Singing Happy Birthday during Mass

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MSSheBear said:
At my parish we do the whole birthday blessing thing at the end of Mass. I am not real fond of it. Let’s just say I won’t be going up in front for a birthday blessing. We at Daily Mass sang “Happy Birthday” to the priest but it was decidedly after Mass. I really don’t see anything wrong with that.🍰

I try to pay attention to the announcements after Mass, honestly, and not everything is announced in the bulletin.:sad_yes:
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This I’ve seen and is pretty nice. During the announcements they ask those whose birthday it is to meet after mass outside of the church to sing and cut a cake after Mass. In this way, it’s treated more like donuts in the parish hall rather than a part of the Mass. It’s that distinction that needs to be made clear. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating a birthday, it’s just that Mass is not the time for it.
 
pnewton said:
Neither. If this is what constitutes abuse, then is just shows how well our priests are doing. From the GIRM

usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/general-instruction-of-the-roman-missal/girm-chapter-2.cfm

What constitutes “necessary” is the discretion of the priest.
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So wait, you are saying that singing a silly children’s song to an individual at Mass constitutes as “necessary” announcements? Should the priest add "you look like a monkey and you smell like one too!?😃
 
Moore11 said:
So wait, you are saying that singing a silly children’s song to an individual at Mass constitutes as “necessary” announcements?
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I am saying that I am not saying. It is not for me to say. I do not tell my priest what to do. I am only saying there is a place in the GIRM for announcements so “illicit” does not apply.
 
pnewton said:
I am saying that I am not saying. It is not for me to say. I do not tell my priest what to do. I am only saying there is a place in the GIRM for announcements so “illicit” does not apply.
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My point is that I dont think that is an “announcement” but rather an activity (the act of singing a secular party song) and so I think illicit would apply. If the priest said, “it is so and so’s birthday today” that could be considered an “announcement” but when he strikes up the organ and leads in a rousing rendition of a famous Marilyn Monroe song.:eek:… I think that is where we get a little dicey.
 
pnewton said:
I do not tell my priest what to do.
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I wish we all had a priest like yours. Sadly some of us have priests that are told to do some pretty odd things by some pretty odd people. Of course we dont call them odd people. I think they go by another name…,… Parish council or something like that…
 
Moore11 said:
My point is that I dont think that is an “announcement” but rather an activity (the act of singing a secular party song) and so I think illicit would apply. If the priest said, “it is so and so’s birthday today” that could be considered an “announcement” but when he strikes up the organ and leads in a rousing rendition of a famous Marilyn Monroe song.:eek:… I think that is where we get a little dicey.
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That is my point exactly!!
 
latingirl said:
Can someone explain to me whether it is wrong or right for the priest to sing “Happy Birthday” to people before the end of Mass with a full organ accompaniment? Is this liturgical abuse, is it okay or is it just bad taste?
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If the priest knows it someones birthday then he will announce it and our organist will start playing it before he does the final blessing.Especially a major one like someones 90th etc but if the message has been passed onto the priest he will lead it. He getting used to the idea because last year he didn’t quite do what we are used to, but this year he is.

if he doesn’t know or it is his own birthday and the choir knows then after the final procession and he is at the back waiting, we nudge the organist to start playing it.

I don’t mind either way, it makes the chuch human rather than all formal, but we are anglican too before you are all quick to remind me…👍
 
Moore11 said:
I wish we all had a priest like yours. Sadly some of us have priests that are told to do some pretty odd things by some pretty odd people. Of course we dont call them odd people. I think they go by another name…,… Parish council or something like that…
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:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Oh…I hear ya!

I think the problem is that the priest sometimes tries to make our liturgy all things to all people. As if the celebration of the Eucharist is not sufficient unto itself. Or perhaps we are again, picking up the echoes of a more Protestant theme.

We don’t sing happy birthday…yet - but I have a feeling in our exaggerated horizontal position, it may be coming. I cringe whenever an individual is pointed out at Mass. In the spirit of affirmation, our pastor will sometimes acknowledge visitors or those who have done a special service to the parish, for instance, and often times he gets himself into trouble because he simply doesn’t know what everyone does and some people end up feeling slighted because their contribution has not been acknowledged.
 
englishredrose said:
If the priest knows it someones birthday then he will announce it and our organist will start playing it before he does the final blessing.Especially a major one like someones 90th etc but if the message has been passed onto the priest he will lead it. He getting used to the idea because last year he didn’t quite do what we are used to, but this year he is.

if he doesn’t know or it is his own birthday and the choir knows then after the final procession and he is at the back waiting, we nudge the organist to start playing it.

I don’t mind either way, it makes the chuch human rather than all formal, but we are anglican too before you are all quick to remind me…👍** Rats I was just about to do** that! :rotfl:
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This roughly what happens at our Sunday Masses. I don’t have the timing down exactly.😊 Our priest seems to know what he is doing and does take orders from those people who call the office to complain. That annoys those people no end. So I assume this isn’t definitely a liturgical abuse.
 
englishredrose said:
If the priest knows it someones birthday then he will announce it and our organist will start playing it before he does the final blessing.Especially a major one like someones 90th etc but if the message has been passed onto the priest he will lead it. He getting used to the idea because last year he didn’t quite do what we are used to, but this year he is.

if he doesn’t know or it is his own birthday and the choir knows then after the final procession and he is at the back waiting, we nudge the organist to start playing it.

I don’t mind either way, it makes the chuch human rather than all formal, but we are anglican too before you are all quick to remind me…👍
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The church isn’t supposed to be human, it’s supposed to be transcendent and divine. You must remember, In Catholicism, Mass is not something the people or the priest do, it’s someting God does.
 
Actually I asked a priest about it and he said it is liturgical abuse… two different priests actually. They told me it lies too far outside the rubrics and is totally unnecessary not to mention distracting from Mass. It should be done after the closing prayer if it is done at all.
 
latingirl said:
The church isn’t supposed to be human, it’s supposed to be transcendent and divine. You must remember, In Catholicism, Mass is not something the people or the priest do, it’s someting God does.
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Wait just a minute. The English term liturgy literally means work of the people people, ******so I would disagree with your statement. The liturgy is both human and divine.

I would agree agree with most of the posters. It would be considered as part of the announcements (GIRM 90a, where the word “brief” is misinterpreted in every parish in the US).
 
We buried my grandmother on her 95th birthday. We all sang Happy Birthday around her casket.
 
Sometimes our priest has wished happy birthday with all applauding. Can’t see any harm in it. Nice to be friendly.
 
latingirl said:
The church isn’t supposed to be human, it’s supposed to be transcendent and divine. You must remember, In Catholicism, Mass is not something the people or the priest do, it’s someting God does.
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The church is to form a cross within each parish - the horizontal beam being the community of believers and the vertical beam being the transcendent God. The problem I see in our parish is that our cross has become lop-sided as we are focused too much on community and have developed a casualness toward the sacred. The sense of “Take off your sandals for you are on holy ground” is being lost in our parish and we are reaping what we sow. I could name many instances where actual irreverence is plainly seen when people come before the altar and we are now experiencing strife and anger even among ourselves and within our ministries.

I can think of nothing more harmful than losing the sense of the transcendent God. And it is being done under the guise of fellowship and goodwill toward all.
 
For me I find after all this secular fanfare of birthday songs and applauding after dismal in very bad taste. Here we’ve just celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with all focus centered on giving our most devotional contrite love to Christ Jesus at the Mass.

All a sudden minds are shifted to things of the world.
The Spirit is willing, but the flesh and its five senses are weak.
 
“liturgy” does not mean service of the people. It means “public service” yes it is something we participate in but we are not the primary movers.
 
Lfcmusicman said:
Wait just a minute. The English term liturgy literally means work of the people people, ******so I would disagree with your statement. The liturgy is both human and divine.

I would agree agree with most of the posters. It would be considered as part of the announcements (GIRM 90a, where the word “brief” is misinterpreted in every parish in the US).
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“liturgy” does not mean service of the people. It means “public service” yes it is something we participate in but we are not the primary movers.

announcing a birthday is part of the announcements, Singing it is not.
 
If you were standing at the foot of the cross would you turn to your neighbor and sing him happy birthday? People need to realize what exactly the Mass is!
 
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