What can be said during the "collect"

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I’m with Father Z on the whole “say the black do the red” of course. So I was wondering what can be said during the collect [which is, as I understand it, basically the introduction to the Mass]. Our Priest often talks about other things during this time (how he is feeling, what he’s done the past week, occasionally sports stuff).

How much leeway is there?
 
The Collect is the Opening Prayer following the Penitential Rite. It is not the introduction to the Mass. The introduction, which comes after the Greeting (Sign of the Cross, The Lord be with you…) should be brief and just intoduce the feast or scriptural theme of the Mass of that day, according to the rubrics. There are no specific words that have to be prayed, since it is not a prayer.
 
You are probably thinking of the introductory rites, not the collect. The collect is the prayer that begins with “let us pray”. Here’s what the GIRM says about it:
  1. In addition, he may give the faithful a very brief introduction to the Mass of the day
  2. After the greeting of the people, the priest, the deacon, or a lay minister may very briefly
    introduce the faithful to the Mass of the day
If he is talking about his week, sports, and how he’s feeling, he is taking it too far. This time is intended to talk about the feast day, the readings, and other things concerning the Mass.
 
If he is talking about his week, sports, and how he’s feeling, he is taking it too far. This time is intended to talk about the feast day, the readings, and other things concerning the Mass.
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oh for the love of mike! :rolleyes:

I see nothing wrong w/ a priest conversing in this way.
 
cradlecatholic5 said:
oh for the love of mike! :rolleyes:

I see nothing wrong w/ a priest conversing in this way.
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The Mass is not a time to be conversational. And also, it doesn’t really matter what you think about it, because the church has clearly said not to.

I’ve seen you say things like this before. Do you care at all what the church says about the liturgy? The GIRM is not a list of guidelines.

Answer me this:

How is talking about sports, his week, and how he is feeling introduce the Mass of the Day?!?!

You’ve said in the past that singing “Happy Birthday” at Mass is a “nice touch” on the priest’s part. Do you really just not care about what the church says?
 
Thanks for the correction and responses. I had a feeling that the introduction had to be Mass centred.

You can close the thread now before there’s a fight 😃 On the side of TheMc for the record.
 
You can close the thread now before there’s a fight On the side of TheMc for the record.
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I don’t believe it’s worth the energy. 🙂
 
cradlecatholic5 said:
I don’t believe it’s worth the energy. 🙂
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If it’s not “worth the energy”, then why do you make these statements that are frequently in contradiction with the church’s teaching, and then add a smiley face to make everything seem all fine and dandy? :confused: :)🙂
 
Hi,

I would have to back up TheMC 100 percent of the way.

I am looking in the Sacramentry. It is under Opening prayer which I believe is the Collect as well.

OPENING PRAYER

Afterwards the priest, with hands joined sings of says:

Let us pray.

Priest and people pray silently for awhile

Then the priest extends his hands and sings or says the opening prayer…

The Sacramentary has all the opening prayers used in every single Mass for the entire year and for all the purposes. He is not authorized nor is anyone else authorized to change any of the prayers, except in a few circumstances, of which the OP’s described circumstance would not qualify for this.

The Collect is a prayer and nothing but prayer can be said here.

Now I have heard priests before the Penitential Rite say what the feast day is or the significance of the Saint of the day is. And this is perfectly acceptable as longas it relates to the Mass at hand.

I have to hand it to you TheMc thanks for posting what you did. Can you somehow send me the links PM to the parts where it says that the priest or the bishop cannot change the words of the Mass. I cannot find these documents and they would prove quite handy in threads such as these. Thanks. God Bless.
 
From the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) approved for the USA, which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html :
“31. It is also up to the priest, in the exercise of his office of presiding over the gathered assembly, to offer certain explanations that are foreseen in the rite itself. Where it is indicated in the rubrics, the celebrant is permitted to adapt them somewhat in order that they respond to the understanding of those participating. However, he should always take care to keep to the sense of the text given in the Missal and to express them succinctly. The presiding priest is also to direct the word of God and to impart the final blessing. In addition, he may give the faithful a very brief introduction to the Mass of the day (after the initial Greeting and before the Act of Penitence), to the Liturgy of the Word (before the readings), and to the Eucharistic Prayer (before the Preface), though never during the Eucharistic Prayer itself; he may also make concluding comments to the entire sacred action before the dismissal.”
 
QUOTE=NewsTheMan;7967174 Our Priest often talks about other things during this time (how he is feeling, what he’s done the past week, occasionally sports stuff).

I’ve often felt that in some cases this type of thing is done out of fear. Fear of the people, fear of not being accepted, fear of not appearing “cool”, fear of not pleasing those really rad liturgy committee members,fear of looking too religious (!), fear of …well, basically fear of what everyone else thinks.
Everyone except you. And me. And a few others.
I’m afraid we sometimes don’t count. Alleluia!
 
"TheMC:
The GIRM is not a list of guidelines.
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JM3 said:
GENERAL INSTRUCTION OF THE ROMAN MISSAL

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20030317_ordinamento-messale_en.html#III._PARTICULAR_MINISTRIES
  1. This Instruction aims both to offer general guidelines for properly arranging the Celebration of the Eucharist and to set forth rules for ordering the various forms of celebration.[32]
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Exactly my point: read it carefully. It says:

This Instruction aims both to #1] offer general guidelines for properly arranging the Celebration of the Eucharist and to #2] set forth rules for ordering the various forms of celebration.

There’s some guidelines (use the chalice veil, 118; put the book of the gospels on the altar, 122, etc…), and some rules (pretty much everything that is not mentioned as optional). But the contents is to be obeyed, so if it says to do XYZ, then you need to do XYZ.
 
TheMc,

At my weekly hour in the Adoration Chapel last evening. I said a prayer for you.

🙂
 
cradlecatholic5 said:
TheMc,

At my weekly hour in the Adoration Chapel last evening. I said a prayer for you.

🙂
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Thank you for the prayer.

But if you are willing to pray for me, are you willing to answer my 3 questions that I posted above (they are in red), instead of posting these snarky remarks followed my smilies?
TheMc said:
The Mass is not a time to be conversational. And also, it doesn’t really matter what you think about it, because the church has clearly said not to.

I’ve seen you say things like this before. Do you care at all what the church says about the liturgy? The GIRM is not a list of guidelines.

Answer me this:

How is talking about sports, his week, and how he is feeling introduce the Mass of the Day?!?!

You’ve said in the past that singing “Happy Birthday” at Mass is a “nice touch” on the priest’s part.** Do you really just not care** about what the church says?
Click to expand...
 
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