Q: For the dismissal on Easter Vigil and Sunday, before the sung “alleluia” dismissal, would the priest still begin with “The lord be with you” ? I ask because #69 in the Vigil Liturgy just says: “To dismiss the people…the priest sings or says: Go forth the Mass is ended, alleluia, alleluia” I would assume the priest would start with dialogue first? A: Yes. All the parts of the concluding rite remain in place. The difference is the addition of the alleluias to both parts of the dismissal dialogues. The alleluias are added daily from the Easter Vigil through the …
Funeral Mass on Good Friday?
Q: Is it allowed to have a Funeral Mass on Good Friday? Someone told me they do it in in another diocese. I am just curious, since Good Friday does not have a mass. God Bless and Thank you, A: It is not permitted to have a funeral mass on Good Friday. There may be a funeral without mass. It’s possible that a priest was unaware of this or thought that the rule did not apply in his case. I just don’t know how to explain it.
Liturgy of the Word at the Easter Vigil
Q: For the Liturgy of the Word at the Easter Vigil, do the readings end with “The Word of the Lord” or does the Psalm begin immediately following the reading. A: The readings should end with “The Word of the Lord.” But many parishes omit it at the end of the third reading (Exodus) because the canticle that serves as the responsorial continues the very next verses of the same biblical passage. That is how the third reading ends even when the pope celebrates the Easter Vigil in the Vatican.
Covering crucifixes
Q: It was my understanding that a crucufix must be shown for Mass. Our church has everything covered in purple(already) including the processional Cross,no crucifix showing anywhere. It doesn’t seem right, is it? A: The instructions for the optional covering of crucifixes appears in the missal at the beginning of the Fifth Sunday of Lent. It does not distinguish between the cross on the altar and the crosses in the church, but I agree with you. If the processional cross carries a corpus, it is best left exposed, and the main crucifix for the celebration of the mass should best …
Blessing the font
Q: My question relates to #42 of the Missal. I understand this to mean that no baptisms means no litany. It seems to follow that the font, ie. the water for baptism at that event is not blessed, but the priest moves to the Blessing of Water, #54. Our priests do not accept this interpretation; they insist on the Litany. I have read the missal, plus your very helpful book “Glory In The Cross“, page 155 over and over. I have conferred with Liturgy Coordinators who said “no Baptisms, no blessing of the font, hence no Litany.” I would really …
Perpetual exposition
Q: We have a Blessed Sacrament chapel with 24-hour adoration. What do we do during the Triduum? A: The USCCB web site says pretty strongly, “Under no circumstances may perpetual exposition take place during the Easter Triduum.” http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/adoration/perpetual-expositon-of-the-blessed-sacrament.cfm My suggestion – and that’s all this is – is that the lunette from the monstrance be brought to the altar after communion has been distributed at the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Let the priest remove the host and break it into four pieces in full view of the faithful. Place those pieces among the hosts that will be processed …
Rite of Reception
Q: We have a person in RCIA who was baptized a Catholic but confirmed in the Lutheran Church. Do we use the Rite of Reception of Validly Baptized Christians into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church for him? A: No, his baptism is a Catholic baptism. If he wishes to be confirmed in the Catholic Church, the bishop is the ordinary minister. But the bishop may give the pastor permission to confirm him at the Easter Vigil or at some other time. If the person or the bishop wishes to have the bishop do the confirmation, you may proceed …
Marriage question
Q: My daughter recently got married. I wanted the priest to process in just like a Sunday mass. The wedding coordinator was adamant that it was not correct. Can you explain what the a wedding entrance should look like and liturgically why. We also had the brides godparents and confirmation sponsor bring up the gifts . I wanted her to split the bread into two Ciborias but she wanted to have one carry the chalice up at the offertory. Our priest of course said no, I’d like to explain to her why it was not correct. Thank you. A: Congratulations …
Adult baptism at Easter
Q: I am currently completing RCIA at my parish but will be out of the country over Easter. Is there another parish that can perform the rites other than during the Easter vigil? A: Adult baptisms may take place on other dates. RCIA 34/2 says that the bishop may decide whether and when the entire rite may be celebrated outside the usual times. RCIA 27 explains that they may celebrated as far as possible on a Sunday, using the appropriate ritual mass from the missal. So your catechumen has two options – baptism on another day, not Easter. Or baptism …
Passion Gospels
Q: I’m not sure if this has been asked but I was wondering for the Passion Gospels on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, the Narrator part at my parish has always been proclaimed by a Deacon. Now that one of our deacon’s has retired, we only have one Deacon who only speak Spanish so our English masses never see a deacon. For the Passion Gospels coming up, can the narrator part of the gospel be proclaimed by a lector or lay minister if there is no Deacon present? There’s also the beginning part that says, “The Passion of our Lord according …