Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: Kissing the Hands of a New Priest
ROME, JUNE 24, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
The theme of kissing of hands of a new priest (see June 10) brought to the fore another question regarding the use of hands.
A New Orleans reader asked: "Should there be silence (i.e., no music) during the imposition of hands at an ordination? I believe that the Pontifical says something like, 'Saying nothing' the bishop and then the other priests present impose hands. The force of the Latin, if I recall it correctly, seems to be simply that the priests say nothing (no prayer, no "God bless," no "You made it, Bill") while imposing hands. My question is this: Which is more fitting during this liturgical action, sacred silence similar to the elevation of the sacred species after the words of institution, or some fitting piece of music like, say, 'Veni, Sancte Spiritus'?"
The Pontifical, which our reader remembers well, says: "One by one, the candidates go to the bishop and kneel before him. The bishop wearing the miter lays his hands on the head of each, in silence.
"Next all the concelebrating presbyters and all other presbyters present, provided they are vested with a stole worn over an alb or over a cassock and surplice, lay their hands on each of the candidates, in silence. After the laying on of hands, the presbyters remain on either side of the bishop until the prayer of consecration is completed."
From this we adduce that the priests imposing hands should say nothing and that any prayer for the ordinand should be purely mental.
The silence of this moment of the rite of ordination is of great importance and in a way it is a rite in itself. Thus during the rite of imposition of hands there should be no music or singing whatsoever.
However, even though there is nothing in the rubrics to support it, when the imposition of hands is likely to be protracted due to the number of priests or due to the number of candidates, liturgical practice seems to tolerate singing some invocation to the Holy Spirit. If and when this is done, the bishop usually imposes hands in silence and the hymn is intoned shortly after the priests have begun to impose hands.
In order to maintain the climate of silence the rubrics foresee the possibility of a smaller number of the priests present imposing hands. This is sometimes done, and is to be preferred to interrupting the silence, but it is not always easy to carry out without someone feeling excluded.
The second, much rarer, situation of prolonged silence is when the number of candidates is very numerous. After 10 minutes of absolute silence during a rite, even fervent people can get nervous and lose concentration on the mystery that is being celebrated. Thus the silence itself can become an obstacle to the concentration it seeks to promote.
In such cases some invocations such as the Veni Creator Spiritus can be tolerated.
This was the case in my own ordination in which I was blessed to form part of a group of 60 priests ordained by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica. The rite of imposition of hands alone lasted about half an hour and thus several hymns invoking the Holy Spirit were sung during its course.
The theme of kissing of hands of a new priest (see June 10) brought to the fore another question regarding the use of hands.
A New Orleans reader asked: "Should there be silence (i.e., no music) during the imposition of hands at an ordination? I believe that the Pontifical says something like, 'Saying nothing' the bishop and then the other priests present impose hands. The force of the Latin, if I recall it correctly, seems to be simply that the priests say nothing (no prayer, no "God bless," no "You made it, Bill") while imposing hands. My question is this: Which is more fitting during this liturgical action, sacred silence similar to the elevation of the sacred species after the words of institution, or some fitting piece of music like, say, 'Veni, Sancte Spiritus'?"
The Pontifical, which our reader remembers well, says: "One by one, the candidates go to the bishop and kneel before him. The bishop wearing the miter lays his hands on the head of each, in silence.
"Next all the concelebrating presbyters and all other presbyters present, provided they are vested with a stole worn over an alb or over a cassock and surplice, lay their hands on each of the candidates, in silence. After the laying on of hands, the presbyters remain on either side of the bishop until the prayer of consecration is completed."
From this we adduce that the priests imposing hands should say nothing and that any prayer for the ordinand should be purely mental.
The silence of this moment of the rite of ordination is of great importance and in a way it is a rite in itself. Thus during the rite of imposition of hands there should be no music or singing whatsoever.
However, even though there is nothing in the rubrics to support it, when the imposition of hands is likely to be protracted due to the number of priests or due to the number of candidates, liturgical practice seems to tolerate singing some invocation to the Holy Spirit. If and when this is done, the bishop usually imposes hands in silence and the hymn is intoned shortly after the priests have begun to impose hands.
In order to maintain the climate of silence the rubrics foresee the possibility of a smaller number of the priests present imposing hands. This is sometimes done, and is to be preferred to interrupting the silence, but it is not always easy to carry out without someone feeling excluded.
The second, much rarer, situation of prolonged silence is when the number of candidates is very numerous. After 10 minutes of absolute silence during a rite, even fervent people can get nervous and lose concentration on the mystery that is being celebrated. Thus the silence itself can become an obstacle to the concentration it seeks to promote.
In such cases some invocations such as the Veni Creator Spiritus can be tolerated.
This was the case in my own ordination in which I was blessed to form part of a group of 60 priests ordained by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica. The rite of imposition of hands alone lasted about half an hour and thus several hymns invoking the Holy Spirit were sung during its course.
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