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THE DOCTOR IS IN
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January 21, 2011 |
DATE: May 20, 2011
Q. I remember the parish May Crowning ceremony from my childhood experience in a Catholic school. It seems as if this lovely practice has been dropped, especially if a parish does not have a school. Is it an approved rite? Why don’t parishes do this any more?
The May Crowning ceremony has traditionally been an event celebrated outside of Mass, when an image of Mary (statue) was crowned with flowers in a visible, ceremonial way. The “Crowning of an Image of the Blessed Mother” has been part of the Roman liturgy since the 19th century. History tells us that this practice was widespread, beginning in the 16thc. in the West, to celebrate various Marian occasions.
The month of May seems a singular month for doing this, but May Crowning is not restricted to May. If you are a pilgrim at Lourdes, France, you will discover that a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is crowned daily! You are correct: in a parish with a school, the idea of having a ritual May Crowning is popular. This is generally because there is a “critical mass” of children to participate in a large, beautiful procession—originally done in the U.S. to nurture a devotion to the Blessed Mother in a child’s early years. My grade school (2-8) experience verifies this, as the Sisters of St. Benedict planned and implemented an all-school May Crowning each year—held on the first Sunday afternoon in May. And yes, the church was full, even though people needed to “come back” again! Pope John Paul II approved an Order of Crowning an Image of the Blessed Virgin in 1981, and it contains beautiful ritual language for a service of this kind either during Evening Prayer, within Mass, or outside of Mass. The Cathedral’s Worship Committee anticipates doing this next spring.
Q. Can you offer a short reflection on The Introductory Rites of the Mass? Every week, I read my worship aid and every week—I wonder about the beginning part of the Mass: is it really important?
What are the Introductory Rites at Sunday Mass? Who does it? When does it start and when does it end? Why is it important to understand what it is and what it does (or doesn’t do)? Does gathering rite mean something different than Introductory Rite?
Many people think that that the act of “gathering” begins with the entrance song (or maybe even processional music) and ends when “we get the presider up to the sanctuary.” This seems reasonable enough—but there are better reasons, and there are more people involved in this introductory part than just the priest. The Introductory Rite, technically speaking, is the ritual that begins the official celebration. In this conversation, we are speaking of the celebration of the Eucharist (the Mass, as we say). The official church teaching, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (some call it the “GIRM 2000”) says that the purpose of these rites is “to ensure that the faithful who come together as one establish communion and dispose themselves to listen properly to God’s word and to celebrate the Eucharist worthily.” (endnote n.1) So this is the “why” of the gathering process. The Introductory Rites include the Entrance Hymn, Greeting, Act of Penitence (sometimes a sung Kyrie), Gloria, and Collect. By the time we arrive at this point, we need to be ready to really engage ourselves in the prayer of the collect (it “collects up” our prayers) and then on to the power of the Liturgy of the Word. So the Introductory Rites contain six parts! Sometimes they occur so quickly—and we’re still organizing ourselves—that we take these “pieces” for granted and finally settle into our seats for a well-deserved “whew” when we arrive at this point for the Liturgy of the Word.
But let’s rewind the video for a moment: how we gather impacts how we celebrate. And if we really think about it, how we gather is a lot of things: think back to what Mass we choose to attend--do we have a “regular” time selected? Do we decide when we wake up or before we go to bed? Do we often arrive for the “10:12 Mass” when the scheduled time is really 10 o’clock? What happens in the car—or during the walk on the way to church? There are even more questions, once we arrive at the place of celebration: how are we greeted (or attacked? or ignored?), what is the ambiance of the worship space? How does the church look, smell, feel? What do we hear: music, the sound of our own breathing, water flowing? There are lots of things to consider: but how can any person perceive all of this on a “normal” Sunday, much less every Sunday?
For what shall we pray? Perhaps for the courage to begin to celebrate Sunday better, in a less hurried and harried way. For the wisdom to make some time to plan, to anticipate doing something a little “counter-cultural” on Sunday. For the hope to understand better that we are not just “pew people” but active participants, in varying degrees, in the Catholic celebration. How do we gather, then-- do we arrive skipping or limping? We’ll know for sure when we “arrive at the Collect” with a collective, quiet, out-breathing of prayer, rather than a frantic, quiet-me-down-Lord, call for help.
Endnote
1. General Instruction of the Roman Mi ssal, Part III, A., n. 46. (GIRM 2000)
Please continue to ask questions—it helps all of us to clarify what is anticipated in the future! Check the link at http://www.usccb.org/romanmissal/ to learn more!
Some Links You Will Love (websites) you can visit, to learn more about liturgy and “why we do what we do,” at Mass are listed below. Enjoy!
Links You’ll Love for Liturgical Information
Find a Mass anywhere in the world: www.masstimes.org
Daily Readings & Psalms: http://www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml
The Vatican Website: www.vatican.va (click on English)
Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions: www.fdlc.org
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops: www.usccb.org
National Association of Pastoral Musicians: www.npm.org
Envision Church: http://www1.georgetown.edu/centers/liturgy/envisionchurch/ ENVISION CHURCH, sponsored by the Georgetown Center for Liturgy. It contains worthy articles about Catholic art, architecture, liturgy and spirituality.
A Catholic blog, Pray Tell centers on liturgy and music, edited by Anthony Ruff, OSB. Interesting, and you can contribute to the conversation if you like. There are articles that are archived, as well as news of interest about many Catholic websites that support liturgy and music. http://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2010/02/07/composers-supporting-each-other/ |
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