Lectionary open or closed after readings?

[dlanners]

Lectors at our parish have differing opinions about whether or not to close the lectionary and/or the Gospel book before the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Some suggest that a closed book shows respect for the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and others suggest that an open book shows continuity between the Liturgy of the Work and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

A quick review of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) did not immediately resolve the issue.

Comments? Suggestions?

Thank you.

Yours in Christ, David

 

[PhilotheaZ]

I think it should be the priest celebrant’s call. Our pastor has specifically requested that the Lectionary and Book of the Gospels both be left open because he uses the readings in his homily and needs access to them to cite relevant passages. If someone closes the books, it takes him longer to find the passages, and it interrupts the flow of the homily.

 

[Phemie]

In our parish the Lectionary is closed and put away before the Book of Gospels is brought to the ambo. The Book of Gospels is left open.

 

[yellowbird]

In our parish the Lectionary is closed and put away before the Book of Gospels is brought to the ambo. The Book of Gospels is left open.

This is how it’s done at my parish also. Except for one Priest… he always wants the Lectionary book left open for his refrence.

 

[MusicMan]

Is it possible we’re looking for symbolism where there is none? And then, wouldn’t that be the sin of idolotry?

 

[Cluny]

Is it possible we’re looking for symbolism where there is none? And then, wouldn’t that be the sin of idolotry?

Not necessarily idolatry.

I don’t think it matters in the Western Liturgy at all whether the Lectionary is closed or open.

In the Byzantine Liturgy when the Gospel is finished, the Evangelion is closed and either leaned against the Tabernacle, or placed to its right for the rest of the Liturgy, until after Communion, when it it placed on top of the Antimension.

 

[dcnalan]

As a deacon I’ve been instructed to close the Lectionary/Gospel after the petitions are completed. This marks the end of the Liturgy of the Word and signals the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

This is in the Ordinary form of the Mass in the Roman Rite.

 

[japhy]

In my parish, the ambo where the Scriptures are read is the same place the Prayer of the Faithful is pronounced from. We use a Lectionary for the First and Second Readings, and the Book of the Gospels for the Gospel. The Lectionary is closed and put on an interior shelf of the ambo (not on display) after the Second Reading. The Book of the Gospels is placed on another shelf after the homily.

 

[hilde_the_dog]

Why would a lector close the book containing the gospel reading? They should never be reading the gospel during Mass.

 

[japhy]

The Lectionary is closed and put on an interior shelf of the ambo (not on display) after the Second Reading. The Book of the Gospels is also closed and placed on another interior shelf after the homily.

Correction noted above.

 

[John_Lilburne]

There are instructions about removing the lectionary and Book of the Gospels from the ambo (at least when the Book of the Gospels is used with a bishop). To my mind this implies that the books are closed, not left open.

According to the Introduction of the Book of the Gospels (at usccb.org/liturgy/innews/042000.shtml ):

"21. Then the deacon kisses the book, saying in a low voice: "Through the words of the Gospel…“33 If the celebrant is a Bishop, the deacon either may bring the Book of the Gospels to the Bishop, who reverences it with a kiss, or he may kiss the book himself. The Book of the Gospels is then reverently taken to some other suitable place.34”

So it is not correct for the Book of the Gospels to remain at the ambo. The same applies to the Lectionary, from this Introduction to the Book of the Gospels:

“PREPARATION FOR THE GOSPEL PROCESSION
10. After a brief silent reflection on the last reading from the Lectionary, or as the occasion dictates, after the responsorial Psalm, the reader removes the Lectionary.”

According to the Ceremonial of Bishops, in its description of the Stational Mass of the Diocesan Bishop:

“141. … The Book of the Gospels is taken to a side table or some other suitable place.
142. Then, all sit and the bishop gives the homily.”
(Ceremonial of Bishops, Liturgical Press, 1989, ISBN 0-8146-1818-9, page 55.)

I think closing and removing the books is also encouraged by GIRM’s mention of “special veneration” for them.

“349. In a special way, care must be taken that the liturgical books, particularly the Book of the
Gospels and the Lectionary, which are intended for the proclamation of the word of God and
hence enjoy special veneration, really serve in a liturgical action as signs and symbols of heavenly
realities and hence are truly worthy, dignified, and beautiful.”

If the lectionary remains at the ambo, it can often become a platform to put the General Intercessions on. Its removal to the side table stops this, and so helps encourage the special veneration.

 

[marleelynn]

This is how it’s done at my parish also. Except for one Priest… he always wants the Lectionary book left open for his refrence.

in my parish and two parishes within my cluster the lectionary is put on the shelf under the ambo and the book of the Gospels is left on the altar

 

[Phemie]

If the lectionary remains at the ambo, it can often become a platform to put the General Intercessions on. Its removal to the side table stops this, and so helps encourage the special veneration.

Yes, that’s been my beef about allowing the Book of Gospels to remain open. When I was training the readers I always told them to pick up the binder containing the General Intercessions and not to put it on the Book of Gospels and that worked until the pastor started taking out the binder and setting it up for the reader after he finished his homily. He puts it on the BoG and now it’s a rare reader who’ll pick it up.

 

[KarenElissa]

In my parish the Lectionary is closed and put on a shelf off to the side underneath where the water and wine and such are kept. The Book of the Gospels is closed and put, sitting up right, on a little shelf in the front of the ambo.