However, for those kneeling to either kiss the Cross or receive Holy Communion, they are not rushed or sped up in any fashion whatsoever, for them they wait for the procession to come to them and then can pause once the procession has passed. How marvelous!"--Father Allan J. McDonald
More photos Dr. Buck Melton of our Good Friday Liturgy below my comments:
On Good Friday, we offered the Stations of the Cross at 12:10 PM and 3:00 PM with Confessions following each. Fr. Vernon Knight and I heard Confessions for an hour and a half after each set thus a total of three hours for both of us on Good Friday. I must say that Good Friday provokes many good confessions and from people who have been away from the Sacrament for some time. It is truly a moment of grace!
At 7 PM we celebrated the Passion of the Lord. Three cantors chanted the Passion of Saint John. The Holy Cross was unveiled and all venerated it. This year we invited the congregation to kneel at the full lenght of the altar railing to venerate the Cross as our Lord's Holy Cross was brought to them in procession as they had processed to the altar railing.
Holy Communion (Mass of the Pre-Sanctified) was distributed to kneeling communicants at the altar railing as well.
I must say that it takes two of us distributing Holy Communion to kneeling communicants at the full length of the altar railing less time than it does for four of us distributing at fixed "standing" stations! And the speed of the Veneration of the Holy Cross was the same. In fact, the entire Passion was completed at 8:10 PM!
However, for those kneeling to either kiss the Cross or receive Holy Communion, they are not rushed or sped up in any fashion whatsoever, for them they wait for the procession to come to them and then can pause once the procession has passed. How marvelous!
Falling prostrate (God was so impressed He took these photos!):
8 comments:
Father do you ever wear fiddlebacks for Mass?
Yes, I do for the EF Mass (but not always and for Easter Sunday it will be the Gothic Style) and on occasion at our 12:10 PM OF ad orientem Mass. Over the years I have been given some very nice Roman Vestments (aka, fiddle back). I have the liturgical colors of a Marian White, violet and green. To be honest, the fiddle back looks fine from the back, but not so much from the front. There is a fuller version even in the front which Pope Benedict often wore and it is the authentic Roman Chasuble.
To get through the Solemn Liturgy of the Passion in one hour and ten minutes probably sets some kind of record (especially if the St John Passion is chanted) and doing it at 7pm rather than 3pm is somewhat irregular. The veneration of the cross has a processional character; in England it was called 'creeping to the cross' because in the Middle Ages the faithful approached on their knees. So going the length of the rail with the cross, while it undoubtedly saves time, is contrary to the spirit and letter of the Rite.
Since the 1970s I have usually attended this service at the London Oratory. Due to the large number of people present the veneration alone takes an hour. The Improperia are sung in full (Victoria) as is the Crux Fidelis (King John IV of Portugal). These are part of the liturgy, not musical add-ons. The custom of the laity receiving Communion, introduced in 1955, needlessly prolongs the service and there are no chants prescribed for it; the Vexilla Regis was dumped (much to the disgust of John XIII who insisted on its inclusion). The 1974 Graduale merely has the laconic instruction 'Dum defertur Ss.mum Sacramentum ad altare, omnes in silentio stant. Durante communionem, fieri potest cantus aptus.'
In other words, sing what you like. At the Oratory, this means a couple of motets; I suspect that in most places the temptation to throw in a hymn will prove too great, even if it means using the organ, which on this of all days should be silent.
Will confessions be heard at normal time on Saturday? I checked the bulletin and did not see any changes for Saturday other than the Mass time.
Thank you! Looking forward to a Happy Easter!
3 pm confessions
Thanks Father! I'll be there!
Celebrating the Good Friday liturgy at 7:00 p.m. is not "irregular" at all.
"4. On the afternoon of this day, about three o'clock (unless a later hour is chosen for a pastoral reason), there takes place the celebration of the Lord's Passion..."
The rubrics clearly state that a "later hour" can be chosen. In most places in this country, most people who are employed are working at 3 o'clock on the afternoon of this day.
Maybe the later hour is unfamiliar to you, but it is not in any way "irregular."
Time to lose the "dinner" table since you have a great HIGH ALTAR!!
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