What prayers are "Liturgical" & what non-liturgical?

[saurav]

What are the criteria to know which prayers and devotional practices are “liturgical” and which not? I have scoured the Catechism for it and all I got was deep (wonderfully so) theological explanations of the Liturgy itself.
Even the Code of Canon law says little about the subject, dwelling largely on the proper celebration of the liturgy.
I know that liturgical worship must be canonically “approved”, solemn and “public” rather than customised or private. Thus all Sacraments are liturgical celebrations because they are both solemnly celebrated and corporate.
So what about:

The Rosary? It is public indeed but I wouldn’t classify it as a Solemn Celebration…
What about Novenas?
Blessings of houses, etc?

Litanies?- I have a book of Litanies which has 2 sections in it: the first entitled “Litanies officially approved by the Church” contains five litanies(Saints, Holy Name, Sacred Heart, Our Lady and St. Joseph);—so may we call these “liturgical”? the second section is entitled “Litanies meant for private devotion only.”

I am quite puzzled…Please tell me just how to know what is official, solemn and liturgical!

 

[puzzleannie]

liturgy is the public prayer of the Church, the work of the people of God. Mass and the sacraments, with all the supporting rites, liturgy of the hours. This is prayer offered by the priest or ordained minister with faculties to do so, with the people, by Jesus, to the Father through the Holy Spirit. These are governed by rubrics (how-to instructions) and canons specific to those rites (the GIRM, the ritual books for the sacraments, sacramentary, Roman Missal etc). Thus canon law only specifies that they be done properly, the ritual books specific to each form contain the actual words and actions and instructions, and the CCC describes why we do it, not the specifics of what we do (the CCC would have to be several volumes to do that).

All else is private devotion, even when groups of Catholics may gather in public to pray, such as the rosary, stations of the cross, or divine mercy chaplet.

 

[benedictgal]

There is one occasion, I believe, when the Litany of the Saints is used during the Mass: the Easter Vigil. This litany is chanted before the blessing of the new water to be used for the baptism of the Elect. Now, the Litany of the Saints can be used as the entrance hymn, as it was for that of the funeral Mass for Pope John Paul II and the installation Mass for Pope Benedict XVI.

Now, regarding other devotionals like the Stations of the Cross, please do not assume that Canon Law addresses these matters. We also have the authoritative, liturgical documents of the Church that help us. For instance, this is what Paschale Solemnitatis, the circular letter released by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, says about devotionals during Good Friday:

1. Devotions, such as the Way of the Cross, processions of the passion, and commemorations of the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary are not, for pastoral reasons, to be neglected. The texts and songs used, however, should be adapted to the spirit of the liturgy of this day. Such devotions should be assigned to a time of day that makes it quite clear that the liturgical celebration, by its very nature, far surpasses them in importance. [74]

I hope that this helps shed some light into the issue you raised.

 

[Joannm]

There is one occasion, I believe, when the Litany of the Saints is used during the Mass: the Easter Vigil. This litany is chanted before the blessing of the new water to be used for the baptism of the Elect. Now, the Litany of the Saints can be used as the entrance hymn, as it was for that of the funeral Mass for Pope John Paul II and the installation Mass for Pope Benedict XVI.

Now, regarding other devotionals like the Stations of the Cross, please do not assume that Canon Law addresses these matters. We also have the authoritative, liturgical documents of the Church that help us. For instance, this is what Paschale Solemnitatis, the circular letter released by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, says about devotionals during Good Friday:

I hope that this helps shed some light into the issue you raised.

The Litany of the Saints is also used at ordination Masses and can be used if a baptism of children takes place at a Mass, although it could be a shortened form as in the Rite of Baptism. We also sing it at Confirmation.

 

[FrDavid96]

What are the criteria to know which prayers and devotional practices are “liturgical” and which not? I have scoured the Catechism for it and all I got was deep (wonderfully so) theological explanations of the Liturgy itself.
Even the Code of Canon law says little about the subject, dwelling largely on the proper celebration of the liturgy.
I know that liturgical worship must be canonically “approved”, solemn and “public” rather than customised or private. Thus all Sacraments are liturgical celebrations because they are both solemnly celebrated and corporate.
So what about:

The Rosary? It is public indeed but I wouldn’t classify it as a Solemn Celebration…
What about Novenas?
Blessings of houses, etc?

Litanies?- I have a book of Litanies which has 2 sections in it: the first entitled “Litanies officially approved by the Church” contains five litanies(Saints, Holy Name, Sacred Heart, Our Lady and St. Joseph);—so may we call these “liturgical”? the second section is entitled “Litanies meant for private devotion only.”

I am quite puzzled…Please tell me just how to know what is official, solemn and liturgical!

The “official” criteria is that something is liturgical if it is part of the liturgical books approved by the Church. I know that doesn’t provide much help, but it is what it is.

Part of what might be causing diffiiculty here is that it’s a distinction (official rite vs not) that isn’t always obvious. You mentioned blessing of homes. One might say this is liturgical because the Church has official rituals for blessing of homes. On the other hand, it might be called non-liturgical because it’s more of a private event that a truly public act of worship.

Perhaps you might find more concrete details in the Cong. for Divine Worship & Disc. of the Sacraments “Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy” vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html

It’s a rather long document. I do hope this helps a little.

 

[benedictgal]

The Litany of the Saints is also used at ordination Masses and can be used if a baptism of children takes place at a Mass, although it could be a shortened form as in the Rite of Baptism. We also sing it at Confirmation.

Yes, that is true. In fact, I am thinking of using it as the prelude to my cousin’s wedding.