Ship of Fools: Ceremonial Manuals

Thread: Ceremonial Manuals Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Beeswax Altar (# 11644) on :

I need a ceremonial manual that is a little higher up the candle than A Priests Handbook (Michno) but not quite as complicated as Ritual Notes. I use the 1979 BCP and rarely do all the elaborate ritual described in Ritual Notes. On the other hand, I do more than prescribed in A Priest's Handbook. For instance, I'm trying to figure out how to do a Commendation with a full compliment of servers but in a worship space smaller than that imagined by Ritual Notes. Best I can do is read both sources and adapt as best I can. Anybody know of a middle ground between the two? I think I would have found it by now but you never know.

Posted by Oblatus (# 6278) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Beeswax Altar:
I need a ceremonial manual that is a little higher up the candle than A Priests Handbook (Michno) but not quite as complicated as Ritual Notes. I use the 1979 BCP and rarely do all the elaborate ritual described in Ritual Notes. On the other hand, I do more than prescribed in A Priest's Handbook. For instance, I'm trying to figure out how to do a Commendation with a full compliment of servers but in a worship space smaller than that imagined by Ritual Notes. Best I can do is read both sources and adapt as best I can. Anybody know of a middle ground between the two? I think I would have found it by now but you never know.

You might want to have a look at the Customary of the Church of the Advent, Boston. I see the Commendation ceremonial at the end of the All Souls Solemn Requiem page.

[ 20. November 2013, 16:03: Message edited by: Oblatus ]

Posted by Lietuvos Sv. Kazimieras (# 11274) on :

The on-line Customary on Church of the Advent, Boston, website also has very good instructions for servers/acolytes, well worth adopting in other parishes, especially the general guidelines section.

Posted by dj_ordinaire (# 4643) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lietuvos Sv. Kazimieras:
The on-line Customary on Church of the Advent, Boston, website also has very good instructions for servers/acolytes, well worth adopting in other parishes, especially the general guidelines section.

That's very true actually, good advice - although I recall some parts are inevitably quite specific for their own building.

Posted by Spiffy (# 5267) on :

I highly suggest giving this a look (PDF warning): Elements of Offerings by Fr. John-Julian, OJN. It might be helpful. Or not. Whatevs.

Posted by Barefoot Friar (# 13100) on :

I can concur with Elements of Offering, although the author thinks it's really spiffy to put the stole on top of the chasuble. I, on the other hand, think it looks rather ridiculous. But other than that, I've found it helpful.

Posted by FCB (# 1495) on :

I like this gem from Elements of Offering:

quote:
Today, if there is going to be a kiss, it makes good sense for the Deacon to kiss the book. Since the ordination of women deacons, however, lipstick marks on the Gospel page can become a problem. We solve that by having the Deacon close the Gospel book immediately after proclaiming the Gospel, and then kiss the cover.

How about asking them not to wear lipstick!

Posted by Spiffy (# 5267) on :

quote:
Originally posted by FCB:
I like this gem from Elements of Offering:
quote:
Today, if there is going to be a kiss, it makes good sense for the Deacon to kiss the book. Since the ordination of women deacons, however, lipstick marks on the Gospel page can become a problem. We solve that by having the Deacon close the Gospel book immediately after proclaiming the Gospel, and then kiss the cover.
How about asking them not to wear lipstick!

Because then the female deacon will be told they aren't feminine enough and should prolly go put some makeup on.

I highly suggest the Rev. PeaceBang's Beauty Tips for Ministers for more on how society's expectations of women impact those in Holy Orders.

Posted by Fr Weber (# 13472) on :

quote:
Originally posted by FCB:
I like this gem from Elements of Offering:
quote:
Today, if there is going to be a kiss, it makes good sense for the Deacon to kiss the book. Since the ordination of women deacons, however, lipstick marks on the Gospel page can become a problem. We solve that by having the Deacon close the Gospel book immediately after proclaiming the Gospel, and then kiss the cover.
How about asking them not to wear lipstick!

I thought the celebrant normally kissed the book, whether or not the Gospel was proclaimed by a deacon. But I suppose the celebrant could be wearing lipstick as well, so there still might be a problem.

Chalk me up as one who would prefer no lipstick and that the beginning of the Gospel be kissed. And in any case, a ritual osculation isn't supposed to be a big wet smooch--just touching the lips to the object will do.

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

The gospel reader kisses the book unless the celebrant is a bishop, in which case the book is brought over to him to be kissed. The people should remain standing till this happens. I've never known a congregation uniformly get this right (even when they were all professed religious and/or seminarians!).

Posted by Fr Weber (# 13472) on :

Hart, in your rite (OF) that's indeed true. But in the EF and other older rites, the Gospel is kissed by the celebrant, whether or not he is the one who proclaimed it.

Posted by Beeswax Altar (# 11644) on :

Elements of Offering is interesting. Arnold Klukas, who wrote the introduction for the book, is the former liturgics professor at Nashotah House. I believe the ceremonial described in the book is the way things were done at Nashotah while he was there. The ceremonial described takes traditional Anglo-Catholic ritual, simplifies it, removes all the elements offensive to proponents of liturgical renewal, and then adapts what's left to Rite II.

I wonder how many priests do liturgy this way. I don't have the opportunity to see recent Nashotah grads celebrate the Eucharist all that often. The ones I've seen are more into old school Anglo-Catholic ceremonial.

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Fr Weber:
In the EF and other older rites, the Gospel is kissed by the celebrant, whether or not he is the one who proclaimed it.

Unless, according to the Missale Romanum, mass is celebrated in the presence of the Pope, a papal legate, a cardinal, an archbishop, or the diocesan bishop, in which case the book is brought to said personage to be kissed.

Posted by LQ (# 11596) on :

Fr Palmer's Readiness & Decency, originally published by the Cowley press at Bracebridge, is the usual ceremonial companion to the Canadian BCP. The old Bracebridge imprints have been hard to find of late: their copyrights passed to the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (in whose communion Palmer finished his life), which has suspended its publishing arm since the turmoil of Anglicanorum coetibus.

Posted by Basilica (# 16965) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
The gospel reader kisses the book unless the celebrant is a bishop, in which case the book is brought over to him to be kissed. The people should remain standing till this happens. I've never known a congregation uniformly get this right (even when they were all professed religious and/or seminarians!).

I find that surprising - most of the congregations I know wouldn't dream of sitting before the prayer at the beginning of the sermon.

Posted by Oblatus (# 6278) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Fr Weber:
Hart, in your rite (OF) that's indeed true. But in the EF and other older rites, the Gospel is kissed by the celebrant, whether or not he is the one who proclaimed it.

Indeed, when I serve as a subdeacon, carrying the Gospel book back to the sanctuary for the celebrant to kiss is one of my more dramatic tasks. Don't take that away from me! [Biased]

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Basilica:
I find that surprising - most of the congregations I know wouldn't dream of sitting before the prayer at the beginning of the sermon.

Another "Tiber difference" if you will! We're discouraged from inserting a prayer between the proclamation of the Gospel and the preaching of the homily (except for the private per evangelica dicta, deleantur nostra delicta*).

--
* Random tidbit, this is the only part of Mass I always do in Latin. It's such a beautifully composed Latin sentence and the English translation, while accurate enough to the meaning, sounds flat in comparison.

Posted by Basilica (# 16965) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Hart:

quote:
Originally posted by Basilica:
I find that surprising - most of the congregations I know wouldn't dream of sitting before the prayer at the beginning of the sermon.
Another "Tiber difference" if you will! We're discouraged from inserting a prayer between the proclamation of the Gospel and the preaching of the homily (except for the private per evangelica dicta, deleantur nostra delicta*).

Something I did know, but had momentarily forgotten! (Though in this case, the prayer serves a useful function!)

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
We're discouraged from inserting a prayer between the proclamation of the Gospel and the preaching of the homily (except for the private per evangelica dicta, deleantur nostra delicta*). . . . It's such a beautifully composed Latin sentence and the English translation, while accurate enough to the meaning, sounds flat in comparison.

Yes, and it rhymes too. But I've always liked the translation "By the words of the Holy Gospel may our sins be blotted out."

Posted by Trisagion (# 5235) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Hart:

* Random tidbit, this is the only part of Mass I always do in Latin. It's such a beautifully composed Latin sentence and the English translation, while accurate enough to the meaning, sounds flat in comparison.

I, too, always say it in Latin, as I do the Domine non sum dignus. I've no idea why but it always seems to come out that way.

Posted by Clotilde (# 17600) on :

I think the idea of following slavishly a ceremonial book has gone in recent years and so they have become resource books.

Fortescue and O'Connell (see link below) and the Parsons Handbook were once, and to some still are, great stand bys to help.

It seems we are living in such chasnging times liturgically that what is done one year is not always done the next! (Except in a few select places).

Posted by Olaf (# 11804) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Trisagion:

quote:
Originally posted by Hart:

* Random tidbit, this is the only part of Mass I always do in Latin. It's such a beautifully composed Latin sentence and the English translation, while accurate enough to the meaning, sounds flat in comparison.
I, too, always say it in Latin

Odd coincidence...Cardinal George of Chicago says Per evangelica dicta in Latin, too.

Posted by Clotilde (# 17600) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Basilica:
[qb] I find that surprising - most of the congregations I know wouldn't dream of sitting before the prayer at the beginning of the sermon.

Another "Tiber difference" if you will! We're discouraged from inserting a prayer between the proclamation of the Gospel and the preaching of the homily (except for the private per evangelica dicta, deleantur nostra delicta*).

Interesting. I hadn't appreciated that difference. Does that include 'In the name of the Father....' as well.

Posted by LQ (# 11596) on :

Yes, IME the whole business of liturgifying the beginning and end of the homily - standing to observe the return of a Gospel procession to organ improv, the preacher mounting a pulpit, sipping water, and invoking the Trinity (or channeling Boney M) - was one of the more obvious culture shocks after swimming the Tiber (along with the five-point sign of the cross, communion in both kinds, the pronunciation of Amen, the length of the Mass, and a weekly reception following). I suppose it stems from the Anglican desire to emphasise the homily as part of the liturgy, but it can be excessive I find. RC homilies are a little more like the halftime show: Everyone says "Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ" and sits down.

Posted by Beeswax Altar (# 11644) on :

Channeling Boney M?

Posted by LQ (# 11596) on :

Psalm 19:14 seems to be a stock favourite, with the second pronoun for some reason invariably pluralized ("all our hearts").

Posted by sonata3 (# 13653) on :

Although it may not quite rise to the level of a "ceremonial manual," there is much good sense in Aidan Kavanaugh's "Elements of Rite: A Handbook of Liturgical Style" (1982). Although Kavanaugh is Catholic, much of what he has to say would apply to any liturgical denomination.

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