Questionable actions of Priest during Mass

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duganj

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I recently visited a parish while on vacation. I have visited this parish in past, however during this visit I noticed several actions by the priest/pastor during Mass that caused me concern. I plan on writing him a letting regarding his actions, but I am looking for information to support my concerns. If anyone could offer sources that I can reference in the letter, I would be grateful.
  1. Upon entering the church just before Mass, the priest made the comment that he did not want to do the Gloria - he said this with his wireless microphone on, so the congregation heard him say this (this was the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time).
    Does the priest have the option to omit the Gloria during Ordinary Time? (No other events took place during this Mass, like a Baptism).
  2. The homily was delivered by a parishioner. I know this to be wrong. According to my parents, who visited this parish previously, the priest informed the congregation that he would be inviting this person to give the homily due to the fact that she is highly educated in the faith and has enough knowledge as a priest to give the homily.
  3. I know this might be flexible (but I don’t know the exact ‘rules’), after a few General Intentions, we were invited to sit, while the priest walked around and asked people to say aloud their petitions. Most of which were not heard since they were said without a microphone.
  4. Finally, the priest remained seated when he said the Communion Rite. Is there any instruction for the priest to be standing for this?
Thank you for reading.
 
duganj said:
Upon entering the church just before Mass, the priest made the comment that he did not want to do the Gloria - he said this with his wireless microphone on, so the congregation heard him say this (this was the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time).
Does the priest have the option to omit the Gloria during Ordinary Time? (No other events took place during this Mass, like a Baptism).
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I believe that the Gloria is mandatory for the High Mass.
duganj said:
The homily was delivered by a parishioner. I know this to be wrong. According to my parents, who visited this parish previously, the priest informed the congregation that he would be inviting this person to give the homily due to the fact that she is highly educated in the faith and has enough knowledge as a priest to give the homily.
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Agreed. They should not be doing that.
duganj said:
Finally, the priest remained seated when he said the Communion Rite. Is there any instruction for the priest to be standing for this?
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Yes, the priest should be standing. He might have a dispensation though. I’m not sure about 3.
 
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My apologizes, I need to make a correction:
  1. The priest was seated during the Prayer after Communion - NOT the Communion Rite. I chose the wrong words.
 
The Gloria shouldn’t be omitted, and the priest should at least give a few brief remarks on the days readings at the Honily, even if he then invites a layperson to speak.

Not sure that he did anything wrong during intentions, and may have sat down because he was unwell or something (which you might not know and he isn’t obligated to tell.you).
 
duganj said:
My apologizes, I need to make a correction:
  1. The priest was seated during the Prayer after Communion - NOT the Communion Rite. I chose the wrong words.
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OK, that’s a big difference. Still not ideal, but only he and God know his reasons.
 
Hi @duganj! Welcome to the forum!

In answer to your questions, I’ll try to offer some advice.

Number 53 of the General Introduction of the Roman Missal says:

“The Gloria is a very ancient and venerable hymn in which the Church, gathered together in the Holy Spirit, glorifies and entreats God the Father and the Lamb. The text of this hymn may not be replaced by any other text. The Gloria is intoned by the priest or, if appropriate, by a cantor or by the choir; but it is sung either by everyone together, or by the people alternately with the choir, or by the choir alone. If not sung, it is to be recited either by all together or by two parts of the congregation responding one to the other.”

Another quote from the Missal: “It is sung or said on Sundays outside the Seasons of Advent and Lent, on solemnities and feasts, and at special celebrations of a more solemn character.”

So, since there was no Baptism celebrated at this Mass, it appears that what this priest did is not in line with the Missal and is not okay.

Okay next, the document speaking out against some popular liturgical abuses, Redemptionis Sacramentum, states:
[64.] The homily, which is given in the course of the celebration of Holy Mass and is a part of the Liturgy itself, “should ordinarily be given by the Priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating Priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to a Deacon, but never to a layperson. In particular cases and for a just cause, the homily may even be given by a Bishop or a Priest who is present at the celebration but cannot concelebrate”.
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So, what that priest did (well, didn’t do) at the Mass you attended was wrong.

I really don’t have much to say about your third statement but, being the rad trad that I am, I am not okay with it. It’s happened at one or two Masses I have attended in the past and it’s always really awkward. I’m not against praying for one another but I think it takes away from the sacredness of the Holy Mass.

In regards to your fourth point, I don’t think the Church has much to say about it except for the fact that it is not part of the long-held tradition and practice.
 
The priest should not leave the sanctuary during Mass. He should not walk around asking people questions.

A lay person is not allowed to give a homily because it is a matter of faculties given to the priest or his bishop or deacon who have “orders” by way of sacrament.

The Gloria issue has been stated already.
 
mdcpensive1 said:
The priest should not leave the sanctuary during Mass. He should not walk around asking people questions.
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Priests leave the sanctuary during Mass all the time. Usually it’s either to preach the homily from closer to the parishioners, to ask questions during it (especially children’s Masses), to do something as described during General Intercessions, for a wide variety of reasons at announcement time, and sometimes to shake hands at Sign of Peace. This stuff is very widespread and has been for decades.
 
If I was writing the letter, I would only include 1 and 2, because those are serious liturgical abuses, as has already been said. I think 3 is acceptable according to the rubrics, and I have seen this done before (I don’t like it, but if we are going to stamp out liturgical abuses, we need to clearly distinguish between real abuses and simply our preferences).

Unfortunately, since you aren’t a parishioner, I doubt writing a letter to the pastor would change much. But don’t let me discourage you.
 
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I wonder what Pope Emmeritus Benedict would say about that? Have not finished his book on the Mass. I don’t think he would approve of it as a celebrant should not leave a sacred place.
 
Part 1. From General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 53, under the heading “ Gloria in excelsis ”:

“It is sung or said on Sundays outside Advent and Lent, and also on Solemnities and Feasts, and at particular celebrations of a more solemn character.”

Part 2. From General Instruction of the Roman Missal:

“66. The Homily should ordinarily be given by the Priest Celebrant himself or be entrusted by him to a concelebrating Priest, or from time to time and, if appropriate, to the Deacon, but never to a lay person.”

Part 3. Regarding the Prayer of the Faithful, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 71 has at the end of the section under the heading “The Universal Prayer”:

“The people, for their part, stand and give expression to their prayer either by an invocation said in common after each intention or by praying in silence.”

In the section Mass Without a Deacon , n. 138, it has:

“Then the cantor, the reader, or another person announces the intentions from the ambo or from some other suitable place while facing the people.”

So the people in the congregation are not “facing the people” as required.

Part 4. From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, from the section Mass Without a Deacon :

“165. Then, standing at the chair or at the altar, and facing the people with hands joined, the Priest says, Let us pray; then, with hands extended, he recites the Prayer After Communion.”

[Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.]
 
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Asinner said:
If I was writing the letter, I would only include 1 and 2, because those are serious liturgical abuses, as has already been said.
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Agreed. #3 and 4 must have been annoying, but they’re not the kind of thing you would report to the bishop. #2, inviting a lay person to preach the homily, seriously oversteps a red line, I think.
 
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We just had our Sunday homily by a Protestant minister as part of an “interfaith exchange”. I do not think this is in the rubrics.
 
#3
GENERAL INSTRUCTION OF THE ROMAN MISSAL INSTITUTIO GENERALIS MISSALIS ROMANI Including Adaptations for the Dioceses of the United States of America
"B. The Liturgy of the Word
The Prayer of the Faithful
  1. In the Prayer of the Faithful, the people respond in a certain way to the word of God which they have welcomed in faith and, exercising the office of their baptismal priesthood, offer prayers to God for the salvation of all. It is fitting that such a prayer be included, as a rule, in Masses celebrated with a congregation, so that petitions will be offered for the holy Church, for civil authorities, for those weighed down by various needs, for all men and women, and for the salvation of the whole world.[67]
  2. As a rule, the series of intentions is to be
a. For the needs of the Church;
b. For public authorities and the salvation of the whole world;
c. For those burdened by any kind of difficulty;
d. For the local community.
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Nevertheless, in a particular celebration, such as Confirmation, Marriage, or a Funeral, the series of intentions may reflect more closely the particular occasion.
  1. It is for the priest celebrant to direct this prayer from the chair. He himself begins it with a brief introduction, by which he invites the faithful to pray, and likewise he concludes it with a prayer. The intentions announced should be sober, be composed freely but prudently, and be succinct, and they should express the prayer of the entire community.
The intentions are announced from the ambo or from another suitable place, by the deacon or by a cantor, a lector, or one of the lay faithful.[68]

The people, however, stand and give expression to their prayer either by an invocation said together after each intention or by praying in silence."
(Bold and italics are mine)
 
Given the number of threads like this we get, maybe CAF should develop a form letter that would go something like,

"Dear Father (name)_______:

On (date) _______ at (time) _______, I attended your Mass at (name of church) and observed you committing the following actions, which I believe constitute serious liturgical abuse as explained, with references to the GIRM, in the below paragraphs:

(List each alleged abuse observed in a numbered list with explanatory paragraph for each, e.g.
  1. Left sanctuary during the Mass to ask people to pray for each other during General Intercessions - paragraph explaining how this is an abuse
  2. Had a lay woman give the homily - paragraph explaining how this is an abuse
Etc till all abuses are listed and suitably explained, with references)

I therefore write you in a spirit of fraternal correction and hope you will amend your Mass practices for the future in order to be consistent with the requirements listed in the GIRM and the standards set forth by Pope Emeritus Benedict. It’s very important to me and to other Catholics that all rules are properly observed in order to have a reverent and proper Mass.

If you wish to respond or further discuss this letter, I can be reached at . Otherwise, if I do not hear from you, and I happen to see you committing any such liturgical abuses at future Masses, I will be forced to contact your diocesan Bishop (name). God bless.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Yours in Christ,
(Your name )"
 
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I think it would maybe go over well also if there could be some positive statements and a bit more of the "I’m asking why, because I believe according to what is taught by the Church in GIRM’ that "X’ should be done, but when I attended Mass X was not done and Y was done instead.

And more of “I believe that the rules given in the GIRM help us all, priest and lay people, to worship reverently and with full and active participation, whereas when something like the Gloria is omitted when it should be said, we are denied the full and active participation that all other Catholics are allowed at Mass by saying the Gloria”.

What do you think?
 
Certainly people can expand it with whatever “extras” they like. I just figured a busy priest would be more likely to read it if it were short and to the point.
 
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