The Rite Questions

10 Adoremus Bulletin, September 2020 THE RITE QUESTIONS : Why does the Roman Missal desire that the people receive communion from the altar, not from the tabernacle, at Mass? Q A :The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy put forward as one of its reforming norms, “That more perfect form of participation in the Mass whereby the faithful, after the priest’s communion, receive the Lord’s body from the same sacrifice, is strongly commended” (55). The postconciliar Missal, incor porating this norm, directs in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM): “It is most desirable that the faithful, just as the Priest himself is bound to do, receive the Lord’s Body from hosts consecrated at the same Mass…” (GIRM, 85). Not only do these documents promote the practice of communion from the altar, but they also ground their prescription in the principle of active participation. Echo ing Pope Pius X (patron saint of First Communicants), the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy says, “In the restoration and promotion of the sacred liturgy, this full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else” (14; emphasis added). Hence, the faithful’s communion from the altar ought to be read as a means to their active participation. The GIRM makes the connection more explicit: by means of communicating with hosts consecrated at the same Mass, “Communion may stand out more clearly as a participation in the sacrifice actually being celebrated” (85). In short, the worthy reception of holy communion from the altar, more so than with hosts re trieved from the tabernacle, facilitates the laity’s active participation in the sacrifice of Christ made present during the Mass. During the Eucharistic Prayer, the lay faithful, in virtue of their baptism, have (or are supposed to have) joined their prayers, works, joys, and sufferings—their entire selves—to Christ as he gives himself to the Father through the hands of the priest by the power of : What is a corporal? Q A : A corporal is a linen cloth placed atop the altar cloth but beneath the chalice and paten used at Mass. Traditionally, the fabric is linen, as was that which wrapped the body of the Lord in the tomb; hence the name, too: corporal, from the Latin word corpus, “body.” The corporal’s purpose is to collect any fragments from the Eucha ristic body of Christ during the Mass, which are then enfolded within the corporal at the end of the Communion Rite. While the size of corporals may vary, an average-sized corporal may be around 18 inches square. The starched linen is then folded into thirds, and then thirds again. In this way, a folded corporal (if 18 inches square when unfolded) is about six inches square; when unfolded, it has nine smaller square sections (three by three) formed by the indents of the folds. At the start of Mass, the folded corporal is either held in a burse or placed directly upon the top of the chalice on the credence table. At the preparation of the altar at the be ginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, an acolyte or deacon or the priest himself unfolds the corporal in the center of the altar. Placing the folded corporal about six inches from the near edge of the altar, the corporal is first opened to the left, as one would open the cover of a book, and then to the right; three of the corporal’s nine square sections are now visible. Next, the corporal is opened away from the one unfolding it so that six of the nine sections are now visible. Finally, the remaining section is opened down toward the edge of the altar and the one unfolding it; now all nine sections are visible. (Of course, opening the corporal according to this accepted pattern presumes that it was folded properly at the end of the last Mass.) Many corporals will have a cross embroidered onto them, sometimes in the center, but the Holy Spirit. They have, in other words, actively participated in the offering of themusually upon the bottom, center square of the nine squares. If the corporal has not been selves and of Christ—the pinnacle of liturgical participation. The fruit of this sacrificial folded correctly and the cross ends up on either of the sides or the top section, the corpo participation, as well as the most explicit connection to it, is the sacramental reception of ral is either refolded and then unfolded again properly, or else the corporal is turned while the body and blood of Christ. maintaining its flat contact with the top of the altar. The corporal is never lifted by its cor

Since the laity have participated in offering the sacrifice of the Mass, it is reasonable ners and rearranged, for this defeats its entire purpose—to collect any fragments of the that they also receive that same sacrifice from the altar upon which it was offered. Cer Eucharist. tainly, one does not receive less of Christ from the tabernacle. And as a matter of pracBefore a corporal is laundered, any visible Eucharistic particles are consumed. It is then ticality, especially at Mass with large numbers, communion from the tabernacle may be rinsed with water which is poured into the sacrarium (a sink set aside for this specific necessary. But all things being equal, the Roman Missal desires the that the people re purpose with a drain leading directly into the earth from the sacristy; see GIRM, 334). ceive the same sacrifice that they themselves offered. The corporal can then be cleaned, starched, folded, and ironed for future use at Mass. —The Editors —The Editors

Q: My wife and I were married in the midst of COVID-19, which allowed only ten people to attend. Now that things seem to be getting back to normal, can we have another wedding celebration in the church with all our extended family and friends?

A: Congratulations on your marriage! At the outset, it should be emphasized that belated wedding receptions have al ways taken place in situations where couples get married on the other side of the country or a significant group of family or friends is not able to attend the wedding. A joyful wedding reception is always in order. Nevertheless, you don’t need a wedding to have a party.

The desire to have a full complement of the faithful present for a celebration of mar riage is a good one. It helps to express the “communitarian character” (Order for Celebrating Matrimony (OCF), 28) of the union of bride and bridegroom. Holy matrimony is never a private event. The Order for Celebrating Matrimony even goes so far as to suggest that the communal nature of holy matrimony might be expressed through a celebration of this sacrament “during the Sunday assembly” (OCM, 28).

The liturgical celebration of matrimony, especially within Mass, is meant to be an iconic sign of the goodness and fruitfulness of the New Covenant between Christ and his Bride, the Church. Indeed, God calls couples to marriage and “continues to call them in marriage” (Familiaris Consortio, 51; OCM, 11).

Bishop Robert Barron puts it this way: “You get married in church when you say to each other and to the people gathered there and before God: ‘We realize that our rela tionship is part of God’s providence. That we were brought together by God precisely for God’s purposes, so that our relationship might become an iconic sign of God’s love for the world.’ When you can say that, then you’re ready to stand before a priest and stand before God and his people and make your vows.” 1

That said, just as you can’t go home again, you can’t marry the same person again.

But, while there are no wedding do-overs, the Church does offer “The Order of Bless ing a Married Couple within Mass on the Anniversary of Marriage.” Liturgical commemorations of significant anniversaries have been on the books since at least the 1570 Missale Romanum, and as far back as “the tenth-century Roman-Germanic Pontifical.” 2 While these have traditionally been reserved for significant anniversaries, a first anniversary in the context of a global pandemic might fit the bill as “significant.” The ritual is outlined in the Order for Celebrating Matrimony, Appendix III (237–251).

In the context of the Mass On the Anniversaries of Marriage, the couple is invited “to renew before the Lord the promises you made to one another” (240) either by means of a quiet moment between themselves (see 241) or by exchanging the following “form pro vided” in 242: “Blessed are you, Lord, for by your goodness I took N. as my wife [/ husband].”

There is even the possibility of blessing and exchanging new rings (OCM, 244) or sim ply blessing the original wedding rings (OCM, 243): “Increase and sanctify, Lord, the love of your servants N. and N., who once gave each other these rings as a sign of faithfulness, that they may always grow in the grace of the Sacrament. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.”

In the place where the Nuptial Blessing is traditionally given following the Lord’s Prayer during the nuptial Mass, there is a prayer of blessing that the family life of the cou ple might more closely resemble an “image of Christ’s union with the Church” (OCM, 248). While such a celebration could be done for a single married couple, it could also be done for a group of those who were married during the pandemic. In the latter case, perhaps the Sunday assembly might be an excellent occasion to express the communal character of marriage in the Church (see OCM, 28).

A best-practice in this regard might be to hold this celebration on or about the first anniversary of the marriage. In the current COVID context, celebrating a marriage on or near the one-year mark would allow the maximum amount of time for things to return to a modicum of normal (especially in regard to external venues necessary for receptions and anniversary parties such as restaurants, catering services, hotels, etc.). By setting the date as close as possible to the first anniversary day, the celebration will not only give the same seasonal context (spring/summer) for the renewal of commitment, but will likely allow the couple to invite the maximum number of people to the celebration (and might even allow the couple to reuse those specifically-dated napkins!). —The Editors

1. Robert Barron, “Bishop Barron on Sex, Love, and God.” Word on Fire: Online Videos, January 07, 2013. Accessed August 19, 2020. http://www.wordonfire.org/resources/video/sex-love-and-god/262/ 2. See Paul Turner, Inseparable Love: A Commentary on The Order of Celebrating Matrimony in the Catholic Church (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017), 279–280.

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AB/LAWRENCE OP ON FLICKR The General Instruction of the Roman Missal directs that “Ornamentation on vestments should consist of figures, that is, of images or symbols, that denote sacred use,” as on this chasuble depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Readers’ Quiz Answers: From Quiz on page 3

1. c or d. Dialogues or acclamations. “[I]n the choosing of the parts actually to be sung, preference is to be given to those that are of greater importance and especially to those which are to be sung by the

Priest or the Deacon or a reader, with the people replying, or by the Priest and people together” (GIRM, 40).

2. Beauty, clarity, active participation. “The gestures and bodily posture of both the Priest, the Deacon, and the ministers, and also of the people, must be conducive to making the entire celebration resplen dent with beauty and noble simplicity, to making clear the true and full meaning of its different parts, and to fostering the participation of all. Atten tion must therefore be paid to what is determined by this General Instruction and by the traditional practice of the Roman Rite and to what serves the common spiritual good of the People of God, rather than private inclination or arbitrary choice” (GIRM, 42).

3. False. “Special care must be taken to ensure that the liturgical books, particularly the Book of the Gos pels and the Lectionary, which are intended for the proclamation of the Word of God and hence re ceive special veneration, are to be in a liturgical action truly signs and symbols of higher realities and hence should be truly worthy, dignified, and beau tiful” (GIRM, 349). Like all liturgical signs, even books manifest God’s heavenly glory.

4. e. Any of the above. “[O]n or next to the altar are to be placed candlesticks with lighted candles: at least two in any celebration, or even four or six, especial ly for a Sunday Mass or a Holyday of Obligation, or if the Diocesan Bishop celebrates, then seven can dlesticks with lighted candles” (GIRM, 117).

5. Fixed and moveable. “It is desirable that in every church there be a fixed altar, since this more clearly and permanently signifies Christ Jesus, the Living

Stone (1 Pt 2:4; cf. Eph 2:20). In other places set aside for sacred celebrations, the altar may be mov able. An altar is said to be fixed if it is so constructed as to be attached to the floor and not removContinued from SACRAMENTAL SIGNS, page 3 What day is it? It’s only the first day of the calendar week, Sunday.

Is the Church determined to celebrate the sacramental liturgy—which is a “weaving together of signs and sym bols,” as we heard the Catechism say—with fidelity, joy, and awe? Are we Catholics ready and willing to open our eyes and ears with hunger, docility, and intelligence to be transformed by sacred signs? Am I like the deer thirsting for running streams (water—another sign!) of grace set before me in the liturgy and sacraments?

If not, what can be done? Among the many possible answers (God is full of them!) is one we’re all coping with as I write these words: COVID-19.

The recovery, the resurrection of signs is possible. The sign “can be recovered from the ossified signifier, tastrophe” (105). Percy gives a number of examples of how this happens, including the German soldier who “in All Quiet on the Western Front could see an ordinary butterfly as a creature of immense beauty and value in the trenches of the Somme.” For a more everyday ex ample, consider how you look at your car once you’ve discovered that its transmission is blown. Everything that worked quietly and invisibly to make the car change gears is now front and center.

able; it is said to be movable if it can be displaced” (GIRM, 298).

6. e. All of the above. “This chant is sung alternately by the choir and the people or similarly by a cantor and the people, or entirely by the people, or by the choir alone” (GIRM, 48).

7. False. “[S]acred buildings and requisites for divine worship should be truly worthy and beautiful and be signs and symbols of heavenly realities” (GIRM, 288).

Even though we celebrate an earthly liturgy and in clude natural, human, and cultural elements, we also

“take part in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 8).

8. e. Gregorian chant. “The main place should be given, all things being equal, to Gregorian chant, as being proper to the Roman Liturgy. Other kinds of sacred music, in particular polyphony, are in no way exclud ed, provided that they correspond to the spirit of the liturgical action and that they foster the participation of all the faithful” (GIRM, 41).

9. Angels and saints are an essential part of the liturgy, and thus of the liturgy’s sacramental expression. “In the earthly Liturgy, the Church participates, by a foretaste, in that heavenly Liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem, toward which she journeys as a pilgrim, and where Christ is seated at the right hand of God; and by venerating the memory of the Saints, she hopes one day to have some share and fellowship with them. Thus, in sacred buildings images of the

Lord, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of the Saints, in accordance with most ancient tradition of the Church, should be displayed for veneration by the faithful and should be so arranged so as to lead the faithful toward the mysteries of faith celebrated there” (GIRM, 318).

10. False—at least not ideally. “In the Dioceses of the

United States of America, sacred vessels may also be made from other solid materials which in the com mon estimation in each region are considered precious or noble, for example, ebony or other harder woods, provided that such materials are suitable for sacred use. In this case, preference is always to be given to materials that do not easily break or deterio

sparrow from sparrow…, under the conditions of ca rate” (GIRM, 329; emphasis added).

Can you relate to Percy’s observation that, during bouts of “average everydayness” (as Martin Heidegger would put it), butterflies and your car and breathing—or bread or music or Sunday—have become signs of, well, what exactly? Yet when, through catastrophe or similar up heavals, life’s signs (and their commensurate realities) come into focus and take on a new and powerful reality?

If what Percy says is true—judge for yourself—then our current COVID “catastrophe” has great potential for our liturgical celebration, participation, and understand ing. The vicarious experience of livestreaming notwithstanding, the liturgy may offer those returning to Mass for the first time in months a new vista from which to view its signs and symbols—and by them, God himself. Suddenly, that “bread” upon the altar appears as some thing else: the locus of heaven and earth, for instance. The Sanctus is no long blah-blah-blah but the chorus of Angels, Archangels, Thrones, and Dominions. And Sun day may become again the first day of the new creation wrought by Christ—not just the first square to cross off in the coming week. For the liturgy and its sacraments are supernatural signs. We only need to be awake to the won der and mystery of these signs. If we can resurrect them from their devolution, then they will once again com municate in a flash the brilliance of Christ and become as radiant an encounter as that which Peter, James, and John once enjoyed upon Mount Tabor.

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