Over the last few months, as I have had the opportunity to travel to a number of different Catholic churches in both this Archdiocese and others, I have noticed two things.
During the Lord's Prayer, we seem to have large numbers of people who suddenly hold hands. Then immediately following, we seem to have a large number of people who hold up their hands, during the recitation of "For the Kingdom..."
Now, I don't remember learning this as a child and have only begun to see this about 20 years ago.
Anyone know where the "heck" this came from?
12 comments:
It is an organic development. In most places I am familiar with, the faithful were never instructed to do this. It developed gradually and spontaniously. My late husband and I would hold hands during our private prayer at home, as did other couples I know. This migrated to this portion of the Mass, then to whole families and then broader.
I go to St. Jane Frances in Pasadena, MD and our last pastor started doing it with the altar servers and deacon on the altar. Our current pastor doesn't do it but many people in the pews still do it.
I have no idea but I can tell you it is also done in Florida.
The rotting of an apple is an "organic development", too. Do we celebrate that, or throw the rotten thing in the trash? Just because something develops spontaneously doesn't mean it should just happen.
To be fair, I think most folks are well-meaning and really know no better. Who can blame them, when the priests are too cowardly to say, "that's not proper" (of course, many of them received lousy seminary formation, so they may really know no better).
We have been doing it so long in our parish that I do not remember when it started. I think it was just one of those things that just came about. The one thing we were told not to do was to join hands with someone who was too far away. In some cases people stretched so far that their backs were facing the altar during the prayer, and we were told not to have our backs facing the altar. I really do not think that this practice constitutes liturgical abuse.
Wow, as a convert I am sometimes amazed at the "abuse" of faith/love by some who seem only to want some kind of "ceremony" or "ritual". It gives me the idea that some believe that if you don't follow some kind of procedure you are certainly going to be damned.
I can see certain things during mass that should be considered holy moments that need proper reverence and respect such as the handling of the host, but I fail to see how holding hands during a prayer is "abuse".
At my parish we have a mixture of those who hold hands, and those that don't. I hold hands with my wife and two children and I will let you in on a little secret, shhhh, we also squeeze each others hands three time in succession at the end of the prayer to secretly communicate I-Love-You, get it? Three words, three squeezes. Sorry for the liturgical abuse, but I am a convert rebel.
Is it also wrong that not everyone leans forward during the prayer of the faithful at the "he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man"?
Just an idea and a suggestion; for me, I am typically trying to achieve a state of consciousness that allows me to focus on the words of the prayer Jesus gave us and "feel" the love. I would suggest trying that sometime rather than worrying about the proper form and whether others are following it.
As for the rotting core of the apple. I put them into my compost so they are reborn in the fruits and vegetables of my garden. So yes, I celebrate the rotting core, just as I try to remember that Jesus especially loved those that had rotting cores.
The official puplication of the Sacred Congregation for the Sacrement and Divine Worship states the pratice"must be repudiated...it's a liturgical gesture introduced spontaneously but on a personal initiative.It's not in the rubrics".Anything not in the rubrics is unlawful,because"no other person,not even a priest may remove or add..anything to the liturgy on his own authority.
I'm not sure when it started in my parish. One day the old parishiohners everybody was doing it. A couple of times I fled and sat behind the pillar in order to avoid having to hold hands.
Don't know if this is a duplicate post. If so, delete. I first saw it in 1975 at St. Phillip's in Camp Springs at the guitar Mass. Have since seen it at Dioceses throughout the US off and on. Never saw it in Europe. I think if you encounter it where the whole congregation does it, it is more of a dinosaur than a new trend. Families doing it is no big deal. If I don't want to play, I close my eyes and fold my hands. Never had a problem. I think if pastors want to phase it out it will be done with the new Missal translation. Nice blog by the way.
It wouldn't qualify as a liturgical abuse, unless the priest was directing people to do this.
Either way, it's still one of those things that shouldn't be done. But as another stated, how can you blame people? They're so badly taught these last 40 years ( I know - I went to McNamara in Forestville back in the 70's), that it's amazing they're still Catholic at all.
My Catholic background taught me to follow the official teaching authority of the Church and not to casually make up anything no matter how good it makes you feel for the very reason as shared in the comments that not all "feel" the same about public demonstration especially at Holy Mass.
This has been done for a very long time at the end of all Alcoholics Anonymous meetings -- and it's fine there. Presumably, some person was so moved at an AA meeting that he decided that it would be even better in church?
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