Hello!
Are there guidelines for where the congregation should sit during Mass? I’ve always felt it most reverent when the congregation sits facing the altar. Some church have the congregation facing each other, or sitting in a circle. What’s the deal?
Thanks
From the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) approved for the USA, which can be accessed from
romanrite.com/girm.html :
“*The Places for the Faithful *
311. Places should be arranged with appropriate care for the faithful so that they are able to participate in the sacred celebrations visually and spiritually, in the proper manner. It is expedient for benches or seats usually to be provided for their use. The custom of reserving seats for private persons, however, is reprehensible. [footnote 122: Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 32.] Moreover, benches or chairs should be arranged, especially in newly built churches, in such a way that the people can easily take up the postures required for the different parts of the celebration and can easily come forward to receive Holy Communion.
Care should be taken that the faithful be able not only to see the priest, the deacon, and the lectors but also, with the aid of modern technical means, to hear them without difficulty.”
I think this text on the ambo, from the GIRM, is also relevant:
“309. The dignity of the word of God requires that the church have a place that is suitable for the proclamation of the word and toward which the attention of the whole congregation of the faithful naturally turns during the Liturgy of the Word.”
It seems to me that a congregation in view behind the ambo is unlikely to satisfy this requirement.
Another text from Sacrosanctum Concilium:
“124. … And when churches are to be built, let great care be taken that they be suitable for the celebration of liturgical services and for the active participation of the faithful.”
