Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: Masses in Lent
ROME, MARCH 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
After our piece regarding which Masses could be celebrated during Lent (see Feb. 26), a reader asked for clarifications regarding the physical place for celebrating the Easter triduum.
He wrote, "I thought I had read, either in canon law or in the General Instruction for the Roman Missal, that Holy Week triduum services can only be celebrated in recognized parishes and not in chapels and/or oratories where there is not a parish. Can you provide me with the Church guidance on this subject: where can Easter triduum services take place?"
Our correspondent probably referred to the Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts, published by the Holy See in 1988. No. 43 of this document states:
"It is fitting that small religious communities, both clerical and lay, and other lay groups should participate in the celebration of the Easter Triduum in neighboring principal churches.
"Similarly, where the number of participants and ministers is so small that the celebrations of the Easter Triduum cannot be carried out with the requisite solemnity, such groups of the faithful should assemble in a larger church.
"Also, where there are small parishes with only one priest, it is recommended that such parishes should assemble, as far as possible, in a principal church and participate in the celebration there.
"On account of the needs of the faithful, where a pastor has the responsibility for two or more parishes in which the faithful assemble in large numbers, and where the celebration can be carried out with the requisite care and solemnity, the celebrations of the Easter Triduum may be repeated in accord with the given norms."
A footnote to the first paragraph clarifies the case of cloistered communities: "In monasteries of nuns, every effort should be made to celebrate the Easter Triduum with the greatest possible ceremony, but within the monastery church."
Therefore it is not so much that the triduum is forbidden outside of parish churches, but rather that it is recommended that, insofar as is possible, it not be celebrated in small groups, but in larger gatherings of the faithful.
Larger religious communities may celebrate the triduum in their communities, especially in those communities that traditionally accompany Christ during the whole night between Holy Thursday and Good Friday.
Respecting such long-standing custom would be practically impossible without the celebration of the Mass of the Lord's Supper and the consequent reservation in the altar of repose. This allows for public devotions toward Christ in the tabernacle until midnight and private prayer thereafter.
After our piece regarding which Masses could be celebrated during Lent (see Feb. 26), a reader asked for clarifications regarding the physical place for celebrating the Easter triduum.
He wrote, "I thought I had read, either in canon law or in the General Instruction for the Roman Missal, that Holy Week triduum services can only be celebrated in recognized parishes and not in chapels and/or oratories where there is not a parish. Can you provide me with the Church guidance on this subject: where can Easter triduum services take place?"
Our correspondent probably referred to the Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts, published by the Holy See in 1988. No. 43 of this document states:
"It is fitting that small religious communities, both clerical and lay, and other lay groups should participate in the celebration of the Easter Triduum in neighboring principal churches.
"Similarly, where the number of participants and ministers is so small that the celebrations of the Easter Triduum cannot be carried out with the requisite solemnity, such groups of the faithful should assemble in a larger church.
"Also, where there are small parishes with only one priest, it is recommended that such parishes should assemble, as far as possible, in a principal church and participate in the celebration there.
"On account of the needs of the faithful, where a pastor has the responsibility for two or more parishes in which the faithful assemble in large numbers, and where the celebration can be carried out with the requisite care and solemnity, the celebrations of the Easter Triduum may be repeated in accord with the given norms."
A footnote to the first paragraph clarifies the case of cloistered communities: "In monasteries of nuns, every effort should be made to celebrate the Easter Triduum with the greatest possible ceremony, but within the monastery church."
Therefore it is not so much that the triduum is forbidden outside of parish churches, but rather that it is recommended that, insofar as is possible, it not be celebrated in small groups, but in larger gatherings of the faithful.
Larger religious communities may celebrate the triduum in their communities, especially in those communities that traditionally accompany Christ during the whole night between Holy Thursday and Good Friday.
Respecting such long-standing custom would be practically impossible without the celebration of the Mass of the Lord's Supper and the consequent reservation in the altar of repose. This allows for public devotions toward Christ in the tabernacle until midnight and private prayer thereafter.
posted by Chipi Buenafe at
2:56 PM
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