Consecration/Bells

[scc11]

I noticed during Christmas Eve mass last night that when the bells are wrung during the consecration of the Eucharist, people do different things. Some people bow their heads, others were striking their breast or something to that effect. What is the proper procedure when the bells are wrung?

 

[MartyrForJesus]

You mean at the elevation? You adore the Consecrated Host and strike your breast saying, “My Lord and My God”. You do the same for the Chalice.

 

[GwenL]

You mean at the elevation? You adore the Consecrated Host and strike your breast saying, “My Lord and My God”. You do the same for the Chalice.

Well, that is a pious and genuinely nice thing to do. But it’s not a procedure, and it’s certainly not required.

The OP asked, “what is the proper procedure when the bells are wrung?” There is no such procedure for the faithful.

 

[iloveangels]

Well, that is a pious and genuinely nice thing to do. But it’s not a procedure, and it’s certainly not required.

The OP asked, “what is the proper procedure when the bells are wrung?” There is no such procedure for the faithful.

It’s a very old gesture that people used to use long ago. It seems to be making a comeback with the new translations.

Better this than some of the recent gestures, like holding hands, which are no more official than this one. This one at least isn’t a total red herring like the other one.

 

[GwenL]

It’s a very old gesture that people used to use long ago. It seems to be making a comeback with the new translations.

Better this than some of the recent gestures, like holding hands, which are no more official than this one. This one at least isn’t a total red herring like the other one.

I said it was pious and nice. I also noted that it wasn’t “procedure,” which was the OP’s question.

 

[ora_pro_nobis]

The rubrics say nothing about what the laity should do at the consecration. Personally, I bow my head and mentally say “My Lord and my God”. I don’t really know what other people are doing because I’ve got my head bowed and I’m concentrating!

 

[svid2]

Our parish rings them 5 minutes before Mass. The correct thing for the faithful to do at that point is - go to Mass. Otherwise, when you hear church bells you should do what you’re supposed to be doing, anyway: praising God. Other than that, they are JUST PLAIN BEAUTIFUL. That’s it.

 

[HonoraDominum]

I can’t remember where exactly, but I remember that a saint once said that prayers are heard the loudest when the host and chalice are elevated. When the host is elevated, I usually simply pray, “I love you Lord.” I think that’s a very important prayer to have heard loudly. When the chalice is elevated, I usually pray, “Sanctify us, Oh Lord, purify us so that we can be worthy tabernacles of Your love”, or something like that.

I know that there are more traditional things that can be prayed at those points, as others have mentioned, but for me, the most important thing is to pray an act of Love of some sort.

 

[philial]

The elevation of both the Sacred Host and the Precious Blood harkens back to the Jerusalem temple, when the priests would elevate the show bread (aka, the bread of presence), and proclaim “Behold God’s love for you”. The intention was that the people gaze upon these wonderous gifts and give thanks to God for His bounty. So, with us, we should gaze with wonder at the bounty of the Father, which is the Son, given in the form of bread & wine.

 

[TradAvenger]

I noticed during Christmas Eve mass last night that when the bells are wrung during the consecration of the Eucharist, people do different things. Some people bow their heads, others were striking their breast or something to that effect. What is the proper procedure when the bells are wrung?

At the moment of the elevation, adoring the Sacred Host and praying “My Lord and my God” is an indulgenced act, and so it is probably the most common thing to do. However, as other posters have pointed out, there is no “proper procedure.” The GIRM concerns itself more with what the priest does during the Consecration rather than what the people are doing, so as long as you’re attentive, anything you do to show adoration of the Sacred Host and Precious Blood (while not distracting others) is proper.