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MARCH 2, 1957. THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA THIRTEEN Holy See Allows Minor Changes in Holy Week Liturgy, Communion For Sick All Day Holy Thursday VATICAN CITY. Feb. 15—The Holy See has given permission for certain modifications of the sweeping changes made- in the liturgy of Holy Week last year. Permission for the changes— primarily allowing an extension of the. time limits for the main services of Holy Thursday and Good Friday afternoon and eve ning—was given in a set of dec larations” issued by the Sacred Congregation, of Rites. The document, signed by the congregation’s prefect. His Emi nence Gaetano Cardinal Cico- gnani, states that the restoration introduced in the liturgical order of the Holy Week last year was received with great satisfaction and practiced with great success. The new rules have been issu ed with the approval of His Holi ness Pope Pius XII, it said, as a solution to certain practical dif ficulties expressed by Bishops throughout the world in their reports on the use of the reform ed liturgy in their Sees. Among other things, the modi fications allow: -—An “intermediate form” of celebrating the Holy Week func tions by a priest and deacon with out a subdeacon. —The main Mass of Halm Sun day, immediately following the blessing of palms and procession, to take place in the afternoon. The palms may be blessed out side the church—in the open air if necessary. —Taking Holy Communion “to the sick either in the morning or afternoon” on Holy Thursday. —Extension of the time for. Holy Thursday Masses to from 4 p. m. to 9 p. m., and of the service of Good Friday to from noon until 9 p. m. At the same time, the document stressed that the Easter Vigil service of Holy Saturday night must be timed so that the Mass begins about mid night except in those churches where the bishop finds it abso lutely necessary to hold it earli er. —Good Friday adoration of the Cross by the people en masse, in stead of individually, when the crowds are so great that good or der and devotion might be en dangered. The new document, which is dated February 1, actually makes only minor changes in the re forms made in Holy Week in the decree Maxima R e demptionis Nostrae Mysteria of November 16, 1955, which was the greatest change in the liturgy in over 400 years. In the new document, Car dinal Cicognani notes that the original decree and the instruc tion attached to it are still in force with the exception of those points modified by the present document. The new document states fur ther that all the formulas of the new Order, of Holy Week remain intact. It describes the modifica tions as having a “directive and rubrical character.” The following are the main points of the “declarations”: 1. The new Order of Holy Week provides for Holy Week functions celebrated “with all the splendor of holy rites”, or in the “simple rite”. In the solemn rite, three ministers—.celebrant, deacon and subdeacon — are required. The simple rite requires one priest i only, assisted by young laymen 1 or clerics . i It has been found that in some places, especially churches in small villages, three priests can not easily be found for the sol emn rite. On the other hand, at least one extra priest often is available. In such cases, the new dispositions (Article 3) allow for a deacon or priest wearing the vest ments of a deacon, to participate with the priest-celebrant and per form all the functions which would be carried out by the dea con in the solemn rite. The document notes that it is thus permitting an “intermediate form between the solemn and simple rites.” A form once used in various monastic rites, this cele brant deacon combination is now introduced into the Holy Week liturgy for “a more decorous cel ebration of those functions which are undoubtedly the most solemn of the entire liturgical year.” 2. Three new elements have been introduced into the cere mony of the. blessing of the palms and procession on Palm Sunday. Ordinaries may give permission for the blessing of the branches and procession and Mass which follow to be held in the afternoon (Article 4). This permission may only be granted, however, to churches in which e x perience with evening Masses indicates that greater spiritual benefits would result. Furthermore, permission may only be granted on the> con dition that these ceremonies will not be held in the morning in the same church. The second element concerns the place where the blessing of the palms takes place. The new Order of Holy Week stated that the blessing could be performed in secondary churches, thus al lowing for the procession to the main church for the celebration of the Mass. It has been pointed out, however, that in many lo calities there is only one church and that it would be desirable to have the blessing performed at some ether place so that the pro cession could really proceed to the church. The new dispositions (Article 6) gi'ant that if the blessing of the branches cannot be performed in another church, the blessing can be given in a “convenient place”, even in the open air, near a sac red shrine, for example, or simply by the processional cross itself. The third element concerns the old practice of the faithful of keeping the blessed palms. The new document points out that when the faithful are unable to participate in the liturgical func tion, the pastor should provide for the general distribution of palms at a later time. 3. Two new dispositions are set down for Maundy Thursday. The new Order of Holy Week stated that the Mass of the Lord’s Supper had to be celebrated be tween 5 p. m. and 8 p. m., and that the. local Ordinary could also permit the celebration one or two low Masses between the same hours. Several bishops reported that various local conditions made this time interval:too short. The new regulations (Article 8) permit I these Masses to be celebrated be- I tween 4 p. m. to 9 p. m. j The second concession con cerning Holy Thursday has to do with Holy Communion for the sick. The new disposition (Article 12) provide that “on this day Communion may be brought to the sick either in the morning or afternoon.” The document c»m- ments that this means that Holy Communion can be. taken to the sick all day, whereas pre viously they could receive only in the morning. 4. Two concessions are made concerning the Good Friday serv ice. The first concerns the time. The new Order of Holy Week stated that the Good Friday serv ice commemorating the Passion and Death of Our Lord could be three o’clock, and in no case could be held after six o’clock. The new dispositions now stipulate (Arti cle 15) that altogether the proper time is 3 o’clock, the hour when Christ died, the ceremonies may be held at any time between noon and 9 p. m. wherever pastoral in terests dictate the necessity of changing the time. The second modification con cerns the adoration of the Cross. The new Order of Holy Week states that the Good Friday cere mony may be held only once in the same church. Because of that fact, many churches were literal ly jammed. The. new rules grant (Article 18) that when the. pastor can foresee that the crowds will be so large that the ceremony of the adoration of the Cross can not be performed by the faithful individually without endangering good order and devotion, the fol lowing modification may be made: After members of the cler gy and those assisting in the serv ice. have completed their adora tion in the prescribed manner, the celebrant will ascend to the top step of the altar, take the Cross in his hands, ask the faith ful to perform the act of adoration simultaneously, raise the Cross and show it briefly to the faith ful. The faithful are then to adore it “in deep silence”. Permission to use this abbrevi ated form is allowed only when there is a real need for it. The adoration of the Cross is one of the culminating points of the en tire Good Friday liturgy, the new instruction states, and thus from a psychological and pastoral view point it is always desirable that the faithful be allowed to come into personal and individual con tact with the Cross. The mere fact that individual adoration is time-consuming is not allowed as sufficient reason to dispense with it. It is further stated that the chanting of the Improperia and other texts indicated in the Order of Holy Week should be sung wherever possible. — even with the abbreviated adoration. 5. No modifications were made in the liturgy of Holy Saturday, the; Easter Vigil. But the Congre gation of Rites did establish the following rules for the time of the Vigil service: Permission to advance the hour of the Paschal Vigil may not be indiscriminately or generally giv en by an Ordinary to his entire diocese or region. The Ordinary may only grant that permission CHURCH GETS ALUMINUM SKY Father John Kelly, C.S.P., reads the gospel through a maze of scaffolding being used to replace the massive ceiling of St. Paul the Apostle Church, headquarters of the Paulist Fathers, in New York. The 72-year-old ceiling of the church is being replaced at a cost of one-half million dollars by a modern enameled aluminum tile ceiling. Color will be blue and will show the constellation of stars on the night of the Church’s dedication in 1885. Scaffolding towers more than 100 feet in the air, (NC Photos) Our Parishes Report HAPEVILLE The March 14th meeting of the Ladies’ Guild will include a fash ion show of children’s clothes, with children of our parishes act ing as models. Needless to say we are all looking forward to the event and to seeing you there. Clothes modeled will be from the Junior Bazaar located in East Point, and our thanks go to Mr. James Paradies, Manager, for his generous assistance. Mrs. Eileen Hall, editor of the Book Review section of The Bul letin, spoke at the February meeting of the Guild. With her encouragement I think we shall all make the effort to read a Catholic book this month. The Solemn Novena in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes closed on the evening of February 11 with a solemn procession and the blessing of the sick and in firm with the Most Blessed Sac rament. Father Raphael Duffy, of the Passionist Mission Band, con ducted the Novena. Reception of members into the Confraternity of Christian Doc trine was held on Sunday, Jan uary 20, at the 8:30 Mass. Follow ing Mass a breakfast was held in the cafeteria. The Jr. Tri-City Club are be- to those churches or places where it would be absolutely necessary to advance the time. The proper hour should be respected in ca thedral churches and all other churches, especially those of Re ligious, where this can be done without grave inconvenience. The original decree had speci fied that the proper time for the Easter Vigil is that “which will permit the Solemn Mass of the Vigil to begin at about the mid night which falls between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday”. coming a very active group. Be sides an ice skating party at the Figure 8 and group attendance at a city-wide Catholic dance at the Immaculate Conception Hall, they now sponsor their own dance every Sunday evening be ginning at 7:45. The dance is open to all teenagers in the pa rish. Music is supplied by the very best of maestros on your favorite recordings. So let’s all swing and sway—if you will par don my 1940 lingo! The Girl Scouts are in the iuidst of their annual cookie sale and are happy to report they are top ping last year’s record. As a group they attended the movie “Ten Commandments” on Feb ruary 23. Scouts 652 are studying first aid under the direction of Mrs. C. E. Walton in an effort to qualify for their First Aid Badge. The 7th and 8th graders tho roughly enjoyed a field trip to the State Capitol Building and the famed Cyclorama. On Monday, February 11 the Children’s Choir sang High Mass including the Proper of the Mass. Spelling contests are being held among the 7th and 9th graders in order that a finalist may be selected from our school to par ticipate in the Spelling Bee to be held at Sacred Heart School. (MRS. ALICE H. MOULTON) Services For W. A. Livingston AUGUSTA, Ga.—Funeral serv ices for Mrs. Cleo Page Livings ton were held February 15th at St. Patrick’s Church, Rev. Arthur Weltzer officiating. < Survivors are a niece, Mrs. L. M. Gedney of Augusta, arid two nephews, Roy and Raymond Odum, both of Augusta.