Tapping Chest During Consecration

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In the Extraordinary Form of the Mass just before Holy Communion, the Priest turns with the consecrated Eucharist to the congregation saying “Ecce Agnus Dei. Ecce qui tollis pecatta mundi” (“Behold the Lamb of God. Behold He who taketh away the sin of the world.”).

The reply is three times “Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea” (“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed.”), each time with a strike of the breast.

In the Ordinary Form of the Mass the “Lord, I am not worthy…” is only said once though I’m sure I’m not the only one who has said it to myself three times in Latin with the breast strikes.
 
My mother told me when I was growing up that people beat their breast three times and say to themselves “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa” during the prayer of confession.

It was part of the Latin Mass. here is a wiki link that speaks of the same. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mea_culpa
 
schaeffer said:
My mother told me when I was growing up that people beat their breast three times and say to themselves “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa” during the prayer of confession.

It was part of the Latin Mass.
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It’s part of the Mass we say today during the Confetior - not just the Latin Mass. Striking the breast at the words “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culps” or “through my fault through my fault, through my most grievous fault” in English.

But this is different than during the consecration which is a silent expression.
 
There are a few differences between the way the Latin Mass (Tridentine Rite) was originally said and the way it is said today. During the pre-Vatican II Tridentine Mass of my youth, only the servers said aloud the Latin responses. I once was such a server, and we had to memorize the Latin responses and be able to repeat all the responses aloud, from rote memory and in their proper sequence, as a test to become a server. The congregation remained silent and said nothing aloud during the Tridentine Mass. This is the major difference and the only really important one. We did not strike the breast three times during the Consecration. Neither did the congregation.

At least in my limited experience (two Churches), the congregation now says aloud the Latin responses during the EF Mass., or at least many among the congregation who either know the Latin responses or are holding a 1962 Latin Missal or perhaps an older one do this. (My experience as a server was several years prior to 1962.) I thought perhaps those interested in the history of Tridentine Mass might find this interesting. It is just an historical fact.
 
As a child growing up pre Vatican II we were taught to strike our breast at the elevation of the host and chalice but as I remember it was one not three times as has been mentioned. Today I follow that old practice and truthfully am unaware of those around me as I am directing all my attention toward the altar so I can’t say whether anyone else is doing same.
I do have one wish and that is for one reason or another the Church’s (that I have attended Mass, there are many I haven’t) in my Dioceses do not use bells during the Consecration, a practice that was in place when we moved here and one that I am unable to find someone to explain to me.
The bells just seem to add so much more to the significance of the moment.
 
“My Lord and My God.” Very common–I say it, too, but while making the sign of the cross.
 
During the Latin Mass (Tridentine Mass), the priest did strike his breast once toward the end of the Consecration and before he began the doxology that begins “Nobis quoque peccatoribus famulis tuis…” The priest said the first three words aloud and then continued silently.

This was a very long time ago, but after thinking about it I believe you are correct. I seem to recall now that some in the congregation did strike the breast once at the moment the priest did likewise. In the proper form, this was done by the priest, but there was no harm if congregants did likewise.

With the elevations of the Host and the Chalice, the servers rang a set of bell three times with their right hand. I am certain the servers did not also strike their chest three times. If nothing else, this could not be done in any practical way at that time with the right hand. From what I have read here, there apparently were those in the congregation who did strike their breasts three times, but I don’t believe it was a mandatory practice. I cannot recall doing this. The instructions that are in italics for the Latin Mass (Tridentine Rite) do not include any instructions for the congregants to ever strike their breasts. The only instruction about this is for the priest to do so once, as explained above.

Just trying to get this right as it pertains to the historical practice of the Tridentine Mass. Any comments are helpful and appreciated. I am just trying to recall this as best I can. There are practices in the EF Mass that do vary and likely are related to Vatican II. It could explain part of this.
 
I have always done this along with the saying of mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Miss hearing the bells during the Consecration.
 
FaithfulKnight said:
As a child growing up pre Vatican II we were taught to strike our breast at the elevation of the host and chalice but as I remember it was one not three times as has been mentioned. Today I follow that old practice and truthfully am unaware of those around me as I am directing all my attention toward the altar so I can’t say whether anyone else is doing same.
I do have one wish and that is for one reason or another the Church’s (that I have attended Mass, there are many I haven’t) in my Dioceses do not use bells during the Consecration, a practice that was in place when we moved here and one that I am unable to find someone to explain to me.
The bells just seem to add so much more to the significance of the moment.
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During the Latin Mass (Tridentine Mass), the priest did strike his breast once toward the end of the Consecration and before he began the doxology that begins “Nobis quoque peccatoribus famulis tuis…” The priest said the first three words aloud and then continued silently.

This was a very long time ago, but after thinking about it I believe you are correct. I seem to recall now that some in the congregation did strike the breast once at the moment the priest did likewise. In the proper form, this was done by the priest, but there was no harm if congregants did likewise.

With the elevations of the Host and the Chalice, the servers rang a set of bells three times with their right hand. I am certain the servers did not also strike their breast three times. If nothing else, this could not be done in any practical way at that time with the right hand. From what I have read here, there apparently were those in the congregation who did strike their breasts once and perhaps even three times, but I don’t believe it was a mandatory practice. We might have done this once, but if so I just don’t remember it.

The instructions that are in italics for the Latin Mass (Tridentine Rite) do not include any instructions for the congregants to ever strike their breasts. The only instruction about this is for the priest to do so once, as explained above.

Just trying to get this right as it pertains to the historical practice of the Tridentine Mass. Any comments are helpful and appreciated. I am just trying to recall this as best I can. There are practices in the EF Mass that do vary from the Tridentine Rite and likely are related to Vatican II. The most significant change is that in the Tridentine Rite only the servers gave aloud the Latin responses. And that there are changes could also involve the striking of the breast.
 
Thomas_White said:
There are a few differences between the way the Latin Mass (Tridentine Rite) was originally said and the way it is said today. During the pre-Vatican II Tridentine Mass of my youth, only the servers said aloud the Latin responses. I once was such a server, and we had to memorize the Latin responses and be able to repeat all the responses aloud, from rote memory and in their proper sequence, as a test to become a server. The congregation remained silent and said nothing aloud during the Tridentine Mass. This is the major difference and the only really important one. We did not strike the breast three times during the Consecration. Neither did the congregation.

At least in my limited experience (two Churches), the congregation now says aloud the Latin responses during the EF Mass., or at least many among the congregation who either know the Latin responses or are holding a 1962 Latin Missal or perhaps an older one do this. (My experience as a server was several years prior to 1962.) I thought perhaps those interested in the history of Tridentine Mass might find this interesting. It is just an historical fact.
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Pope Pius XII in 1958 instructed that congregations may recite the Introit, Gradual, Offertory, and Communion propers as well as the Pater Noster if they so wished.
 
The Tridentine Mass was the form of Roman Rite Mass that was first published as a Missal in 1570. This remained unchanged until the introduction of the 1962 Missal promulgated during Vatican II. In 2007, Pope Benedict said that the Liturgy of the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal was to be the extraordinary form (EF) of the Roman Rite with the 1970 Missal the ordinary, normal or standard form.

The 1962 Missal prevailed as the standard form for only seven years, the Missal of 1570 for nearly four centuries. My years as a server ended in 1959. Pope Pius’s instructions of 1958 are informative, but I never experienced this innovation, by which I mean I never heard it occur. And it did not occur when we attended Mass during my high school years which ended in 1963. While the 1958 instructions are interesting, I do not believe this was widely practiced.
 
I attended a Catholic high school from 1959 until 1963. It was an all-boys school and administered and taught by the Brothers of the Holy Cross (C.S.C). The student body was not required to attend daily Mass as we had been during elementary school. However, the entire student body did attend Mass, as a group, often during the year at a Catholic Church–a Cathedral–across the street from the high school. Among us were those who had been servers during the later years of elementary school, and I was one of them. I attended many Tridentine Rite Masses during those years as both a server and as a member of the student body. Even though more than a few members of the student body were formers servers and knew by memory the Latin responses, they were spoken only by the servers. And when I was not acting as a server (many students were qualified) and was attending the Mass as a member of the student body, I did not speak the Latin responses either. Nobody ever did. With the student body were priests and many members of the Brothers of the Holy Cross (from the Congregation of the Holy Cross at the University of Notre Dame). They too remained silent.

This is not meant in any way in disagreement of anything. It was simply my own personal experience. 🙂
 
Thomas_White said:
The Tridentine Mass was the form of Roman Rite Mass that was first published as a Missal in 1570. This remained unchanged until the introduction of the 1962 Missal promulgated during Vatican II. In 2007, Pope Benedict said that the Liturgy of the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal was to be the extraordinary form (EF) of the Roman Rite with the 1970 Missal the ordinary, normal or standard form.

The 1962 Missal prevailed as the standard form for only seven years, the Missal of 1570 for nearly four centuries. My years as a server ended in 1959. Pope Pius’s instructions of 1958 are informative, but I never experienced this innovation, by which I mean I never heard it occur. And it did not occur when we attended Mass during my high school years which ended in 1963. While the 1958 instructions are interesting, I do not believe this was widely practiced.
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No, because few parishioners have the ability to recite large portions of Latin, even today. Even what the servers say has to be learned. Also the congregation is not going to respond to “Introibo ad altare dei” for example, since they are not the ones going before the altar of God.

Calling it a “Tridentine Mass” also suggests it was perhaps created around that time when in fact much of what was contained within the Tridentine Missal went much further back than 1570. The changes done in 1570 were an attempt to make the Mass the uniform wherever it was celebrated, as different prayers had crept into it the Missal over the years in different locations. Also there were a number of minor changes between 1570 and 1962.
 
Thomas_White said:
The Tridentine Mass was the form of Roman Rite Mass that was first published as a Missal in 1570. This remained unchanged until the introduction of the 1962 Missal promulgated during Vatican II. In 2007, Pope Benedict said that the Liturgy of the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal was to be the extraordinary form (EF) of the Roman Rite with the 1970 Missal the ordinary, normal or standard form.

The 1962 Missal prevailed as the standard form for only seven years, the Missal of 1570 for nearly four centuries. My years as a server ended in 1959. Pope Pius’s instructions of 1958 are informative, but I never experienced this innovation, by which I mean I never heard it occur. And it did not occur when we attended Mass during my high school years which ended in 1963. While the 1958 instructions are interesting, I do not believe this was widely practiced.
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No, because few parishioners have the ability to recite large portions of Latin, even today. Even what the servers say has to be learned. Also the congregation is not going to respond to “Introibo ad altare dei” for example, since they are not the ones going before the altar of God by entering the sanctuary.

Calling it a “Tridentine Mass” also suggests it was perhaps created around that time when in fact much of what was contained within the Tridentine Missal went much further back than 1570. I understand the changes done in 1570 to have been an attempt to make the Mass uniform wherever it was celebrated, as different prayers had crept into it the Missal over the years in different locations. Also there were a number of minor changes between 1570 and 1962.
 
ServusHumilis said:
No, because few parishioners have the ability to recite large portions of Latin, even today. Even what the servers say has to be learned. Also the congregation is not going to respond to “Introibo ad altare dei” for example, since they are not the ones going before the altar of God by entering the sanctuary.

Calling it a “Tridentine Mass” also suggests it was perhaps created around that time when in fact much of what was contained within the Tridentine Missal went much further back than 1570. I understand the changes done in 1570 to have been an attempt to make the Mass uniform wherever it was celebrated, as different prayers had crept into it the Missal over the years in different locations. Also there were a number of minor changes between 1570 and 1962.
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Yes, I agree. ”Tridentine” is simply a reference to the city of Trent and the Counsel of Trent where in 1570 Pope Pius V promulgated what was to become known as the Tridentine Mass. The Tridentine Mass was not created out of thin air, and its roots go back many centuries. It was established to provide a universal text for the Mass, though there were exceptions granted that were based on very old traditions. While there were minor changes through the centuries, a new Missal was not introduced until 1962.

It is true that in elementary school we had not studied Latin and learned by rote the Latin responses as well as the correct pronunciations. Later, in our Catholic high school, we would study the language. But there was always the English translation on the opposite page of the Missal and since we attended Mass daily during grade school most of us had a fair idea of what was being said. In the shorter phrases, we knew precisely what was meant. It was at least a valuable introduction to Latin, and that had to begin somewhere if one were to ever learn Latin. To my knowledge, Latin is studied far less than it was even fifty years ago. Mass is the vernacular was introduced for a reason.
 
truetofaith said:
I hate when people get up to get a drink of water or go to the bathroom just as the Consecration is beginning :mad:
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Not kind!!! When you gotta go - you gotta go! Also better to get a drink than to cough over everyone. Anyway, with respect, why do you notice what others are doing at that time. 🙂
 
CarolNoel said:
I have always done this along with the saying of mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Miss hearing the bells during the Consecration.
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Some parishes still ring the bells. I play guitar at Mon. night prayer group & play harmonics on guitar for the chimes. The priest hasn’t stopped me, yet!
 
Emily2014 said:
Not kind!!! When you gotta go - you gotta go! Also better to get a drink than to cough over everyone. Anyway, with respect, why do you notice what others are doing at that time. 🙂
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I usually stand in the back of the church & see the parade go by. Kids & adults seem to pick this time to go to those places. They return after the Consecration .
The worst is people who receive Communion & walk right out one of the exits while chewing on the Host!
 
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