Cruciform

A moment in Holy Mass in the traditional Carmelite Rite.

The priest stands with his arms outstretched in cruciform.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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8 Comments

  1. VexillaRegis says:

    Beautiful and interesting! Fr. Z., could you perhaps write a post about the carmelite rite some time?

  2. jaykay says:

    VexillaRegis: you will find this at the New Liturgical Movement site (see link in the bloglist to the rite). In addition, that site also featured this rite in 2010:

    http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2010/03/mass-in-medieval-carmelite-use.html

  3. VexillaRegis says:

    Ah, thanks, Jaykay!

  4. Father G says:

    Father Thomas Morrow, in his article, The Seventeen Most Common Errors in the Liturgy (http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=7646) states the following:

    3. While praying the sacerdotal prayers, the priest holds his hands in a way that does not convey the intended message: that he is “imitating the Lord in His passion ” and thus “we bear witness to Him as we pray.” (Ceremonial of Bishops, n. 104) The priest is to hold his hands “slightly raised and outstretched,” and, it seems, is to appear as Christ on the cross.

    So priests, when celebrating the Ordinary Form of the Roman-rite, are also to have their arms extended in a cruciform position.

  5. Michael_Thoma says:

    I wouldn’t call these variations of the EF Latin Rite a “rite” as “Rite” is understood today. More properly, they are “Uses” of the Latin Rite EF. The same goes for the Dominican, Carthusian, etc. The Mozarabic, Ambrosian, Milanese, Gallican, and Sarum could lean toward more of a “Rite” but even the last three are not significantly different from the Latin Rite EF “Roman Use”.

  6. John Nolan says:

    This posture, also found in the Dominican and Sarum Uses, is only held from the ‘Unde et Memores’ until the signs of the cross at the end of this prayer. Otherwise the arms are not extended away from the body. To do so all the time is a 1960s affectation that came in with versus populum; it is extremely irritating and I don’t think it is justified by the rubric which enjoins the priest to extend his hands. It’s more to do with ‘Seid umschlungen, Millionen’ than with Christ on the cross, and is usually accompanied by eyeballing all those present. “The LORD be with YOU!”. I’m sure you’ve all seen it.

  7. benedetta says:

    I am so pleased to see this photograph of Holy Mass at my spiritual home in Troy, NY! Thanks Fr. Z! The ever-beautiful Carmelite Rite!

  8. Random Friar says:

    @Father G:

    Looking at that link, I saw that the concelebrating priest, if a deacon is absent, should be the one saying “Let us offer each other the Sign of Peace.” I think this is new, no?

    Also, allowing the Host and Chalice to be lifted together at the “Ecce Agnus Dei”. I know it was popular to do so, but I don’t remember seeing that before.

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