Cardinal Sarah calls for "ad orientem" worship and kneeing for Holy Communion. Is it enough?

 

“It is very important that we return as soon as possible to a common orientation, of priests and the faithful turned together in the same direction – eastwards or at least towards the apse – to the Lord who comes.” ... “I ask you to implement this practice wherever possible.”

He said that “prudence” and catechesis would be necessary, but told pastors to have “confidence that this is something good for the Church, something good for our people”.

“Your own pastoral judgement will determine how and when this is possible, but perhaps beginning this on the first Sunday of Advent this year, when we attend ‘the Lord who will come’ and ‘who will not delay’.

With these words, Robert Cardinal Sarah has pushed further the argument for a "reform of the reform" of the modernist liturgy forced upon the Catholic faithful by Paul VI.

What are we to think of this?

First, a suggestion is worthless, except that it may indicate a future command to come and that this is to soften up the troops, so to speak. You can count on objections and vehement fights against it. All we in the English speaking world need to do is to recall the fight over the correct translation of the Latin modernist liturgy into English.

Second, it is not going to save what Pope Benedict XVI called, the "Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite" because it is not enough.

The liturgy forced upon the Church by Paul VI was so far and removed from anything the Council Fathers desired in Sacrosanctum Concilium as to be nothing more than a complete break with the past. The problem with this Novus Ordo Missae is the Novus Ordo Missae. It is fundamentally flawed.

Nothing in the Council called for Mass facing the people and in fact, the ability to face liturgical east is already in the Missal where the priest is directed at the Orate Fratres and the Pax vobiscum, to face the people. This presumes that he is not. The Missal and its Graduale Romanum already provides for Gregorian chant, Latin Ordinary and text, incense, beauty, and so on. Why is it not done?

The ability to reform the reform is already there in every Missal and no priest needs permission to do it.

Fundamentally, turning the priest will fix little without more.

The Offertory of the Mass is nothing more than a minor Talumudic table blessing

Baruch atah Adonai Elohainu melech haolam hamotzli lechem min haaretz.Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.

Baruch atah Adonai Elohainu melech haolam borai pri haaitz.Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the tree.

It was put in the Mass by Anibale Bugnini after an outrage by Paul VI because there was to be no resemblance of an Offertory in Bugnini's, "Presentation of the Gifts." The priest would receive the bread and wine from a contrived procession, prepare them and then say the "Prayer over the Gifts" leading directly into the Preface. No offertory prayer. No orate fratres. Paul VI demanded an Offertory and this is what we got. A Jewish talmudic table blessing which replaced this:

Accept, O Holy father, Almighty and Eternal God, this spotless host, which I, Your unworthy servant, offer to You, my living and true God, to atone for my numberless sins, offences, and negligences; on behalf of all here present and likewise for all faithful Christians living and dead, that it may profit me and them as a means of salvation to life everlasting. Amen.

O God,  ✠ Who in creating man didst exalt his nature very wonderfully and yet more wonderfully didst establish it anew; by the Mystery signified in the mingling of this water and wine, grant us to have part in the Godhead of Him Who hath deigned to become a partaker of our humanity, Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord; Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, entreating Thy mercy that our offering may ascend with a sweet fragrance in the sight of Thy divine Majesty, for our own salvation, and for that of the whole world. Amen.

Come Thou, the Sanctifier, Almighty and Everlasting God, and bless ✠ this sacrifice which is prepared for the glory of Thy holy Name.

How do you even begin to compare these prayers? Can an ardent defender of the modernist liturgy please explain it?

We are to believe that simply turning the priest around will fix what is wrong?

The problems of the penitential rite options, the Canon (Eucharistic Prayer) options and the actual orations themselves, changed or deleted entirely from the ancient Missal are even greater problems with the liturgy.

Until these options are removed, by order and the I Confess, Offertory and Roman Canon are mandated by law, then there can be no reform.

At the same time, we are to accept that girls and women should still assist at the altar, women should have their feet washed and communion should be given in the hand.

The Cardinal also said that people should return to communion, kneeling.

Has he tried that in a typical parish?

I applaud Cardinal Sarah for this beginning. The reality is, this, the bishops will ignore it and priests who take this on without the leadership of their Ordinary will be pilloried. 

It is a beginning. 

It is not enough.

Priests and Bishops of Canada : STOP beating up Catholics who KNEEL for Holy Communion! Where is mercy?

An email from a friend in a Canadian Diocese, contains the following information about a recent occurrence:

At a funeral last week, the person knelt for Holy Communion. She was refused to be given Holy Communion until she stood but was allowed to receive on the tongue.

Page 44, Paragraph 160 of GIRM for Canada (General Instruction on the Roman Missal), present in the front of every Roman Missal in every church in Canada states:

160. The Priest then takes the paten or ciborium and approaches the communicants, who usually come up in procession.
    It is not permitted for the faithful to take the consecrated Bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them on from one to another among themselves. In the Dioceses of Canada, Holy Communion is to be received standing, though individual members of the faithful may choose to receive Communion while kneeling. When standing before the minister to receive Holy Communion, the faithful should make a simple bow of the head. When receiving Holy Communion on the tongue, they reverently join their hands; when receiving Holy Communion in the hand, they reverently open their hands placing one beneath the other, and they consume the host immediately upon receiving it.

On the Vatican's own web page, one finds this:

From this perspective, the then-Cardinal Ratzinger assured that: "Communion only reaches its true depth when it is supported and surrounded by adoration" [The Spirit of the Liturgy (Ignatius Press, 2000), p. 90]. For this reason, Cardinal Ratzinger maintained that “the practice of kneeling for Holy Communion has in its favor a centuries-old tradition, and it is a particularly expressive sign of adoration, completely appropriate in light of the true, real and substantial presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the consecrated species” [cited in the Letter "This Congregation" of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 1 July 1, 2002].

It is important to note that Pope Francis has not changed what Pope Benedict began. While in large "Papal" Masses, he generally does not distribute Holy Communion to the lay faithful, he has been quite consistent with Deacons kneeling for Communion. If one wishes to make a distinction, "well that is a Deacon," one should look up the definition of, clericalist. 

The question must be asked.

Why are you as priests and bishops doing this to the faithful and allowing it? The GIRM clearly acknowledges the right of the individual to kneel notwithstanding the general norm.

Fathers, do you not know this? If you do not know it, you do now.

Listen to me. If you do know it and you are denying the faithful of their right, then it is fair to say that you are, objectively speaking, in a state of severe disobedience to the Law of the Church and objectively, in a state of serious sin. You are committing an illegal act against the faithful. What will you say to Our Lord Jesus Christ on your particular judgement day for this action?

You, Bishop; why do you allow this. How will you answer for it? Will you simply plead ignorance?

Where is "mercy"?

Given the prevailing culture, I'm just a "rigorist" and a "self-absorbed Promethean, neo-Pelagian" who is "judging from the Seat of Moses."

As laity, in Canada in particular, what is your experience and feel free to name your diocese and parish.

Toronto Priest denies Holy Communion on the tongue and announces it publicly!

UPDATE, Sabbath Day, July 11:

As guessed through my cryptic hints, the parish, ironically, is St. Pius X on Bloor Street not very far from the Society of St. Pius X Mass Centre known as Church of the Transfiguration. In this day and age I find it incredulous that a priest would still attempt this. Is it any wonder that people seek refuge within the SSPX?

The Pastor is Father Brian Shea as hinted at. The matter has been reported to the Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Toronto and there has been email communication. This writer has been assured that the matter will be dealt with. The writer has also been assured that the Pastor is going to be challenged on it should it happen again tonight and tomorrow.

Father's previous parish was St. Martin de Porres in Scarborough and prior to that, St. Timothy in Orangeville. 

These actions violate Canonical Law, liturgical norms and the rights of the Lay faithful. Frankly, it is the height of clericalism for a priest to take it upon himself to become the Law and dictate the spiritual expression of the faithful under your care. It is the opposite of humility and certainly not in keeping with the example of Pope Francis. But then, who am I to judge?

Any parishioner wishing to update please write me at voxcantoris@rogers.com

Well, well, well.

The annual game of musical chairs in the Archdiocese of Toronto is being played out. I was always told that priests are to "make no changes for a year." 

It seems to me that little fact only works for those who might have a tinge of tradition let alone orthodoxy, you know a little Gregorian chant or Latin in keeping with the Documents of Vatican II, or a cassock or heaven forbid, moving the Tabernacle to the centre!

News has reached me today, confirmed from two sources, that a new Pastor at a prominent Toronto parish named after a very holy Saint who was also a Pope has refused to provide people who wish to kneel, the Holy Eucharist. Not only that, but he refuses to provide Holy Communion on the tongue, admonishing at least one; and he has announced this publicly at the Mass!

The parish has (or at least had) a large banner of its Patron Saint on the front wall overlooking the street. It shows this holy Pope in a beautiful green Roman chasuble giving Holy Communion to two children kneeling and on the tongue! 

How ironic!

I can tell you that both persons are known to me and they are both suffering a crisis of conscience!

All this in the first week Father is a the parish and publicly claims it to be a "health hazard."

Touché, ;),  I say.

Many fine articles on the matter of reception of Holy Communion can be found at here.

Do you receive as our Pope and Emeritus desire?

OFFICE FOR THE LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF

Communion received on the tongue and while kneeling

The most ancient practice of distributing Holy Communion was, with all probability, to give Communion to the faithful in the palm of the hand. The history of the liturgy, however, makes clear that rather early on a process took place to change this practice.

From the time of the Fathers of the Church, a tendency was born and consolidated whereby distribution of Holy Communion in the hand became more and more restricted in favor of distributing Holy Communion on the tongue. The motivation for this practice is two-fold: a) first, to avoid, as much as possible, the dropping of Eucharistic particles; b) second, to increase among the faithful devotion to the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Saint Thomas Aquinas also refers to the practice of receiving Holy Communion only on the tongue. He affirms that touching the Body of the Lord is proper only to the ordained priest.

Therefore, for various reasons, among which the Angelic Doctor cites respect for the Sacrament, he writes: “. . . out of reverence towards this Sacrament, nothing touches it, but what is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priest's hands, for touching this Sacrament. Hence, it is not lawful for anyone else to touch it except from necessity, for instance, if it were to fall upon the ground, or else in some other case of urgency” (Summa Theologiae, III, 82, 3).

Over the centuries the Church has always characterized the moment of Holy Communion with sacredness and the greatest respect, forcing herself constantly to develop to the best of her ability external signs that would promote understanding of this great sacramental mystery. In her loving and pastoral solicitude the Church has made sure that the faithful receive Holy Communion having the right interior dispositions, among which dispositions stands out the need for the Faithful to comprehend and consider interiorly the Real Presence of Him Whom they are to receive. (See The Catechism of Pope Pius X, nn. 628 & 636). The Western Church has established kneeling as one of the signs of devotion appropriate to communicants. A celebrated saying of Saint Augustine, cited by Pope Benedict XVI in n. 66 of his Encyclical Sacramentum Caritatis, ("Sacrament of Love"), teaches: “No one eats that flesh without first adoring it; we should sin were we not to adore it” (Enarrationes in Psalmos 98, 9). Kneeling indicates and promotes the adoration necessary before receiving the Eucharistic Christ.

From this perspective, the then-Cardinal Ratzinger assured that: "Communion only reaches its true depth when it is supported and surrounded by adoration" [The Spirit of the Liturgy (Ignatius Press, 2000), p. 90]. For this reason, Cardinal Ratzinger maintained that “the practice of kneeling for Holy Communion has in its favor a centuries-old tradition, and it is a particularly expressive sign of adoration, completely appropriate in light of the true, real and substantial presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the consecrated species” [cited in the Letter "This Congregation" of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 1 July 1, 2002].

John Paul II, in his last Encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia ("The Church comes from the Eucharist"), wrote in n. 61: “By giving the Eucharist the prominence it deserves, and by being careful not to diminish any of its dimensions or demands, we show that we are truly conscious of the greatness of this gift. We are urged to do so by an uninterrupted tradition, which from the first centuries on has found the Christian community ever vigilant in guarding this ‘treasure.’ Inspired by love, the Church is anxious to hand on to future generations of Christians, without loss, her faith and teaching with regard to the mystery of the Eucharist. There can be no danger of excess in our care for this mystery, for ‘in this sacrament is recapitulated the whole mystery of our salvation.’”

In continuity with the teaching of his Predecessor, starting with the Solemnity of Corpus Christi in the year 2008, the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, began to distribute to the faithful the Body of the Lord, by placing it directly on the tongue of the faithful as they remain kneeling.

Apostolic Nuncio to Canada on Kneeling after Communion

I received a letter today from the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada regarding the issue of some bishops and priests forcing people to stand after Holy Communion. This has come about as misinterpretation of the GIRM (General Instruction on the Roman Missal) as it is in the Third Edition in force since the First Sunday of Advent past.

The Archbishop refers to my own provision of the evidence to him from a Dubium and Responsum involving the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops back in 2003 and Cardinal George. This fact has been well publicised and is readily available. The fact that some Canadian bishops and liturgists have taken a different view is unacceptable.

Vox Cantoris' letter received from the Apostolic Nuncio

You, dear Catholic friend, have the right to know the truth and to know when you are being misled.

What is important about the enclosure accompanying His Grace's letter is that it is taken directly from the bulletin, Notitiae, published by the Congregation. What is most notable about its content is that neither the dubium nor the responsum refers to the question coming from the USCCB. It is generic and in fact refers to "multis in locibus christefidelis"-- "Christians in many places." 

Therefore, with clarity the intent is universal. It did not specify the United States.

Let us be very clear. Paragraph 43 of the new General Instruction on the Roman Missal in Canada and elsewhere does not force you to stand after receiving Holy Communion.

It follows then that any bishop or priest in Canada ordering you to stand after receiving Holy Communion is in error and by doing so, they have exceeded their authority.

Let me repeat again.

The bishops, priests and liturgists who have forced you to stand after Holy Communion and to remain standing until all have received are wrong. Read that again. THEY ARE WRONG AND IN ERROR.

NOW, YOU ARE ARMED.

GET TO WORK, YOU'RE A GROWN-UP CATHOLIC NOW!

Here then is my translation of that pictured below from the September/October 2003 issue of Notitiae, the Bulletin of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments:

Question:

In many places during Holy Mass, some of the Christian faithful upon returning to their seats after receiving the Eucharist wish to remain in private prayer sitting or kneeling or standing.  Is it the intent of the statute of the third Latin edition of the Roman Missal to stop this practice?

Response

Negative according to our thoughts.

The mind of the Congregation is that by means of the provisions of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 43, on the one hand is intended to grant broad terms -- some uniformity of the habit of the Congregation for the various parts of the body in the celebration of Holy Mass; (Vox--as example, the Gloria, Offertory, or Lord's Prayer) and at the same time on the other side of the body, not to regulate the habit so rigorously in such a way that those who wish to stand or to sit or to be on their knees (after Holy Communion) were no longer free to do so.

Archbishop Prendergast read the GIRM!

Archbishiop Terence Prendergast, S.J. of Ottawa may need read this blog (or perhaps he might) but he sure read the GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal) and understands fully the mind of the Church on these matters. Thanks to SoCon for the information.

May the Archbishop be richly blest for his clarity, his teaching and his leadership and loyalty and may other bishops in Canada follow his example: (bolding is my emphasis).

Letter to the Archdiocese of Ottawa

on the Implementation of the Third Edition

of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

The First Sunday of Advent sees the introduction of a new translation of the Roman Missal for the English-speaking members of the Archdiocese. I am confident that the priests of the Archdiocese have been preparing the faithful on the new prayers and responses contained in the new translation. November 27 is also the date on which a new version of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal comes into effect.

After discussing with priests how to carry out these changes in our liturgical life, I have determined that, in the Archdiocese of Ottawa, we will do this in stages, gradually putting into effect practices that the Universal Church is inviting us to adopt so as to enrich the sacred liturgy as an offering pleasing to God.

I will be writing you several times in the new liturgical year, proposing an ordered implementation of new directives, some of which will come into effect in Advent, others in Lent, still others during Eastertide and at Pentecost.

In the meantime, I encourage priests, religious and the faithful to read and reflect upon the Third Edition of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM). The General Instruction of the Roman Missal may be found in the new Roman Missal, is available as an offprint from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and may be downloaded from the website of its Liturgy Office [cf. www.romanmissal.ca/GIRM.pdf]. Liturgy committees will profit from studying it carefully in order to understand the new norms in context.

On this occasion, I wish to draw your attention to several matters: the General Instruction’s invitation to unity in the congregation assembled for the Eucharist—including in posture; the call in the General Instruction for reflective silence at Mass; the Creed to be recited on Sundays and major feasts; and a change with regard to the lectionary in the entrance procession.

The General Instruction offers a wonderful expression of the ideal of unity in the People of God gathered for Eucharistic worship in paragraphs 95-96, which read as follows:

In the celebration of Mass the faithful form a holy people, a people of God’s own possession and a royal priesthood, so that they may give thanks to God and offer the unblemished sacrificial Victim not only by means of the hands of the Priest but also together with him and so that they may learn to offer their very selves. They should, moreover, take care to show this by their deep religious sense and their charity toward brothers and sisters who participate with them in the same celebration. They are consequently to avoid any appearance of singularity or division, keeping in mind that they have only one Father in heaven and that hence are all brothers or sisters one to the other.

Moreover, they are to form one body, whether in hearing the Word of God, or in taking part in the prayers and in the singing, or above all by the common offering of the Sacrifice and by participating together at the Lord’s table. This unity is beautifully apparent from the gestures and bodily postures observed together by the faithful.

The ideal, then, is realized in part when the faithful manifest their unity by common postures. The postures to be observed at various parts of the Mass are spelled out in #43; we are familiar with most of these, including the call to kneel for the consecration (which in the Archdiocese of Ottawa means from the end of the Holy, holy, holy until the acclamation of faith following the Consecration).

What is new is that, except for kneeling at the Consecration, the General Instruction says that the faithful should stand ―from the invitation, Orate, fratres (Pray, brethren) until the end of Mass‖. How this is to function in practice will have to be worked out in particular circumstances, as #43 also says that the faithful may sit ―if appropriate, during the period of sacred silence after Communion‖. Some liturgical experts have suggested that the congregation remain standing until the last person has received Holy Communion at which point people kneel or sit in reverent prayer. When queried whether people may kneel or sit on returning to their place after receiving Holy Communion as, generally speaking, we have been accustomed to doing, the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship said that the expression of unity should not be so emphasized that people are not free to kneel or sit in prayer after Communion.

The note about silent prayer following Communion is part of a wider call for reflective silence at key points in the Mass: in recollection before the Penitential Act; after the celebrant says, ―Let us pray‖; following the readings and the homily. The General Instruction calls us to reflection and an unhurried pace in order to foster true liturgical devotion (cf. #45 and 56).

The new Roman Missal indicates that the Apostles’ Creed, following a long-standing tradition, is appropriate to Lent and Easter. Accordingly, I ask that the Nicene Creed be proclaimed on the other Sundays and holy days of the year when the profession of faith is to be said.

This year our Pastoral Theme—―The Word of God grew and multiplied‖ Acts 12.24—strives to have us focus on the power of God’s Word in our lives. I will speak about this in my next reflection on liturgy in January 2012. The liturgy gives priority to the Gospel and so the description of the entrance procession stresses the Book of the Gospels over the lectionary (cf. GIRM #120 d). Accordingly, the lectionary may no longer be brought in procession but should be placed on the ambo. If a Book of the Gospels is available (the English Sector of the Canadian Church hopes this will be available in a couple of years), it is carried in procession and placed on the altar until it is brought to the ambo.

Changes in the liturgy, dear brothers and sisters, are demanding as they interrupt habitual practices which have become second nature to us. So, I counsel patience at this time and openness to what the Lord is asking of us for our greater spiritual good in this transition.

When he published Third Edition of the Roman Missal, Blessed Pope John Paul II wished this new book of liturgical prayer to open us to new prayer formulas and to liturgical celebration of newly-canonized saints. He saw it as the ongoing manifestation of the renewal of the Sacred Liturgy desired by the Second Vatican Council.

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will move us to grow more fully into our dignity as the holy people of God by our embracing these new prayers and modified liturgical practices.

       Devotedly yours in Christ,

         Terrence Prendergast, S.J

 Archbishop of Ottawa

On the Solemnity of Christ the King

November 20, 2011

Catholics in Canada: Rise Up and Kneel Down!

Go here, my Canadians sisters and brothers, and join Canadian Catholic Preserving the Custom of Kneeling after Communion!

A Metropolitan See and its Wayward London Child

Thank you and a prayer for God's abundant blessings on Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto for having the grace, faith and pastoral sensitivity to recognise the "laudable practice" in the GIRM that the kneeling custom in Toronto is to be maintained. That is, from the end of the Sanctus to the end of the Doxology and from the beginning of the Ecce Agnus Dei. After Communion, the faithful may kneel or sit. as they are inclinded, as is their personal choice.

Our grown up American brothers and sisters are much more fortunate that the Holy See has already ruled on ths ludicrous behaviour by episcopal dictators. Gee, they seem to find something in the GIRM to enforce that isn't there but they can't enforce the minimal use of Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion or Gregorian chant?

Meanwhile, the poor people of the See of Toronto's wayward child have had gestapo like "ministers of uniformity" going around telling them to get off of their knees. The Diocese of London under Bishop Ronald Fabbro of the Congregation of St. Basil as High Priest of liturgy has ordered under the rubric of "obedience" that people must all stand after Holy Communion until all have received and returned to their pews as a sign of "unity" and "community."

Woe too, to those in Calgary who suffer from a bishop who states, "The GIRM says this...In Calgary, we do this..."

Reports are reaching us today from Calgary, Antigonish, Halifax, Winnipeg and other places of this rudeness and intrusion on the part of some of Canada's high priests of liturgy.

God bless Archbishop Michael Miller of Vancouver for recognising "laudable practice.'

As referred to in the link above, this little matter has been dealt with by Rome previously and quite effectively at that same link by Francis Cardinal Arinze, whlilst he was Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Letters will be written. Rome will be called in to intervene.

Look at this from a Facebook feed about the situation in London today:

Sadly, in my diocese last evening, some left Holy Mass in tears and angry after being forced to stand after receiving Our precious Lord in the Eucharist and were prohibited from kneeling. Shame on the priest and our bishop!

I just knelt anyway, the liturgy belongs to all of us, and the Holy See said we can kneel if we wish. I have never like bullies. The priest and I had a good discussion afterward and he at least seemed interested in finding out what Rome has said about this "no kneeling" after Communion liturgical fad. I'll be emailing the documents to him today.

One parishioner, in his 70's, was so upset at Holy Mass after being told the bishop said we can't kneel after Communion anymore, he yelled out during the priest's homily, "Father, why can't we keep kneeling together as a sign of unity?" The priest just responded, "This is what the bishop said we have to do for unity." Unity? Give me a break. Ripping away a centuries old custom from people, which takes place during a most miraculous moment in their lives, does not create unity. It creates harm through division, anger, and deep hurt. God save us!

Gentle Reader, this is not what the GIRM requires. This is not in the new Roman Missal. The bishops who do this are being insensitive and cruel. They are not doing what the Church wants. It is an ugly power-play.

It is my view that many, many bishops, priests and professional Catholics and liturgists resent in every way the Third Edition of the Roman Missal and the translation mandated by Liturgicam Authenticum. They were forced to implement it when as recently as last February they denied any sense of urgency when the Recognitio was still not granted. Some will stop at nothing to ensure that that which is to surround the Missal  to increase reverence and holiness does not happen.

If they are so eager to interpret what is not in the GIRM when will they actually interpret correctly what is in there such as Gregorian chant?

Dear Reader, you have a responsibility to stand up get in the battle in a way that our parents and grandparents were not out of blind obedience and ignorance.

Here is one way.

CANADIAN CATHOLICS PRESERVING THE CUSTOM OF

KNEELING AFTER HOLY COMMUNION

Kneeling.

"It may well be that kneeling is alien to modern culture–insofar as it is a culture, for this culture has turned away from the faith and no longer knows the One before whom kneeling is the right, indeed the intrinsically necessary gesture. The man who learns to believe learns also to kneel, and a faith or a liturgy no longer familiar with kneeling would be sick at the core. Where it has been lost, kneeling must be rediscovered, so that, in our prayer, we remain in fellowship with the apostles and martyrs, in fellowship with the whole cosmos, indeed in union with Jesus Christ Himself."

Pope Benedict XVI writing in the Spirit of the Liturgy.

Proof: The Canadian Bishops' Conference wants you off your knees!

...and to obey a "lay minister" when ordered to do so!

Where is the GIRM (General Instruction on the Roman Missal) for Canada?

A few months ago, I posted this and this. I stated at that time that Canadian bishops asked the congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments to approve a variety of kneeling postures for Canada. I also indicated at the time that this was the reason for the delay in the Recognitio for Canada. (I will also say that I was chastised by a few bloggers demanding "proof"and that I publicize my "sources.")

I've written three times to the experts at the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops to ask this question. I wrote this week to remind them that I had already written twice before with no answer and I finally received a response with the proof that my suspicions were correct:

"The GIRM with Canadian adaptations is not in print yet precisely because the matter of posture is not yet settled. Until that happens (which we think we be soon) we cannot make the GIRM available."

Not if this blog can help it.

This is what was submitted to Rome for approval:

(52) In the dioceses of Canada, they should kneel from the singing or recitation of the Sanctus to the Memorial Acclamation, except when prevented by reasons of health, lack of space, the large number of people present, or some other good reason. Those who do not kneel at the Consecration, however, should make a profound bow when the Priest genuflects after Communion. The diocesan Bishop may allow the common practice of kneeling at the Consecration only. Where it is the practice for the people to remain kneeling after the Sanctus until the end of the Eucharistic Prayer and before Communion when the Priest says, Behold the Lamb of God, it is laudable to retain this practice.

(53) To achieve uniformity in gestures and postures during one and the same celebration, the faithful should follow the instructions given by the Deacon, lay minister, or Priest in accordance with what is laid down in the Missal.

Can you explain to me why any Catholic in the pew is to listen to any "instruction" from a lay minister?

What is a lay minister anyway?

liturgy@cccb.ca