Here at St Joseph`s we have a keen young couple, Andrew and Jayne, who have been coming to the EF Mass for about six months now. Andrew has learnt to serve Low Mass and often has questions which I do my best to answer. One of the recent ones was why is there a double ablution at the EF Mass and only a single one at the OF? I didn`t have an answer to hand so consulted Jungmann. I was interested to read that the first ablution is to purify the mouth lest any fragments of the host remain in the mouth which may even be expelled. The second is for the fingers and the sacred vessels. However I was even more intrigued to read that there was a long neglected rubric in the Ritus Servandus which requires that when the faithful communicate they should then be offered wine mixed with water and a linen towel to purify the mouth. The reference given is Rit. serv.10.6 but I haven`t been able to track it down. I wondered whether the practice should be re-introduced as clearly this was the mind of the Church (although it didn`t make it to the 1962 rubrics). It would at least make less offensive that expression `taking the wine` often heard among Catholics which makes me wonder why we bother at all.
This set me thinking. There is a section of traditionalists who demand absolute adherence to the rubrics of 62. I must admit I`m not one. I bow my head to the cross for the Holy Name and expect there to be a Confiteor before Communion. I do go along with sitting down for the Epistle at a High Mass but after the Una Voce conference liturgies where at every High Mass the pre-62 arrangement was observed I`m begin to wonder about this too. And I`d like a few more collects etc but stick to 62 to avoid confusion. After all the 1962 missal was in force for only a few years before the next revised rubrics came along. I wonder whether the equivalent of the present 62 police were fuming for centuries because the faithful weren`t offered wine, water and a linen cloth after Communion.
Which brings me to another thing. The 62 rubrics do talk about the consecration candle for Low Mass. They say that where the custom exists it should be preserved. (It had previously been mandatory but largely ignored.) My good friend, Fr Briggs of Chislehurst, is a great devotee of the consecration candle and to such an extent he has introduced it into the OF as a praeter legem custom. I have yet to hear any calls from the 62 enthusiasts for its reinstatement, presumably because 62 does not make it mandatory. So I`ve decided to restore it. (To his credit a 62 enthusiast here greeted this with approval.)
I know we have to have order and discipline but I think there is room for local variations which are sanctioned by long-standing custom. Eventually a consensus will emerge. I`ve never been that keen on positive law for its own sake. Maybe I`m a terrible liberal!
I`ve just noticed Fr Z blogged about this a couple of weeks ago. I borrowed the picture from him. As for rules about the numer of candles at Mass I have no idea what is going on in the picture. it must be Mass coram Sanctissimo during the 40 Hours I presume although it`s not too clear.
I`ve just noticed Fr Z blogged about this a couple of weeks ago. I borrowed the picture from him. As for rules about the numer of candles at Mass I have no idea what is going on in the picture. it must be Mass coram Sanctissimo during the 40 Hours I presume although it`s not too clear.
Minister autem dextera manu tenens vas cum vino et aqua, sinistra vero mappulum, aliquanto post Sacerdotem eis porrigit purificationem, et mappulum as os abstergenum.
ReplyDeleteA similar praxis is observed in those Eastern Churches using the Byzantine-Slav rite where after receiving Communion the mouth is abluted with warm wine and water (mixed) and bread remaining from the preparation rite.
Hurrah for restoring the Sanctus candle!
Well I still need to use the mass sheets or I have a blind panic, like last week and forgot the confiteor half way through (lucky David was there to assist!). I was going to ask if you had found any information on if the water and wine should be given to the faithful or not, I just keep forgetting to ask about it.
ReplyDeleteStrictly from a new servers point of view, it's good to have a standard to work from that ignores the local customs, especially for the group training days so we know all servers who attend these days are leaving with the same level of knowledge to build upon. However I do personally like to say the second confiteor before communion....(when I can remember it anyway!).
Don't let forgetfulness worry you. You won't be the first & certainly not the last. I remember serving for Fr Brown in Assisi where after "Confiteor Deo....." everything else went out of my mind. The day anyone does anything perfectly is the day you stop doing it - things can then only get worse.
ReplyDeleteIn all the years I served I NEVER saw a candle lit for the Consecration. Looking through Fortescue I can't find any mention. I do recall Matthew Finigan lighting an extra large candle in the choir at St Dominic's at the Sanctus but no explanation was given as to whether this was 'de rigeur' or a Dominican custom.
Regarding the use of Mass sheets; many priests celebrating the EF Mass still use them so if it makes you feel either more comfortable or more assured - carry on!
Oops, read 'abstergendum' for abstergenum above, mea culpa.
ReplyDeleteThe rubric was excised, one of many, from the RS in the '1962' MR.
Andrew A, Nothing wrong with a 'cheat sheet'. It is very easy, in the circumstances, to have a mental block.
David,
Fortescue is very clear in his chapter titled 'The Manner of Serving Low Mass'. 'As the celebrant says the Sanctus the server rings the bell three times. He then goes to the epistle side and lights the third candle there. This remains alight till after the Communion.' 'Ceremonies etc', Burns Oates, London, 1918 p.79.
I agree, it's the same as Iaido. There was a 92 year old man living in Japan who had been training since he was 10 and he said that if he ever did the perfect cut he would stop. I can easily say that serving in mass will be exacty like that, I personally enjoy learning the history behind whatever I'm doing(as Fr Adrian and Fr Michael could tell you). I find that if I understand the history behind what I am doing it helps me to remember and connect better with what I am doing. It stops being a simple motion that I am just following for the sake of following it.
ReplyDeleteRubricarius, I was hoping you would know the reference. When did this drop out of the Ritus Servandus?
ReplyDeleteAndrew I appreciate what you say about training days. However it wouldn`t be too difficult for them to say that often you will come across places where the Communion Confiteor is used.
David, all those years of disobedience!?
During the twentieth century, the "Sanctus candle" rubric was observed by the Blessed Sacrament Fathers, but not by many others. It was used at St Etheldreda's, Ely Place when I was a more or less regular worshipper there. I also lit it when serving a Low Mass in 2007; it happens that the priest celebrating was a Dominican.
ReplyDeleteFr Michael, I agree and what would be said in a training day is "watch out for......" And give a few examples of experiences. For instance the ringing of the bell at the domine non sum, the sheet I have says to ring one each time but as you told me on Saturday the ringing of the bell can be increased each time (1, 2, 3). That way servers can learn to expect the possibility of local traditions.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ben, that`s useful to know.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, the same thing applies to the bell at the Consecration. I was always told (admittedly eons ago) that the first bell is to warn the congregation that almost immediately the Body, Blood Soul & Divinity of Christ would be raised for their adoration. I usually ring 3 times at the Elevation of the Host & Chalice to signify that this is 'our' opportunity to look upon our God & worship.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the 'Domine non sum dignus' I first heard the increase of 1, 2 & 3 rings in the Benedictine monastery at Flavigny in France. I don't think there is anything laid down in writing.
In some OF Masses the bell is rung until the priest returns the Host & then Chalice to the altar. I also think it sad that there is only 1 bell at OF Consecration.
Andrew, the same thing applies to the bell at the Consecration. I was always told (admittedly eons ago) that the first bell is to warn the congregation that almost immediately the Body, Blood Soul & Divinity of Christ would be raised for their adoration. I usually ring 3 times at the Elevation of the Host & Chalice to signify that this is 'our' opportunity to look upon our God & worship.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the 'Domine non sum dignus' I first heard the increase of 1, 2 & 3 rings in the Benedictine monastery at Flavigny in France. I don't think there is anything laid down in writing.
In some OF Masses the bell is rung until the priest returns the Host & then Chalice to the altar. I also think it sad that there is only 1 bell at OF Consecration.
Speaking of bells and the number of rings, is anyone familiar with the use of a gong instead of a bell at Mass…? I don’t mean the ‘clappers’ used in Holy Week.
ReplyDeleteAs a child I used to vacation with my aunt in Dublin. In one church we attended (perhaps the Carmelite Church in Whitefriars Street?), they used a gong, not a bell during Mass. I don’t recall if this was all the time or only at certain times of the year (Lent? Advent?).
Anyone know the background for this…?
In St Michael's Church in Newcastle a gong was used for High Mass, Missa Cantata or Low Mass with 2 servers at the Consecration. Low Mass with a single server used simply the bells which were used at the High Mass etc for everything except the Consecration. I find it strange that the 1962 rite seems to have done away with the bell at the Little Elevation.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to the Benedictine monastery at Flavigny; one of the monks rang one of the abbey bells at the Consecration.
Does anyone kmow about the Sarum custom of distributing blessed, but not consecrated, bread after Mass on Sundays? If I could find my Morebath or Stripping of the Altars, I would know the answer, but I have more books in this house than the Lit & Phil, and in a disordered state.
ReplyDeleteAt our OF Masses we ring the bells once at the Hanc Igitur,At the Consecration-once when Celebrant genuflecting-thrice when elevating and again once when genuflecting and once when the Celebrant receives from the Chalice before the peoples Communion
ReplyDeleteTerry, It was not just a Sarum custom. The traditional Roman missal has a prayer for the blessing of bread in it. The prayer, Domine, sancte Pater, omnipotens sempiterne Deus has a very apposite conclusion: Per Dominum nostrum, Iesum Christum, Filium tuum, panem vivum, qui de caelo descendit, et dat vitam et salutem mundo... The late Fr. Silk used to distribute the blessed bread at the end of his Mass in Cambridge. The custom was far more common in France where it was called pain benit and a Google search reveals some historic images.
ReplyDeleteDear MC Man
ReplyDeleteWhat about at the Little Elevation & Domine non sum dignus?