Practical questions

[iona_scribe]

My DH and I have been attending a TLM about once a month for the past few months now, and we’ve really been enjoying it, but I still have at least a few practical questions that I’m hoping someone might help with.

At this point I’m able to prayerfully follow along pretty well up through the Offertory, but it seems like after that I become hopelessly lost until it’s time to receive the Eucharist. Does anyone have any helpful hints or do I just need more practice? We’ve noticed that during the Mass of the Catechumens sometimes the choir will be singing one part and the priest will be performing a different part at the same time. Could this be happening in the Mass of the Faithful or are there some parts besides the propers that are not said all the time?

About receiving (this is the part I want most urgently to get right)… what are my hands supposed to be doing? I assume folded in prayer and lightly resting on the altar rail? There are no responses before or after, correct? When crossing myself afterwards I should direct my focus where? Anything else I’m forgetting?

Thanks in advance! I appreciate it immensely. Our attempts at learning the Latin Mass have been very rewarding

 

[WhollyRoamin]

My DH and I have been attending a TLM about once a month for the past few months now, and we’ve really been enjoying it, but I still have at least a few practical questions that I’m hoping someone might help with.

At this point I’m able to prayerfully follow along pretty well up through the Offertory, but it seems like after that I become hopelessly lost until it’s time to receive the Eucharist. Does anyone have any helpful hints or do I just need more practice? We’ve noticed that during the Mass of the Catechumens sometimes the choir will be singing one part and the priest will be performing a different part at the same time. Could this be happening in the Mass of the Faithful or are there some parts besides the propers that are not said all the time?

About receiving (this is the part I want most urgently to get right)… what are my hands supposed to be doing? I assume folded in prayer and lightly resting on the altar rail? There are no responses before or after, correct? When crossing myself afterwards I should direct my focus where? Anything else I’m forgetting?

Thanks in advance! I appreciate it immensely. Our attempts at learning the Latin Mass have been very rewarding

The silent Canon moves pretty quickly. Most priests that I’ve seen go about as fast as I can read along in my Missal. There is a term (escapes me at the moment) for Father dropping some syllables from the long words to save some time, that can make the pace unpredicable too. He may be going at a different speed than the choir-- good observation! Don’t worry too much about it. While its not technically correct to think this way, it provides a useful distinction to me to think that the priest is speaking to God and the choir is performing for the congregation. They could move at different paces. Usually by this point, I’ve put aside my Missal and just visually follow along, uniting my prayer with the Holy Mass.

You are doing the normal thing at the altar rail. Usually I have my hands folded flatly (like the little precious moments figurines) in prayerful anticipation to receive the Lord. Some chapels have a communion rail cloth, you just put your hands under the cloth and hold it close to your chest (some say under your chin, just follow the custom of the parish). Rail cloths are becoming more common but are still are relatively rare.

 

[JPUSC]

My DH and I have been attending a TLM about once a month for the past few months now, and we’ve really been enjoying it, but I still have at least a few practical questions that I’m hoping someone might help with.

At this point I’m able to prayerfully follow along pretty well up through the Offertory, but it seems like after that I become hopelessly lost until it’s time to receive the Eucharist. Does anyone have any helpful hints or do I just need more practice? We’ve noticed that during the Mass of the Catechumens sometimes the choir will be singing one part and the priest will be performing a different part at the same time. Could this be happening in the Mass of the Faithful or are there some parts besides the propers that are not said all the time?

About receiving (this is the part I want most urgently to get right)… what are my hands supposed to be doing? I assume folded in prayer and lightly resting on the altar rail? There are no responses before or after, correct? When crossing myself afterwards I should direct my focus where? Anything else I’m forgetting?

Thanks in advance! I appreciate it immensely. Our attempts at learning the Latin Mass have been very rewarding

I know what you mean when I brought my missal with me during the first few times. My solution…I stopped reading the missal and now I just stare at the altar.

 

[iona_scribe]

The silent Canon moves pretty quickly. Most priests that I’ve seen go about as fast as I can read along in my Missal. There is a term (escapes me at the moment) for Father dropping some syllables from the long words to save some time, that can make the pace unpredicable too. He may be going at a different speed than the choir-- good observation! Don’t worry too much about it. While its not technically correct to think this way, it provides a useful distinction to me to think that the priest is speaking to God and the choir is performing for the congregation. They could move at different paces. Usually by this point, I’ve put aside my Missal and just visually follow along, uniting my prayer with the Holy Mass.

You are doing the normal thing at the altar rail. Usually I have my hands folded flatly (like the little precious moments figurines) in prayerful anticipation to receive the Lord. Some chapels have a communion rail cloth, you just put your hands under the cloth and hold it close to your chest (some say under your chin, just follow the custom of the parish). Rail cloths are becoming more common but are still are relatively rare.

Thank you WhollyRoamin, that’s all very useful to know!

I know what you mean when I brought my missal with me during the first few times. My solution…I stopped reading the missal and now I just stare at the altar.

Haha, exactly When I feel lost I stop and pay attention to what’s happening at the altar so I remember to pray.

 

[MikeDunphy]

You’re doing fine; the Mass of the Faithful will get easier to follow, too. There are landmarks in the Mass that will tell you where you are: the blessing of incense at high Mass, the priest washing his hands, the words “Orate, fratres” and “Dominus vobiscum”. Kneeling at the Sanctus is an easy one to notice. There is a single bell ring shortly before the Consecration, and you may notice the priest bowing as he speaks the words of Consecration.

I usually read along/pray along and end up getting a little behind or ahead at predictable spots. When I was newer to the old Mass, I tended to dawdle at the start of the offertory, and would fall behind, now I just plunge into the prayers without waiting for a clear sign of where the priest is, and usually do better.

If I do get confused, I just treat that as a metaphor and reminder of the poor job I do in following God outside of Mass, and incorporate that into my prayers. It’s all grist for the mill, or can be. As long as your intent is unity with Christ, and you know why you are at Mass, there is no need for any anxiety at all about difficulty following the actions in the sanctuary from moment to moment.

At this point I’m able to prayerfully follow along pretty well up through the Offertory, but it seems like after that I become hopelessly lost until it’s time to receive the Eucharist. Does anyone have any helpful hints or do I just need more practice? We’ve noticed that during the Mass of the Catechumens sometimes the choir will be singing one part and the priest will be performing a different part at the same time. Could this be happening in the Mass of the Faithful or are there some parts besides the propers that are not said all the time?

 

[I_Believe]

My DH and I have been attending a TLM about once a month for the past few months now, and we’ve really been enjoying it, but I still have at least a few practical questions that I’m hoping someone might help with.

At this point I’m able to prayerfully follow along pretty well up through the Offertory, but it seems like after that I become hopelessly lost until it’s time to receive the Eucharist. Does anyone have any helpful hints or do I just need more practice? We’ve noticed that during the Mass of the Catechumens sometimes the choir will be singing one part and the priest will be performing a different part at the same time. Could this be happening in the Mass of the Faithful or are there some parts besides the propers that are not said all the time?

About receiving (this is the part I want most urgently to get right)… what are my hands supposed to be doing? I assume folded in prayer and lightly resting on the altar rail? There are no responses before or after, correct? When crossing myself afterwards I should direct my focus where? Anything else I’m forgetting?

Thanks in advance! I appreciate it immensely. Our attempts at learning the Latin Mass have been very rewarding

The priest’s rubrics helped me. If your Missal has the rubrics like mine does, you can watch the priest and tell where he’s at by what he is doing, and where he is standing at the Altar.

 

[iona_scribe]

Thanks Mike, your insights are very helpful and encouraging

Thanks I_Believe, I’ll have to remember to try that next time. I know the rubrics are there, but I get stuck focusing on just the text too often.

 

[FrRJBoyd]

The silent Canon moves pretty quickly. Most priests that I’ve seen go about as fast as I can read along in my Missal. There is a term (escapes me at the moment) for Father dropping some syllables from the long words to save some time.

With greatest respect to you, the term is called, “abuse.”

God bless,

Fr. Boyd

 

[WhollyRoamin]

With greatest respect to you, the term is called, “abuse.”

God bless,

Fr. Boyd

Aha! A friend of mine pointed me to the term. And respectfully speaking, the term is called “elision”. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elision

But don’t let me stand in the way of your unwarrented snark.

 

[banjo]

About receiving (this is the part I want most urgently to get right)… what are my hands supposed to be doing? I assume folded in prayer and lightly resting on the altar rail? There are no responses before or after, correct? When crossing myself afterwards I should direct my focus where?

By ‘afterwards’ do you mean after receiving the Sacred Host?

 

[iona_scribe]

By ‘afterwards’ do you mean after receiving the Sacred Host?

Yes, right after receiving the Sacred Host, I just wanted to make sure it’s correct to cross myself and if so should my gaze be directed toward the altar/tabernacle?

Sorry, I feel like my questions are ridiculously basic, but I’m trying to get off to a good start Thanks!

 

[banjo]

Yes, right after receiving the Sacred Host, I just wanted to make sure it’s correct to cross myself and if so should my gaze be directed toward the altar/tabernacle?

Sorry, I feel like my questions are ridiculously basic, but I’m trying to get off to a good start Thanks!

No apology necessary, we all learn by beginning with what is simple and moving on to what is complex.
As far as where your ‘focus’ should be directed I think you should be concentrating on the fact that you have just received the Lord in the Sacrament of the Eucharist and speaking to Him from your heart. I don’t think where you eyes are directed is important.

God bless.

 

[Callixtus]

With greatest respect to you, the term is called, “abuse.”

God bless,

Fr. Boyd

Maybe elisions are legitimate in Latin, but Fr. Boyd has an important point to make that should not be dismissed. I was recently at an EF mass where the priest went through the prayers after mass as if he were an auction barker. Is this a man addressing almighty God or somebody in a hurry to “get through” a script? It’s worth thinking about. Fairly or unfairly (and sure, there are plenty of abuses to be found in non-Latin masses), this is what gives credence to the impression some people have that fans of the EF think that the Tridentine mass or Latin are “magic.”

 

[WhollyRoamin]

Maybe elisions are legitimate in Latin, but Fr. Boyd has an important point to make that should not be dismissed. I was recently at an EF mass where the priest went through the prayers after mass as if he were an auction barker. Is this a man addressing almighty God or somebody in a hurry to “get through” a script? It’s worth thinking about. Fairly or unfairly (and sure, there are plenty of abuses to be found in non-Latin masses), this is what gives credence to the impression some people have that fans of the EF think that the Tridentine mass or Latin are “magic.”

You propose better acting?

I’m sure the Lord knows Father’s intention.

 

[rfpapcun]

You propose better acting?

I’m sure the Lord knows Father’s intention.

True, true. But there is more. Whenever the Mass is not wholly private and there are congregants, then the priest ought not to say the Mass prayers so as to give scandal. When I was a kid, my mother would take us to a noon Mass at a military hospital in Okinawa. (No, it wasn’t that far a drive, since we were living on Okinawa at the time.) The priest was a good man, God bless him, and wanted the congregation to have both God and mammon (i.e., Mass and lunch). The result was a 12 minute Low Mass.

I am convinced that this unseemly speed was one of the type of abuses that spurred on the desire for the Novus Ordo.

 

[OraProNobisIHM]

True, true. But there is more. Whenever the Mass is not wholly private and there are congregants, then the priest ought not to say the Mass prayers so as to give scandal. When I was a kid, my mother would take us to a noon Mass at a military hospital in Okinawa. (No, it wasn’t that far a drive, since we were living on Okinawa at the time.) The priest was a good man, God bless him, and wanted the congregation to have both God and mammon (i.e., Mass and lunch). The result was a 12 minute Low Mass.

I am convinced that this unseemly speed was one of the type of abuses that spurred on the desire for the Novus Ordo.

Like 45 minute Sunday Masses I have experienced at the NO?

Maybe it was just done… pastorally.

 

[iona_scribe]

I went to the local EF Mass again today and was able to follow much more smoothly this time.

For the most part I realized what was tripping me up. There is typically an Offertory hymn, so I was getting lost trying to find matching words in the Missal when I should have been looking at the music issue. Also, I failed to notice before today the Secret and the Preface are propers. sigh, silly mistakes, easily corrected.

The small illustrations in the missal booklet and the ringing bells really helped me to stay on track this time. Thanks again to everyone who gave helpful hints.

 

[WhollyRoamin]

Keep it up, iona! A little more practice will always help. It takes about 3 times for you to get your TLM sea-legs under you.