Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In many parishes, the season of Lent features changes in the liturgical practice at Mass. Some of this is mandatory, like dropping the Gloria and changing the Gospel Acclamation. Some of it is more optional and open to a community’s preference. Some changes may even go largely unnoticed, such as which Eucharistic Prayer is used. But given that it’s a strong liturgical season and has sufficient length, it often makes sense to make these changes to help denote the significance of the season. That said, in order for a change to be effective, it should be properly communicated and prepared for, or else it tends to lead to confusion.
The point of this is to suggest a change in how we approach one aspect of our parish Masses, although I’m hoping to do so not during Lent, but for the Easter season. Part of my thinking is just to introduce a bit more familiarity with certain practices and to avoid it coming across as more penitential than it means to be. For example, in my previous parish, we sung the Latin Mass parts during Lent, but I always worried that people made the connection of using Latin with being some kind of penance. That’s not helpful.
However, the small change I would like to introduce does touch on the Penitential Act, which occurs at the beginning of Mass. In the Roman Missal, there are three different options given, A, B, and C. Each is good. Each is valid. Each has a different style to them. I’ll be honest, almost no one uses Penitential Act B. But here at St. Charles, we almost exclusively use Act C, which are known as the Tropes. There’s a simplicity in using them, they are customizable to the celebration at hand, and the congregation only needs to know, “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.”
That said, there is another Penitential Act known as the Confiteor. It’s a longer prayer said in unison, that expresses a sorrow for sin and asks for help in living a holier life. It’s beautiful and if you go to a different parish, you’re likely to run into it. Which is part of the reason I want to introduce or reintroduce it here at St. Charles. Part of the beauty of being Catholic is the universal experience of Mass. In theory, the Mass is the same the world over. And we should feel comfortable in going to other places for Mass and feeling as if we belong. But if there’s a common prayer that we don’t know and is used in a Mass, it may have us feeling out. And so, my hope is that we’ll use the Confiteor throughout the Easter season as a way to familiarize ourselves and make use of a different Penitential Act, to gain confidence in the prayer and have yet another way to connect with God during the Mass.
Peace and Goodness,
Fr. Dan
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