We have our own missal, lectionary, breviary, liturgical calendar and rubrics. There is a universal set for the entire Franciscan family and there are particular ones for the different branches of the order. The differences are in the calendar, not the form. We all use the same form. Calendars may vary. What is a solemnity for one of the orders may be a feast for another. There are also variations by country. For example, in the USA we have a choice between CITH and COTT. In othe countries they only have CITH. The American superiors agreed to go with whatever the USCCB granted.
We have never had what was called a Franciscan Rite. However, we do have Franciscan customs. The Order never applied for a rite. Our customs are a blend of what today would be considered the EF and OF. For example, communion rails and kneelers were never part of our architecture, because it separated the ordained friars from the rest of the friars. Also, the entire chapel is sacred space. If you ever watch EWTN, the chapel does not have railing.
We stand during the Eucharistic prayer. Kneeling is new to us. In some provinces, the major superior gave permission to kneel for the Eucharistic prayer.
We never used Gregorian chant. St. Francis forbade it. However, we have always had what I call a “recto-tonal” chant. There is one exception to that rule. The Poor Clares were allowed to choose Gregorian Chant, if they chose to follow the Benedictine liturgical tradition.
The LOTH is recited. We always had hymns in the local language, not just Latin. We had hymns written by Francis himself. These were originally written in Italian and later translated to different vernaculars.
When the altar was against the wall, we never faced in the same direction as the priest, because of the way that our chapels were built. We had choir stalls on either side of the altar. Therefore, we really faced the altar from the side.
Because we avoided clericalism, in a house where there were more than one ordained friar, only one could celebrate mass each day. Everyone else attended the mass. There were no “private masses” unless the superior authorized it. With concelebration, superiors were allowed to permit all the ordained friars to concelebrate one community mass. Obviously, this does not apply in a parish where you must have several masses on a Sunday.
There are also some redundancies in the liturgical calendar. For example, we have two Alll Saints Day and two All Souls Day. When the liturgical calendar was set, there was no universal All Saints and All Souls day. We always had All Saints of the Seraphic Order and All Souls of the Seraphic Order, both in November. Later, the Church added these two days to the universal calendar. We ended up with two of them.
On days when we have a solemnity and the universal Church has a feast or memorial, our solemnity takes precedence. The readings, propers and LOTH of the day change.
Many of the new elements in the mass of Paul VI already existed in the Franciscan rubrics. One of the interesting things about our rubrics and directions is the placement of the tabernacle. We had the tabernacle in the main narthex 300 years before the rest of the Church. St. Francis introduced this in 1209. The Universal Church did not embrace it until Trent. By the time that Trent came around, almost every place where the friars served there were tabernacles in the main narthex. We did not have all of the saints and statues, etc on our sanctuaries. That was a novelty introduced to the Order by Vatican II. The instructions were that the chapel should be a simple space. The only church that we had with a lot of art was the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. But that had a good reason. It’s the basilica of the Seraphic Father. Giotto was commissioned to do the inside.
However, we made use of whatever the bishops gave us to run and we tried not to change too much in diocesan churches.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
