The sad thing is that when priests and bishops have addressed, people get upset. The bishops donât want to make this a fight. So they are actually thinking about ending the priest doing the Orans Posture during the Our Father.
Listen to what Archbishop Sample says about it. The real issue is the idea that people want to add thing to the mass, but then donât do the things the rubrics call for, i.e. Profound bow during creed, tapping of chest during Penitential Act A, slight bow of head at mention of the names of Christ, the names of the Trinity and the Blessed Virgin.
I still think a good solution is if a parish has at least two Masses on Sunday, at least one is an orthodox Mass, while a 2nd can be a Charismatic Mass. Let the people choose which they like better.
A âcharismatic Massâ should still be orthodox. I canât imagine a parish priest allowing, with full knowledge, a âMassâ that is âunorthodox.â
And
all Masses should be liturgically correct and done according to the rubrics.
And I donât understand what you are suggestingâas far as I know, there are TWO forms of the Mass approved by the Churchâthe Extraordinary Form and the Ordinary Form. There is no such thing as âorthodox Massâ and âcharismatic Mass.â
Are you talking about the music? Even the most contemporary of Mass music should still be done in a Mass form that is done according to the rubrics.
The problem with the hand-holding is that it is NOT spelled out in the rubrics one way or another, and so the people continue to do it. Until it is spelled out, the priests canât really âforbid it,â because it isnât forbidden.
I know that some people were taught that certain postures, gestures, clothings, etc. were âforbidden,â but most of these are not spelled out in the rubrics. Frankly, I would be dismayed (and I think many others would be dismayed and even angry) if the Church spelled out every single posture that the laypeople are allowed to have during the OF of the Mass.
E.g., I think it would be horrible if the rubrics spelled out such things as, âA woman may not cross her legs,â or âA man may not drape his arm over the back of the pew,â or "a child may not play with a toy but they may read a church-approved book about the saints, " etc.
This is going too far. Thankfully, the Church has not done this.
Raising the hands during the Our Father is also not specifically forbidden, although some of the documents that ProVobis has posted imply that only the priest is allowed to pray this way. But as far as I can see, there is no written statement in any of the rubrics commonly available to the laypeople that âit is forbidden for the laypeople to raise their hands during the Lordsâ Prayer.â (I think that it would be important for this to be in American English rather than using the Latin phrase, because most of us donât understand Latin).
As for those things that you mentionedâthe bow during the Creedâs mention of the Incarnation, striking the breast during the Confiteor, etc.âthese are written on the pew cards. Hereâs the problem, and itâs very practicalâthe print size in those pew cards is way too small for most of us to read.
When it comes to younger people who are able to read the print on the pew card, I think itâs a question of the priest himself reminding people, during the Mass while they are all gathered (not in the bulletin which most people never read), to do these things. When the young people and children do not see the older people do these things, they get the idea that they are not required. Thatâs how things get to be habitual.
The whole situation could be solved if the print in the pew cards was LARGE ENOUGH TO READ WITHOUT READING GLASSES! and if the parish priest would speak up and gently remind people of what they are supposed to be doing!
The bow of the head at the mention of Christ, the Trinity, and the Blessed Virgin is NOT a required gesture. There was a thread about this a few weeks ago here on CAF. It was prescribed in the older form of the Mass, but not in the OF.
I personally think that everyone should be required to SING the hymns and responses during the Mass, but that also is not required, and Iâm sure many of the laypeople are greatly relieved that it isnât required. But I wish it was!
I think itâs the only way weâll ever get Catholics to sing out!
When a poster comes along who is complaining about the âunfriendlyâ person who gives him a dirty look when he reaches for their hand at the Our Father, then I will tell him the same thing.
