When did you first learn there was such a thing as a GIRM.?

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SMHW

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Most of my Catholic education came after Vatican II but I am old enough that most of the changes weren’t implemented until I was a “'tween”. The dioceses of Los Angeles was pretty “traditional” back then (compared with much of the United States) so I had a pretty solid “old fashioned” Catholic school education.

But I never once heard there was such a thing as a General Instruction on the Roman Missal (or it’s equivalent). Anything to be learned about what the people should say and do were learned from observation of others, from the direction of priests, Catholic religious educators, and the printed directions in missals/missalettes.

I’m not sure I knew about the GIRM until I joined CAF in 2004. But everyone here in the Liturgy and Sacraments forum seems to take it for granted that good Catholics should know what is in the GIRM (or should at least know it exists.)

I question whether or not the Church intends that your average Catholic on the street knows about the GIRM.
 
I have learned about GIRM 2 years ago when I started reading orthodox Catholic blogs written by priests. I don’t know if GIRM was intended for lay people or just for priests,but the way things are nowdays when it comes to liturgy it is quite useful for us to be familiar with it. Unfortunately, I’ve never met anyone who has even heard of it. It seems that this kind of knowledge and availability of info is an internet phenomenon.
 
I learned about it in 2002, when there was some discussion about the changes to the rubrics (such as the need to bow before recieving Communion.)
 
Contra_Mundum said:
I have learned about GIRM 2 years ago when I started reading orthodox Catholic blogs written by priests. I don’t know if GIRM was intended for lay people or just for priests,but the way things are nowdays when it comes to liturgy it is quite useful for us to be familiar with it. Unfortunately, I’ve never met anyone who has even heard of it. It seems that this kind of knowledge and availability of info is an internet phenomenon.
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I haven’t met anyone who isn’t “liturgically aware” that knows about the GIRM (except possibly having heard of it once). It was designed for priests and MCs and the like, but with the situation we are in today it has caused many to learn about it due to need. If the priests won’t read it, the laity will.
 
Whats worse is the liturgically/girm unaware people who call you out for lack of charity, when you point out the illicit innovations, changing of words of consecration, heretical homilies, or just priests who act as if they are riding a parade float during the entrance procession and want to wave to everyone or even enter the pews and shake hands with most.

Most of the same people, come to mass early to talk and chatter to their friends. To them it is not a ‘house of prayer’ but something else.
 
SMHW said:
Most of my Catholic education came after Vatican II but I am old enough that most of the changes weren’t implemented until I was a “'tween”. The dioceses of Los Angeles was pretty “traditional” back then (compared with much of the United States) so I had a pretty solid “old fashioned” Catholic school education.

But I never once heard there was such a thing as a General Instruction on the Roman Missal (or it’s equivalent). Anything to be learned about what the people should say and do were learned from observation of others, from the direction of priests, Catholic religious educators, and the printed directions in missals/missalettes.

I’m not sure I knew about the GIRM until I joined CAF in 2004. But everyone here in the Liturgy and Sacraments forum seems to take it for granted that good Catholics should know what is in the GIRM (or should at least know it exists.)

I question whether or not the Church intends that your average Catholic on the street knows about the GIRM.
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Perhaps, people weren’t paying attention. An older missal I have gives reference to the GIRM in the ‘How to use the Missal’ section. After some extracts from an Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI (it doesn’t say which one) are 12 pages of extracts from the GIRM (4th edition 27 March 1975) and then two pages of extracts from the General Introduction to the Lectionary. I don’t think the Church was hiding it, just that most people didn’t notice it.
 
JM3 said:
Perhaps, people weren’t paying attention. An older missal I have gives reference to the GIRM in the ‘How to use the Missal’ section. After some extracts from an Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI (it doesn’t say which one) are 12 pages of extracts from the GIRM (4th edition 27 March 1975) and then two pages of extracts from the General Introduction to the Lectionary. I don’t think the Church was hiding it, just that most people didn’t notice it.
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Most people use the Missalette’s in the pew, and then mostly for the readings and the Responsorial Psalm. I think that most lay people have a better knowledge of the G.I.R.M. today with the explosion of the internet.
 
zab said:
Most people use the Missalette’s in the pew, and then mostly for the readings and the Responsorial Psalm. I think that most lay people have a better knowledge of the G.I.R.M. today with the explosion of the internet.
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True. I haven’t used a missalette for some time, so I don’t know what is in them. I prefer the Daily Roman Missal and have had one for many years.

🙂
 
😛 They taught me about GIRM in one of the Lifeteen Lifenights 😃
 
I learned about it from EWTN news, I think around 2002 or 2003 when a new version came out.
 
TheMc said:
How ironic. Not that it’s a bad thing, but I do find the irony quite rich. 😛
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Ironic, how? 🤷 When the Lifeteen was presented to the Pope (JPII) and he asked LT to conform, they did.
 
SMHW said:
I’m not sure I knew about the GIRM until I joined CAF in 2004
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Actually that’s probably not true. I wouldn’t be surprised that I learned about the GIRM from Catholic Answers but it was probably before CA even had a website (mid/late 1900s?), much less when this forum was created.
 
purplesunshine said:
Ironic, how? 🤷 When the Lifeteen was presented to the Pope (JPII) and he asked LT to conform, they did.
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For two reasons:
  1. The very fact that they needed to be asked to conform…by a pope, none the less.
  2. By in large, they still need to implement it in most places… Yes, as an organization, they now conform, but does it actually happen everywhere? The effects of their disobedience is still felt today in many places. I’ve been to several life teen masses in different areas of the country (at random and by accident, I might add), and every one was sorely in need of corrections.
 
TheMc said:
For two reasons:
  1. The very fact that they needed to be asked to conform…by a pope, none the less.
  2. By in large, they still need to implement it in most places… Yes, as an organization, they now conform, but does it actually happen everywhere? The effects of their disobedience is still felt today in many places. I’ve been to several life teen masses in different areas of the country (at random and by accident, I might add), and every one was sorely in need of corrections.
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  1. Why? Being corrected and obeying is NOT bad. Infact it’s quite holy.
  2. Many of these transgressions cannot be blamed on Lifeteen. Parishes that won’t obey lifeteen and face the threat of loosing their franchize are often parishes that don’t obey in other things. Infact, many parishes because they were corrected by LT changed all there masses.
 
during catechist formation particularly sacramental preparation sections
 
Around 1999, when I first ran into a woman who talked me into forming a liturgy committee in my parish and started me reading documents whose existence I’d never been aware of (and I’d been on liturgy committees in various parishes for about 15 years). Until then I’d only ever heard about encyclicals and Canon Law, not that I was too sure what those were.

Today, whenever we do things in the parish, we make sure to point out that we are not pulling those things out of our hats but that they are mandated by various Church documents and we tell them exactly which ones. For most it’s the first they’ve heard of the GIRM. Some have never heard of Canon Law.
 
I am so used to using the internet now that I had to jog my memory. Years ago, I used to write letters to the Archdiocesean newspaper on occassion. Being brought up in a devout Catholic family, I had my own intuitions when something was not quite right, either in my own parish or with the information that was being put out at that time in the diocecean newspaper. I also wrote a few letters to the Archdiocese when I was experiencing some difficulties when I was a volunteer in prison ministry. There was a lot of “New Age” “feminist” and “Creationalist” spiritually that was being mixed with the Catholic teachings- and liturgical abuse galore.
Back then, I relied upon certain trusted Catholic publications- books, magazines and newspapers as well as the Catholic catechism for information. Now I use the internet. It is difficult to remember, but I’m guessing that If I quoted from the G.I.R.M, I probably got the quote from some article of a trusted Catholic publication that I had on hand. I used to save newspaper and magazine clippings on certain topics. I don’t think that I was as familiar with the General Instruction of the Roman Missal then as I am now when it is so easily accessable online.
 
SMHW said:
I question whether or not the Church intends that your average Catholic on the street knows about the GIRM.
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They probably don’t know the term “GIRM”.

But the average Catholic certainly knows that there are detailed rules on saying mass and other liturgical prayers.

I don’t know if the term “GIRM” was even around when I had religion classes in the 1960’s, but there were certainly rules and rubrics even then- and the people were very familiar with their existance–even if they didn’t know every one themselves.
 
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