Candles in front of the altar in EF/
  • amindthatsuits
    Posts: 857
    At the National Shrine, during a Solemn High Mass when one of our multitudinous prelates is presiding, 6 people with candles and a thurifer come out and kneel in front of the altar. I thought it was just a sign of office, as with the six candles lit behind them. But I saw that also in the picture JAT linked under the April Fool's headline. It did not mention that it was a Pontifical Mass, but there they were, kneeling in front of the altar during an EF Mass.

    I could, of course, just ask someone at the Shrine, but I ask this so someone asking the question on Google will find the answer. Please respond as if it is perfectly normal for a person not to know these things.

    So---who are they and why are they there?
  • Arthur Connick
    Posts: 495
    XI. THE TORCHBEARERS (at Solemn Mass)
    Only two TB’s are necessary. If there are none available, the Acolytes may carry torches. The Cæremoniale Episcoporum speaks of four, six, or, at most, eight TB’s at a Pontifical Mass, and of only four at Requiem Masses. Accordingly, the authors place restrictions on the number of TB’s. Eight are used at Pontifical ceremonies; six on solemn occasions and Sundays; no more than four at Requiem Masses or ferial Masses. However, no definite rule can be given except that the TB’s should not exceed eight, and that there should be some gradation in number according to the solemnity of the occasion.

    At the Sanctus, the TB’s follow (accompany) the Thurifer into the sanctuary. Later, if Communion is distributed, the TB’s form two lines, facing each other on either side of the sanctuary.
    The Book of Ceremonies, O’Connell and Schmitz (1956), pp. 253-4.
  • Arthur Connick
    Posts: 495
    Another good source for answers to these sorts of questions is The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, Fortescue, O'Connell & Reid (2009), which is based on a pure reading of the 1962 rubrics.
  • amindthatsuits
    Posts: 857
    This is only for the EF?

    I have to say that all the Solemn High Masses I have seen have been at the Shrine, and involved a prelate somewhere. They are obviously Novus Ordo, but with the high ranking people, it is not a common experience. But what you are describing is EF?

    I have checked out one of those books and have intended to buy it. I just bought Fr. Lasance's pre-1962 Missal yesterday, so the Tridentine form is something I am just getting into. I am sure all the things that I don't understand in the Liber Usualis will become clear as well.

    Very helpful answers. If someone can just clear up my last question, then we have a handy answer for someone to find on Google.

    Kenneth
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    We do this all the time at our OF Masses as well.

    http://tinyurl.com/8ofcandles

    We usually do 6, though on Easter Sunday, we had 4, because all the boys were at the vigil :)
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,732
    The "Ceremonies of the Roman Rite,... (2009)" is for the EF. The earlier editions were never updated to include the changes that continued to the end of 1962.

    The rules for torch bearers are for the EF, but I do not see why they could not be used for the OF.

    N.B. I know almost nothing about the OF!
  • Arthur Connick
    Posts: 495
    Msgr. Elliott's book, Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite, Ignatius (1995, 2005), describes the role of Torchbearers at Solemn Mass. Pretty much the same as in the EF.
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