Patriotic Mass Opinions?

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(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)To preface I am a veteran but this seems off to me. I blurred out the faces to respect privacy.

Anyways do you do this in your parish? Is this standard practice?

Also, not at this mass but sometimes we sign battle hymn of the republic and America the beautiful and 4th of July type stuff instead of our normal songs during mass. For no reason not just randomly thrown in there.
 
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My grandpa was a three War veteran, although his mother was Catholic, he was Protestant, for some weird reason. I understand honouring veterans, but I don’t think this is the way to do it.
 
I can see something like this for a prayer service, but not at mass. I am a veteran myself.
 
Prayer service, sure.

But a Mass?

Then again, we do have red and blue Masses here for lawyers, judges, and etc.
 
If they can have a “red Mass” for lawyers with all kinds of high ranking government officials at it, then I see no problem having a “patriotic Mass”. God knows the USA needs all the prayers and Masses it can get.

I have not seen this type of display at my own parishes, but I do not happen to live on or near a military base, which is where I would expect this type of display.
 
In the UK we have remembrance Sunday in November which involves a 2 minute silence and usually prayers for peace.
 
“Nothing” will stop the US Air Force? A good sentiment but in the House of God shouldn’t God Himself be recognized as the Supreme Force above all others?
 
Absolutely awful. I’m a veteran and this is disgusting. Some people turn America into an idol and want to worship Americana paraphernalia at Mass and it’s completely gross imo.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
If they can have a “red Mass” for lawyers with all kinds of high ranking government officials at it, then I see no problem having a “patriotic Mass”.
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The red mass is an actual votive mass. It is an official liturgy if the Church begun in Paris in 1245 on the feast of St Ives, patron of lawyers. The red part of the red mass is that it calls for red vestments representing the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

If there is a votive mass for servicemen and women, it does not include these sorts of items in the sanctuary. I would tend to think there is no such thing as a “patriotic” votive mass.
 
The Roman Missal contains Masses for various special intentions or needs.There are:

17 Masses “For Civil Needs” (with prayers offered for the Nation or State, for Refugees and Exiles, or for various kinds of weather, etc.);
http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/votive-masses-and-various-needs/index.cfm

It seems like one of these would be the best choice for a “patriotic” Mass–a Mass offered for the good of the nation or state.
 
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1ke said:
If there is a votive mass for servicemen and women, it does not include these sorts of items in the sanctuary. I would tend to think there is no such thing as a “patriotic” votive mass.
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I can’t speak to what is allowed in the sanctuary; I would leave that to a priest to tell me.
However, to my knowledge, there are a number of votive masses permitted in USA under which a “patriotic” Mass might fall, including “for the nation”, “in time of war or disturbance”, and one under public needs “for any need”.

Edited to add, it’s also my understanding that the “Blue Mass” for law enforcement officers is NOT a votive Mass but is simply the regularly scheduled Mass for their patron, St. Michael the Archangel, at which officers attend. So if there is a patron saint associated with a military branch or unit, then perhaps they would do the same on their saint day and simply have the normal Mass for the saint, with the military personnel in attendance.
 
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There’s a big difference between praying for the good of the nation and using national/military regalia on the altar.
 
BoomBoomMancini said:
There’s a big difference between praying for the good of the nation and using national/military regalia on the altar.
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I think there are several questions being conflated here:
  1. Are “patriotic Masses” permitted in general (answer: yes if they’re a votive Mass or a regular saint’s day Mass that is attended en masse by a certain group);
  2. If the answer to (1) is “yes”, then is the display shown permitted or appropriate (answer: some people might wish to do this but the priest is probably the one who can best answer whether it is actually allowed or whether the picture shown is a violation);
  3. Are songs like “America the Beautiful” acceptable for Mass, either votive or just regular days from time to time (answer: I used to hear these from time to time on days like 4th of July or Veterans’ Day growing up, so to me no big deal, but others in charge of liturgical music may differ)
 
As a veteran, who has been in the Middle East, I have a different view. I think praying for the military is nice, but it is also slightly condescending. It’s saying, “Those poor military people, they are in harm’s way, look out for them” like they are victims. It’s OK, but it shows sympathy more than appreciation and deployed troops want support and appreciation, not sympathy.

But putting stuff in the altar area really celebrates what the military is doing and shows appreciation. Also, I think that’s the pastor’s decision. I have seen pastors do much more egregious things, like a pastor in Pittsburgh putting on a Steelers jersey at the end of Mass on Super Bowl Sunday.
 
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Yeah, I’d agree that a Mass for a specific intention is fine. But the display strikes me as, at best, grossly tacky, elevating the US military to being on par with Christ.
 
I agree it looks a bit like it was put together at home by a bunch of Michael’s Craft Store and Jo-Anns Fabric addicts, but as that group could include the moms, wives and children of a lot of military members, I would accept it if done with love. Of course, my acceptance doesn’t have any bearing on whether a church can, under Vatican or diocesan rules, permit it to be up there.
 
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jfz178 said:
But putting stuff in the altar area really celebrates what the military is doing and shows appreciation. Also, I think that’s the pastor’s decision. I have seen pastors do much more egregious things, like a pastor in Pittsburgh putting on a Steelers jersey at the end of Mass on Super Bowl Sunday.
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As a veteran who also served in Iraq/Afghanistan (not trying to play “whose is bigger” with you, just giving context 🙂 ) I can’t disagree more. Appreciating the military is fine, but not by putting stuff on the altar IMO. The altar is for worship of God, not worship of the United States or the military. The US military is, for all it’s virtues, a flawed human institution that will one day cease to exist. God is eternal. Let’s not conflate the two.
 
It’s not so much the execution I’m objecting to, as the placement. If the military families of the parish wanted to put a display in the meeting hall or the entry way, I’d be fine with that.
 
Slightly off-topic here: On patriotic occasions (Memorial Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day) in my parish, we sing Eternal Father, Strong to Save, a version like this one which is adapted to cover different branches of the armed services:


The original version, from about 1860, refers mainly to the sea, including civilians who in that day traveled by sea. Lyrics can be found here:
http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/e/t/eternalf.htm
(In those lyrics, someone has changed the original word “brethren” to “family” in the last verse.)
 
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