What are your suggestion for the Novus Ordo?

[Sarabande]

Perhaps just getting a better hold on preventing the abuses during the NO. It just seems like some churches or dioceses get away with doing things they really shouldn’t be doing. I guess that follows in line with “less options”. Perhaps that would stop some of the abuses.

Anyway, I like a lot of what people have mentioned.

I would love to receive the Eucharist kneeling at the altar rails. It feels more reverent and I think people would be less inclined to just rush it into their mouths. I never experienced this until I attended TLM masses and I also experienced it at a couple NO masses in Austria.

Turn the priests back around so that we all face the same way.

Offer some NO masses in Latin. We have two every month at our Cathedral, which is wonderful. I think it would also help people of my generation get used to hearing and saying the Latin, should the TLM be brought back to more parishes.

 

[porthos11]

I’d love to see the priest turned back around.

BTW, the laity do not have a right to hear the Eucharistic Prayer.

No matter. The Church has given the laity the privilege of hearing it, and I accept as such. I for one am always happy to hear the Eucharistic Prayer sung in Latin.

 

[porthos11]

I would like someone else to light the aroma-therapy candles on the altar beside the commissioned liturgical dancer.

None of these are inherent to the current Mass and make a mockery of it.

The original poster did not ask for what abuses to stop, since it’s a given that there should be no abuses at all. He’s talking about suggestions for the order of Mass, not disorder of it.

 

[palmas85]

I know that the Traditional Catholicism forum would suit this thread best but I didn’t just want answers from the traditionalists. Hope its ok with you all.

If you could suggest some changes to the Novus Ordo mass to the pope what would they be?

These are my suggestions:

1. Less Options

In the Novus Ordo there are three greetings to choose from along with three blessings or penitential rites and you could choose to do a blessing or a penitential rite. Then the priest can choose from one of four Eucharistic prayers and the congregation responds with one of four memorial acclamations. Then at the end of the mass the priest can choose to give one of three blessings at the end of the mass. This means that there are 432 variations of the mass.

This when one goes to a new parish, one has difficulty what’s going to come next. Even worse when you go to a mass that is said in a language you don’t understand it would be difficult to follow along with the mass in a missal.

So a few less Options would be great.

1. Silent Eucharistic Prayer

The priest alone has the ability to change the bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. We the congregation do not. I do not like the idea of the congregation praying the Eucharistic prayer along with the priest silently since we don’t have the ability to consecrate the bread and wine. Along with that I find when I go to the Traditional Latin Mass that the silence during the Eucharistic prayer helps me get into the right mind set to receive our Lord and Savior at communion.

1. Encourage the Use of Incense

I find the use of incense helps me to get and stay in a reverent state of mind during mass. When incense is used all five of our senses are stimulated: hearing, with the sound of the music, the readers, the cantors and the priest; sight when watching the priest elevating the host and the chalice and go through the other parts of the mass; Touch when we stand, sit and kneel we feel something and at time pain in our knees when kneeling; taste when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ; and smell when we inhale the smoke of the incense.

Along with that at Traditional Latin Mass the incenser (I do not know the correct title) while sitting at the foot of the altar incenses the Body of Christ during the elevation of the Body of Christ. This is reminiscent of Revelations 8:3 “[a] angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne.” I would also suggest that this practice be done during the elevation of the Body of Christ in the Novus Ordo as well.

So what are you suggestions or do you think Novus Ordo doesn’t needs any changes.

Less options is certainly a great idea, silent eucharistic prayer, outstanding idea as long as bells are rung. The prayer isn’t to us so we really don’t need to hear it. As far as incense, only on special occasions, not every Mass should be a High Mass.

I would say move the sign of Peace towards the beginning of the Mass or put it at the very end… Get it away from the consecration at all costs so that it does not distract from the solemnity of the moment. Re institute the penitential rite in its entirity. No more of this you were sent to heal the contrite, Christ have mercy. Lets go all out:thumbsup: . Do away with cantors as they are completely unneeded and normally just get in the way. . Use one standard mystery of faith, ie: Christ has died and no other , I would also add a Hail Mary or two at the very end or at least the prayer to Saint Michael. We sure could use their help these days.

That would work for a start. We can work on getting rid of the extraordinary Ministers and lectors later down the road.

 

[ItalianBoy1993]

Honestly, Eucharistic Prayer II should be removed. If it is not allowed to be used on Christmas Day or Easter Sunday, what is the point? Just remove it from the Sacramentary, and tell the priests that they can’t use it. (Even though, they use it so much i have it memorized)

 

[porthos11]

Christ has died and no other

No, this one should go. If there should be only one option, it should be this:

"We proclaim your death and confess your Resurrection, until you come.’

This, however, is not in the approved English translation.

 

[porthos11]

Honestly, Eucharistic Prayer II should be removed. If it is not allowed to be used on Christmas Day or Easter Sunday, what is the point? Just remove it from the Sacramentary, and tell the priests that they can’t use it. (Even though, they use it so much i have it memorized)

And I think it should stay, but only for weekday Masses because of its brevity. EP II, although no longer in its original form, has an ancient heritage going back to St. Hippolytus, and is significant in our Roman liturgy’s history. I’ve read St. Hippolytus’ canon and it’s remarkably like EP II indeed.

 

[Brendan]

Use one standard mystery of faith, ie: Christ has died and no other , .

Sorry, I couldn’t help but laugh. That is such a common misconception in the N.O. Mass

There IS only one Mystery of Faith, and that is the Eucharist. (Mysterium Fidei)

The “Christ has died” thing is not the Mysterium Fidei, but rather the Memorial Acclimation. They are two distinct parts of the Mass, but since the Memorial Acclimation is said right after the Proclaimation of the Mystery of Faith, far too many people confuse the two.

It’s one of the wierdest parts of the N.O. Liturgy. The priest calls on us to proclaim the Mystery of Faith and then moves on, without missing a beat, or even a pause, to the next part of the Mass.

 

[Brain]

I’d love to see the priest turned back around.

BTW, the laity do not have a right to hear the Eucharistic Prayer.

The canon is a ritual narrative for a reason, and the biggest reason why it was silent for so long was that in the past it was futile to say it aloud because microphones had not been invented so it woudl be too hard for anyone to hear the priest.
When the microphone and loudspeaker were invented and became widely available after WWII, audible masses including the canon became widespread. That is the reason books like the St Joseph missal were created and were so popular, the people were floowing along with the latin they were hearing, and looking over to the english side to see what it meant.

 

[Windmill]

I guess my point is this: the priest has the option to say the Canon inaudibly. Given that this is an option, the logical conclusion is that there is nothing wrong with using this option. If the laity have a strict legal right to hear the Canon, then such an option would be nonsensical and “illegal”. When someone says the people deserve to hear the Eucharistic Prayer, they are not reflecting the mind of the church and can set up a “rule” that has, implicit in itself, bad theology. The reason a priest can say the Canon inaudibly is that he, alone, is offering up this sacrifice in persona Christi capitus. When we start to say that “Father is being exclusive by saying the Canon inaudibly”, we subtly downplay his unique role in the Mass. We impress an egalitarianism that has no place in Catholicism when we deny these types of ritual allowances.

Many of our problems (EMHC’s, communion in the hand, altar girls, etc…) stem from this idea that everyone - male/female, ordained/lay - are all the same and deserve no special distinction. This type of mentality has ushered us into the age of priestless parishes and only a trickle of vocations. Why? Because if we are all the same, what guy wants to commit his life to a vocation that demands so much of you (celibacy, poverty, service) when you can do many “priestly” things as a layman?

I digress…

 

[Titus]

Sorry, I couldn’t help but laugh. That is such a common misconception in the N.O. Mass

There IS only one Mystery of Faith, and that is the Eucharist. (Mysterium Fidei)

The “Christ has died” thing is not the Mysterium Fidei, but rather the Memorial Acclimation. They are two distinct parts of the Mass, but since the Memorial Acclimation is said right after the Proclaimation of the Mystery of Faith, far too many people confuse the two.

It’s one of the wierdest parts of the N.O. Liturgy. The priest calls on us to proclaim the Mystery of Faith and then moves on, without missing a beat, or even a pause, to the next part of the Mass.

That’s fascinating. Is there a GIRM quote or some other source I could use…

 

[Windmill]

Another confusion that is similar:

During the Penitential Rite: “May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life”, there is no sign of the cross in the Novus Ordo. This habit came about because in the Tridentine Mass the Indulgentiam prayer, which followed the Penitential Rite, started with the sign of the cross. Back then, many Catholics would cross themselves during the Penitential Rite in anticipation of the Indulgentiam. At Vatican II, the Indulgentiam was removed from the Mass. However, many Catholics think they are being traditional when they cross themselves [improperly] during the Penitential Rite – even though the Indulgentiam is gone.