Sit or stand during The Gloria

  • Thread starter Thread starter hudson
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
H

hudson

Guest
Sunday was a bit strange during the Gloria. Every other week I can remember since coming back to the Church we stood for the Gloria. Sunday the Priest sat and the congregation did also. The Gloria began and people started standing back up. I stood up along with half of the other people. It was very awkward. The priest stayed seated during the whole song. What is the proper posture.
 
The proper posture is standing, from the beginning of the Mass until after the Collect (Opening Prayer), when all sit for the first reading.
 
I believe you’re supposed to stand. However if the priest sits, you should sit also.

But I’ll let more knowledgeable people than me chime in. 🙂
 
Perhaps the priest wasn’t feeling well or was distracted. If half of the congregation stood, I would stand.
 
Everyone was confused. I read notation on google search that you are supposed to sit during latin high mass if the priest does during the Gloria. I just want clarification. This was a NO mass btw.
 
hudson said:
Everyone was confused. I read notation on google search that you are supposed to sit during latin high mass if the priest does during the Gloria. I just want clarification. This was a NO mass btw.
Click to expand...
Oh it was? I thought it was an EF. My little EF missalette says sit when the priest sits.
 
TrueLight said:
But Mark, what if the priest sits?
Click to expand...
Then he sits. Some priests are infirm, elderly, or just gave their knee a terrible sprain while rock climbing.
hudson said:
Everyone was confused. I read notation on google search that you are supposed to sit during latin high mass if the priest does during the Gloria. I just want clarification. This was a NO mass btw.
Click to expand...
There can be some confusion during the (old) Latin Mass. At a low Mass, the Gloria is generally inaudible and the correct posture is kneeling. At the High Mass, the priest intones “Gloria in excelsis Deo” himself, and then says the rest of it silently while the choir or schola takes up singing it from “et in terra pax hominibus.” Since the priest’s silent reading takes only a moment, depending on what musical setting is being sung may have four or five minutes, or more, with nothing to do while he waits for the choir to finish. Often in such a case he will go sit down; I’m not sure whether a specific rubric allows it, but it is certainly common enough.

As far as I know, opinion is somewhat divided about whether the congregation should sit when the priest sits (there is of course no rubric for it). On one hand, the “official” liturgical Gloria, the silent one said by the priest, is done. On the other hand, the choir is still singing the audible Gloria. So some sources like the one you linked say “sit” without any qualifications, but then in parishes where it is customary for the congregation to actually join in singing the Ordinary, it would be bizarre to sit down while you were in the middle of singing.
 
MarkThompson said:
So some sources like the one you linked say “sit” without any qualifications, but then in parishes where it is customary for the congregation to actually join in singing the Ordinary, it would be bizarre to sit down while you were in the middle of singing.
Click to expand...
It seems equally as bizarre to stand up while we are saying something, but that is exactly what happens with “May the Lord accept the sacrifice…”
 
Elizium23 said:
It seems equally as bizarre to stand up while we are saying something, but that is exactly what happens with “May the Lord accept the sacrifice…”
Click to expand...
Well, not equally, no. The rubric says, “The people rise and make their response: Suscipiat Dominus (May the Lord accept).” So you simply rise before you speak, or just as you are beginning to, not somewhere randomly in the middle.
 
MarkThompson said:
Then he sits. Some priests are infirm, elderly, or just gave their knee a terrible sprain while rock climbing.

There can be some confusion during the (old) Latin Mass. At a low Mass, the Gloria is generally inaudible and the correct posture is kneeling. At the High Mass, the priest intones “Gloria in excelsis Deo” himself, and then says the rest of it silently while the choir or schola takes up singing it from “et in terra pax hominibus.” Since the priest’s silent reading takes only a moment, depending on what musical setting is being sung may have four or five minutes, or more, with nothing to do while he waits for the choir to finish. Often in such a case he will go sit down; I’m not sure whether a specific rubric allows it, but it is certainly common enough.
Click to expand...
IT is allowed in the Ritus Servandus.
As far as I know, opinion is somewhat divided about whether the congregation should sit when the priest sits (there is of course no rubric for it). On one hand, the “official” liturgical Gloria, the silent one said by the priest, is done. On the other hand, the choir is still singing the audible Gloria. So some sources like the one you linked say “sit” without any qualifications, but then in parishes where it is customary for the congregation to actually join in singing the Ordinary, it would be bizarre to sit down while you were in the middle of singing.
Click to expand...
Indeed, it is a somewhat strange inconsistency, but several replies of the old Congregation of Rites indicate that it is better for the people to follow the rubrics for the “choir”, which would have the priest sitting. In certain places to, there may be rubrics for the people that were inserted as local legislation, and these two recommend sitting.
 
Elizium23 said:
It seems equally as bizarre to stand up while we are saying something, but that is exactly what happens with “May the Lord accept the sacrifice…”
Click to expand...
You are supposed to be standing before you make the proclamation. As soon as the Priest says" Pray Brethren" - get up. It is very awkwardly arranged.
 
So the answer is we should have stayed standing when he sat?
The mass I attend is at the cathedral for the diocese. We sing the Gloria in Latin in the OF instead of English. It is absolutely beautiful. I was looking forward to this part of the mass since my wife(who is not Catholic) came with me. But unfortunately it was a mess of people looking around trying to figure out if they should be standing or sitting.
Does each Church get to decide whether to sing the Gloria in Latin or English. I love the Latin version!
 
Seatuck said:
You are supposed to be standing before you make the proclamation. As soon as the Priest says" Pray Brethren" - get up. It is very awkwardly arranged.
Click to expand...
The whole arrangement is much easier if incense is used, btw. Then they usually stand up sometime during the lavabo, just before they are incensed, then they stay standing. Much less awkward.
 
hudson said:
So the answer is we should have stayed standing when he sat?
The mass I attend is at the cathedral for the diocese. We sing the Gloria in Latin in the OF instead of English. It is absolutely beautiful. I was looking forward to this part of the mass since my wife(who is not Catholic) came with me. But unfortunately it was a mess of people looking around trying to figure out if they should be standing or sitting.
Does each Church get to decide whether to sing the Gloria in Latin or English. I love the Latin version!
Click to expand...
Sounds to me like there is still some confusion. Any chance you can ask the priest what he thinks?
 
The traditional way was, that for solemn of polyphonic Gloria the priest, after he read the text, walked to the seat and sat there until the end. Also people sat. For shorter Gloria the priest jut stood at the altar, and there was no rule, what people do.

For new Mass is polyphonic Gloria is sung by the choir the priest usually sits down, and I believe it is the proper for the people too. For shorter Gloria either the priest and the people stand.

The thumb rule, do what the priest does, except there is rule otherwise (e.g. sat for sermon, kneel for the Canon)
 
laszlo said:
The thumb rule, do what the priest does, except there is rule otherwise (e.g. sat for sermon, kneel for the Canon)
Click to expand...
That’s how I feel, but since I am only an embryo when it comes to Catholicism, I listen to those who know better.
 
True. If the priests sits because of a lengthy polyphonic arrangement (Vivaldi’s *Gloria *takes 23 minutes), the people generally sit, as well, in both OF and EF.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top