S
SouthCoast
Guest
Technically, Mass is a proper noun, but “the mass” is not. Just like Pope (as a title) is a proper noun, but the pope is not. That’s how English works.
Context…For Ash Wednesday mass
This is within his purview. You should have done as your pastor asked. You do not know more than him, you are not in charge of the liturgy, he is.I knelt anyways but no one else did.
Thanks, 1ke. This was going to be my point. The priest has leeway for practical purposes, and this sounds like a one off thing for a packed Church. The OP believes there was room to kneel. The priest in his prudential judgment made a different call. That’s not an abuse and it’s the priest’s prerogative as celebrant, not the OP’s.You priest has the ability to make this call. The GIRM (paragraph 43) gives the celebrant of the mass leeway under these conditions:
except when prevented on occasion by ill health, or for reasons of lack of space, of the large number of people present, or for another reasonable cause.