During the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, you will usually find in most Hispanic parishes some dancers called “matachines”. However, at no time do they dance during the liturgy. Most of the time it is done after the mass, and after the priest has left. Also in many parishes it is done outside of the church before Mass starts or if there is space, it is done in the hall. But again, that has been the culture in Mexico for many, many years.
It makes absolutely no difference whether we have a preference for it or not, whether it is done reverently or not, whether it makes us feel good or not, the Church has said that it is NOT a part of the liturgy (as least in the West) and thus if it is done in any parish during the mass, it is a disobedience to the Church and should be stopped immediately.
That a priest OK’d it during a funeral mass because of the request of the family, the priest was wrong and should have explained why. He could have maybe allowed it before or after the mass, but not during the liturgy. What if I were to request, during a mass for a magician, for the priest to put in a magic show during the consecration and add the words “abracadabra, the bread is now the body of christ”, would that be OK? I know this is going overboard, but the priest should very gently have denied the request for liturgical dancers.
I have seen “liturgical dancers” before, some of the dancers were good and others were bad, but regardless they should NOT have danced during the mass.
As for music and singing, that has been a part of the mass for many, many years and actually the musicians and singers are there to “lead” the singing, and not to put on a show.
What next, are some priests going to allow “liturgical dancers” so they can lead everybody and have the whole congregation prancing and jumping around the church during mass? .
I DONT THINK SO… Maybe at some pentecostal service. I know that in some “charismatic masses” the so called “dancing in the spirit” is done, but that too is NOT allowed.
