Doing it Right - Doing it Well
Rev Dr Tom Elich
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Say the Black. Do the Red.
Some people like to think it is easy to celebrate the liturgy well. Just say the prayer printed for the day and perform the action set out in the rubrics. It is never that simple. What is printed on the page exists in two dimensions and uses written words, spacing, typography and a couple of colours. The liturgy however is not found on the page of a book. The liturgy is an event which is celebrated by the assembled Body of Christ. It exists in three dimensions, and unfolds in time, using voice and inflection, gesture and movement, music and colour.
On the page, the Collect sits mutely between the Entrance Antiphon and the Prayer over the Offerings. In the event, it is a speech act of the priest which follows the singing of the Gloria and a period of silence, the assembly standing, the priest with arms outstretched, which leads the people to the affirmation, Amen, and which cues them to sit, open to hear the first reading from Scripture.
The art of celebrating well is one of translating the page to the event. Some communities will provide a slavishly literal translation and assume that they are ‘doing it right’, that is, performing what is ‘liturgically correct’.
Others will make of the text a version freely enacted and assume they are doing it well, following the ‘spirit’ of the rite. How do we strike a good balance?
Pastors of souls must realise that, when the liturgy is celebrated, something more is required than the mere observation of the laws governing valid and licit celebration; it is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite, and enriched by its effects (SC 11). How do we achieve that ‘noble simplicity’ (SC 21) which will lead people to a fruitful participation in the holy mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection?
The Book
Let us take the Communion Rite as our example. Let us first see what ‘the book’ says. We will look at the Order of Mass (OM), the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), with a glance where necessary at the dreadfully negative disciplinary document from 2004 Redemptionis Sacramentum (RS).
The General Instruction promotes good eucharistic practice and strong sacramental signs. The bread should truly have the appearance of food, and be fashioned in such a way that it can be broken into parts for the people, in order to express with some force the unity of all in the one bread and the sign of charity represented by the sharing (GIRM 321). Communion under both kinds (bread and wine) is recommended as a more fulsome sign, making it clearly evident that the new and eternal covenant is ratified in the Blood of the Lord and connecting the Eucharist with the eschatological banquet in heaven (GIRM 281). Thirdly, 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 and that... they partake of the chalice, so that even by means of the signs communion may stand out more clearly as a participation in the sacrifice actually being celebrated (GIRM 85).
The rubrics in the Order of Mass are disappointing. At the preparation of the gifts and again during the communion rite, it speaks of the paten with the bread and the chalice in such a way that it seems to presume the priest consecrates only a little bread and wine, perhaps for himself and a few others, but not for a large Sunday assembly. Then suddenly, in relation to the people’s communion, mention is made of a ciborium for the first time (OM 134 and GIRM 160) and a concession is introduced, if any are present who are to receive holy communion under both kinds... (OM 135). But the purification of the vessels again presumes a single paten and chalice (OM 137). How is the communion rite celebrated with the usual Sunday assembly?
The General Instruction offers a little more help, though the general model still describes how the priest handles a paten and a chalice (the priest takes the host, breaks it over the paten... GIRM 155). Nevertheless the breaking of the bread is described at some length and its symbolism explained, though of course it should not be unnecessarily prolonged or accorded exaggerated importance (GIRM 83). The communion procession of the people is described, during which the people sing: the purpose [of singing] being to express the spiritual union of the communicants by means of the unity of their voices, to show gladness of heart, and to bring out more clearly the ‘communitarian’ character of the procession to receive the Eucharist (GIRM 86).
Finally the General Instruction recognises the presence of the assembly in that the priest might need assistance in the distribution of communion.
In the distribution of communion, the priest may be assisted by other priests who happen to be present. If such priests are not present and there is a truly large number of communicants, the priest may call upon extraordinary ministers to assist him, that is, duly instituted acolytes or even other faithful who have been duly deputed for this purpose. In case of necessity, the priest may depute suitable faithful for this single occasion. These ministers should not approach the altar before the priest has received communion, and they are always to receive from the hands of the priest celebrant the vessel containing the species of the most holy Eucharist for distribution to the faithful (GIRM 162).
This paragraph is new in the 2006 edition of the General Instruction. It necessitates a change in practice for lay communion ministers in many parishes where the ministers have been accustomed to come to the altar after the sign of peace and to receive communion simultaneously with the priest.
In the following paragraph, the 2006 edition of the General Instruction introduces new provisions for the purification of the vessels. It is for the priest and/or deacon to consume any consecrated wine left over; this takes place at the altar and immediately. Hosts may be consumed or taken to the tabernacle. Then the priest and/or deacon purify the vessels either at the altar or at the credence table. The vessels may be left on the credence table to be purified after Mass, but GIRM 163 no longer says after Mass when the people have left but rather immediately after Mass following the dismissal of the people.
Some requirements, not explicit in the Missal, are spelled out in more detail by Redemptionis Sacramentum. The Breaking of the Bread, for example, is to be done only by the priest or deacon (RS 73). The most significant clarification however relates to the use of multiple chalices.
It is praiseworthy, by reason of the sign value, to use a main chalice of larger dimensions, together with smaller chalices. However, the pouring of the Blood of Christ after the consecration from one vessel to another is completely to be avoided, lest anything should happen that would be to the detriment of so great a mystery. Never to be used for containing the Blood of the Lord are flagons, bowls, or other vessels that are not fully in accord with the established norms (RS 105-106).
This means in effect that the wine needs to be poured into multiple chalices at the time of the preparation of the gifts and these remain on the altar through the Eucharistic Prayer.
The Event
It is possible to follow all these rules and rubrics but to distort the liturgy and deform its balance and flow. An Australian parish offering holy communion under both kinds on a Sunday might regularly need five or more extraordinary lay ministers to help with the distribution. Imagine that they do not come from their seats until the priest himself has received communion. Then each receives the host. Then each receives the chalice. Then the communion vessel is presented to each. Finally they take up their places for the communion of the people. A lengthy hiatus could easily occur between the invitation to communion and the formation of the people’s communion procession. Likewise, an extended rigmarole of purifying the vessels can easily compromise the leadership of the priest in the silent thanksgiving which follows the communion. A keen sense of the shape of the liturgy is required.
The event might unfold as follows. During the Eucharistic Prayer, the single vessel containing the unbroken bread and the principal chalice occupy the centre of the altar. Additional chalices are arranged in a row at some distance. After the Lord’s
Prayer and its embolism, the priest says the prayer for peace, extends to the people the peace of the Lord, and invites them to offer one another the sign of peace. The priest gives the sign of peace to those close by in the sanctuary. At this point lay communion ministers may come forward without approaching the altar.
As the people sing the Lamb of God, the priest breaks the large hosts. For the last five years or more, our parish has used no other bread than the communal whole- wheat altar bread made by Cavanagh, available from Tarrawarra monastery and other suppliers. We use hosts from the tabernacle only when necessary at the end of the communion procession.
This bread is substantial, thicker and browner than the traditional host. It is easy to judge the number of breads required because each breaks into 24 pieces. We get very good at seeing the crowd and judging whether to consecrate six or eight large breads. They can all be broken during the singing of the Lamb of God. First each is broken in half. Then, with the breaking marks all aligned, the entire stack of twelve or sixteen halves can be broken together. Each quarter is broken into a separate vessel, so the number of pieces is also evenly divided. Everyone receives a piece of the broken bread, consecrated at the altar at that same Mass. Watch the video clip and see for yourself how simple this is. There will be no pouring of the consecrated wine into chalices.
After his private prayer of preparation, the priest holds up the broken host and chalice and invites the people to communion: Behold the Lamb of God... He reverently receives holy communion himself. At this point, the lay ministers who are waiting to one side, approach the altar as a group and stand in a line beside the altar. The singing of the communion song can now begin. The priest gives each minister a part of the host. Then taking a chalice, he ministers the Blood of Christ first to those who will be distributing the hosts. When he comes to the first of the ministers of the cup, he hands the purifier and the chalice to this person, who receives communion and keeps the chalice. The second chalice is handed to the next minister and so on. The priest then only needs to hand the vessels with the broken hosts to the remaining ministers, and all move to their stations for the communion of the people. It is important to establish a clear, reverent but streamlined process so that the invitation to communion follows through smoothly to the communion itself.
After communion, remaining hosts are placed in the tabernacle. What remains in the chalices is poured into the principal chalice on the altar which the priest and/or deacon drinks. This will be more dignified than seeing the priest drain four or six chalices in succession. Ministers place the empty vessels on the credence table. The purification can be done simply. At the credence table, water is poured into one chalice and then tipped from one chalice to another until all are rinsed. The priest or deacon drinks the water. A purifier is placed into each vessel to dry up any remaining liquid. Obviously each chalice will need to be thoroughly washed up with detergent by the sacristan after Mass.
A procedure such as this is simple enough to perform after communion without impinging on the silent prayer which priest and people share before the Prayer after Communion. However it can also be left until immediately after the dismissal at the end of Mass. In this case, it could be performed (by the deacon, if there is one) before the priest and ministers leave the sanctuary as the people sing the final hymn. The difficulty with the priest returning to the sanctuary for the ablutions after the final hymn is that this is a precious time of pastoral contact with the people which cannot be compromised.
The following short videos demonstrate the elements of the communion rite described above.
The patterns of the communion rite which many parishes developed over half a century were intended to give a shape and flow to the liturgy. The new dispositions in the current edition of the Missal are designed to safeguard the roles of the priest and deacon as ordinary ministers of communion and that of lay people as truly extra-ordinary. Given that there are new requirements in the Book, our task is to consider carefully how they can be well translated into the Event. It can be done carefully and reverently without destroying the balance of the rite.
This article was originally published in Liturgy News Vol 43(1) March 2013. Reprinted with permission.
