Bp. Paprocki's pastoral letter on Eucharistic reverence
  • G
    Posts: 1,400
    .... but a pastoral letter from the Bishop of Springfield about reverence and sacrality entitled "On the Art of Celebrating the Eucharistic Liturgy Properly and Adoring the Lord in the Eucharist Devoutly."

    (Save the Liturgy, Save the World)

    [This thread originally had a completely vague and unhelpful title. I corrected that. --admin]
    Thanks, Chonak
    Thanked by 2matthewj Ignoto
  • ContinuousbassContinuousbass
    Posts: 357
    We usually instruct out psalmists to bow at the middle of the altar on the way to the ambo, as the musicians are situated on the opposite end of the sanctuary. Sometimes I've wondered if it should be a genuflexion.
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 946
    There is a difference between the veneration of the altar (a bow) when passing it during the Mass, and the veneration of Christ in the tabernacle (a genuflection) when passing it outside the Mass.
    Thanked by 4Gavin Ally donr Ignoto
  • Ignoto
    Posts: 126
    G,

    Thank you for sharing this letter! I have quoted GIRM 274 in the past (someone was insisting that lectors should genuflect and I thought GIRM 274 indicated only a bow), but this pastoral letter gives a wonderful explanation by also citing the Ceremonial of Bishops and the Dedication of a Church and an Altar.

    The section of the pastoral letter that was the most helpful to me was this part:
    29. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal provides that “if, however, the tabernacle with the Most Blessed Sacrament is situated in the sanctuary, the Priest, the Deacon, and the other ministers genuflect when they approach the altar and when they depart from it, but not during the celebration of Mass itself. Otherwise
    all who pass before the Most Blessed Sacrament genuflect, unless they are moving in procession. Ministers carrying the processional cross or candles bow their heads instead of genuflecting.” (footnote 17: General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 274.)


    and

    31. I must note here, that as important as the Eucharist is to the Church, and that the proper reverence to the Blessed Sacrament is “to bend the knee,” to genuflect, it does not replace another reverence made by all between the opening and the closing processions. During Liturgy between these processions, all who enter or leave the sanctuary, or who pass before the altar, make a deep bow, a bow from the waist toward the altar. Neither a deep bow or a genuflection is made to the tabernacle within the Mass between the opening and closing processions. (footnote 18: See the Ceremonial of Bishops, nos. 69-73 and the Dedication of a Church and an Altar, II, nos. 16 and 62; III, no. 22; and IV, nos. 4 and 48.)


    Thanks again for sharing!
    Thanked by 1noel jones, aago
Add a Comment