The New Roman Missal: Ready, Set, Here We Go!

Welcome, Liturgical Year B! With the First Sunday of Advent, we usher in a new liturgical year, and with it comes the changes in the Roman Missal.

For two months we have been practicing the sung parts of Dan Schutte’s “Mass of Christ, the Savior.” Our “help cards” are in the pews. We will need to follow them carefully. We will surely make mistakes, but that’s okay. It’s an exciting time in the Church!

Our new Heritage Missals are in the pews for the calendar year 2012. For those who prefer to follow along in the missal rather than from the “help card,” the Order of Mass starts on page 3 of the Heritage Missal.

We begin the Mass with “Come, O Promised One.” This is a simple melody that is repeated after the cantor intones it. We follow that with one verse of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” We will do this each of the four weeks.

Because it is Advent, the “Gloria” is omitted. The Gospel Acclamation (Alleluia) is a familiar one that we use during Advent. Most notably will be the changes in the “Eucharistic Prayer” and the sung “Mystery of Faith.” If you still need to follow the music from the “Mass of Christ the Savior,” you can look on page 41 of the Heritage Missal. There you will find the “Holy,” “Mystery of Faith,” and on the next page, the rest of the sung parts. I will be sure to remind everyone of that before Mass. Happy “New Liturgical Year” to all!

Saint Cecilia — Patron Saint of Pastoral Musicians

“A Musician’s Prayer” by Ginny Ambrose

Thank you Lord,

for the privilege of this ministry.

Allow me to serve You with each melody...

with every cadence, let my love soar.

May I be selfless…

seeking only grace and the ability

to be Your musical messenger…

invisible… nameless… faceless…

only a vessel which pours forth

Your praise and helps others to do the same.

Temper my nerves, dear Lord,

when my fingers fall upon a wrong note…

when my ear tells me I’m singing off key…

when my voice cracks and fails me.

Keep me faithful so that I may not count

tasks, days, hours, or minutes spent

preparing, practicing or praising You.

Thank you Lord,

for any ability You afforded me,

knowing that I’d someday use it to serve You.

May my music reflect Your goodness

each and every day that I live. Amen.

The New Roman Missal - Posture and Gesture

As the Church began to grow, the Order of the Mass took shape. Eventually it became more organized into what we call “ritual” or “rites.” Over time those rituals were fine-tuned and refined. So too, were the movements that are associated with our posture and gestures.

Posture and gesture have always been an important and symbolic element and most are performed with ease like the Sign of the Cross at the beginning, before the Gospel and at the end of Mass. The symbolism and traditional gestures have been “re-emphasized” with the changes in the new Missal.

For instance, striking oneself over the chest during the Penitential Act (Confiteor) while reciting the words “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault,” and a reverent bowing of the head during the words of the Creed, “was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man” are two gestures which are called for in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (275a).

During the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest shows the Consecrated Host and the chalice to the people. Many feel the need to bow their heads here, rather than look upon the Bread and chalice. However, it is suggested that the people look at the Host and chalice and bow their heads after each is lowered to the altar, when the priest genuflects or bows his head (574).

At the Lord’s Prayer we have adopted an array of gestures depending upon cultures and practices of individual parishes. The GIRM does not recommend a particular gesture here so, in other words, do what comes naturally!

When receiving Communion each person is to bow the head “as a gesture of reverence” (160). When this bow takes place may vary. Some may bow upon reaching the Communion station and others when the priest or minister says, “The Body of Christ,” either being an acceptable practice.

This has been the “Cliffs Notes” version of some posture and gesture at Mass. For a detailed description, you may want to pick up a copy of Paul Turner’s book, “Let Us Pray: A Guide to the Rubrics of Sunday Mass” (Liturgical Press).

The New Roman Missal - Ecce Agnus Dei (Behold the Lamb of God)

This week we “fall back” by turning the clock back one hour. So too, in the New Roman Missal the Church “falls back” to texts translated from the former Missale Romanum. For those of you who can remember the Mass before the Vatican II changes came about, this response will be a familiar one. I remember thinking as a child, that I really didn’t want the Lord “under my roof." In my innocent mind, I pictured the Lord creeping into my attic and sitting there. My attic scared the daylights out of me enough already. But of course as the changes in the prayers came about I realized the silliness of my literal translation of “under my roof.”

“And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to out; but say the word and let my servant be healed’” (Luke 7: 6-7).

Clearly you can see the words of the Communion Rite are taken directly from scripture. Jesus comes physically and spiritually into us - body, mind and soul. As we kneel in humble preparation for the banquet, inviting the Lord to come under our roof, let us use this time to reflect on His mercy, for it is only with His Word that we can be truly healed.