3. Should the little bell be rung at the moment when Benediction is
given with the Blessed Sacrament?
4. Should the thurifer incense the Blessed Sacrament whilst Benediction
is being given?
* * * * *
1. It is usual in certain churches not only to leave the altar-charts
permanently on the altar, but also to place them on it as an ornament
during vespers and other functions, and even to furnish with them
altars at which Mass is not said. Now, it is quite certain that
whatever specially belongs to the Mass should not be on the altar
except during the Holy Sacrifice. The Rubric of the Missal prescribes
that the altar-charts should be prepared before Mass, and does not
suppose that they remain permanently on the altar. Except at Mass
time, and even during the celebration of the divine office, the altar
ought to remain covered. In the _Caeremoniale Episcop._, l. 2, c.
1, n. 13, we read that the acolytes should uncover the altar before
the incensation at the _Magnificat_. "Interim duo acolyti procedunt
ad altare, elevantes hinc inde anteriorem partem superioris tobalae,
seu veli super altare positi, illamque conduplicant usque ad medium".
Nothing is more opposed to the spirit of liturgical rules than objects
for which there is no use. Altar-charts are not a decoration, but are
made to serve a purpose; therefore they should be displayed when they
are wanted. Care should also be taken that they be legible, and not, as
sometimes happens, rather pictures than anything else.
2. The Rubric of the _Caeremon. Episcop._ is clear on this point: "Mox
surgit, et capite coöperto incipit sermonem."--(l. 1, c. 22, n. 3).
According to the Rubric of the Missal, the preacher uncovers his head
as often as he pronounces the holy names of Jesus and Mary, or of the
saint whose feast is being celebrated. In order not to do this too
often, he should avoid a too frequent mention of their names. "Si SS.
nominum Jesu uel Mariæ fiat mentio", says Lohner (_Instr. Pract._, t.
1., p. 50), "caput discoöperire debet (concionator); si tamen saepe
sint repetenda, utatur potius nomine Christi, Redemptoris, Dominæ
nostrae, C[oe]li Reginæ, aut similibus".
We may remark, however, that this regulation of the Rubric is an
exception to the general rule. The general rule is, that ecclesiastics
in church or choir are never covered except when seated, unless those
who, _paramentis induti_, move from place to place without passing
before the clergy. A priest who goes from the sacristy to the choir, or
to any other part of the church, if he do not wear at least the stole,
should not wear his beretta. Much less should he wear the beretta if he
be not in choir habit.
3. No author speaks of this usage. There appears, therefore, no reason
why it should be introduced. We would not venture to say that it ought
to be suppressed. However, it appears more becoming to reserve for Mass
the use of the small bell, and to ring during Benediction the large
bells of the church, as is the custom in Rome.
4. During Benediction the thurifer may incense the Blessed Sacrament on
his knees, as at High Mass; but it is better to omit such incensation.
The first of these assertions rests upon various decrees of the Sacred
Congregation of Rites; the second upon authority, especially that of
Gardellini.
_1st Decree._--"Cum non una sit auctorum sententia, nec eadem Ecclesiae
praxis quoad incensationem SS. Sacramenti dum populo cum ipso
impertitur benedictio, R. P. Fr. Paschalis a Platea Branculi sacerdos
ordinis minorum ... S. R. C. sequentia dubia enodanda proposuit,
nimirum: 1. Num utraque auctorum sententia, videlicet eorum qui
affirmant et eorum qui denegant talem thurificationem adhibendam tuto
teneri possit? 2.... 3. Quatenus respondeatur in sensu denegantium, an
usus, sive consuetudo incensandi, ubi viget, sit de medio tollendus?
Respons. _Servetur Rituale Romanum_"--(Dec. 11 Sept., 1847, No. 5105,
q. 1, d. 3).
_2nd Decree._--"Utrum conveniens sit, quod cæremoniarius vel
thuriferarius incenset SS. Eucharistiæ Sacramentum cum populo
benedictio impertitur, uti fit in elevatione SS. Sacramenti in Missa
solemni? Respons. _Non praescribi_" (Decret. 11 Sept., 1847, No. 5111,
q. 9).
The Rubric of the Ritual referred to in the first decree does not speak
of this incensation. In the second the usage appears to be tolerated,
but is not prescribed.
Gardellini, § xxxi., No. 23, thus speaks:
"Heic loci altera se offert quæstio, num scilicet
thuriferarius, dum sacerdos benedicit populum debeat,
incensare Sacramentum? Silentium, quod tenent Caeremoniale,
Rituale, Instructio clementina, et auctores fere omnes,
qui caeteroquin nihil omiserunt de iis, quae in sacra hac
actione servanda sunt, plane suadet hanc incensationem esse
omittendam. Nihilominus Cavalerius ... et Tetamus, qui eum
sequitur ... innixi quodam decreto ... existimant faciendam
esse, vel saltem in arbitrio relinqui. Videtur tamen magis
congruere contrariam sententiam consentaneam silentio
Caeremonialis, Ritualis, et Instructionis. Cur enim in his,
licet enumerentur ritus et caeremoniae ommnes servandae, de
hac una ne verbum quidem fit? Non alia est ratio, nisi quia
locum habere nequit. Si quaeris: cur? Dicam: quia dignior
id est sacerdos, jam Sacramentum thurificavit, nec inferior
debet postea thurificationem iterare. Dum benedicitur populus
supplet vices incensi bonus adorationis odor. Nec me commovent
assertum decretum et Missalis rubrica. Nam ad illud quod
attinet, jam supra notavi decretum illud non reperiri in
regestis S. R. C. ac penitus ignorari a qua congregatione vel
cujus auctoritate datum fuerit; et forte nihil aliud est, nisi
privatum responsum ad consultationem factam alicui Rubricarum
perito, qui potius variam ecclesiarum consuetudinem attendens,
quam rationum vim, respondit: Servari posse alterutram. Quod
vero spectat rubricam Missalis, longe diversa militat ratio.
Ideo enim rubrica praescribit in Missa solemni: _Thuriferarius
genuflexus in cornu epistolae ter incensat Hostiam, cum
elevatur, et similiter calicem, posito incenso in thuribulo
absque benedictione_, tum quia unica haec est incensatio,
quae ad Sacramentum adolendum fit in Missa, solemni, tum quia
alius non est thuriferario dignior, qui eo fungatur munere;
nam sacerdos celebrat, diaconus ei assistit, subdiaconus
impeditus est patena, cæremoniarius invigilat ut quisque suo
fungatur officio. Id adeo verum est, ut in Missa defunctorum
cum dignior thuriferario subdiaconus non sit impeditus,
Sacramentum incensat jubente rubrica: _Subdiaconus non tenet
patenam post celebrantem, sed tempore elevationis Sacramenti in
cornu epistolae illud incensat_. Contra vero cum benedicendus
est populus cum Sacramento, curnam iteranda erit thurificatio
per acolythum, si jam ab omnium in ea actione ministrantium
dignissimo, celebrante scilicet, peracta fuerat? Si has
rationes parvi fieri oportere existimas, haud contemnendum
censeas librorum ritualium silentium, qui certe hanc
thurificationem demandassent, quemadmodum jusserunt fieri ad
hymni cantum ante orationem. Haec dixi, ne quid magis congruum
mihi videtur, praeterirem: caeterum absit ut velim turbas
movere, ac damnare consuetudinem, quae licet minus conveniat,
ritus tamen substantiam non laedit. Cum autem eadem consuetudo
in bene multis ecclesiis obtineat, difficillimum esset eamdem
penitus eliminare".