Why do so many priests only use EP2?

[Ahlman]

GIRM 365 says that the Roman Canon “is likewise especially appropriate for Sundays, unless for pastoral considerations Eucharistic Prayer III is preferred” and that Eucharistic Prayer II “on account of its particular features, is more appropriately used on weekdays or in special circumstances.”

Still, I know of many priests that only use Eucharistic Prayer II exclusively, including Sundays, sollemnities, Christmas, Maundy Thursday and Easter. Why is this? No matter what their reasons are, to me it gives the impression that they want to finish the Mass as soon as possible as it is the shortest one, and that they do not want to emphasize the sacrificial character of the Eucharist since EPII is the eucharistic prayer that does this the least. Also, in a Mass that takes about 1½ hour with a long homily and lots of messages before the final blessing, it doesn’t feel very well balanced to make the most important part of the Mass the shortest possible.

But still, the exlusive use of EPII can’t really be considered a liturgical abuse, can it? I suppose “more appropriately” and “special circumstances” can be interpreted pretty widely.

And even if you follow the instructions of the GIRM and refrain from using EPII on Sundays, do you still really have to use it every single weekday?

 

[Chatter163]

One word: EXPEDITIOUS. Or, if you prefer, SPEEDY. :bounce:

 

[saieditor]

A speedy mystery of salvation?

 

[Cat]

They use it because, according to the GIRM that YOU correctly cited, they have every right and authority to use it. They are not doing anything wrong, they are not going against the Church rules. They are obeying the GIRM.

Don’t complain. Be grateful and glad that at least they are using EP2 instead of something out of a book of goddess poems.

 

[drforjc]

I agree with those who cite speed as the primary factor. Although, honestly, I don’t think that using I or III adds that many more minutes and seconds. Certainly there are other things that could be tweaked to make up the difference.
A priest on another forum commented that he was able to offer a reverent “low” Novus Ordo daily mass, complete with EP I and a brief homily, in around 25 minutes.

 

[bkovacs]

Pretty sad that the NO Mass is treated like a fast food restaurant. We can have your Mass done in 15 minutes!. In the Orthodox Church and the TLM it’s about worshiping God as reverently and as beautifully as is made for God. Speed has nothing to do with it!. Were taliking average 1 1/2 hours. Just for the Liturgy. And no one complains!.

 

[ethelzguy]

Or, it could be that EP II has ancient roots, and cuts to the chase.

It gets to the meat and potatoes of why we’re there without additional fanfare.

 

[PacoG]

One word: EXPEDITIOUS. Or, if you prefer, SPEEDY. :bounce:

Exercise some charity when making that judgment.

You also have to remember the shortage of priests. Often one priest has care of a parish (which sometimes has a mission or two), perhaps a chaplaincy at the hospital or the local university and an assignment at the diocesan curia. Our priests today are doing the job today of two or three priests.

Yesterday at Mass, our priest lost his voice two or three times during Mass. It’s allergy season in our part of the Texas and you could tell he was feeling it (as was most of the congregation). He gutted it up and said Mass for us out of love of God and His people. So forgive me if I don’t see anything wrong with his choice of Penitential Rite Option B (Lord, we have sinned against you.) and Eucharistic Prayer 2. They are approved texts.

One thing that is often lost on this board is that we need to take care of and pray for our priests.

 

[EasterJoy]

In order to know the answer to this question with regards to any particular priest, one would have to actually ask him. Conjecture can’t take the place of first-hand knowledge. There are times when it is frankly uncharitable to allow it to do so.

Incidentally, the chances of hearing the Roman Canon will be enhanced if you positively express a love for it and a hope that he might see his way to choose it more often directly to your priest without putting down the one(s) he seems to prefer. The old saw about trying to catch flies with vinegar applies to priests, too. One hopes that each one always pursues the best way to dispense the sacraments with great diligence, but they’re still men, like anyone else. Don’t put stumbling blocks between your priest and the canon you hope to hear.

 

[MusicMan]

First off, the OP, doesn’t quote the GIRM passages in question accurately. I would encourage all of you to go to the source and read it for yourselves.

Secondly, the GIRM passage does not directly say that the Roman Canon holds a place of prominence, it certainly hints at it. The Roman Canon can be used at any Mass.

The GIRM also specifies that EP III is most appropriate on Sunday and EP II is most appropriate at weekday Masses. It neither forbids EP III’s use during the week, nor does it forbid EP II on Sunday morning.

Lastly, expressing a desire to hear a different EP out of a love for that EP is probably the easiest, best, and most appropriate way to encourage Father to pray that particular EP.

 

[Cat]

Pretty sad that the NO Mass is treated like a fast food restaurant. We can have your Mass done in 15 minutes!. In the Orthodox Church and the TLM it’s about worshiping God as reverently and as beautifully as is made for God. Speed has nothing to do with it!. Were taliking average 1 1/2 hours. Just for the Liturgy. And no one complains!.

Many people can’t attend daily Mass because of work. I am not able to attend our parish Mass–it starts at 6:30 A.M. and ends at 7:00 A.M. and I have to be at work at 7:00 A.M.

If this Mass was done in 15 minutes, I could go. I wish it was only 15 minutes long!!! It would be a fast drive to work, but I could make it. What a wonderful way to start the day! But it won’t work if Mass is a half hour long.

So what do you think is better?–

a short Mass that allows for a more people to attend?

or

a longer Mass that many people can’t attend?

The GIRM and other documents allow the priest to choose options that can make the Mass quite short–why shouldn’t the priest choose these options in order to allow more of his flock to attend Mass?! Reverence has little or nothing to do with time–it is an attitude of the heart.

 

[Rachel_J]

I have to concur with Cat. I attend daily mass on average twice a week - and I can do this because it takes about 30 minutes. If it went for 1 1/2 hours I would have to skip - my work day simply doesn’t allow me to spend that length of time in church. That is not my wish, it is simply my reality.

 

[Santoku]

Pretty sad that the NO Mass is treated like a fast food restaurant. We can have your Mass done in 15 minutes!.

In the Orthodox Church and the TLM it’s about worshiping God as reverently and as beautifully as is made for God. Speed has nothing to do with it!. Were taliking average 1 1/2 hours. Just for the Liturgy. And no one complains!.*

The Old Mass

"Stop! Take off the rose-colored glasses and face a reality of 20/20 hindsight. I began serving “the old Mass” in 1939. I am now 73 years old, 45 years a priest, having begun my seminary studies in 1950. As a kid knowing the perfect recitation of all the Latin Mass responses, we dealt with mumbled praying of many priests. In the old days there were parishes that were known as “whiz churches”: Sunday Mass, in and out in 20 minutes…"

adoremus.org/0704ReadersForum.html

Try again. I have never been to even a weekday Pauline Mass that was less than 30 minutes. The EF Mass here each Sunday lasts between 50 and 55 minutes. The Divine Liturgy? 65-70 minutes on average, about the same as a OF Mass.

Weekday Divine Liturgy is 40-45 minutes. There is not enough demand for a daily EF Mass so I cannot say for sure.

 

[Chatter163]

I have never been to even a weekday Pauline Mass that was less than 30 minutes.

I have never been to one that WAS thirty minutes long (other than on major feast days). In the three states in which I have lived, weekday Masses have always run 20-25 minutes.

 

[EasterJoy]

I have never been to one that WAS thirty minutes long (other than on major feast days). In the three states in which I have lived, weekday Masses have always run 20-25 minutes.

Unless there is singing, yes…maybe half an hour. When there are few communicants, and with only the two readings and of course an abbreviated homily, Mass can be done well in a fairly short time. There’s nothing wrong with that.

 

[Santoku]

I have never been to one that WAS thirty minutes long (other than on major feast days). In the three states in which I have lived, weekday Masses have always run 20-25 minutes.

I guess it would depend a great deal on how long the homily was (if at all) and the number of people receiving communion. Weekday homilies here last about 6-8 minutes and about 100 receive communion.

 

[jc-servant]

Pretty sad that the NO Mass is treated like a fast food restaurant. We can have your Mass done in 15 minutes!. In the Orthodox Church and the TLM it’s about worshiping God as reverently and as beautifully as is made for God. Speed has nothing to do with it!. Were taliking average 1 1/2 hours. Just for the Liturgy. And no one complains!.

You really should not generalize about the NO liturgy just because it is not your preference. We do not have “fast food” mass at my parish even though it is NO. We do have to stay on time to keep it within the 90 minute window on regular Sundays because 6 fully packed to the walls masses go back to back with barely enough time for parishioners to get out while others are coming right in. We have one priest with help from a borrowed Spanish-speaking priest for 2 of the masses unless our pastor must do it phonetically. We have over 20,000 registered parishioners.

If you have the luxury of an extended liturgy on Sunday, then be thankful rather than jumping to conclusions about what other people do. An extended liturgy is a luxury that we appreciate on special days such as during Holy Week when we can have an expanded liturgy. However, it does not make our NO mass any less reverent than yours when we limit it to 80-90 minutes. It would not be right to prevent some people from fitting into the church at all for the sake of expanding the liturgy time for the selfish desires of others.

We keep our mass on schedule as best we can by things like singing fewer verses of hymns in the processional and presentation of the gifts and by keeping announcements at the end very brief. Other NO masses that I’ve attended have been just as long as ours except for the time that they save by having fewer people take communion. I have never seen “speed mass.”

 

[benedictgal]

I love my parochial vicar, but, he does use EP II 95% of the time, even though he admits that he really shouldn’t. Of the two (my pastor and my parochial vicar), my PV preaches the longest, but, uses EP II. I told him that maybe he might want to shorten the homily just a tad and consider using EP I or EP IV, or the EPs for Reconciliation (and, he has done so).

Now, he has said EP I and EP II in Latin. He said EP I in Latin for the Christmas Vigil Mass which threw off the chior. I knew that he was going to do that since he had read Sacramentum Caritatis wherein the Holy Father noted that in bilingual Masses, it would be best to pray certain prayers in Latin, so, he justified his actions by saying that he was only following Pope Benedict’s exhoration.

Incidentally, here is what the GIRM notes regarding what the OP indicated:

1. The choice among the Eucharistic Prayers found in the Order of Mass is suitably guided by the following norms:

Eucharistic Prayer I, that is, the Roman Canon, which may always be used, is especially suited to be sung or said on days when there is a proper text for the Communicantes (In union with the whole Church) or in Masses endowed with a proper form of the Hanc igitur (Father, accept this offering) and also in the celebrations of the Apostles and of the Saints mentioned in the Prayer itself; it is likewise especially appropriate for Sundays, unless for pastoral considerations Eucharistic Prayer III is preferred.

**Eucharistic Prayer II, on account of its particular features, is more appropriately used on weekdays or in special circumstances. **Although it has been provided with its own Preface, it may also be used with other Prefaces, especially those that summarize the mystery of salvation, such as the common Prefaces. When Mass is celebrated for a particular dead person, the special formula may be inserted in the place indicated, namely, before the Memento etiam (Remember our brothers and sisters).

Eucharistic Prayer III may be said with any Preface. Its use is preferred on Sundays and feast days. If, however, this Eucharistic Prayer is used in Masses for the Dead, the special formula for the dead may be used, to be included at the proper place, namely, after the Omnes filios tuos ubique dispersos, tibi, clemens Pater, miseratus coniunge (In mercy and love unite all your children).

Eucharistic Prayer IV has an invariable Preface and gives a fuller summary of salvation history. It may be used when a Mass has no Preface of its own and on Sundays in Ordinary Time. Because of its structure, no special formula for the dead may be inserted into this prayer.

I can certainly understand why the celebrant would choose to use EP II during the weekday Mass because of the time element and for funeral Masses. I do wish, however, that EP IV could have been amended for use for funeral Masses as this particular prayer is beautiful.

 

[bilop]

It’s shorter, plain and simple.

That makes it perfect for a daily Mass, where, I agree, every effort should be make to keep it short so more can attend. I have no problem with a 15 min. daily Mass.

On Sunday, the longer prayers are more appropriate, and should be used, IMHO. I’d like to see the Canon mandatory on Sundays.

God Bless

 

[benedictgal]

Actually, I do have a concern with a 15-minute daily Mass. Inasmuch as I go to daily Mass during my lunch hour, I have gone to some Masses where the priest breezes right by the Holy Sacrifice and it’s almost as though if you blink, you’ll miss something. This happened to me last Friday. I couldn’t make it to noon Mass becuase I was going to San Antono for a belated birthday excursion and, since I didn’t want to miss Mass, I went to another parish. I got to Mass a tad bit late (five minutes because of construction) and the priest was already getting past the offertory). It just didn’t set too well with me, and this was a 7AM Mass, mind you. It was as though everyone was in a rush to get out of there, and it wasn’t the get-to-work crowd, as a lot of the faithful were retirees. And yes, EP II was the setting the celebrant used.