General Instruction of the Roman Missal
The Roman Missal is made up of the
Lectionary (the book of readings for Masses) and the
missal used at the altar (with prayers and directives for celebrating Mass).
The fathers of the Second Vatican Council understood the need for ongoing evaluation
and change of liturgy “ where necessary”, and called for careful review
in the light of sound tradition. The new GIRM is the result of such a review.
During the Jubilee Year 2000, Pope John Paul II published a new edition of the Roman Missal to include prayers for feasts of new saints and other new prayers. With this came the new GIRM.
Are there changes in the way we celebrate Mass?
There are some changes from the last edition. Some of them have already been promulgated (published) by Rome in the past years as issues have arisen and other new liturgical books have been published. One example of this would be processing with the Book of Gospels and not the Lectionary. Very little within the GIRM is new material, and many parishioners will not notice any change.
When will all these changes occur?
We are in a period of implementation. Some of the first changes were announced at St. Daniel in late November 2003:
A profound bow during the Creed at the words “… by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”
Standing for the priest’s prayer at the offertory.
A head bow before receiving Holy Communion as a unified gesture of reverence (rather than individualized gestures like genuflecting, etc.).
To remain standing after
receiving Holy Communion as a unified body, until all have received –
followed by a brief period of sitting in silence for reflection.
The concept of Silence.
The “profound bow” during the Creed has been in the books for a number of years; the new GIRM is directing us to implement it more consistently. Standing already after the priest’s washing of hands, rather than later, calls us into active participation in the priest’s prayer – standing is the posture for prayer in the most ancient tradition.
The “head bow” at Communion should happen just before approaching the Eucharistic Minister, before the EM’s words, “The Body of Christ”, already while the person in front is receiving, to keep the Communion procession flowing. Standing during the Communion procession ideally includes the entire assembly, and hymns should be sung by all while the procession is taking place – although the Church recommends that persons use common sense in standing since some, especially the elderly, may have difficulty standing for longer periods of time, and may choose to sit or kneel.
There is a history to both the head bow and the standing during the Communion procession. Standing for Communion had been an ancient practice in the Western Church, and was the on-going practice in many Eastern Churches. For many reasons, including infrequent Communion, kneeling became the common posture in the West when receiving Communion. After the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, the posture of standing when receiving Communion began to be re-introduced as the standard practice in many places throughout the world. The Church began to regain the ancient appreciation of standing as a posture that symbolized reverence and the joy of welcoming the Risen Christ.
The history of the head bow began in May 1967. Rome issued a document addressing devotion to the “Eucharistic Mystery,” which formally permitted the bishops of a country to determine practices related to the Eucharist. It suggested that it was appropriate that a communicant, when receiving Communion standing, make an additional sign of reverence, to be determined according to local culture. At that time, the Bishops of the U.S. did not want to make a further determination about the sign, but waited to see what sort of local practices would develop. In many places, communicants genuflected, sometimes unintentionally hitting the person in line behind them. In some places, communicants made a deep bow, a custom followed in some Eastern Churches.
Since the sign of unity is absent when people use different gestures or
postures, the revised GIRM notes that the National Conference of Catholic
Bishops determines the posture and gestures to be used during the Communion
procession, both before and after reception of the Blessed Sacrament. The U.S.
Bishops determined that standing is the preferred posture to be used during the
communion procession in our country, and a “bow of the head” the
recommended sign of reverence. No other gestures or signs of reverence are
required.
For more articles on the GIRM click WORSHIP.