Q: Hi Father: Does the Deacon receive a blessing before proclaiming the Palm Sunday Gospel before the procession? Sorry if I missed this rubric. == A: The deacon proclaims that gospel in the usual way, according to the rubric. I haven’t watched the Vatican’s televised Holy Week in several years, but my notes from past years indicates that even there the deacon receives a blessing before proclaiming the gospel of Palm Sunday before the procession.
Feet washing
Q: I remember that you said that you didn’t see the last blog question that I sent and subsequently retracted. I later sent a question about whether a priest concelebrating the Mass of the Lord’s Supper could/should be one of the people whose feet are washed. I just wanted to see if you saw that one. == A: I did not see that question. This has me worried. Another writer told me his question went unanswered. I never saw it. We’re considering a change in host for my website. Hope that clears this up. A concelebrating priest could have his …
Morning Prayer on Holy Thursday
Q: I have a random question. By chance do you know from where the final prayer for Morning Prayer on Holy Thursday comes? I may not be recalling correctly, but I vaguely remember from my Lit of the Hours class that the final prayers are often taken from The Sacramentary. This one of course doesn’t appear–or at least in searching the PDF I found online, it didn’t pop up. That led me to wonder where it’s from since the only Mass on that Thursday morning is Chrism. == A: It appears to be a hybrid. The second half of it …
Passion Narrative
Q: What is the origin of the congregation reading parts of the Passion Narrative and do you think it’s a good thing? My view is that this is ‘false participation’ – that the role of the congregation is to listen to the word proclaimed. I am intrigued about its origins. My assumption is that the use of C in people’s booklets was equated with Congregation as the same letter was used for Congregational responses in the Order of Mass. I was interested to see reference to the practice (and discouraging it) in Gabe Huck’s Three Days. And also reference in …
Reposition
Q: I am writing to you about Exposition, Adoration, Benediction, and Reposition. Here at my parish we are offering Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I Exposed the monstrance at the end of morning mass and there is a time of Adoration… for a few hours. During Adoration there can be a time of silence, prayer, vespers, sermon, or some such… When the time comes for “the conclusion,” it is my understanding that, if an ordained minister is present, after an appropriate prayer, there is Benediction – and then Reposition follows immediately. Some have inquired about a Benediction at 7 PM… then more …
Sign of the cross on Good Friday
Q: Why do we not begin or include anywhere the sign of the cross in the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday? == A: The rubrics don’t explain why, but we do without a lot of things on Good Friday. The altar is bare of cloths, candles and cross. The gospel is proclaimed without processional candles or incense, and without the greeting “The Lord be with you.” When a bishop presides he leaves aside his ring and pastoral staff. Perhaps the liturgy joins in the fast and abstinence of the day.
Liturgy of the Hours
Q: Thank you for the blog and for your solid guidance, I could not submit this question via the website. Maybe it is too long—or perhaps I did not follow directions properly. Thank you and God bless your Lent and Easter. Liturgy of the Hours is official common prayer of the Church, but is also part of the personal prayer and interior life of a lot of Christians. Because of the impact of this prayer, I have two questions. Will the language of the new edition have the same sort of character that we hear in …
Palm Sunday Liturgy of the Word
Q: At all our Masses this weekend the pastor said we were skipping the 1st reading, psalm w/response, 2nd reading and Gospel acclamation. After the collect we would go straight to the Gospel. I googled to find the option for this but had no luck. Do you know where I would find the instructions for this “pastoral option”? == A: You’ll find that option in the lectionary, in the comments just before the first reading on Palm Sunday, lectionary number 38ABC.
Communion service on Holy Thursday
Q: Hi Father, sorry to bother you on such a busy week. But, as a deacon, I have a communion service I do at nursing homes three times a month. The next one is this Thursday – Holy Thursday. My question is – I am not sure of the readings for this day. Normally, I read the daily readings/gospel with a short homily and then have communion after. I also do a Rosary prior to the daily communion service followed by Devine Mercy Chaplet. I was reading the Missal, and I see two options: first is the Chrism Mass or …
Holy Thursday processions
Q: I recently moved to a new diocese and a new Catholic parish. On Holy Thursday they are having a mass in English of the Lord ‘s Supper at 6 PM and a Mass in Spanish of the Lord’s Supper at 8 PM. Each mass will end with a procession of the Blessed Sacrament to a chapel for adoration. I believe their bishop gave them permission for both of these masses on the same day in the same parish. However, I would think that the first mass would end as a normal Sunday mass and the second mass would have …