Sequence on Pentecost

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Hi. Today I went to mass and for the first time the priest did not stand for the sequence after the 2nd reading. Naturally following what the priests and servers were doing, the congregation didn’t stand, except for a select few. My question is: is there a correct posture during the singing of the sequence? In other words, do we sit or stand, or is this left to the discretion of the celebrant?
 
We sat down while the Sequence was being sung. Compared to last year, we were standing while it was recited
 
We always sit and listen to the Sequence being read.
I’d love to hear it sung!
 
The rubrics do not indicate a posture for the sequence that I know of.
 
The priest and the congregation sat for the singing of the Sequence in my church today. The ones who initially stood were the ones who forgot and were trying to stand for the “Alleluia”. Then they sat when they realized what was going on.
 
Red_James said:
Hi. Today I went to mass and for the first time the priest did not stand for the sequence after the 2nd reading. Naturally following what the priests and servers were doing, the congregation didn’t stand, except for a select few. My question is: is there a correct posture during the singing of the sequence? In other words, do we sit or stand, or is this left to the discretion of the celebrant?
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I created a thread on this in the Traditional section. In practice, people stand at the Alleluia during the modern Mass, but sit during the same part at the Tridentine Mass.
 
At our abbey, only the schola stood. Everyone else including the abbot sat.
 
Red_James said:
Hi. Today I went to mass and for the first time the priest did not stand for the sequence after the 2nd reading. Naturally following what the priests and servers were doing, the congregation didn’t stand, except for a select few. My question is: is there a correct posture during the singing of the sequence? In other words, do we sit or stand, or is this left to the discretion of the celebrant?
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We stood, In fact we were asked to stand! ( Please stand). God Bless, Memaw
 
It is perfectly proper and correct to sit…that is actually the gesture of all who are not in the choir during the Pentecost Mass of the Pope in Saint Peter’s.
 
I think the Roman Missal says to stand for the Sequence. From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM):

The Acclamation before the Gospel **
62. After the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel, the Alleluia or another chant indicated by the rubrics is sung, as required by the liturgical season. An acclamation of this kind constitutes a rite or act in itself, by which the assembly of the faithful welcomes and greets the Lord who is about to speak to it in the Gospel and professes its faith by means of the chant. It is sung by all while standing and is led by the choir or a cantor, being repeated if this is appropriate. The verse, however, is sung either by the choir or by the cantor.
a. The Alleluia is sung in every season other than Lent. The verses are taken from the Lectionary or the Graduale.
b. During Lent, in place of the Alleluia, the verse before the Gospel is sung, as indicated in the Lectionary. It is also permissible to sing another Psalm or tract, as found in the Graduale.
63. When there is only one reading before the Gospel:
a. during a season when the Alleluia is to be said, either the Alleluia Psalm or the responsorial Psalm followed by the Alleluia with its verse may be used;
b. during the season when the Alleluia is not to be said, either the Psalm and the verse
before the Gospel or the Psalm alone may be used;
c. the Alleluia or verse before the Gospel may be omitted if they are not sung.
64. The Sequence, which is optional except on Easter Sunday and on Pentecost Day, is sung before the Alleluia.
**
The Homily​

​

Arguments to stand for the Sequence are as follows:
  1. Paragraph 64 about the Sequence is listed under the heading “The Acclamation before the Gospel”. Therefore the instruction to stand in n. 62 should be considered to apply to it: “It is sung by all while standing and is led by the choir or a cantor, being repeated if this is appropriate.”
  2. The description of the thing to be stood for includes “After the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel”. Clearly the Sequence is after the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel.
  3. In GIRM n. 43 it lists the times to sit. The Sequence is not listed. “They should, however, sit while the readings before the Gospel and the responsorial Psalm are proclaimed and for the Homily and while the Preparation of the Gifts at the Offertory is taking place; and, as circumstances allow, they may sit while the period of sacred silence after Communion is observed.”
An argument to sit for the Sequence is:
GIRM n. 43 lists the times to stand. The Sequence is not listed. It has “43. The faithful should stand from the beginning of the Entrance chant, or while the priest approaches the altar, until the end of the Collect; for the Alleluia chant before the Gospel; …”. The Sequence is not the Alleluia chant, so there is no instruction to stand for it.

But a counter argument to this is that there is no Alleluia chant during Lent. There is a verse before the Gospel with something like “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ …”. People would stand for that.
 
I am repeating the post above, but with the final text of the translation of the Roman Missal, as approved for Australia.

I think the Roman Missal says to stand for the Sequence. From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM):

The Acclamation before the Gospel **
62. After the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel, the Alleluia or another chant laid down by the rubrics is sung, as the liturgical time requires. An acclamation of this kind constitutes a rite or act in itself, by which the gathering of the faithful welcomes and greets the Lord who is about to speak to them in the Gospel and profess their faith by means of the chant. It is sung by everybody, standing, and is led by the choir or a cantor, being repeated as the case requires. The verse, on the other hand, is sung either by the choir or by a cantor.
a. The Alleluia is sung in every time of the year other than Lent. The verses are taken from the Lectionary or the Graduale.
b. During Lent, in place of the Alleluia, the Verse before the Gospel as given in the Lectionary is sung. It is also permissible to sing another Psalm or Tract, as found in the Graduale.
63. When there is only one reading before the Gospel:
a. during a season when the Alleluia is prescribed, either an Alleluia Psalm or the Responsorial Psalm followed by the Alleluia with its verse may be used;
b. during a time of the year when the Alleluia is not foreseen, either the Psalm and the Verse before the Gospel or the Psalm alone may be used;
c. the Alleluia or the Verse before the Gospel, if not sung, may be omitted.
64. The Sequence which, except on Easter Sunday and on Pentecost Day, is optional, is sung before the Alleluia.
**
The Homily​

​

Arguments to stand for the Sequence are as follows:
  1. Paragraph 64 about the Sequence is listed under the heading “The Acclamation before the Gospel”. Therefore the instruction to stand in n. 62 should be considered to apply to it: “It is sung by everybody, standing, and is led by the choir or a cantor, being repeated as the case requires.”
  2. The description of the thing to be stood for includes “After the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel”. Clearly the Sequence is after the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel.
  3. In GIRM n. 43 it lists the times to sit. The Sequence is not listed. “The faithful should sit, on the other hand, during the readings before the Gospel and the Responsorial Psalm and for the Homily and during the Preparation of the Gifts at the Offertory; and, if appropriate, during the period of sacred silence after Communion.”
An argument to sit for the Sequence is:
GIRM n. 43 lists the times to stand. The Sequence is not listed. It has “43. The faithful should stand from the beginning of the Entrance Chant, or while the priest approaches the altar, until the end of the Collect; for the Alleluia Chant before the Gospel; …”. The Sequence is not the Alleluia chant, so there is no instruction to stand for it.

But a counter argument to this is that there is no Alleluia chant during Lent. There is a verse before the Gospel with something like “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ …”. People would stand for that.
 
John_Lilburne said:
I think the Roman Missal says to stand for the Sequence.
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No, it doesn’t. 😉
Arguments to stand for the Sequence are as follows:
  1. Paragraph 64 about the Sequence is listed under the heading “The Acclamation before the Gospel”. Therefore the instruction to stand in n. 62 should be considered to apply to it: “It is sung by everybody, standing, and is led by the choir or a cantor, being repeated as the case requires.”
Click to expand...
No, the GIRM states that the ‘acclamation before the Gospel’ is the ‘Alleluia’ or the verse that replaces it. The Sequence is not the Alleluia, and it does not replace the Alleluia. Therefore, #62 does not apply.
  1. The description of the thing to be stood for includes “After the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel”. Clearly the Sequence is after the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel.
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Poor parsing. The sentence itself identifies what it’s talking about: “the Alleluia or another chant laid down by the rubrics.” The Sequence is neither of these.
  1. In GIRM n. 43 it lists the times to sit. The Sequence is not listed. “The faithful should sit, on the other hand, during the readings before the Gospel and the Responsorial Psalm and for the Homily and during the Preparation of the Gifts at the Offertory; and, if appropriate, during the period of sacred silence after Communion.”
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Context is your friend. As you point out, #43 also does not list the Sequence among those times in which standing is prescribed. In other words, it is neither prescribed to stand nor prohibited to sit during the Sequence.
But a counter argument to this is that there is no Alleluia chant during Lent. There is a verse before the Gospel with something like “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ …”. People would stand for that.
Click to expand...
Yes, but that verse replaces the Alleluia, and therefore, the rubrics for the Alleluia apply.
 
Here are some arguments about standing being the default position.

From GIRM:
“43. The faithful should stand … except at the places indicated here below.
The faithful should sit …”.

So if it is not clear that the people should sit for the Sequence, then they should stand for it.

Similarly from GIRM n. 42: “A common bodily posture, to be observed by all those taking part, is a sign of the unity of the members of the Christian community gathered together for the Sacred Liturgy, for it expresses the intentions and spiritual attitude of the participants and also fosters them.”

For the first reading the reader stands, the congregation sits. There is not a “common bodily posture”. The exception is spelt out in GIRM 43 “The faithful should sit, on the other hand, during the readings before the Gospel, and the Responsorial Psalm and for the Homily …”. But the default position is for all to have a common bodily posture of standing for the Sequence.

So if the interpretation is that there is no instruction to sit or stand for the Sequence, then that means one should stand for the Sequence.
 
After the introductory rites and the oration, everyone sits for the liturgy of the word.

In the context of the liturgy of the word, the people stand for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the verse which introduces the Gospel because its chant covers the motion of the congregation just as it covers the motion of the minister proclaiming.

The sequence is not the word of Christ nor is it the inspired word of God, as are the preceding readings. There is no reason to give it an honour in the liturgy of the word that is intended for the words of Christ.
 
Don_Ruggero said:
…The sequence is not the word of Christ nor is it the inspired word of God, as are the preceding readings. There is no reason to give it an honour in the liturgy of the word that is intended for the words of Christ.
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The Creed and the Prayer of the Faithful are not the inspired word of God. They are in the Liturgy of the Word. We stand for them. The first reading is the inspired word of God. We sit for it. So the correct posture is about what the liturgical books say.
 
John_Lilburne said:
The Creed and the Prayer of the Faithful are not the inspired word of God. They are in the Liturgy of the Word. We stand for them. The first reading is the inspired word of God. We sit for it. So the correct posture is about what the liturgical books say.
Click to expand...
As I have said, as a priest, at my Masses, it is done as it is done at the Pope’s Mass of Pentecost: everyone is seated for the sequence.

I presume you are not saying that the Holy Father, the Cardinals (including the prefect of the CDWDS) and, above all, the papal masters of ceremony…who are each extraordinary experts in this field, do not comply with what is proper on this matter.
 
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