Q: We have been revising our worship aids for Exposition and Benediction according to the new edition of “Holy Communion and the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery Outside of Mass” and noticed that the dialogue “You have given them bread from heaven…”, normally said immediately before the prayer preceding Benediction, has been omitted.
Should we stop using this dialogue or is it still an option?
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A: You can find my previous posts on this here https://paulturner.org/?s=dialogue+exposition
The reformed liturgical book (first known as Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass) never included that dialogue, which did appear in the service before the liturgical reforms. Many parish churches continued using it because ministers did what they saw other ministers do, they never consulted the liturgical book, or they used a participation aid that included it, though the liturgical book never did.
Before the conciliar changes, the dialogue also used to be part of the distribution of holy communion outside Mass. It was completely removed from these liturgies over fifty years ago.
There’s nothing heretical about the dialogue. It’s quite lovely. The bishops of the US were hoping to get a uniform translation of it, but its insertion was not included in the revised translation as it is not part of the official liturgical book.
That said, the ritual is quite flexible about what to do during the time of exposition, so including it is probably not breaking any rule. But it doesn’t belong in an official publication, and it should not take the place of other designated suggestions, such as reading scripture during exposition.