Ecclesiae (full story here)- in English and French - I don’t know if we’ll see massive changes any time soon!

Jennifer