Original liturgical norm set for implementation starting June 5

CEBU, Philippines - Exactly a week from now, the Archdiocese of Cebu will implement the original liturgical posture during Eucharistic celebrations, specifically during the Memorial Acclamation, in which the faithful affirm Christ's death, resurrection and future return.

With the original liturgical posture, mass attendees will have to kneel, instead of the usual practice of standing, beginning after the Sanctus or Consecration and to remain kneeling until after the Amen of the Eucharistic Prayer.

Liturgist Father Glenn Therese Guanzon, in an interview with The Freeman yesterday, said the reverence and solemn act of kneeling during Eucharistic celebrations signify adoration to the real presence of Jesus Christ and respect for God.

"The changes are done to be faithful to the Church instruction on the Roman Missal… It's more of returning to the original instructions," said Father Guanzon, who is the appointed chairperson of the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Worship.

On a circular dated April 19, Cebu Archbishop José Palma also reiterated the statement of position of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines on questions regarding the kneeling and standing after Consecration until after the Amen of the Eucharistic Prayer.

The statement was shared originally through the pastoral letter publicized on March 19 by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, CBCP president.

Queries on the proper posture, after the consecration until after the Amen of the Eucharistic Prayer, reemerged in January 2016 during the 112th CBCP Plenary Assembly held here in Cebu City.

Villegas recalled that long before, kneeling after Consecration was done, but during the 1990s until present, the practice has changed into the posture of standing.

"This change in the established practice was based on the 1990 Guidelines for the Eucharist which was approved by the CBCP on January 1990," he said.

Number three of the 1990 Guidelines for the Eucharist provides that people should kneel after Consecration until the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, but if the acclamation after the consecration is being sung, the people may stand for it.

 "However, in reality the practice became always standing after the consecration until the Amen," he said.

Around 13 years after the CBCP approved the 1990 Guidelines, one of the proposals during the 86th CBCP Plenary Assembly which the CBCP also approved was for "the people (to) kneel after the Sanctus, rise for the memorial acclamation, and kneel after the Lamb of God." This provision was, however, laid down for the Philippine Adaptations to the General Instructions of the Roman Missal (GIRM) 2002.

Villegas also pointed out that both the 1990 Guidelines for the Eucharist and the proposed Philippine Adaptations to the General Instructions of the Roman Missal 2002 did not receive "recognition" or formal reply from Rome.

Considering the circumstance, the Filipino Catholic prelates sought the advice of some bishops knowledgeable in the Code of Canon Law.

"They have responded that no answer or silence from Rome means that the recognitio has not been given. Without the recognitio the CBCP does not have the authority to make or implement any such adaptation. This being the case, we have to revert to the established practice before the request," said Villegas.

He added the CBCP Permanent Council also decided for the Philippine Catholic Church to "abandon" the practice of standing after the consecration as the prelates do not have the authority to introduce such adaptation nor do they not have the authority to implement it.

"We must go back to the previously established practice of kneeling after the Sanctus until after the Amen of the Eucharistic Prayer," he said.

Returning to the original practice, Villegas said, is keeping with the current General Instructions of the Roman Missal published on the Philippine Edition of the Roman Missal of 2011, both approved by the CBCP and given the needed recognition from Rome.

Villegas also recognized that kneeling has been part of the Christian culture that the religious and the faithful cannot abandon.

"Bending the knee before the tabernacle in genuflection, kneeling down at the celebration of the Eucharist, kneeling down to adore the exposed Blessed Sacrament – these are little but sublime acts of adoration that we must preserve and protect," he said.

In Cebu, the original liturgical norm will be observed on the first Sunday of June – exactly on June 5 as instructed by the head of the Cebu Archdiocese.

"It is my foremost wish therefore that we, in the Archdiocese of Cebu, implement this CBCP instruction, beginning on June 5, 2016, the 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time," said Palma on the circular.

Since April 2016, when the local circular was issued, team ministries, parish priests, chaplains, religious priests and sisters and the laity of the Cebu Archdiocese have been catechizing the Roman Catholic faithful on the original liturgical norm.

Over a month was allotted for liturgical catechesis to make the Catholic faithful better understand on the meaning and significance of kneeling during the important parts of the Eucharistic celebration. — (FREEMAN)