The Introductory Rites - Part 1
Part one of a series I'm writing for inclusion in the weekly Parish Bulletin of St Francis of Assisi Parish, Dungog Gresford
The Introductory Rites, along with The Concluding Rites, are the two minor parts of the celebration of Mass that bookend the combination of The Liturgy of the Word and The Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Both have particular roles to play, and The Introductory Rites have as their purpose to “ensure that the faithful, who come together as one, establish communion and dispose themselves properly to listen to the Word of God and to celebrate the Eucharist worthily” (GIRM, n.46).
In other words, The Introductory Rites are not simple adornment to what comes next but have a real and valuable role in creating the gathered Assembly as a worshipping Assembly, i.e., as a unified whole rather than a group of individual worshippers.
And therein lies a question that is worth pondering. When we gather for Mass, particularly on Sundays, are we gathering as a community, as one, to worship God together in Word and Sacrament, or are we coming along as an individual, disconnected from the rest of the people in the church building, so I can ‘hear Mass’ or ‘fulfil my obligation’.
I suspect the answer to that question might be different for different people at different times, but the expectation of the liturgy is quite clear: we come together as one, to establish communion amongst ourselves, and to dispose ourselves properly to do what we are there to do.
Along similar lines, the question of when does our gathering for liturgy start should be pondered. Does it start when we walk through the doors of the church, collect our bulletin, make our way to our seat, and thus take our place? Or does it begin when we first think about preparing ourselves to head to Mass? Or does it start earlier than that?
Again, I don’t think there’s a clear answer to when we start to gather for Mass, but I would like to suggest that it definitely starts much earlier than the first note of the Gathering Hymn!
And that is part of the reason why The Introductory Rites are so important. We do not simply arrive at a church building; we gather there, bringing everything that’s been going on beforehand, all our concerns and joys. We arrive at a church building in different ways each time we do so, and none of us will arrive the same way or in the same frame of mind as all those with whom we gather.
The beauty and the genius of The Introductory Rites is that it allows us to gather, with everything that is going on for us, and to ready ourselves for what we will participate in while gathered with our brothers and sisters inside the church building as we seek to be the Church at prayer.
To be continued…