Opening remarks at Mass and liturgical abuse

[DavidJoseph]

Can someone please help me settle a disagreement between myself and a friend? After the introductory rites of the Mass (Sign of the Cross, “The Lord be with you” greeting) but before the Penitential Rite, a priest may give some opening remarks about the day’s Mass or stuff like that. But are there certain things he may NOT say during that time? I ask because a friend of mine went to a Mass at a parish different from the one he normally attends this past Sunday, and there was a visiting priest there. During the time for opening remarks, the priest used that time to introduce himself and tell some anecdote about the last time he was there. Anyway, my friend thinks it was a serious liturgical abuse, but I don’t think so. Heck, I’m not even sure it was an abuse to begin with! Mind you, I think it would’ve been more appropriate had the priest waited until the homily to introduce himself and tell stories, but would this really count as a liturgical abuse per se? Thanks in advance.

 

[CatholicZ09]

I don’t think so. Usually when the processional hymn ends and the minsters have reached the altar, the priest usually just greets everyone by saying a general “Hello” or “Good morning”…etc. It would be more appropriate to tell stories and such during the homily. We have to remember the main reason we are there. This isn’t social time. But, if he greets himself before the Pentitential Rite, then, it’s not really a problem.

 

[Joannm]

I don’t think so. Usually when the processional hymn ends and the minsters have reached the altar, the priest usually just greets everyone by saying a general “Hello” or “Good morning”…etc. It would be more appropriate to tell stories and such during the homily. We have to remember the main reason we are there. This isn’t social time. But, if he greets himself before the Pentitential Rite, then, it’s not really a problem.

The priest is not supposed to say “hello” or “good morning” as the liturgy has a greeting, the sign of the cross and “The Lord be with you” (or one of the other two greetings). This is a formal greeting and not a casual one, as we are entering into very serious work. It is not uncommon for a priest to make some remarks after this greeting. We often have visiting priests who use this time to briefly introduce themselves as a courtesy.

 

[Canto]

The 2007 Australian General Instruction on the Roman Missal staes…

1. When the Entrance chant is concluded, the priest stands at the chair and, together with the whole gathering, makes the **Sign of the Cross. **Then he signifies the presence of the Lord to the community gathered there by means of the Greeting. By this greeting and the people’s response, the mystery of the Church gathered together is made manifest. After the greeting of the people, the priest, the deacon, or a lay minister may very briefly introduce the faithful to the Mass of the day.

 

[NewEnglandPriest]

While its not specifically stated that the priest may introduce himself at that point, I wouldn’t call it a liturgial abuse. Most bishops use that moment to make a few introductory remarks.

 

[puzzleannie]

I think we should as a general practice carry a small notebook and pencil to Mass at all times, so we can listen and watch carefully and jot down every possible aberation, anything that jars our comfort level, any suspected abuse, missed word, unfamiliar action, new prayer, or any thing that differs from our own notions of what constitutes valid liturgy. We should at all times assume that anything untoward is the result of deliberate, intentional abuse on the part of the priest as an act of dissent on his part, and that he does these things to mislead the faithful and to annoy us.

Under no circumstances should we waste time praying, uniting our minds and hearts with Christ, participating in Mass or listening for any Word God has for us during this Mass. That would get in the way of our liturgical police, and might actually lead to spiritual health, growth and peace, rathern than to suspicion, resentment and criticism of our priests. And since the latter is the state of mind the enemy wishes to induce by these exercises, we must be sure at all times to cooperate with that attitude.

With regard to our spiritual life outside of Mass, much better to spend hours studying the GIRM and RS, canon law, catechisms, with the sole intent of catching the priests out in their nefarious abuses. Under no circumstances should we waste time praying, much less praying for our priests.

 

[paperwight]

Totally, totally brilliant, puzzleannie. Totally brilliant.

 

[DomusAurea]

I think we should as a general practice carry a small notebook and pencil to Mass at all times, so we can listen and watch carefully and jot down every possible aberation, anything that jars our comfort level, any suspected abuse, missed word, unfamiliar action, new prayer, or any thing that differs from our own notions of what constitutes valid liturgy. We should at all times assume that anything untoward is the result of deliberate, intentional abuse on the part of the priest as an act of dissent on his part, and that he does these things to mislead the faithful and to annoy us.

Under no circumstances should we waste time praying, uniting our minds and hearts with Christ, participating in Mass or listening for any Word God has for us during this Mass. That would get in the way of our liturgical police, and might actually lead to spiritual health, growth and peace, rathern than to suspicion, resentment and criticism of our priests. And since the latter is the state of mind the enemy wishes to induce by these exercises, we must be sure at all times to cooperate with that attitude.

With regard to our spiritual life outside of Mass, much better to spend hours studying the GIRM and RS, canon law, catechisms, with the sole intent of catching the priests out in their nefarious abuses. Under no circumstances should we waste time praying, much less praying for our priests.

 

[malphono]

The 2007 Australian General Instruction on the Roman Missal staes…

1. When the Entrance chant is concluded, the priest stands at the chair and, together with the whole gathering, makes the **Sign of the Cross. **Then he signifies the presence of the Lord to the community gathered there by means of the Greeting. By this greeting and the people’s response, the mystery of the Church gathered together is made manifest. After the greeting of the people, the priest, the deacon, or a lay minister may very briefly introduce the faithful to the Mass of the day.

The US version seems to be the same.

But I have to make a general comment: this is one of those “options” in the OF (and is one of the practices that, while not in the books at all, seems to have crept in to certain Oriental liturgies as well) that drives me up a wall. What purpose does it serve? If there is something that desperately needs to be noted about the Mass itself, or the clergy present, etc, could it not be done before Mass? Or could it not be held until the sermon/homily? (Either of which is consistent with the way it was and still is in the EF.) IMO, off-the-cuff remarks at the point noted in the GIRM (i.e. after Mass has started) break the flow of the service. To my eye, the very idea of an “option” for it is just plain absurd.

 

[Frosty]

I think we should as a general practice carry a small notebook and pencil to Mass at all times, so we can listen and watch carefully and jot down every possible aberation, anything that jars our comfort level, any suspected abuse, missed word, unfamiliar action, new prayer, or any thing that differs from our own notions of what constitutes valid liturgy. We should at all times assume that anything untoward is the result of deliberate, intentional abuse on the part of the priest as an act of dissent on his part, and that he does these things to mislead the faithful and to annoy us.

Under no circumstances should we waste time praying, uniting our minds and hearts with Christ, participating in Mass or listening for any Word God has for us during this Mass. That would get in the way of our liturgical police, and might actually lead to spiritual health, growth and peace, rathern than to suspicion, resentment and criticism of our priests. And since the latter is the state of mind the enemy wishes to induce by these exercises, we must be sure at all times to cooperate with that attitude.

With regard to our spiritual life outside of Mass, much better to spend hours studying the GIRM and RS, canon law, catechisms, with the sole intent of catching the priests out in their nefarious abuses. Under no circumstances should we waste time praying, much less praying for our priests.

Thanks for this post. I agree wholeheartedly with your thoughts.
In this year of the priest, in most parishes of my diocese after the dismissal, a special prayer for priests is said after each Mass [Sundays and weekdays as well]. The prayer was originally sponsored by the KofC and is done with the full approval of the Bishop but I suppose that technically since this prayer isn’t anywhere to be found in the GIRM there are some who would consider it an abuse.

 

[chaunceygardner]

I think we should as a general practice carry a small notebook and pencil to Mass at all times, so we can listen and watch carefully and jot down every possible aberation, anything that jars our comfort level, any suspected abuse, missed word, unfamiliar action, new prayer, or any thing that differs from our own notions of what constitutes valid liturgy. We should at all times assume that anything untoward is the result of deliberate, intentional abuse on the part of the priest as an act of dissent on his part, and that he does these things to mislead the faithful and to annoy us.

Under no circumstances should we waste time praying, uniting our minds and hearts with Christ, participating in Mass or listening for any Word God has for us during this Mass. That would get in the way of our liturgical police, and might actually lead to spiritual health, growth and peace, rathern than to suspicion, resentment and criticism of our priests. And since the latter is the state of mind the enemy wishes to induce by these exercises, we must be sure at all times to cooperate with that attitude.

With regard to our spiritual life outside of Mass, much better to spend hours studying the GIRM and RS, canon law, catechisms, with the sole intent of catching the priests out in their nefarious abuses. Under no circumstances should we waste time praying, much less praying for our priests.

AMEN. And Thank You.

 

[benedictgal]

The Mass already has an introductory rite and a greeting. The Mass begins with the Sign of the Cross, not “Good morning/afternoon/evening”, “nice to be back”, etc. The problem, as I see it, is that we have taken the secular and brought it into the Mass. It’s not the time for “getting to know” each other. We are entering sacred time, God’s time, if you will.

I am reminded what Archbishop Malcolm Ranjinth said in his address at the 2008 Gateway Liturgical Conference:

Let us face it, all of us priests, bishops, and even cardinals, are human beings and so the temptation to place ourselves at the center makes us feel good — what I call “ego pampering”.

None of us is exempt from this, and now with the Missa versus populum [Mass facing the people], that danger is even greater. Facing the people increases chances of dis-attention and distraction from what we do at the altar, and the temptation for showmanship. In a beautiful article written by a German author, the following comments were made on the subject:

While in the past, the priest functioned as the anonymous go-between, the first among the faithful, facing God and not the people, representative of all and together with them offering the sacrifice … today he is a distinct person, with personal characteristics, his personal life style, his face turned towards the people. For many priests this change is a temptation they cannot handle … to them, the level of success in their performance is a measure of their personal power and thus the indicator of their feeling of personal security and self assurance.

(K.G. Rey, Pubertaetserscheinungen in der Katholischen Kirche [Signs of Puberty in the Catholic Church] Kritische Texte, Benzinger, Vol 4, p. 25).

The priest here, as we can see, becomes the main actor playing out a drama with other actors on a platform- like place, and the more creative and dramatic they become, the more they feel a sense of ego satisfaction. But, where can Christ be in all of this?

At some point, the celebrant must “decrease” and Christ must increase, to paraphrase what St. John the Baptist stated.

 

[Canto]

Thanks for this post. I agree wholeheartedly with your thoughts.
In this year of the priest, in most parishes of my diocese after the dismissal, a special prayer for priests is said after each Mass [Sundays and weekdays as well]. The prayer was originally sponsored by the KofC and is done with the full approval of the Bishop but I suppose that technically since this prayer isn’t anywhere to be found in the GIRM there are some who would consider it an abuse.

The GIRM 170. If, however, another liturgical action follows the Mass, the Concluding Rites, that is, the Greeting, the Blessing, and the Dismissal, are omitted.

That’s all it seems to say about after Mass. No mention of a concluding hymn So praying a prayer would be fine, after all - the Mass is ended. Good that it has approval from the Bishop. Such a nice idea too!

 

[AmbroseSJ]

The Mass already has an introductory rite and a greeting. The Mass begins with the Sign of the Cross, not “Good morning/afternoon/evening”, “nice to be back”, etc. The problem, as I see it, is that we have taken the secular and brought it into the Mass. It’s not the time for “getting to know” each other. We are entering sacred time, God’s time, if you will.

I am reminded what Archbishop Malcolm Ranjinth said in his address at the 2008 Gateway Liturgical Conference:

At some point, the celebrant must “decrease” and Christ must increase, to paraphrase what St. John the Baptist stated.

Thanks for restoring some balance to this discussion!