Hat tip to
Fr Z for this excellent instruction from Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, formerly Secretary for the Congregation for Divine Worship and now Archbishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka. See:
Liturgy Circular. Here are some highlights to encourage you to read the whole text:
Priests are not permitted to change or improvise the Eucharistic Prayer or other immutable elements of the Mass...
The so-called "Praise and worship" elements are not allowed during the entire rite of the Mass. Inordinate and loud music, clapping, long interventions and gestures which disturb the sobriety of the celebration are not permitted...
I would recomment all faithful, including the religious, to receive Holy Communion reverently kneeling and on the tongue...
Archbishop Ranjith impressed me greatly with his humility and urbanity when I met him briefly in Rome a few years ago. His firm but kindly guidance on matters liturgical goes hand-in-hand with his robust and courageous dealing with the government.
7 comments:
These should be the norms in every Diocese in the world
What a brilliant Bishop, we need more like him.
'All good works, taken together, do not equal the sacrifice of the Mass since they are human works, while the Holy Mass is the work of God. The reason why a priest is lax is that he does not pay attention to the Mass! My God, how we ought to pity a priest who celebrates as if he were engaged in something routine! What a good thing it is for a priest each morning to offer himself to God in sacrifice!'
- Saint John Vianney, Patron Saint of Priests
Could you explain what "praise and worship elements" are? I thought the entire Mass was an act of praise and worship.
Yes, of course it is. He did say "so-called" which makes me think that "Praise and Worship" is a name given to a particular type of charismatic style informality with "inordinate and loud music" etc.
"I would recommend all faithful, including the religious, to receive Holy Communion reverently kneeling and on the tongue..."
..and my bishop has banned communion on the tongue 'to guard against swine flu'
Luckily my own parish priest has decided that he will take the chance, so I can receive the sacrament.
In my lifetime, we have had periodic flu epidemics: asian flu, mao flu, hong kong flu without this ban. During the dreadful Spanish flu, the Church did not ban communion by mouth.
What's up with us as a nation? We are a bunch of wimps.
The basic problem, however, is that the NO service has already changed what was considered "immutable" - read Pope St Pius V and the Trent Councils on the Sacred Liturgy. The novelty of vernacular liturgies with their modernist structures are the very essence of mutability.
A bishop forbids receiving Holy Communion on the tongue because he doesn't want the swine flu virus to spread. But it may still spread if it's on the Communion distributor's hand when he puts the Blessed Sacrament into a recipient's hand.
At the Traditional Latin Mass, the only Mass I attend, Communion in the hand would be a liturgical abuse. I believe Communion in the hand is a sacrilege. Even if it's not sacreligious, it promotes sacrilege. When I used to attend the Novus Ordo, I watched some parishioners consecrated Hosts into their pockets.
I wish the Church would abolish the Communion in the hand and the Novus Ordo.
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