When to say the communion antiphon at weekday Mass?

[Edmundus1581]

It seems to go like clockwork in some churches, but not at others, including my own.

When the priest is communicating from the chalice, a member of the congregation starts to recite the communion antiphon and others (those who are alert and prepared) join in.

But what if the parish doesn’t have it working so smoothly?

1. Is it required to be said?
2. Is it required to be said at this moment, ie. when the priest is communicating from the chalice?
3. If someone in the congregation (eg. me!) notices that it wasn’t said while the priest was communicating, could he or she recite it a bit later, say when the priest moves to distribute communion to others?

In my own parish it went smoothly for years with the same man being the the one to start it, and a few would would join in. Inexplicably, he stopped doing this, and the practice lapsed. We recently had a new priest who would recite it quietly at the end of communion when he returned to his chair, but no one joined in and after a few weeks he stopped doing it. From this, I gathered that it is required, and that if not said at the right time, it is still better to say it, but not if, in practice, it’s always only one person.

Thankyou!

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

• Is it required to be said? If there’s no hymn, it should be said, but I don’t think I would go so far as required.
• Is it required to be said at this moment, ie. when the priest is communicating from the chalice? Definitely not. Most places I’ve been that opt to use it, the priest starts it. He couldn’t do that at this moment.
• If someone in the congregation (eg. me!) notices that it wasn’t said while the priest was communicating, could he or she recite it a bit later, say when the priest moves to distribute communion to others? Only with permission; it’s not really the laity’s place to initiate of their own accord.

We typically have it between the priest’s communion and everyone else’s, or it comes after communion.

 

[UpUpAndAway]

This is what we do as well, although in either case the priest recites it alone. Our churches are not equipped with missalettes and the vast majority of attendees don’t have their own hand missals so the priest is the only one with consistent access to the text.

 

[Edmundus1581]

Thanks for the replies! Interesting.

Maybe the process I described has become a convention in Australia, or in Adelaide, and only in the churches which have weekday missalettes (good point, @UpUpAndAway).

I’ve seen this (the laity saying it while the priest receives communion) in the Cathedral, and several parishes. Perhaps, because this is the way it is usually done people have started to think that this is how it must be done. It wouldn’t be unusual for that to happen!

As to whether the laity can lead it, I’m more sure of that. Everywhere I’ve heard it said, the laity have led it, except in the case I mentioned of the priest who did for a few weeks, but then stopped when no-one joined in. Sometimes it’s by a designated person, and otherwise informally,

I’ve been to daily masses where several in the congregation look at the antiphon in the missal and wait for someone to start, and if someone does, then they join in. Over the years, the idea that it must be said while the priest is communicating from the chalice has become more entrenched, so if the moment is missed then it’s gone.

 

[UpUpAndAway]

I have no (name removed by moderator)ut on whether or not it’s permitted, but I will say this: just because it happens in a cathedral or you see it done “everywhere” doesn’t mean it’s right to do it. Unfortunately, this is often a poor gauge of acceptability.

I once saw a visiting priest break the celebrant host during the Consecration…at Notre-Dame de Paris. Nevertheless, this is definitely wrong and should not happen. So I would caution against assuming that something is okay based on where you see it taking place and/or how often you see it happening.

Conversely, I’d advise everyone to avoid actively looking for faults in the liturgy.* That’s not why we go to Mass, and it has the potential to drive you crazy in the end. (I don’t patrol Mass for anomalies but as a former head sacristan I can’t help but notice them when they happen. The vast majority of people at a given Mass are not saddled with this peculiarity. I have learned to not let such anomalies distract me for more than a second or two.)

*note that I’m not saying you do this, @Edmundus1581

 

[Phemie]

This is addressed in the GIRM

1. While the Priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion Chant is begun. (…)
2. In the Dioceses of the United States of America, there are four options for singing at Communion: (1) the antiphon from the Missal or the antiphon with its Psalm from the Graduale Romanum, (…)
   However, if there is no singing, the antiphon given in the Missal may be recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a reader; otherwise, it is recited by the Priest himself after he has received Communion and before he distributes Communion to the faithful.

 

[Edmundus1581]

Thanks so much, Phemie!

That seems to answer all my questions, but if you could indulge me for two clarification.

(86) refers to the “Communion Chant” being sung when the Priest is receiving the sacrament, and then (87) mentions “four options”, including the “antiphon from the Missal”. I take it, in context, that these “four options for singing” are the the “Communion Chant” of (86)?. This would then answer the question about when it is to be said (ie. when the priest is receiving the sacrament).

The wording is mostly descriptive, rather than prescriptive or suggestive. eg. “the Communion Chant is begun”, rather than “must begin”, or “should begin”.

Is this the normal way in the GIRM for stating a requirement? Now, I’m not going to make an issue about this or be concerned about “liturgical abuse” , but I just want to know what the Church ideally expects, and it looks to me that the Church does expect the communion antiphon to recited, by congregation or priest (in the absence of singing), with the same priority as any other part of the Mass. Obviously it is not as “Important” as, say, the psalm, but neither is it optional.

 

[Herculees]

In my experience in the Roman Rite the congregation recited the Communion Antiphon AFTER EVERYONE has returned from holy Communion!