Why don't the congregation pronounce the Doxology?

[Cormaria]

Why don’t the congregation say the doxology during the Mass?

 

[FrDavid96]

Could you be a little more specific? Which doxology? When?

 

[japhy]

If you are referring to the Per ipsum doxology at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer (“Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit…”), the reason is because that is still part of the Eucharistic Prayer which belongs to the priest and him alone. Not even a deacon may pray that part of the Mass. We can all, of course, internally unite ourselves to those words (and to all that the priest prays), but it is not ours to “pronounce”, as you put it, as if it is our part of the Mass. In the same way, there are parts of the Mass that the congregation says that the priest does not: they aren’t his parts of the Mass.

 

[Cormaria]

Yes I meant the ‘Per ipsum.’

There were some youth at a camp I went to and the priest told everyone to recite the Doxology with him, a few of them looked at me because I didn’t say it- I knew I wasn’t supposed to, but I didn’t have a reason for the people at the time.

 

[japhy]

I knew I wasn’t supposed to, but I didn’t have a reason for the people at the time.

More simply put, we don’t say it for the same reason we don’t say any of the rest of the Eucharistic Prayer, nor do we say the Collect, nor the Prayer over the Offerings, nor the Post-Communion… but we do respond by saying “Amen” at the end of the prayer. That is our personal “ratification” and assent to the prayer.

 

[FrDavid96]

Yes I meant the ‘Per ipsum.’

There were some youth at a camp I went to and the priest told everyone to recite the Doxology with him, a few of them looked at me because I didn’t say it- I knew I wasn’t supposed to, but I didn’t have a reason for the people at the time.

The Eucharistic Prayer is said only by the priest(s). Not even the deacon may say any parts of it.

The curious thing about the per ipsum… is that there is a tendancy to chant only this line at the end of the Canon (nothing wrong with that, just an observation). As a result, many people think that this part is somehow “different” than the rest–as if it were a short hymn or something like that. In reality, it’s the closing of the prayer that the priest begins with the words “We come to you Father…” In a certain limited sense, we can think of the Canon as a single sentence addressed to the Father.

 

[diggerdomer]

I, the reason is because that is still part of the Eucharistic Prayer which belongs to the priest and him alone.

I don’t mean to nitpick, and I am not criticizing japhy, but I just wanted to comment that the Eucharistic Prayer does not belong to the priest alone in the sense that it is the Church’s prayer (the greatest prayer of the Church imho) and something we ALL participate in.

The priest is the only one to vocalize most of it, because he is acting in the person of Christ as the head of the Church, but it is not HIS prayer. It is the Church’s (our) prayer.

 

[benedictgal]

Here is what Redemptionis Sacramentum says about who says what during the Eucharistic Prayer:

[52.] The proclamation of the Eucharistic Prayer, which by its very nature is the climax of the whole celebration, is proper to the Priest by virtue of his Ordination. It is therefore an abuse to proffer it in such a way that some parts of the Eucharistic Prayer are recited by a Deacon, a lay minister, or by an individual member of the faithful, or by all members of the faithful together. The Eucharistic Prayer, then, is to be recited by the Priest alone in full.131

[53.] While the Priest proclaims the Eucharistic Prayer “there should be no other prayers or singing, and the organ or other musical instruments should be silent”,132 except for the people’s acclamations that have been duly approved, as described below.

[54.] The people, however, are always involved actively and never merely passively: for they “silently join themselves with the Priest in faith, as well as in their interventions during the course of the Eucharistic Prayer as prescribed, namely in the responses in the Preface dialogue, the Sanctus, the acclamation after the consecration and the “Amen” after the final doxology, and in other acclamations approved by the Conference of Bishops with the recognitio of the Holy See”.133

Thus, the only one who should be reciting this prayer is the celebrant.

 

[FrDavid96]

There is a direct response to the OP’s original question from the

Inaestimabile Donum
Instruction Concerning Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery
Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship

1. It is reserved to the priest, by virtue of his ordination, to proclaim the Eucharist Prayer, which of its nature is the high point of the whole celebration. It is therefore an abuse to have some parts of the Eucharist Prayer said by the deacon, by a lower minister, or by the faithful. On the other hand the assembly does not remain passive and inert; it unites itself to the priest in faith and silence and shows its concurrence by the various interventions provided for in the course of the Eucharist Prayer: the responses to the Preface dialogue, the Sanctus, the acclamation after the Consecration, and the final Amen after the Per Ipsum. The *Per Ipsum *itself is reserved to the priest. This Amen especially should be emphasized by being sung, since it is the most important in the whole Mass.

source: adoremus.org/InaestimabileDonum.html

 

[japhy]

I don’t mean to nitpick, and I am not criticizing japhy, but I just wanted to comment that the Eucharistic Prayer does not belong to the priest alone in the sense that it is the Church’s prayer (the greatest prayer of the Church imho) and something we ALL participate in.

Sorry, I meant to use the phrase “is proper to”. The Eucharistic Prayer is proper to the priest. It’s a presidential prayer, thus, it is said primarily by the presider.