liturgy updates
Revision of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal [GIRM]
The new directives affects each person in the assembly of worship and reads as follows:
“When receiving Holy Communion in the hand, the communicant bows his or her head before the sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives the Body of the Lord from the minister. The consecrated host may be received either on the tongue or in the hand at the discretion of each communicant. When Holy Communion is received under both kinds, the sign of reverence is also made before receiving the Precious Blood.”
In the celebration of Mass we raise our hearts, minds and voices to God, but we are creatures composed of body as well as spirit and so our prayer is not confined to our minds, hearts and voices, but is expressed by our bodies as well. When our bodies participate in our prayer we pray with our whole person, as the embodied spirits God created us to be, and this engagement of our entire being in prayer helps us to pray with greater attention.
During Mass we assume different postures: standing, kneeling, sitting, and we are also invited to make a variety of gestures (e.g., Sign of the Cross, striking our breast during the Confiteor, the exchange of Peace, sign of reverence before receiving Holy Communion). These postures and gestures are not merely ceremonial. They have profound meaning and, when done with understanding, can enhance our personal participation in Mass.
In many places, communicants genuflect as a sign of reverence before receiving Communion. In some places, communicants make a deep bow, custom followed in some Eastern Churches. However, in the dioceses of the United States, the bishops determined that a “bow of the head” would be the sign of reverence before receiving the consecrated host or drinking from the chalice. The U.S. bishops chose “bow of the head” as a sign of reverence because it is a simple yet dignified gesture, easily done by communicants of all ages.
The Church sees in this common gesture of reverence a symbol of the unity of those who have come together to worship and as a means of fostering that unity. We cannot change this gesture to suit our own individual piety, for the Church makes it clear that out of unity of posture and gesture is an expression of our participation in the one Body formed by the baptized with Christ, our head. When we stand, kneel, sit, bow and sign ourselves in common action, we give unambiguous witness that we are indeed the Body of Christ, united in heart, mind and spirit.
“The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm.”
Standing is a posture that expresses an attitude of respect between persons (one usually stands when someone enters a room). It also defines the relationship between persons (one stands in the presence of an authority or one of greater rank). Standing is the posture that symbolizes human readiness (one is able to move easily from this posture). Saint Paul uses the standing posture as a symbol of our end to the slavery to sin (Gal 5:1; Eph 6:14). As an Easter people made worthy to stand in the presence of God through our share in the resurrection of Christ, Christians stand ready to greet Him when He comes again. It is for these reasons that the bishops of the United States prescribed that standing is the normative posture for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States.
Those who receive Communion may receive either in the hand or on the tongue. This decision is made by the communicant, not by the person distributing Communion. If Communion is received in the hand, the hands should first of all be clean. If one is right-handed, the left hand should rest upon the right. The Host will then be laid in the palm of the left hand and then taken by the right hand to the mouth. If one is left-handed, this is reversed. It is not appropriate to reach out with the fingers and take the Host from the person distributing.
The person distributing Communion says audibly to each person approaching, “ The Body of Christ .” The communicant should audibly respond “ Amen ,” indicating by that response that is his or her belief that the Host and the consecrated wine are in reality the body and blood of Christ the Lord.
When one receives from the chalice, the person distributing Communion says audibly to each person approaching, “ The Blood of Christ ,” and the communicant again responds “ Amen .” It is never permissible for a person to dip the Host he or she has received into the chalice.
Finally, the General Instruction to the Roman Missal mandates that a hymn should begin at the Communion of the priest and extend until the last person has received Communion. For some, the singing of this hymn is perceived as an intrusion on their own individual prayer, their private thanksgiving after Communion. In fact, however, this hymn is prayer, the corporate thanksgiving prayer of the members of Christ's body, united with one another. When we come together to participate in the Eucharistic celebration, we come not as individuals, but as members of Christ's body, united by our common baptism. Therefore, it is appropriate during the distribution of Communion that the members of Christ's body unite together in a hymn of thanksgiving. It is difficult for some of us to embrace this emphasis on the Mass as the action of a community rather than an individual act of my own faith and piety, but it is important that we make every effort to do so.
“The priest returns to the middle of the altar [after washing his hands] and, facing the people and first extending and then joining his hands, he invites the people to pray: Pray, brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father. The people stand and make their response: May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good, and the good of all his Church. Then the priest, with his hands outstretched, says the prayer over the gifts.”
The current liturgical practice is that members of the assembly stand after they say their response: May the Lord accept the sacrifice… The revised liturgical practice is that members of the assembly stand while they say their response: May the Lord accept the sacrifice…
Standing is an integral part of the assembly's response to the priest's invitation to pray. The action of standing is a sign that the members of the assembly are ready to join themselves to the sacrifice that is being offered at the hands of the priest. By joining together the action of standing with the assembly's verbal response, the assembly affirms by word and action that the sacrifice offered at the hands of the priest is their sacrifice as well.
During the liturgy, actions and words are often joined together. For instance, during the sign of the cross, the words “ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” are joined together with the action of physically signing ourselves. In so doing, the action of signing ourselves reinforces the recited words, and vice-versa. Other examples of the joining of actions and words in the liturgy is the striking of the breast during the Confiteor, the bow at the words “ By the power of the Holy Spirit…became man” during the profession of faith, and the sign of peace prior to the reception of Holy Communion. The action of standing while the assembly says the words May the Lord accept the sacrifice…” is now another example of this liturgical norm.
“An inclination of the head should be made when the three Divine Persons are named, at the name of Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Saint in whose honor Mass is celebrated.”
The reasons for this norm are similar to those described above. The action of inclining the head is a sign of reverence for the Person being named, and it is joined to the verbal naming of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Three Divine Persons or the Saint in whose honor Mass is celebrated. The inclination of the head reinforces and manifests the interior reverence that the assembly has for the Person being named.