The Armchair Liturgist Assists in Pronunciation

This coming weekend’s first reading offers a challenge not only for Israelites unused to the prospect of universal salvation, but also those who must pronounce these names of places far away and long ago. Check out Isaiah 66.19:

I will set a sign among them; from them I will send fugitives to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations.

How do you suggest we prepare our lectors for upcoming pronunciation hurdles? What has worked well for you, something better than a quick review in the sacristy a few minutes before Mass?

 

The Armchair Liturgist At Saturday Vigil On A Solemnity

Lectionary ’98 expanded offerings for observing vigil for a few solemnities, including this weekend’s feast, Assumption. Twenty-some priest/preachers I’ve worked with in four parishes over the past twelve years have mostly demurred (but not always) from using vigil readings. I don’t press the issue. But I see their point: preparing one Scripture-based homily on a weekend is usually enough. That’s the pattern for ordinary Sundays, so why should it change this weekend?

Sit in the purple chair, and influence a new generation of clergy. If you will. If you can. If you dare. What would be your ideal practice: use the Vigil readings tomorrow evening or look the other way–toward Sunday?

And if you plan to buck the trend toward practicality/pragmatism, what persuasive arguments would you give to a reluctant priest? Do you have something that a semi-liturgical guy could buy into? Or has the Saturday night phenomenon washed away the significance of the vigil, and maybe we should forget about an otherwise good idea?

Compare the readings here on the USCCB site.

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Variations in the General Intercession Responses

A request for August 15th came my way from my parish–this month’s writers of the prayers of the faithful:

Todd, what would you think of after each petition either “Mary, Star of the Sea, pray for us” or “Mary, Queen of Heaven, pray for us”? If not OK, change to our traditional “Lord hear our prayer.”

So let me put it to my faithful armchair liturgists. How often do you or would you change the response from “Lord, hear our prayer?” Is it worth changing seasonally or for special feasts? Or is it more of a distraction than anything else?

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Invitations during Liturgy

How do your clergy invite people to stand and pray at key moments during the liturgy? The major moments, as far as I can remember today, are these:

- After the Gloria for the opening prayer

- After the homily to stand and begin the Creed

- Standing for the prayers at the conclusion of preparation

- After Communion

That last one is particularly interesting, and even with the same priest, I often hear invitations all over the map. Often they are accompanied by gestures. Gestures alone work if people have their eyes on you. Our associate pastor sometimes just gestures to the people and they easily know to stand. Last night, the priest went “out of the book” to say, “Let us stand.”

Take up the liturgist’s armchair. Are fewer or no words better now that your parish is very well accustomed to the post-conciliar liturgy? Or are clergy and people alike used to the directions. Suppose you can influence or dictate what your priest can do for your parish. What would you tell him to do or say?

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Naming People in the Prayers

I’ll confess right out that I don’t like the practice of naming individuals in the prayers of the faithful. General intercessions mean just that: they are general, not specific. That said, I don’t feel strongly enough about it to buck the expectation in many places that people be listed by name.

In my previous parish, I printed the last intercession something like this:

6. For the faithful departed, especially
          Sat 4 only      deceased members of the Smith family
          7:30 only      Elvis Presley
          9:30 only      Richard John Neuhaus
          11:30 only    Diana Spencer
          Sun 5 only     all deceased parishioners,
for whom this Mass is offered, we pray

We opted for this system because the pastor insisted we say the Mass intention out loud, and because it was easy to pencil in names of people who died over the weekend right after “especially.” Though once or twice a new lector read all of the weekend’s Mass intentions at one liturgy. We also had a list of about two dozen sick parishioners who rotated every two to three weeks being listed by name in their own intercession.

Then we would get close family requests: a sick son or daughter, a deceased parent. Younger kids in the grade school were always concerned about their grandparents and wanted to pray for them–when they were sick, or even just when they were travelling to Arizona or Florida or Vegas.

So, sit in the armchair, if you dare, and render judgment. Should we pray for people by name at Mass? Parishioners only? Close relatives, too? I once had a friend request a prayer for the deceased parent of an ex-spouse. They remained close, it seemed. I wasn’t sure how to proceed with the inclusion. If I typed just the person’s name, no parishioner would know who it was. If I appended “ex in-law of N.,” then I wondered if the designation would be a distraction, “Why are we praying for a divorced person’s in-law?”

Have fun, liturgists!

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Killing the Lily?

My parish’s Art & Environment Committee met last night to wrap up Easter evaluation and get Pentecost and summer plans straightened out. This year’s Easter lilies seemed to fade quickly. Our church now looks like any of our other well-flowered weekends. The flowers are nice and robust (what’s left of them) but they have little suggestion of Easter.

Here’s the armchair liturgist question for the day: are lilies worth it? People seem to expect them, and nobody in my parish has bucked that expectation in my two years here. But do they have the staying power for Fifty Days?

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Easter 6 or 7 or Both?

As I was reviewing LTP’s Sourcebook (2011 edition here) earlier today I saw a very curious item. For regions in which the observance of Ascension is moved from the 40th day after Easter to the 43rd (next Sunday, Liebchens) this suggestion for this weekend:

Use the second reading and Gospel from the seventh Sunday of Easter.

You armchair liturgists out there are all over the option of using Easter 7 instead of 6 this weekend, right? I’m not sure what to say to the notion of using the “Council of Jerusalem” this weekend (admittedly a very important reading) with two selections from Easter 7.

Sit in the chair, won’t you? Render judgment on this weekend’s mix-n-match Sunday. Is the Sourcebook wrong-minded about this?

PS: Don’t bother with the side issue of when to observe Ascension. My ear is sympathetic, but I mainly want to discuss the reality when this feast is transferred and what happens to Easter 6.

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Managing the Sprinkling Rite

The Roman  Missal provides an option in place of a penitential rite. During Easter, some parishes employ the “Rite of Blessing and Sprinkling Holy Water.” Does yours? How often do you use this rite outside of the Easter season?

Did you know the rite also offers the option of mixing salt with holy water? I’ve never seen this option utilized, but perhaps you have.

The rubrics indicate the priest is to sprinkle himself before sprinkling others. Do your clergy do this?

The rite also dictates that “an antiphon or other appropriate sing is sung.” Some places attempt to streamline the rite and sing the Gloria during this time. Do you think this is appropriate? There is also a final formulary before the Gloria, which sometimes gets omitted:

May almighty God cleanse us of our sins,
and through the eucharist we celebrate
make us worthy to sit at his table
in his heavenly kingdom.
Amen

Have a seat in the liturgist’s armchair and render judgment. What you say, goes, at least in our realm of pontificating here. How would you utilize the rite of sprinkling in the Roman Rite?

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Palm and Other Processions

Did your parish have a good procession this weekend for Palm Sunday? Do your people have an expectation of doing an outside to inside walk in good cheer? Or do they prefer a certain minimalism: watch the clergy hoof it? The smallish image to the left is our east parking lot with about 90% of the 8:30 worshippers.

Perhaps you have a critique of the rite and its expectations. If so, offer one. Sit in the purple chair and render judgment. How would you handle the three options of Palm Sunday?

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Communion for Choir Members

I know I’ve covered this issue for altar servers and concelebrants already, but I’m interested in your opinions, practices, and bothers about choir members receiving Communion.

In my present parish, the choir sings from an area proximate to altar and ambo on the edge of our antiphonal seating. So it’s easy for singers and instrumentalists to excuse themselves for a verse of the Communion song.

Accompanists have varying practices. A few line up with the Communion ministers to receive. Others have it passed on to them by another music minister or family member. I try to receive at the end of the Communion procession.

With my last large choir that sang from a loft, we arranged to have two ministers ascend to distribute Communion. The large choir in my Kansas City parish would have the songleader/cantor begin the Communion song with the organist and the choir would come down all three reception aisles to receive the sacrament first.

I noticed on the Musica Sacra forum that one diocese advocates for the choir receiving Communion after the Chrism Mass. That’s about the poorest solution I could consider (aside from home delivery) especially for a Chrism Mass, considering the number of ordinary ministers present.

Sit in the purple chair, and be the liturgist. Tell how you would choreograph it.

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Cycle A Gospels

Most liturgists know the scrutiny gospels of cycle A can be used on the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent in non-A years. They can also be utilized for a weekday Mass. Did you know that?

Sit in the purple chair and render judgment. Are these gospels important enough for the Lenten journey that you would utilize this option for a daily Mass? Is it worth an encounter with the Samaritan woman, the man born blind and Lazarus, even for a fraction of the faith community? Is there any benefit to doing this for an intentional community, especially a monastery or convent? Or are they just too much of a bother?

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Saints’ Names 2010

Evangelization hums along pretty well in your parish. Your colleague, the RCIA director, speaks with you about this year’s crop of catechumens. A good group, you hear, but with the possible taint of heresy.  That perks your ears. You’ve been asked to include this list of names into the Vigil’s Litany of Saints.

Take the Purple Chair and render judgment. Which names make the Easter Vigil cut this year? Who is sent back for a middle name or a patron saint? Here’s the list:

Amadeus
Arian
Baxter
Elvis
Giles
Gnosis
Hermione
Irenaeus
Miles
Minerva
Modern
Nestor
Niles
Severus
Superba
Wolfgang
Zambdas

Who’s a saint? A pretender? A heretic? Have any names of your own to offer up?

 

The Armchair Liturgist: The Post-Communion Queue

My parish has definitely seen a creeping increase in Sunday post-Communion announcements. Our associate pastor counted thirteen last week. With a grimace.

Take the purple chair, and knowing you are immune from angry parishioners (no guarantee on the comboxes, though) pontificate on the ideal post-Communion  practice. Remember that the post-Communion prayer is mandatory, not the announcements. Don’t forget the choreography: do you have people stand for the prayer and remain standing for announcements–even thirteen of them? Do you fiddle with the rite and include announcements before the prayer, essentially placing the post-Communion piece in the concluding rites before the blessing? Do you seat people for the prayer and keep them seated for the announcements? Do you move announcements to another part of the Mass? (In my first parish, the preacher would announce before he began the homily–what do you think of that solution?)

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Praying, Preaching, Mentioning Haiti

The tragedy in our Caribbean neighbor’s borders continues to unfold. I’m sure you’re all aware of the avenues in which to assist. We can certainly pray, too.

My hometown’s home parish had a mission there. In the parish where I met my wife, a staff colleague and his family were from Haiti. Nice man with such a lilting accented English. And the kindest and most gracious co-worker one could have.

Our archbishop has authorized a special collection this weekend. What about your diocese?

Despite some news outlets focusing on politicians this week, I’d say that Haiti is very much more on the minds of people I see, including the students. How would you handle this at Sunday Mass?

Certainly a disaster like this merits mention in the general intercessions. Do you preachers find that terrible events always or occasionally merit a weave into the homily? Even for you non-preachers, take the liturgist’s armchair today and pontificate on the circumstances in which you think people need to hear a message of hope from the tragedies that appear to have no cause.

I’ve caught a glimpse of some nonsense floating around the net, blaming Haiti’s pact with the devil for this geological event. Given France’s complicity in keeping the boot of power on this nation’s neck, you have to wonder what worse event could happen in Europe. Oh wait–those Europeans are white people. All’s fine.

Does your parish need a lesson in divine cause and effect, or lack thereof?

 

The Armchair Liturgist: Scheduling Your Easter Vigil

This missive came from the diocesan liturgy office a few days ago:

The Easter Vigil will be celebrated on Saturday evening, April 3. The Roman Missal states that the Easter Vigil is to take place in darkness, after nightfall. The Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy in 2003, interpreted that time as 45 minutes to an hour after sunset. According to the Naval Observatory, sunset occurs on April 3, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. Daylight Time. Therefore, the earliest starting time for the vigil in the Archdiocese of Dubuque this year is 8:15 p.m.

Twenty, thirty years ago, I’d say there were a number of parishes that scheduled the Easter Vigil pretty much as they saw fit. In one parish in my hometown, the pastor celebrated two: one in Spanish and another in English for his two sets of parishioners. The former always started at 4:30; the latter at 7:30.

Sitting the purple chair, which camp do you favor?

1. Follow liturgical law, but still go as early as astronomically possible.

2. Follow liturgical law, but set the same time at or a bit past nightfall every year, so as to develop continuity.

3. Interpret nightfall as sunset, because people don’t like to stay up late, especially if the RCIA director insists on that party.

4. Who cares? Start at 5PM, use three readings and lock down the church before sunset.

Quo vadis?