As I recall one of them was the response to the priest’s “The Lord be with you.”
Instead of “And also with you” we will someday say “And with your spirit.”
The rest were also quite simple. What are they?
This particular change is simply a reversion to an earlier form which was in effect just before the Mass got thoroughly dumbed down:
Priest: Dóminus vobiscum (The Lord be with you)
Flock: Et cum spiritu tu tuo. (And with thy spirit.)
In view of the simplicity of it all, I cannot understand why things are so slow moving. I don’t know if my church has installed any of the changes—certainly not the one in this post. Can someone comment on this as well?
One is that we are asked to bow during the Creed, at “He was born of the virgin Mary and became man”. Another is standing as we say “May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands…” rather than just after finishing that.
We don’t do it at my church, but my parents mentioned that at theirs, everyone remains standing after coming back from communion, until everyone is done.
That “And with your spirit” line comes right out of one of my old Missals - when the Latin Mass was in effect. Tell you what. Find an old Catholic in his early 70’s or beyond and say to him, “Dóminus vobiscum .” Without missing a beat, he’ll come back at you with “Et cum spiritu tu tuo.” It’s almost reflexive.
I always thought that if I went to Roman Catholic Mass in one country, it’d be the same as it is in my hometown. Well, back in the 50’s it was—at least in Guantanamo City, Cuba and Springfield, Mass. The only difference was the language used in the homily.
But now look at us.
Bowing at that point you mentioned in the Creed and standing at the Washing of the Hands (Lavabo, as we called it in grammar school) is something I’ve been doing for years. Both are so directed in my Sunday Missal which is 8 years old. So I doubt these are among the 2006 changes authorized by Vatican.
Side note:
In no church I’ve ever been in - except maybe one, have we ever done anything but kneel (immediately) when we return from Communion.
Could the church of your parents be a Maronite church? I went to a Mass at one earlier this year, and they don’t kneel at all (which is fine). In fact, as a sign of their respect, or reverence, Maronites stand at the Consecration.
Nice talking to you, gigi. And thanks for your thoughts.
They may also say it if you ask them if they know God’s phone number (old Catholic school joke)!
Yes, the readings are the same, but many of the other aspects of the mass differ now from place to place. I am not old enough to remember the Latin Mass, and I love the Novus Ordo if done right, but I do think that the Church as a whole misses something when the mass is not the same everywhere, with its own mother tongue.
They are, actually…I think they were customary, but not specified in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. I joined the liturgy committee at my parish purposely during this time, so I could be involved in how the changes were implemented. The ones gigi mentions are new to the GIRM, as well as the small bow off the head we are supposed to give before receiving the Eucharist.
My experience is the same as yours, but I think the customs are different in different places. Some parishes seem to be encouraging more standing vs. kneeling (such as the parish I used to belong to that built a new church without kneelers! :eek: I was not a parishoner there at the time, but a friend of mine who goes there said that they do not kneel at all. I heard that the parish applied to the Archdiocese (of Chicago) for $$$ for a renovation, and the Cardinal said they wouldn’t get it unless part of the plan was to install kneelers. Bit of a power struggle going on, it seems, but last I heard they decided to put the kneelers in.
The most recent changte I’ve noticed is that less and less churches are doing a midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The church I went to growing up (that my parents still go to,) had it’s last real midnight mass last year (assuming it doesn’t make a comeback.)
About the standing, in our church, everybody remains kneeling after communion until the Priest tells the audience to stand.
One ominous sign ( ): Early Mass has been pushed forward 15 minutes (from 8:30 to 8:15) while the final mass has been pushed back 15 minutes (from 11:30 to a now NFL-threatening 11:45).
We remain kneeling until the priest comes back from the tabernacle and sits down; then we sit down until he stands.
(I don’t know how to box a quote.)
That’s the way I was taught as a kid. But in my church these days, almost everyone sits soon after the priest returns from the tabernacle.
While we’re on the subject of differences…
When do you folks stand for the Gospel? Our congregation gets up when the organ strikes up. We’re actually supposed to wait until the priest stands. I confirmed this just a couple of Sundays ago.
I don’t know why, but our pastor remains sitting for a bit. The organ plays, the folks stand, and then, when so moved, he stands. So after Mass two weeks ago, I asked if we were supposed to stand after the priest stands.
“Yes,” he said.
Also, we do a lot more singing now than we did in the old days. (Too much for me.) And Sunday Mass runs an hour to an hour and a quarter.
Back in the Dark Ages when I was a kid, there’d be no homily, no music in daily Masses. In and out in a half hour. Maybe less.
We don’t have music in daily Masses today, but there’s always a sermon.
I believe you stand up for the Gospel out of respect for the Word of Christ but I could be mistaken.
I like the earlier “midnight mass” for Christmas Eve. For a lot of us, Christmas Day is a pretty long day of driving and parties and cooking, so a little more sleep on the Eve is appreciated.
Bowing during the Nicene Creed and when about to receive the Eucharist and standing a bit earlier at the beginning of Eucharist are the only major changes I can recall at mass.
Although not a mass, the Good Friday service has changed a bit in that during the long litany of prayers instead of standing-kneeling-standing-kneeling repeatedly, the church has the option of having you stand or kneel the entire time.
The US bishops have submitted some proposed modifications to the new translation to Rome, and are waiting on approval. That’s the main holdup right now.
There is a new English translation in the works, coming out in the next few years, that will be a fairly literal translation of the Latin. There used to be a draft version of it online, but I can’t find it anywhere. Some of the most noticeable changes I remember off the top of my head are:
-“through my fault, through my fault, through my most grevious fault” at the Confiteor
-“We praise You, we bless You, we worship You, we glorify You, we give You thanks for Your great glory” at the Gloria
-“I believe” at the Creed
-“Pray, brethren, that this sacrifice, mine and yours…” at the Orate fratres
-“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts”
-“Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof”
-Cardinal Arinze made an announcement a few days ago that in all new translations of the mass, the words of institution must say “for many” (as in “shed for you and for many”) rather than “for all”.
Many years ago, we went to Midnight Mass at the church in my hometown, and brought along my sister’s non-Catholic then-boyfriend (close to fiancee, although that fell through). This was when the Midnight Mass was very heavily attended, and if you didn’t get there early, you had to stand in the aisles through the very long Mass and sermon.
So we got there early, about 10:30, and sat in the darl al;ong with all the other early-attenders who wanted a seat. Dark and quiet, with the subtle murmuring of a quiet crowd, broken by the occasional cough reverberating through the Church. Boyfriend sat there with his hands properly folded, looking earnest and thoughtful, for 10-15 minutes. Then he leaned over towards me, still looking ahead at the dim altar, and spoke surreptitiosly out of thye corner of his mouth:
“When is this supposed to start?”
“Midnight,” I said, in an undertone. Evidently he thought “Midnight Mass” was a colloquialism for “late night Mass”, like “Midnight Basketball.”
“MIDNIGHT!!” He shouted. It sounded even louder in that church full of trying-tio-be-quiet attendees.
We have identical twin grandsons. Tomorrow they’ll be 1 year and 1 month old. One of them, Madox, on occasion, likes to shake his head back and forth vigorously 4 or 5 times then he stops and grins at you like this is the funniest thing in the world.
They were baptized on their birthday last month. In the ceremony the priest, in a loud, solemn voice asks, “Do you renounce Satan.”
Madox chose this very moment to do his head shake schtick. I loved it.
Not really. The Latin text says “pro multis”, and every extant text of the mass or the Divine Liturgy (in the eastern rites) has “for many”. It was never translated as “for all” until the 1970s. This is just a correction of a mistranslation.
): Early Mass has been pushed forward 15 minutes (from 8:30 to 8:15) while the final mass has been pushed back 15 minutes (from 11:30 to a now NFL-threatening 11:45).