“The Holy Spirit taught the Church the life of prayer and led her to deeper insights into basic ways of praying: adoration, petition, intercession, thanksgiving and praise”(United Stated Catholic Catechism for Adults, p.467). Each of these forms of prayer is present within the Eucharistic Celebration that we call the Mass.
Eucharist means thanksgiving, and it is this thankfulness to which we are called. Yes, the Mass is incomplete without its connection to the Sacrifice of Calvary. The reality is that we are People of the Resurrection and we are called to celebrate this fact.
In Adoration, we acknowledge we are creatures in the presence of our Creator.
In Petition, we remember Christ’s call “to ask in order to receive, to seek in order to find, and to knock in order that the door may be opened.”
Intercession is the prayer that we make on behalf of the needs of others.
Thanksgiving “flows from the Church’s greatest prayer, the celebration of the Eucharist. Every moment or event can become a thanksgiving offering. We are called to thank God for all the gifts we have received, including our joys and sorrows, all of which, through love, work towards our benefit.”
Praise " ‘is the form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God…(CCC, no. 2639).’ Scripture is fulled with the outpourings of praise for God. When we exult in him with simplicity and an open heart, we obtain a glimpse of the joy of the angels and saints who glory in the ways of God."
The Psalms are the prayers of the Assembly. “They were sung at the Temple, in local synagogues, in family settings, on pilgrimages, and in the solitude of personal prayers. They formed the basis of the prayer of Jesus and, as such, can be used to draw us into his prayer as well.The Psalms are part of every celebration of Mass.”
The information for this post comes directly from The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, approved by the full body of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) with subsequent recognito of the Holy See.
The Mass is much more than cultic ritual. Christ is present in the Eucharist as we encounter the Living God. Our hearts are moved to both praise and adoration as a result.
However, inasmuch as the Psalms were chanted in the Temple, there is no record that the faithful of Ancient Israel did what was noted in the psalms that you quoted. No one is disputing th validity of the psalms. However, there is no record of the liturgy of the Early Church that would suggest that cymbals and dancing were used.
Although this thread centers on clapping, there have been some observations regarding the issue of joy and exuberance. This evening, I accompanied my father to Mass at our Cathedral. When the organ played the first couple of notes of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, my heart swelled and I nearly had a knot in my throat. Even though the new Spanish version that appears in Flor y Canto pretty much ruins the hymn, I still belted out the refrain. Joining in a hymn as beautiful and solemn as O Come, O Come Emmanuel with gusto certainly qualifies as uplifting. You don’t have to clap to experience joy when singing this venerable hymn.
I certainly needed it this evening. As I have mentioned in a couple of threads, these past couple of days have been hard for me as I was up at all hours of the night taking care of my dachshund who was dying (his condition went downhill on Thanksgiving). I was tired and cranky and upset because I couldn’t do anything else for him.
The Lord, in His great mercy finally took him this afternoon. This little guy was old and he was also a Katrina survivor that had been abandoned by his family. My dad and I took him into our home and he became a valued member of the family. I was with him when he died. It was difficult.
Something else that helped me was an invitation to help finish decorating the Advent Wreath at the Cathedral. The new administrator saw that I was bummed out and he also noted my gasp when I saw how the Cathedral looked (banners and such which, as one who used to decorate the church, were kitschy). We tackled the Advent Wreath and it turned out rather well. This experience brought joy to me. Granted, it wasn’t done in the context of liturgical worship, but, what we did was to prepare the Cathedral to make it fitting for the season and thereby add a sensory element to the liturgy. So, there was that element of joy that I had as we were arranging the greenery. In fact, we were singing traditional Advent hymns like O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Creator of the Stars of Night and The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns. That really helped us to get into the nature of the season.
This morning, I took an elderly friend to Mass. The choir wasn’t there, which, considering the director’s musical selections, was a good thing. Our PV led us in the singing of O Come, O Come Emmanuel, which I sang with gusto. As I noted earlier, there is joy in fully and actively participating in the Holy Sacrifice. One does not need to clutter the Mass with things like clapping.
