You were expecting maybe something different?
Fourteen years ago, the beginning of Advent in 2011 heralded the arrival of a new English translation of the Roman Missal. This brought changes to some of the most common responses of the people at Mass, including “And with your spirit,” and “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof,” to the Gloria “and on earth peace to people of goodwill,” and the Creed “consubstantial with the Father”. It was hard; change always is.
That change was accompanied by much preparation and went very well. The changes were easily recognized to be improvements, and after months of effort they have all become familiar and reflexive. But those months were marked by paying attention to the changes at the expense of participation in the liturgy.
It has been my experience that change in the liturgy draws attention to the change. The Scriptures change from day to day, Sunday to Sunday, and this draws attention to the readings of the day. That is good. When the change draws the attention of the worshippers to wonder, what should I say or do now? That is less good.
Familiarity and expectation are important to the liturgy. We say “Amen” a half-dozen times during each Mass, but always in response to recognizable cues, such as “Through Christ our Lord.” It is a failure of the liturgical text to require an “Amen” without offering an appropriate cue. These failures occur in the Missal notably in the tripartite or “solemn” blessing at the end of Mass. There are three options for the celebrant under these circumstances: first, simply wait in silence for the unrequested response, possibly waving a hand; two, add the formulary that indicates the response, like “Through Christ our Lord;” or three, give some other cue, such as “Let the church say Amen.” There is another possible course of action, which I take most often: omit these badly formulated tripartite blessings.
Familiarity and expectation need not be so frequent and routine as the “Amen” to be liturgical and effective. Certain actions occur only one time each year and are greatly anticipated for that reason. Think of the imposition of ashes to begin Lent, or the return of the Alleluia at the Easter Vigil. Any combination of tune and text, such as the chanted Entrance Antiphon for any Sunday or feast, offers recognition and delight when that day comes each year. These variations are not random but are regular – they happen according to a rule – and are proper to the liturgy itself.
Other variations are less regular and, I believe, detract from the liturgy. The Roman Missal is full of options and variety, and the training I received in seminary emphasized the necessity of knowing what all the possible variations were, as well as the reasons to utilize all or at least many of them. There is more than a suggestion that “mixing things up” enhances the liturgy.
There are three possible greetings for the priest to say after the Sign of the Cross. There are three possible forms for the Penitential Rite, and one of the forms has numerous if not innumerable different tropes that can be woven in with the Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy. We haven’t even arrived at the Gloria yet, which is required for some Masses, omitted at others, and optional for many of the rest, though there is at least some semblance of a rule.
I have a friend who loves to mix it up at Mass. He never ad-libs or invents anything; it is all according the Missal. But he loves to pull out an unexpected option like a jack-in-the-box. If I am concelebrating with him, it is distracting and confusing to me when he does this, not least because I do not have the benefit of having the Missal before me, that is, the text. This has increased my conviction that every regular predictability contributes to the comfort and cooperation of all participants in the Divine Worship.
The importance of sameness to our worship has become more pressing on me the longer I have been a priest. One year is the broadest range of variation we can compass before we require and return to the same. Each year brings samenesses of time and season because of which they are intelligible and manageable: calendar year, meteorological year, lunar year, fiscal year, academic year, and liturgical year. Our worship requires and offers sameness.
As I have in many previous years, I hope to write my letters this Advent about worship and liturgy. Be ready for more of the same.
Monsignor Smith
