Choir concert - performing with your backs to the Tabernacle.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,606
    Should the Blessed Sacrament not be removed?
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,003
    It must be removed per the 1987 Vatican protocol statement (and, for those who don't want to read that, common sense). And leave the door ajar, and snuff out the lamp.

    Thanked by 2irishtenor Chris Allen
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    Inestamabile donum, yes?
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,182
    The document is online at http://www.adoremus.org/concerts.html.
  • E_A_FulhorstE_A_Fulhorst
    Posts: 381
    Noting the statement that the Ordinary "can" rather than "should", here's the money passage:

    In order that the sacred character of a church be conserved in the matter of concerts, the Ordinary can specify that:

    a. Requests are to be made in writing, in good time, indicating the date and time of the proposed concert, the program, giving the works and the names of the composers.
    b. After having received the authorization of the Ordinary, the rectors and parish priests of the churches should arranged details with the choir and orchestra so that the requisite norms are observed.
    c. Entrance to the church must be without payment and open to all.
    d. The performers and the audience must be dressed in a manner which is fitting to the sacred character of the place.
    e. The musicians and the singers should not be placed in the sanctuary. The greatest respect is to be shown to the altar, the president's chair and the ambo.
    f. The Blessed Sacrament should be, as far as possible, reserved in a side chapel or in another safe and suitably adorned place (Cf. C.I.C., can 928, par. 4).
    g. The concert should be presented or introduced not only with historical or technical details, but also in a way that fosters a deeper understanding and an interior participation on the part of the listeners.
    h. The organizer of the concert will declare in writing that he accepts legal responsibilities for expenses involved, for leaving the church in order and for any possible damage incurred.

    In earlier paragraphs, it does lay out a few "shoulds" from principle. These specific points, however, still have only the status of prudent suggestion.
  • incantuincantu
    Posts: 989
    An interesting re-read. I always drop the organ accompaniment of the Our Father during the priest's embolism, a practice which I imagine some people find odd (and contrary to the indication in the Adoremus Hymnal). But I'm glad to see it is supported by such a recent document:

    It is legitimate for the organ to accompany and sustain the singing either of the assembly or the choir within the celebration. On the other hand, the organ must never be used to accompany the prayers or chants of the celebrant nor the readings proclaimed by the reader or the deacon.
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