What now virtually-abandoned liturgical practices from your youth do miss most?

[Lepanto]

Guess the OP messed up by including that in the list huh?

I think you’re misunderstanding this issue.

The Vatican instruction only addressed who may purify the vessels: instituted acolytes or the ordained. It did not discuss where they could be purified or if they are all to be purified simultaneously.

 

[Eilish_Maura]

I think you’re misunderstanding this issue.

The Vatican instruction only addressed who may purify the vessels: instituted acolytes or the ordained. It did not discuss where they could be purified or if they are all to be purified simultaneously.

**I trust the Vatican that if the location was that important it would be stated.

MY POINT to [edited by Moderator] was that since this practice aimed at demonstrating reverence is accounted for. BTW - he did not specify a preference regarding location for it.**

 

[KofC_SirKnight]

**I trust the Vatican that if the location was that important it would be stated.

MY POINT to [edited by Moderator]** was that since this practice aimed at demonstrating reverence is accounted for. BTW - he did not specify a preference regarding location for it.

[Edited by Moderator] I was referring to the practice of EEMs purifying the vessels in the US before the Vatican stopped it here.

 

[Rosewith]

[Edited by Moderator] I was referring to the practice of EEMs purifying the vessels in the US before the Vatican stopped it here.

Actually, it was a matter of not renewing a special indult for the US that had been requested by US bishops. Indults come and go all the time. NBD.

 

[JimG]

At my parish, we still receive communion at the altar rails on weekdays (standing not kneeling.) The priest purifies the vessels at the altar, the other priests do assist at comunion, but we also have EMHC’s, there are confessions every day before weekday Mass, pre-Mass rosary on Sundays, and May crownings. We do have both boy and girl altar servers, and no choir loft.

I think the choir loft is the only thing that stirs some nostalgia. The parish church in which I grew up had a choir loft, and a great choir. They sang some wonderful chant; even as a child I was stirred by the beauty of that music. And no one would have dared to applaud!

 

[AltarEnthusiast]

These were all things which I regularly ally-abandoned liturgical practices from your youth do miss most?

While not a practice per se, I miss going to the Mass when everything felt instinctively “correct” while I was largely oblivious to the actual rubrics.

Sometimes knowledge of the rubrics can be extremely distracting.

 

[Sarabande]

I was born long after Vatican II was pretty much fully implemented. But this is what we have at our parish and other parishes that I’ve attended mass in:

• Receiving communion at altar rails I have only experienced this at the TLM and at some NO parishes where they either received kneeling or standing with the priests behind the altar rails. That said, at my parish, they kept their altar rails in the cathedral and in the chapel.
• Altar boys (not girls) with patens No patens unless at a TLM, but until a few years ago, the country parish I attended very often since I was child had altar boys who held the patens for the NO mass. They still don’t have girl altar servers.
• Sanctus bells This is done in my parish and in many other parishes around the archdiocese. Some even ring it three times. They reinstituted this a few years back.
• Priests actually preaching from the pulpit (instead of wandering around like a talk show host) Our priests (we have about 6 in our parish) all preach from the pulpit. I used to work in a parish where the one priest preached wandering around and doing a question/answer. I spoke to our director of the diocese about that just out of curiosity - not telling him which priest and which parish, and he told me that in our diocese, question/answer homilies were not permitted.
• The priest purifying the sacred vessels at the altar Happens for every mass at our parish
• The choir actually in the choir loft Choir is always in the choir loft with the organist in the back of the cathedral or the chapel. The acoustics are much better from up top and from the back and it sounds like music coming from the heavens. For funerals/weddings, even the cantor is in the choir loft
• Extra priests coming out at communion time to help distribute
  We have about 6 priests, so we always have a couple extra priests (those who are not doing other duties) distributing communion with one or two EMs
• Confessions offered immediately before Mass Confession is offered before mass on Saturdays. They don’t have it on Sundays, but I regularly see priests giving confessions to those who actually ask them before or after Sunday mass
• Pre-Mass rosaries Don’t have that
• Post-Mass recitations of the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
  Don’t have that
• Post-Mass benedictions Sometimes have this, but it’s not weekly
• May crownings Have this every year

I guess I can say, I am also pretty fortunate, considering some of the horror stories I’ve heard from family/friends and actual parishes I’ve visited accross the country.

 

[daeve]

I’m a joanie-come-lately to this thread, and I’ve only skimmed the responses, but…

Receiving communion at altar rails I go to 2 parishes on a regular basis. One was the first parish built in St. Louis according to V2 guidelines. We have a communion rail, but it isn’t used. The other parish has a newer building, still at least 20 years old, and will be getting a communion rail sometime this Spring. This parish has recently started a weekly Latin Mass, and using the first pew for Communion is very difficult since so many attending are old (like me). I had forgotten about the cloths on the rails until someone mentioned it earlier here. One boy would go to either end, and they turned the cloth over the rail together. I figured it was to keep the host from touching the cold marble in case it got dropped. I don’t know when that practice stopped.-

Altar boys (not girls) with patens
Both my parishes have both girls and boys, and I personally would have been thrilled and honored to serve at Mass.

• Sanctus bells
  We have bells.
• Priests actually preaching from the pulpit (instead of wandering around like a talk show host)
  In both of these parishes, the priest reads the Gospel and speaks from the Ambow. A church I go to only when I just can’t go somewhere else, has a priest I expect to break into a tap dance any minute. It’s the only late Sunday afternoon Mass anywhere near me, and it’s a Youth Mass. There’s nothing about it that I like, except the time and location.
• The priest purifying the sacred vessels at the altar (however I recently saw an Indian priest at one local parish doing this)
  I know this is done at the Latin Mass, and I’m pretty sure it’s done at the other church too,.
• The choir actually in the choir loft
  Neither has a choir loft. The one where I sing, we’re in the first few benches on the left hand side of the church. The other one has a section off to the right of the altar.
• Extra priests coming out at communion time to help distribute
  At the Latin Mass, the celebrant and the pastor who sat on the side for Mass were the only ones to distribute Communion. There were 4 other priests on the altar that didn’t. The other one has two full time priests who both distribute communion, and 2 deacons. We also have a seminarian and a bunch of EMHCs.
• Confessions offered immediately before Mass
• Pre-Mass rosaries
• Post-Mass recitations of the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
  Both parishes have all of these on Saturday. When I was in grade school, we had to go to confession during the daily Mass so that Saturdays were free for adults.
• Post-Mass benedictions
  I don’t remember this off the top of my head.
• May crownings
  I remember this more in high school than in the parish.

I also remember a lot of what you might call cultural things from those days. The parish was the center of your life. You went to school there, not to public school. Almost my entire class of nearly 90 kids went to Catholic high schools. A couple didn’t get into the Archdiocesan schools and couldn’t get to most of the private schools on public transportation, but they were the exceptions. A lot of the parishes still had high schools back then too, and bowling alleys and skating rinks, and CYO. We had card parties, choirs full of people, men’s club, Knights of Columbus, Rosary Sodality, scouts, communion breakfasts, fish fries…it was everything to us. You got a full dose of religious instruction every day. I really miss all that.

 

[Sarabande]

I also remember a lot of what you might call cultural things from those days. The parish was the center of your life. You went to school there, not to public school. Almost my entire class of nearly 90 kids went to Catholic high schools. A couple didn’t get into the Archdiocesan schools and couldn’t get to most of the private schools on public transportation, but they were the exceptions. A lot of the parishes still had high schools back then too, and bowling alleys and skating rinks, and CYO. We had card parties, choirs full of people, men’s club, Knights of Columbus, Rosary Sodality, scouts, communion breakfasts, fish fries…it was everything to us. You got a full dose of religious instruction every day. I really miss all that.

Yes… I went to Catholic school in the 1980s and 1990s. We had one of the biggest classes - 80 kids split into two classrooms. Although we didn’t have the kind of togetherness outside of school that you spoke of (I grew up in the outer edges of suburbia - so there were still a lot of old farms and you had to drive everywhere to get anywhere - I would call it nice suburbia now) there was a “community” during the school day. Although, catechesis was pretty bad, I had wonderful memories. It was a safe haven in a way. You didn’t realize how hateful people were of Catholics until after you left.

Unfortunately, so many Catholic schools are closing. People just can’t afford it anymore. I know the one I used to work at is now closed. My parents had to pull my sibs and I out mid-way through highschool because they couldn’t afford it if we were to go to college. What my parents and grandparents tell me is that in the past there were so many active Catholics and they gave to their individual parishes that there wasn’t a need to pay for schooling. My grandfather was a bluecollar worker, yet all six of his kids when to Catholic gradeschool and highschool for free. My grandmother attended a private Catholic girls academy for nothing - although the wealthy girls would look their noses down on the girls from the other side of the tracks. But it was almost always equal. You can’t get that today. Only the more well-off can attend. I wanted to attend my grandmother’s academy in high school. I passed the exams, but the tuition was $8,000. (My parents did pretty well back then, but not that well.) It was impossible for my parents to afford with other kids, speech therapy and tutoring for my brother and sister, plus college to think of. It’s a shame Catholic kids can’t get that same kind of experience any more.

 

[daeve]

The ones that I miss the most are the processions around the neighborhoods during major holidays and festivities. That was a way to send a strong message of faith to everybody including the non-church going people.

Depending on weather, we have processions a couple times a year. One is on the Feast of Christ the King, when we process up Joy Avenue (isn’t that perfect) to this little park at the end of the block, where there’s a little table set up with candles and a lace cloth. As many people as can walk it go, and it’s a goodly crowd. Usually they’re singing Tantum Ergo, but in English.

 

[FrCorey]

snacks and drinks for the congregation after mass.

 

[lak611]

Unfortunately, so many Catholic schools are closing. People just can’t afford it anymore. I know the one I used to work at is now closed. My parents had to pull my sibs and I out mid-way through highschool because they couldn’t afford it if we were to go to college. What my parents and grandparents tell me is that in the past there were so many active Catholics and they gave to their individual parishes that there wasn’t a need to pay for schooling. My grandfather was a bluecollar worker, yet all six of his kids when to Catholic gradeschool and highschool for free. My grandmother attended a private Catholic girls academy for nothing - although the wealthy girls would look their noses down on the girls from the other side of the tracks. But it was almost always equal. You can’t get that today. Only the more well-off can attend.

I think the difference is because the teachers used to be nuns who did not need to be paid much, especially due to their vows of poverty. With the decline of religious life, the schools were forced to hire teachers. Although the teachers typically make a lot less money than they would if they taught at a public school, their pay and benefits are still much higher than what would have been given to the sisters. Without religious sisters, Catholic schools will continue to decline.

 

[Sarabande]

I think the difference is because the teachers used to be nuns who did not need to be paid much, especially due to their vows of poverty. With the decline of religious life, the schools were forced to hire teachers. Although the teachers typically make a lot less money than they would if they taught at a public school, their pay and benefits are still much higher than what would have been given to the sisters. Without religious sisters, Catholic schools will continue to decline.

This is probably very true. Almost all of our teachers were lay teachers. And in the school where I taught only the first grade teacher was a sister.

 

[Sr_Sally]

In the same diosece, different parish, as Irish Am.

In no particular order:

• Receiving communion at altar rails No rails
• Altar boys (not girls) with patens Boys, but no patens
• Sanctus bells Yes
• Priests actually preaching from the pulpit (instead of wandering around like a talk show host) Yes
• The priest purifying the sacred vessels at the altar (however I recently saw an Indian priest at one local parish doing this) Yes
• The choir actually in the choir loft No loft, but they aren’t right behind the altar either
• Extra priests coming out at communion time to help distribute Yes, in fact we have some Masses with no EMHCs
• Confessions offered immediately before Mass Not on Sunday, except during Lent and Advent
• Pre-Mass rosaries Weekday, post-Mass rosaries
• Post-Mass recitations of the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel Lots of people do it, but not the entire congregation as a whole
• Post-Mass benedictions You mean with the Host in the monstrance? No
• May crownings Yes

 

[puzzleannie]

as much as anything else, I miss silence after communion. I would kill for 60 seconds with no announcements, kneeler banging, door slamming, conviviality, “sharing”, or singing vapid lyirics to banal music.

 

[KCT]

Not really a practice, but back when we had more priests . . .

I loved seeing 3 or 4 priests come out from the sacristy to distribute Communion. I miss that sight.

 

[Uncle_Norbert]

Yepper…reminds me of my days at St John the Baptist near Chicago growing up…EIGHT Masses on Sunday, and at almost every one, two to three priests came in to distribute Communion…mostly out of need, I’m sure…when you’re running one-hour-and-fifteen-minute headways, there isn’t time to tarry

 

[FrCorey]

Yepper…reminds me of my days at St John the Baptist near Chicago growing up…EIGHT Masses on Sunday, and at almost every one, two to three priests came in to distribute Communion…mostly out of need, I’m sure…when you’re running one-hour-and-fifteen-minute headways, there isn’t time to tarry

hmm, rubrics say a priest can only take communion twice a day.

 

[Uncle_Norbert]

They didn’t “take” Communion, they assisted the Celebrant with distribution. We had three “regular” priests, and the principal of the Catholic HS came in on weekends to help as well.

I thought a Priest could say THREE Masses a day if needed? I may be wrong, or perhaps the rules have changed. I know of a priest in eastern Oklahoma that covers three different parishes.

 

[Sarabande]

I thought a Priest could say THREE Masses a day if needed? I may be wrong, or perhaps the rules have changed. I know of a priest in eastern Oklahoma that covers three different parishes.

That sounds right. We had a priest who was the only priest for three parishes. So, as soon as he would complete mass for our parish, he’d have to drive out to the next one and so one.