Tapping Chest

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Faith1960 said:
It didn’t say anything about striking our breast during the consecration.
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Neither did I, and neither did any of my links.

The Confiteor ( “I confess”) is the Penitential Rite, not the Consecration.
 
You tap your chest at the consecration and quietly repeat that famous phrase from St Thomas after he saw the signs of crucifixation on our Lord.“My Lord and my God.”
This is an acknowledgement that you believe that the bread and wine have now become the body and blood of our beloved Lord.
You may even ask for a special grace that you need at this time, such as “my Lord and my God - help my unbelief” or give me the grace for whatever…
That’s what’s meant by tapping of the chest.👍
 
This is one of the most beautiful things! I had always done it at church because, well, that was what I was taught I guess. I would say, through my fault, my fault, my most grevious fault and just do the motions. It wasn’t until I went to the TLMs we started having that I was explained what this gesture meant. You strike your heart to symbolically bruise it, breaking it, begging God to create for you a new one built upon His will for you. AWESOME! Sad thing is, this was in my missal all along, I had just never read that part.
So now, when I do that, I say the words but pray silently, “Create for me a new heart, O Lord!”
What a treasure the Mass it! There are always precious pearls waiting to be found!
 
introibo said:
From the tone that comes across in your post, it almost seems that you’re implying that all participants at Masses celebrated in the current rite are irreverent and disobedient. Obviously, you didn’t mean to say that; just goes to show how easy it is to misread posts on a message board.
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And I didnt mean that at all. I meant that in all Novus Ordo Masses I have been to, I have yet to see this being done. I do not even know if it is called for in the Novus Ordo.
 
introibo said:
From the tone that comes across in your post, it almost seems that you’re implying that all participants at Masses celebrated in the current rite are irreverent and disobedient. Obviously, you didn’t mean to say that; just goes to show how easy it is to misread posts on a message board.
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If you knew Caesar, you would know that isn’t what he meant! We must always assume charity when it comes to the intent of others.
 
Well, I guess I get to play old fogey here. Some of this is hard wired into me and I guess I don’t really think about it since I’ve been doing it since I was a child. Most parishes these days using the NO don’t say the Confiteor during the Penetential Rite but that would be one place I would do it (through my fault). The other place I can think of is during the Agnus Dei (have mercy on us). It is a sign of penance and repentance.

I don’t know, y’all. I look at it as a form of personal piety(?) today and I certainly wouldn’t look askance at those who don’t.
 
Does anyone else strike their breast when saying “Lord, have mercy” during the Mass (including during the Gloria)? We always have, and our priest does also, but not everyone does. I don’t even know where we picked that up (I think from my mom or the nuns when we were growing up) We also bow at the mention of Jesus’ name which the priest had to stop doing because he always managed to make the microphone shriek (and since this is a hospital chapel and the Mass is being broadcast to the patients in their hospital rooms, shrieking microphones are a NO-NO!)
 
…aaaand during the “Lamb of God”, one strike at each “have mercy on us” and “grant us peace”.

It’s a wonder my chest isn’t permanently bruised! (joke!)
 
bluerose said:
Does anyone else strike their breast when saying “Lord, have mercy” during the Mass (including during the Gloria)? We always have, and our priest does also, but not everyone does. I don’t even know where we picked that up (I think from my mom or the nuns when we were growing up) We also bow at the mention of Jesus’ name which the priest had to stop doing because he always managed to make the microphone shriek (and since this is a hospital chapel and the Mass is being broadcast to the patients in their hospital rooms, shrieking microphones are a NO-NO!)
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Mass is broadcast to the hospital patients? How wonderful!

Sometimes I too strike my breast three times if the ‘Lord have mercy’ is the form of penitential rite used. Depends on how much of a miserable sinner I’m feeling 😉

It doesn’t have to be a HARD blow! At least not loud enough to make a thumping noise or leave a bruise.
 
palmas85 said:
Prior to Vatican II you did not bow during the Creed, you genuflected You struck your breast at several points in the Mass also… After Vatican II things became looser. As far as I know the bow recently, past 15 years, or so replaced the genuflection. I’m not sure exactly when the rubrics changed. As far as beating the breast I truly believe that people just stopped doing it on their own. I don’t have a copy of the GIRM handy so I don’t know if it is still in the rubrics or not.

The head bow prior to communion is also fairly recent and was decided on by the USCCB to replace genuflection as a sign of reverence for the Host. Again I don’t knoe exactly when they made the decision, but it is in the past 10-15 years or so. The only real reason I can see for it is that it speeds things up a little. Standing to receive Holy Communion is also a fairly recent innovation in the Roman Church… Kneeling was the accepted posture until just a few years ago…
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When I left the Church in 1982 or so, we stood for Holy Communion and as far as I remember, we didn’t genuflect, either.
 
Brendan said:
Neither did I, and neither did any of my links.

The Confiteor ( “I confess”) is the Penitential Rite, not the Consecration.
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I know, but my question was about striking the breast during the Consecration. 🙂
 
I do it when I say “through my own fault” during the Confiteor. It makes me feel as if I’m bringing it to my own mind that yes… my mess ups are MY fault. And then saying “in my thoughts and in my words, and what I have done and what I have failed to do” just really hammers it home that I’m a sinner! Someone else didn’t cause me to choose to sin… it was ME.

I also strike my breast when I say “Grant us peace”. I’ve never learned it anywhere but through my own life, I am always, always, always seeking that peace. I trust in His mercy… but give me that peace!!!

I never knew to bow during the Creed until I was teaching it to my daughter. And because she’s also learning to read, for the first time in I don’t know how many years, I opened the book and was pointing out the words to her and lo and behold! It says to bow! So, I did. Started that about three years ago. And for me it’s a sign of reverence.

The bowing right before partaking in Communion, for me, is just a simple sign of utmost respect. Um… there’s Jesus, right in front of you. You’re not just going to beebop right up to Him and go “wuzzup ma man! howz it hangin?” CHOMP. (Or at least I wouldn’t think someone would 😛 :rotfl: )
 
At the TLM when the Priest holds up the Host and says:
Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi
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Behold the the Lamb of God, behold Him Who takes away the sins of the world.

The people say the following sentence 3 times:
Domine non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum, sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea.
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Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof; but only say the word, and my soul will be healed.

Most people tap their chest each time they say the sentence and I’ve seen people do the same thing at the NO mass when they say Lord, I am not worthy to receive You, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

I have also seen people tap their chest during the Confiteor at the NO, especially at my old parish. Point of interest - in Chinese the NO has the triple ‘through my fault, through my own fault, through my most grievous fault’, so people will tap their chests 3 times during the Confiteor at those masses.
 
Caesar said:
And I didnt mean that at all. I meant that in all Novus Ordo Masses I have been to, I have yet to see this being done. I do not even know if it is called for in the Novus Ordo.
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If you came to our parish you’d see it. 🙂
 
Caesar said:
Never seen it done at a Novus Ordo.
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There are some that still do, and I am among them 🙂 For the Novus Ordo it a single strike. For the TLM there is the choice to do it once or thrice.
 
adrift said:
Yes it is still to be done but like the bow in the Creed said on Sundays it just isn’t done.
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If I remember correctly, the bowing is a Carmelite Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. Hence the practise.
 
Faith1960 said:
I’d forgotten about this until a month or so ago when I saw an older gentleman do this but during the consecration, when the altar boys ring the bells, I saw a man tap his chest with his clenched right hand and remembered that we did this when I was a kid. My mom always did this. What is the reason for doing so and are we supposed to still be doing it?
Since I saw that one man do this, I’ve only noticed 2 or 3 others do the same thing and I think they were all older people. TIA.
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Being at SS Cyril and Methodius, we do this. Most people will strike the breast with the first set of bells and cross themselves with the second during each elevation.
We bow for the creed and strike the breast at the words, “I have sinned through my own fault”. We also nod our heads at the Name of Jesus.
What we don’t do is usurp the Orans posture, mouth the words of the Mass with the Priest or hold hands and lift for the Our Father. We don’t do the little “toss” at the words “Lift up your hearts” I have seen these at the “Catholic Community” I used to belong to. I escaped from there.
 
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