Dancing around the altar

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calinorth86

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Can a layman approach the altar of a church that has a consecrated Eucharist on it and dance around it in worship. Last year this was done by myself and other catholics at a charismatic renewal event during the day of pentecost. After the celebration I had second thoughts and now wonder if that was right according, to the traditions, canon law, and the teachings of the church. What does the church teach concerning the altar.

Note that the dancing was not done during the liturgy it was done whIle the Eucharist was exposed at the altar.
 
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From what little I know, the rubrics say nothing about liturgical dances at any point during the Mass.
 
I agree I think there is a rule about no dancing during mass
 
Yes that’s also what I was thinking after all the dancing.
 
I like Cardinal Arinze on this:

“Dance is not known in the Latin Rite of the Mass… Our Congregation has considered it for years… the directive we give from our Congregation is this: in the strict Liturgy, that means the Mass, the sacraments, Europe and America should not talk of Liturgical Dance at all…”
 
@(name removed by moderator) what about dancing on the altar.
 
@calinorth86

Your answer was supplied by @(name removed by moderator) and the poster right after.

Assuming you’re speaking of the Roman Rite in the United States, no, there absolutely should not be any dancing around the altar during Mass.

With that said, what you did was certainly a form of heteropraxis, but you didn’t know any better so it wasn’t sinful. Just learn from this and don’t do it again.
 
calinorth86 said:
what about dancing on the altar
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That would not only be heteropraxis and imprudent, that would be a downright blasphemous sacrilege.

If I was ever at a Mass and somebody started dancing on the altar, I’d get up and physically remove them.
 
Lol, that’s not an altar though it’s just a coffee table…

Looks like some strange sort of Protestant charismatic group.
 
The word “ charismatic “ - seems to give certain people certain odd rights -

Dancing around the most holy altar - that celebrates our Lord’s death -
No way.

Like dancing on someone’s grave.
Ridiculous.
 
Seagull said:
Like dancing on someone’s grave.
Ridiculous.
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Exactly.

Even in the cultures where dancing is inculturated into the Mass, as far as I’m aware they don’t dance anywhere near the altar.

I saw a video where Pope Benedict was in the Polynesian islands and at the presentation of the gifts they danced around and walked up the center of the nave… It was actually very solemn, impressive and reverent though, and it wasn’t awkward or out of place like the “liturgical dancers” I’ve seen in other videos.
 
Maybe (that’s a big “maybe”) in places like Africa, where liturgical dance is common, but absolutely never in the West is it permitted.
 
It was melanesians in Fiji, and it was during the Gospel procession so during the Liturgy of the Word, not the Eucharistic Liturgy. And they stopped between the nave and sanctuary, they didn’t dance around the altar.


I read that the dance they did was the traditional Melanesian dance for greeting a King visiting their country from another land.
 
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calinorth86 said:
The dancing was not during a mass.
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Well that changes things.

Dancing around the altar in a Church is somewhat inappropriate and definitely imprudent, but it’s usually not sinful - depending on the type of dance and the circumstances.

Dancing on the altar is never okay though no matter what.

Either way, it should be avoided regardless.

The Church is a House of Prayer, not a dance studio.
 
Well, that’s a slippery slope. You could think of all sorts of wacky things that aren’t technically forbidden by the rubrics that would still be inappropriate. You have to adhere to exactly what the rubrics tell you to.

Do you think it would be appropriate at the foot of the Cross with Jesus suffering unimaginable sufferings?
 
That’s a great point since the Mass is the Sacrifice Sacrament.
 
But it’s a “living sacrifice,” not the sacrifice of Jesus dead body

Jim
 
semper_catholicus said:
Do you think it would be appropriate at the foot of the Cross with Jesus suffering unimaginable sufferings?
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Here’s a good rule of thumb:

If you wouldn’t do it both at the Last Supper with Jesus and at the foot of Jesus’ Cross, don’t do it at Mass.

Can you imagine dancing around like a goofball at Jesus’ last meal before he’s betrayed, tortured and executed? Or dancing around while he’s in excruciating pain on the tree?
 
The Apostles most likely danced and sang at the last supper.

It was a Jewish celebration meal of the Passover.

Jim
 
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