Is it acceptable to delete parts of the mass?

[Tom_LaFaver]

My confusion arises from the Invitation to Prayer prior to the Eucharistic Prayers and Consecration.

*Invitation to Prayer:

Priest: Pray, my brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.

All: May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of his name,
for our good, and the good of all his Church.*

Our new pastor has made it his mission to ensure that mass never exceeds one hour duration. He tends to rush through things. As far as I can tell, he never has used this prayer.

It was my understanding that the order of the mass is not something that can be altered at an individual priest’s whim, yet this seems to be the case here.

Is this acceptable?

YBIC,
Tom

 

[I_Believe]

My confusion arises from the Invitation to Prayer prior to the Eucharistic Prayers and Consecration.

*Invitation to Prayer:

Priest: Pray, my brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.

All: May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of his name,
for our good, and the good of all his Church.*

Our new pastor has made it his mission to ensure that mass never exceeds one hour duration. He tends to rush through things. As far as I can tell, he never has used this prayer.

It was my understanding that the order of the mass is not something that can be altered at an individual priest’s whim, yet this seems to be the case here.

Is this acceptable?

YBIC,
Tom

Hi Tom, while it does not invalidate the Consecration to omit it, I’d say, no, it isn’t acceptable. I’ve never been to an Ordinary Form Mass where it was omitted. I see nothing in the Missal to indicate it is optional.

I’m sure someone will correct me if need be.

J+M+J

 

[malphono]

My confusion arises from the Invitation to Prayer prior to the Eucharistic Prayers and Consecration.

*Invitation to Prayer:

Priest: Pray, my brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.

All: May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of his name,
for our good, and the good of all his Church.*

Our new pastor has made it his mission to ensure that mass never exceeds one hour duration. He tends to rush through things. As far as I can tell, he never has used this prayer.

It was my understanding that the order of the mass is not something that can be altered at an individual priest’s whim, yet this seems to be the case here.

Is this acceptable?

YBIC,
Tom

In a word, no, it is not acceptable for an individual celebrant to ignore the rubrics and prayers of the Missal.

It seems, though, that this is a question about the OF (aka Novus Ordo) and so I don’t think it really belongs in this particular forum. It might be more appropriate in Liturgy and Sacraments.

 

[jmcrae]

Is it acceptable to delete parts of the mass?

The priest can omit the homily on weekdays (but not on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation) and he can omit the sign of peace at any time.

Other than that, no.

 

[marchoi]

It was my understanding that the order of the mass is not something that can be altered at an individual priest’s whim, yet this seems to be the case here.

Is this acceptable?

No.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1. For this reason no sacramental rite may be modified or manipulated at the will of the minister or the community. Even the supreme authority in the Church may not change the liturgy arbitrarily, but only in the obedience of faith and with religious respect for the mystery of the liturgy.

From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:

1. These adaptations consist for the most part in the choice of certain rites or texts, that is, of the chants, readings, prayers, explanations, and gestures that may respond better to the needs, preparation, and culture of the participants and that are entrusted to the priest celebrant. Nevertheless, the priest must remember that he is the servant of the Sacred Liturgy and that he himself is not permitted, on his own initiative, to add, to remove, or to change anything in the celebration of Mass.

From Sacrosanctum Concilium, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Vatican II):

1. 1. Regulation of the sacred liturgy depends solely on the authority of the Church, that is, on the Apostolic See and, as laws may determine, on the bishop.

1. In virtue of power conceded by the law, the regulation of the liturgy within certain defined limits belongs also to various kinds of competent territorial bodies of bishops legitimately established.

1. Therefore no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.

Whether that makes the Mass valid or not is another story (depends on exactly what part of the Mass is removed), but a priest may not choose to skip over prayers unless the Instructions allow him to. In your specific case, the part he skips is not optional and should not have been skipped.

 

[Wonko_the_Sane]

He probably omits it because of it’s blatant use of the word sacrifice.
He manages to get rid of every last mention of Holy Mass being a sacrifice, except for the one (small and brief) mention in the speediest of Eucharistic Prayers, No. II.

 

[Reynardus]

When I attended today’s Mass, they skipped the Apostles Creed and went straight to the Prayers of the Faithful.

Is that optional?

 

[Genesis315]

The Creed and Gloria are generally not prayed at daily Mass (unless it is a Feast or Solemnity, I think).

 

[jmcrae]

When I attended today’s Mass, they skipped the Apostles Creed and went straight to the Prayers of the Faithful.

Is that optional?

Today is a weekday - there is no Credo in the weekday Mass; only in the Sunday Mass and I think also possibly the Mass for Solemnities (I know it has a Gloria and a Second Reading, but I can’t remember if it has a Credo).

 

[teachccd]

He probably omits it because of it’s blatant use of the word sacrifice.
He manages to get rid of every last mention of Holy Mass being a sacrifice, except for the one (small and brief) mention in the speediest of Eucharistic Prayers, No. II.

He cannot definitively be a priest if he does not believe that the Mass is a sacrifice. He especially cannot be a Catholic priest if he denies the Mass as being sacrificial since it is the perpetuation of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary. What in the world is his definition of the Eucharist? I give…

 

[FrDavid96]

My confusion arises from the Invitation to Prayer prior to the Eucharistic Prayers and Consecration.

*Invitation to Prayer:

Priest: Pray, my brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.

All: May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of his name,
for our good, and the good of all his Church.*

Our new pastor has made it his mission to ensure that mass never exceeds one hour duration. He tends to rush through things. As far as I can tell, he never has used this prayer.

It was my understanding that the order of the mass is not something that can be altered at an individual priest’s whim, yet this seems to be the case here.

Is this acceptable?

YBIC,
Tom

Tom,
The first question I have is this: how is it that there is a concern that the Mass might not be over in 1 hour? I can imagine some possibilities, but I’d rather not. If you don’t mind, could you provide some insight into that.

 

[jmcrae]

Tom,
The first question I have is this: how is it that there is a concern that the Mass might not be over in 1 hour? I can imagine some possibilities, but I’d rather not. If you don’t mind, could you provide some insight into that.

That seems rather trivial to me, too.

 

[Tom_LaFaver]

I have no idea why he has such a fixation on the length of the mass. I just know he does. He has stated so. When he came to our parish several months ago, he made comments about getting mass complete in an hour. He races away from the altar to begin serving communion even though most of our communion ministers have not been served and there are no cups yet in place to serve his plate. Most of the congregation I have spoken to see his hurried nature too, but do not understand it.

Thank you to all who have provided such in depth answers. Now if I can just figure out how to resolve his mishandling of mass, as well as to get him to slow down.

Tom

 

[LilyM]

I have no idea why he has such a fixation on the length of the mass. I just know he does. He has stated so. When he came to our parish several months ago, he made comments about getting mass complete in an hour. He races away from the altar to begin serving communion even though most of our communion ministers have not been served and there are no cups yet in place to serve his plate. Most of the congregation I have spoken to see his hurried nature too, but do not understand it.

Thank you to all who have provided such in depth answers. Now if I can just figure out how to resolve his mishandling of mass, as well as to get him to slow down.

Tom

Perhaps you can ask. Is he maybe serving more than one parish? Perhaps he has to travel between churches and say multiple Masses if so.

Mind you, I still don’t think it’s a good enough excuse for cutting out essential parts of the Mass prayers (which is 99% of them).

There are other ways he could save time if need be. Perhaps cut out the recession and procession (including accompanying hymns)? Or omit the (optional) sign of peace? Make the homily shorter (but not elminate it entirely)?

 

[FrDavid96]

I have no idea why he has such a fixation on the length of the mass. I just know he does. He has stated so. When he came to our parish several months ago, he made comments about getting mass complete in an hour. He races away from the altar to begin serving communion even though most of our communion ministers have not been served and there are no cups yet in place to serve his plate. Most of the congregation I have spoken to see his hurried nature too, but do not understand it.

Thank you to all who have provided such in depth answers. Now if I can just figure out how to resolve his mishandling of mass, as well as to get him to slow down.

Tom

Tom,
I understand the part about wanting to be done in 1 hour. I don’t know the why, but I understand the 60 minutes part. What I just can’t understand is this: Why is the Mass taking a full hour in the first place??? There has to be some reason for it. What is happening to cause it to be an hour long?

Most especially, if you want to get him to “slow down” because he’s rushing, what part or parts of the Mass are taking so long???

Yer killin us here. Please tell us…

 

[Tom_LaFaver]

I’ve been to very few Sunday masses that took less than an hour. Especially when 1200+ people need to be served communion. 60 minutes from the entrance hymn through to the recessional is excessive?

 

[Kolbelover]

1:20 is about average here…

 

[jmcrae]

I’ve been to very few Sunday masses that took less than an hour. Especially when 1200+ people need to be served communion. 60 minutes from the entrance hymn through to the recessional is excessive?

An hour and ten minutes is normal at my current parish. Nothing is ever rushed. He even holds up the host and chalice at the Consecration for a full minute, each, for maximum effect. Our priest is from India, and his attitude (which I think is very healthy) is that, things take as long as they take, and that’s just that.

(What are people doing on a Sunday that is more important than being at Mass?)

But if he really feels that Mass has to take less than one hour, then maybe he could split the congregation and have two Masses, instead of just one? That way, he’d be done in about 45 or 50 minutes, for each, and nobody would feel like they had been “kept waiting.”

 

[FrDavid96]

I’ve been to very few Sunday masses that took less than an hour. Especially when 1200+ people need to be served communion. 60 minutes from the entrance hymn through to the recessional is excessive?

There are certainly ways to reduce the time of the Mass without eliminating any necessary parts. Perhaps not singing so many verses of a hymn, or reducing the time of the homily, not over-extending the sign of peace, etc. etc.

The parts of the Mass that you’ve listed, take mere seconds. It concerns me that essential parts are being eliminated, when common sense says that there might be parts which could be shortened without detracting from the solemnity of the Mass.