Stand and say: "May the Lord accept"
The 2002 Roman Missal requires the peope to be standing at Mass when they are saying:
May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands
for the praise and glory of his name,
for our good, and the good of all his Church.
This is a major change from what what the people have been taught from the 1970 Roman Missal -- to stand after this prayer, not before it..
This is what I see done by nearly everyone, in Masses without incense. A major educational effort is required if this is to be corrected. I see little evidence that this is being done.
So this my attempt to encourage people in Catholic communities to faithfully follow the Roman Missal and stand earlier than others, when the priest finishes saying: "Pray, brethen, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father."
Here is how the documentation has changed on this.
1975 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), n. 21:
... Unless other provision is made, at every Mass the people should stand .... from the prayer over the gifts to the end of Mass, except at the places indicated later in this paragraph. ...
2000 GIRM Study Translation, n. 43, changes this to:
... The faithful should stand ... from the invitatory, Pray that our sacrifice..., before the prayer over the gifts to the end of Mass, except at the places indicated later in this paragraph. ...
The Latin text has changed, not just the translation:
21. ... atque ab oratione super oblata usque ad finem Missae, ...
To:
43. ... necnon ab invitatione Orate fratres ante orationem super oblata usque ad finem Missae, ...
The Roman Missal also makes the change clear in the Order of Mass. The translation of the 1970 Roman Missal is:
Lord, wash away my iniquity; cleanse me from my sin.
Standing at the center of the altar, facing the people, he extends and then joins his hands, saying:
Pray, brethren, that our sacfice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.
The people respond:
May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands ...
The Latin text of this in the 1970 and 1975 Roman Missal:
Lava me, Domine, ab iniquitate mea, et a peccato meo munda me.
19. Stans postea in medio altaris, versus ad ministrum, extendens et iungens manus, dicit:
Orate, fratres, ut meum ac vestrum sacrificium acceptabile fiat apud Deum Patrem omnipotentem.
Minister respondet:
Suscipiat Dominus sacrificium de manibus tuis ...
The Latin text in the 2002 Roman Missal:
Lava me, Domine, ab iniquitate mea, et a peccato meo munda me.
29. Stans postea in medio altaris, versus ad populum, extendens et iungens manus, dicit:
Orate, fratres: ut meum ac vestrum sacrificium acceptabile fiat apud Deum Patrem omnipotentem.
Populus surgit et respondet:
Suscipiat Dominus sacrificium de manibus tuis ...
So the instruction is now clearly that the people stand and respond, "surgit et respondet".
Conferences of Bishops can make adaptations on posture. If the Vatican gives their recognitio they could change it so that people sit for "May the Lord accept the sacrifice".
But to the best of my knowledge no Conference of Bishops has done this. There is no such adaptation by the US Bishops Conference among their adaptations decreed on 25 April 2002.
As I write this on 3 August 2002 it seems to me that there is widespread failure by all levels of the Roman Catholic community on this. Individuals should faithfully follow the Roman Missal. They should do what they can to educate and publicise this change that has been made.
Posted by J.R. Lilburne 3 August 2002. I give what I have written on this page to the public domain. The 1970, 1975, 2002 Roman Missal are copyright "apud Administrationem Patrimonii Sedis Apostolicae in Civitate Vaticana". The English translation is copyright International Committee on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).