Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: Is it permissible at a concelebrated funeral Mass for the presider to share some parts of the rite with other concelebrants; for example, one concelebrant does the reception at the entrance of the Church, and one takes the final commendation and another does the burial, while the presider himself does the Mass? On a related point, can a concelebrant in a marriage liturgy take the nuptial blessing instead of the presiding priest? — B.T., Tamale, Ghana
A: While there is no official reply on the question of funerals, there is a private response from the Holy See related to the question of deacons presiding at wedding Masses that can throw light on this theme. This 2007 letter, issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, addresses the question from canonical and liturgical grounds, and these are the ones which concern us now.
The Vatican congregation states that a change of presider in the course of the same celebration is not admissible. Hence, neither a deacon (whether permanent or transitional) nor a priest other than the principal celebrant can preside over a wedding liturgy.
The document also explains why apparent exceptions do not detract from the rule of no change in presiding celebrant. These apparent exceptions — such as a non-concelebrating bishop who presides over some moments of the Mass, or the newly ordained bishop who becomes the principal celebrant — arise from the nature of the bishop’s ministry.
The letter thus concludes that the priest who celebrates the Mass must be the one to preach, receive the vows and impart the nuptial blessing. At the discretion of the pastor, the deacon may preach the homily.
Admittedly, this letter is official but, as a private missive, has no force of law. It does, however, reflect the congregation’s thinking and is based on sound liturgical reasoning.
If this is the case for a wedding, the same principle of no change in the presiding celebrant would also apply to other liturgical celebrations unless the rubrics specifically allow for the direct participation of other priests without, strictly speaking, implying a change in the presiding celebrant.
This is foreseen, for example, in a concelebration in which other priests may recite alone a part of the Eucharistic Prayer. It is also possible to divide some parts of the rite of the anointing of the sick. Thus No. 19 of the introduction to the Rite of Anointing of the Sick says:
“When two or more priests are present for the anointing of a sick person, one of them may say the prayers and carry out the anointings, saying the sacramental form. The others may take the remaining parts, such as the introductory rites, readings, invocations, or instructions. Each priest may lay hands on the sick person.”
The Order of Christian Funerals does not appear to foresee any such division of the presiding minister’s office for the funeral Mass. The rites presume a single presiding celebrant for those elements inherent to the rite such as reception of the body and the final commendation.
Concelebrating priests, however, are not excluded. As in any concelebration, a priest other than the principal could read the Gospel in the absence of a deacon, could preach the homily, and make the special commendation for the deceased for use in funeral Masses that are found in the Eucharistic Prayers.
There are some exceptions to this general rule, however. This is usually when the bishop is present at the funeral without concelebrating. For example, if the bishop attends the funeral of a priest’s parent, he may prefer not to concelebrate so as to allow the priest to preside at the Mass while he carries out the final commendation at the end.
Therefore, while such a division of the funeral rites should not be a normal occurrence, there may be some special occasions in which it could be justified, especially with respect to the final commendation.
The other rites, outside of Mass, such as the vigil in the house of the deceased or the funeral home, and the rites of burial or committal, may certainly be entrusted to a different priest than the one who celebrates the funeral Mass. Although in some places burial immediately follows the funeral, so as to form a single rite, this is most often not the case and thus, they are usually considered as separate rites which a different priest may preside.
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Follow-up: Obligation for Evening Prayer I of Sundays
In the wake of our comments on the obligation of the Liturgy of the Hours (Aug. 4), a reader from Texas wrote: “I have never been clear about the priest’s obligation regarding praying Daytime Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. I have been told, as a priest of one year, that one need pray at least one of the Daytime Prayers, but not necessarily all three of the Daytime Prayers — obviously, doing all three is preferred — so is there actually a law of the Church as to the Daytime Prayers?”
Yes there is, and the information you received is correct. The introduction to the Liturgy of the Hours explains how it is to be prayed and in what manner.
“75. Liturgical custom in both East and West has retained midmorning, midday, and midafternoon prayer, mainly because these hours were linked to a commemoration of the events of the Lord’s passion and of the first preaching of the Gospel.
“76. Vatican Council II decreed that these lesser hours are to be retained in choir. The liturgical practice of saying these three hours is to be retained, without prejudice to particular law, by those who live the contemplative life. It is recommended also for all, especially those who take part in retreats or pastoral meetings.
“77. Outside choir, without prejudice to particular law, it is permitted to choose from the three hours the one most appropriate to the time of day, so that the tradition of prayer in the course of the day’s work may be maintained.
“78. Daytime prayer is so arranged as to take into account both those who recite only one hour and those who are obliged, or desire, to say all three hours.
“79. The daytime hours begin with the introductory verse, God come to my assistance with the Glory to the Father, As it was in the beginning, and the Alleluia (omitted in Lent). Then a hymn appropriate to the hour is sung. The psalmody is next, then the reading, followed by the verse. The hour concludes with the prayer and, at least in recitation in common, with the acclamation, Let us praise the Lord. R. And give him thanks.
“80. Different hymns and prayers are given for each of the hours so that, in keeping with tradition, they may correspond to the true time of day and thus sanctify it in a more pointed way. Those who recite only one hour should therefore choose the texts that correspond to the true time of day. In addition, the readings and prayers vary in keeping with the character of the day, the season, or the feast.
“81. Two psalmodies are provided: the current psalmody and the complementary psalmody. Those who pray one hour should use the current psalmody. Those who pray more than one hour should use the current psalmody at one hour and the complementary psalmody at the others.
“82. The current psalmody consists of three psalms (or parts in the case of longer psalms) from the psalter, with their antiphons, unless directions are given to the contrary.
“On solemnities, the Easter triduum, and days within the octave of Easter, proper antiphons are said with three psalms chosen from the complementary psalmody, unless special psalms are to be used or the celebration falls on a Sunday, when the psalms are those from the Sunday of Week I of the psalter.
“83. The complementary psalter consists of three sets of three ps
alms, chosen as a rule from the Gradual Psalms.”
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Readers may send questions to zenit.liturgy@gmail.com. Please put the word “Liturgy” in the subject field. The text should include your initials, your city and your state, province or country. Father McNamara can only answer a small selection of the great number of questions that arrive.
