Did you experience the debut of the Sunday of the Word of God that Pope Francis promulgated for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time each year? What's great about this, is that the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany are the same Sunday in both forms. I preached about it at the Cathedral's EF Mass today.
But this is what I did in my parish:
Last week I invited the congregation to bring their home and personal bibles to Mass today for a special blessing of these. At the time of the Universal Prayer, the last three petitions focused on the Bibles and God's word and the closing prayer was a prayer of blessing of the Bibles. Then I blessed them with Holy Water as the people held them aloft. Many brought their Bibles and many multiple Bibles.
But I got creative at the time of the Gospel, if you will forgive me!!!! It was a spontaneous gesture on my part. I don't normally chant the Gospel in the OF Mass, so I did so today.
But drumroll, please: I know, I know it is illicit and reserved for bishops only in the Ordinary Form, but come on guys it is the Sunday of the word of God. At the end of the Gospel, our custom at St. Anne is to sing the Alleuia again. And I thought to myself, "self, it is the first every Sunday of the Word of God" why not bless the people with the Book of the Gospel? Which I did. The Doctors of Liturgical Law: have at it!
Now let's turn to next Sunday's Candlemas which happily falls on a Sunday! This happens every six or seven years or so.
Did your priest tell you about it, first of all. And secondly did he invited you to bring home candles to church next Sundayfor the blessing?
Has your parish ordered enough vigil candles with wax catchers to be passed out next Sunday? In the OF Candlemas, the congregation holds lighted candles which are then blessed. At our 10:30 AM Mass, I will ask the congregation to go outside for this blessing and then procession into the church.
At the other Masses we will use the simple form of blessing.
Did you hear anything about any of these at your parish, the Sunday of the Word of God and Candlemas next Sunday?
4 comments:
No, not a word... and not one word about “Word of God” Sunday today.
We blew it off "Biblemas" here and will blow off Candlemas as well....
This will not put a dent in the upcoming titular saint feast day on a Saturday where the party kicks off after the Sunday Vigil Mass with food and music....
lucky for us, the Saturday is the first Saturday of the month where we are thereby blessed with an actual Mass of Saturday in the morning once a month.
Which means a plenary indulgence available for the day....of course, I seem to be the only one in the parish who knows or cares as to indulgences available on titular feasts, as they blow those off, too, as they do any available for most the rest of the year.
But, boy howdy can those musicians play Stump The Parish with musical selections for parishoners to attempt to join in singing, I swear they must write most of these the night before and stick them in hymnals just to watch us founder...but parishoner have wised up and normally are not stupid enough to take the bait and try to sing...they showed THEM, by golly.
You sure did Father. Thank you
Sunday was Tempus per Annum III, Anno A (Ordinary Form) and Dominica III post Epiphaniam (Extraordinary Form). It's not a coincidence, and the Mass is not the same in both forms. In fact, there is an anomaly.
I actually attended in the OF, and the Introit in the 1974 Graduale is 'Dominus secus mare Galilaeae' which ties in with the Gospel. The EF Introit is 'Adorate Deum omnes Angeli ejus' which is used in the OF in Year C. Yet the Introit in the 2002 MR is neither of these; instead it has 'Cantate Domino canticum novum, cantate Domino omnis terra. Confessio et pulchritudo in conspectu ejus, sanctitas et magnificentia in sanctificatione ejus.'
There is no chant for this. So presumably it is supposed to be merely recited, which is not the preferred option; in fact the preferred option would be the Graduale Introit. As for 'Word of God Sunday' this was not mentioned, and the Oratory Fathers are usually up to speed on these matters. I can only assume that the E&W bishops have not adopted it.
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