The Introductory Rites - Part 7
Part seven of a series I'm writing for inclusion in the weekly Parish Bulletin of St Francis of Assisi Parish, Dungog Gresford
At the end of Part 6, the Presider had greeted the gathered Assembly, and the occasion had been (briefly) introduced. Now the liturgical celebration is ready to move on to the Penitential Act.
The General Instruction to the Roman Missal explains the Penitential Act thus:
“After this, the [Presider] calls upon the whole community to take part in the Penitential Act, which, after a brief pause for silence, it does by means of a formula of general confession. The rite concludes with the [Presider’s] absolution, which, however, lacks the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance.
From time to time on Sundays, especially in Easter Time, instead of the customary Penitential Act, the blessing and sprinkling of water may take place as a reminder of Baptism.” (n.51)
There are, then, several aspects to the Penitential Act that are worthy of comment.
The first aspect, as the GIRM, indicates is that there is an invitation offered to the whole community by the Presider. This introduction is relatively standard: “Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries”. The second aspect is the pause for silence.
The combination of these two aspects has a two-fold thrust. Only in the silence are we forced to come to terms first with the reality of sin, something we are often loathe to admit, and secondly with the ever-abiding mercy of God, something we are only too glad to embrace.
And yet, if we’re attentive to what we are doing when we celebrate the liturgy it can be hard to ignore this significance of this small part of the Introductory Rites.
I would hasten to say, however, that the use of the silence is fundamental here: if it is ignored or too short, then it is impossible for the Assembly to wrestle with the interplay with between the recognition of our sinfulness and the celebration of God’s abundant mercy; if it is too long, then people might begin to worry that the Presider has lost their place.
Once the silence is concluded, however, what comes next brings a number of options, the first of which is what is traditionally known as the Confiteor, the name coming from the opening word in Latin (“I confess…”). This prayer formula is part of the long history of the Church’s liturgical patrimony and should be used often enough that it can be easily prayed by the Assembly, without other options being use as well.
The use of the Confiteor and its words highlight the call to remember the sinfulness that is a normal part of the human condition. We are called to remember the sins of our thoughts and our words, and those things we have done and those things we have failed to do. This combination of words canvasses the breadth of human failure, all of which we acknowledge as being entirely and solely our responsibility “through our fault”.
When the Confiteor is used, the entire Assembly is called to include a bodily gesture that also comes from the long liturgical tradition of the Church: the striking of the breast.
This action accompanies the words that are found in the middle of the Confiteor – “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault” – and many people feel the need to strike their breast three times, once for each mention of ‘fault’. Yet this is a remnant from the unreformed pre-conciliar version of the Mass; the instruction in the current Missal is found in the singular. We strike our breast once, and only once.
At the end of the words of the Confiteor, as at the end of all the other options, the Presider prays the absolution: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life”.
There are two comments needed here. Firstly, as the General Instruction indicates (see n.51), this absolution is unlike that which is found at the end of the Sacrament of Penance, when the Priest pronounces the forgiveness of sins more distinctly (“I absolve you from your sins…”). The forgiveness of sins is not intended during the Introductory Rites as it is during confession; the former is more akin to intercessory prayer, a request, while the latter is a clear declaration of forgiveness.
The second comment to make is that the words used during the Introductory Rites is in the plural. In using these words, the Presider is including himself in the intercession for God’s mercy, in recognition that he, too, is a sinner and in need of God’s grace. The use of plural form here (“us”) further confirms the distinction between this absolution and that found in the Sacrament of Penance.
As already mentioned, there are other options that can be used as part of the Penitential Act. Having briefly examined the Confiteor, we will next have a look at the other two primary options before undertaking a brief excursus to look at the Rite of Blessing and Sprinkling of Water that is also possible to use “from time to time”.
But all of that will have to wait until the arrival of Part 8.
To be continued…