Should we sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus at Mass?

[dotgirl617]

What is the ruling on singing “Happy Birthday to You” to Jesus at Christmas Mass?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

The Church doesn’t “rule” on such trivialities. The Church sets out the rubrics of the Mass and solemnly warns priests that they are to neither add to nor subtract from these rubrics on their own unauthorized initiative:

In keeping with the solemn promises that they have made in the rite of sacred ordination and renewed each year in the Mass of the Chrism, let priests celebrate “devoutly and faithfully the mysteries of Christ for the praise of God and the sanctification of the Christian people, according to the tradition of the Church, especially in the eucharistic sacrifice and in the sacrament of reconciliation.” They ought not to detract from the profound meaning of their own ministry by corrupting the liturgical celebration either through alteration or omission, or through arbitrary additions (Redemptionis Sacramentum 31).

This means that no one, including the priest, should be inserting anything into the liturgy that is not specifically authorized by the Church, even if it seems “harmless” or “a good idea.” In this case, while it may be fine for a family with small children to sing “Happy Birthday to You” at Christmas dinner, it seems to me to be a trivialization of the liturgy to include this in a Christmas Mass.