Liturgical Nugget | THE SIX MOST COMMON ERRORS AND LITURGICAL ABUSES THROUGHOUT THE TRIDUUM

1. Holy Thursday of the Lord's Supper: A EUCHARISTIC PROCESSION, OUTSIDE OR AROUND THE CHURCH AND EVEN AROUND THE BLOCK IS MADE TO TAKE THE CIBORIUM TO ITS PLACE OF REPOSE, AND SETTING THE PLACE OF REPOSE SUMPTUOUSLY. An outside procession of this kind belongs to Corpus Christi, but not today. The ciborium is to be taken, inside the church and through it's shortest route, to the place of repose which *must* be sober and simple and not majestic.
Rubric 37 in the Roman Missal prescribes that: /The Blessed Sacrament, accompanied by torches and incense, is carried *through the church* to a place of repose./

Number 49 of the Norms for the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts emphasize: /For the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, a place should be prepared and adorned in such a way as to be conducive to prayer and meditation; that sobriety appropriate to the liturgy of these days is enjoined, to the avoidance or suppression of all abuses./

2. Good Friday: GENUFLECTING AT THE EMPTY TABERNACLE. It is empty, for the Lord is dead. There is no one to adore. The tabernacle doors are left wide open so we can see and sense his absence.

3. Good Friday: EXITING THE CHURCH AFTER THE LITURGY OF THE LORD'S PASSION WITHOUT GENUFLECTING AT THE HOLY CROSS.
Rubric 32 of the Roman Missal indicates: /All, after genuflecting to the Cross, depart in silence./

4. Holy Saturday: In bulletins, flyers, posters, and parish websites, ANNOUNCING THE EASTER VIGIL IN THE HOLY NIGHT AS THE LAST ACTIVITY OF HOLY SATURDAY. The Easter Vigil is celebrated after dark on our calendar Saturday, but liturgically, as all Sundays, it is Sunday already, so the Easter Vigil belongs to Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord. The Norms Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of Easter Feasts stress that:
/95. In announcements concerning the Easter Vigil care should be taken not to present it as the concluding period of Holy Saturday, but rather it should be stressed that the Easter Vigil is celebrated "during Easter night", and that it is one single act of worship./

5. Easter Vigil in the Holy Night: BEGINNING THE VIGIL SO EARLY THAT THERE IS STILL NATURAL LIGHT OUTDOORS. The Norms for the Preparation and Celebration of Easter Feasts strictly remark that:
/78. "The entire celebration of the Easter Vigil takes place at night. It should not begin before nightfall; it should end before daybreak on Sunday". (Roman Missal 82) This rule is to be taken according to its strictest sense. Reprehensible are those abuses and practices which have crept in in many places in violation of this ruling./

6. Easter Vigil in the Holy Night: LEAVING THE LIGHTS OFF THROUGH THE LITURGY OF THE WORD AND TURNING THEM ON AT THE GLORIA. The sacramental sense of the rite of the Lucernarium is to express how the Risen Lord (whose symbol is the Paschal Candle) sheds his light gradually, from the Pascal Candle at the fire pit (the first time the deacon sings "Lumen Christi"), to the local church (the second time the deacon sings "Lumen Christi" at a higher tone and the faithful share the flame taken from the Paschal Candle), through the entire world, when the deacon places the Pascal Candle at the solemn candlestand next to the ambo, and sings "Lumen Christi" at an even higher note". Because at this third moment the Risen Lord is shedding his life upon the entire world, all lights in the church are turned on. Even the Easter Proclamation (Exsultet) is sung with all the lights of the church on and all the faithful hold their lit candles. Only the altar candles are not lit, and they will at the Gloria.

The Roman Missal makes this very clear:
/17. Then the Deacon places the paschal candle on a large candle stand... And lights are lit throughout the church, except for the altar candles./
All these errors and abuses can be very easily corrected and avoided if everyone responsible for the preparation and celebration of these liturgies take the diligence to read carefully what the norms prescribe, and to study and understand the liturgical theology behind each of these norms and the sacramental meaning of each of the rites of these liturgies.
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(The aforementioned norms are rubrics of the Roman Missal and norms from the Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts issued by the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments at the Holy See).
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Mauricio I. Pérez, Liturgist




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