TCA Question & Answer of the Day

Each weekday, you'll find a new question and answer. Check back for the new question and scroll down to see previous day's entries! Let us know what you think - - or question! -- by emailing us at tcanswer@osv.com.

For the Week of May 4-8, 2009

Question of the Day for Friday, May 08, 2009

Extended Agnus Dei?

Q. I recently went to Mass, and all of a sudden the Lamb of God prayer has changed. Instead of the traditional words, there is now a much longer formula, which I cannot bring myself to say. It seems like more of a “let’s make a noisy time-waster so the crowd won’t get bored while the priest does his business”; elevator music, if you will.

I thought the Lamb of God was a standard Eucharistic prayer and was not to be changed, but here are the new and improved words, verbatim: “Lamb of God … Prince of Peace … Bread of Life … King of Kings … Lord of Lords … Hope for All.” (Sing verses three to seven times, as time requires.)

Is the Lamb of God prayer supposed to be modified like this? What is wrong with a little respectful silence? I am just not comfortable waiting for a cue in to end this prayer. I have to sit it out.

L.B., via email

A. Here’s a reply from TCA columnist Father Francis Hoffman, J.C.D.:

No. 83 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal addresses the specific issue you raise: “The supplication Agnus Dei, is, as a rule, sung by the choir or cantor with the congregation responding; or it is, at least, recited aloud. This invocation accompanies the fraction and, for this reason, may be repeated as many times as necessary until the rite has reached its conclusion, the last time ending with the words dona nobis pacem [grant us peace].”

When the invocation Agnus Dei is repeated more than three times, it is meant to accompany the liturgical action of the celebrant with a prayerful chant. Silence is necessary as part of the liturgy, but there are other moments reserved for silence. From the indications set forth in the GIRM, it is not at all apparent that permission has been granted to add new words (“King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Bread of Angels”), no matter how beautiful and fitting they might seem.

Nevertheless, the version you mention is well known, and I have not heard objections to it in the past. Still, my sense is that the words “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us” should be repeated just as they are until the rite has reached its conclusion and the people pray “grant us peace.”

Question of the Day for Thursday, May 07, 2009

Why Red Shoes?

Q. Why does the Pope wear red shoes?

 A.O., El Paso, Texas

A. Pope Benedict XVI is following a long-established custom of popes wearing red leather outdoor shoes, though Pope John Paul II broke with the tradition and usually wore brown shoes. This custom is actually a relic of an earlier tradition in which nearly all the papal garments were red, a practice that ended when Pope Pius V (reigned 1566-72) changed the papal color to white. (Pius was a Dominican.)

Question of the Day for Wednesday, May 06, 2009

“He Descended Into Hell”?

Q. The Apostles’ Creed states in some versions that Jesus “descended into hell.” Until Vatican II this was the standard prayer. Now some say “to the dead.” If he descended into hell, what was the spiritual significance of this?

D.G., via email

A. Here’s a reply from TCA columnist Father Ray Ryland, Ph.D., J.D.:

In the original Greek of the New Testament there are two different words sometimes translated by the English word “hell.” Gehenna (the Greek form of an Aramaic term Jesus used) designates the place of eternal torment and is the equivalent of what our contemporaries usually mean when they say “hell” (see, for example, Mt 5:22, 29, 30). The other Greek word is hades, which simply means the place of departed spirits, with no connotations of punishment or suffering.

The original form of the Apostles’ Creed stated that Jesus descended, not into gehenna,, but into hades. This reflects the teaching of 1 Peter 3:18–19, which speaks of Jesus’ ministry to the “spirits in prison” after His death. These were the righteous dead, such as the Old Testament saints, for whom Jesus had not yet opened the gates of heaven. The creed’s reference to Jesus’ descent into hades tells us that the redemption of Jesus Christ extends backward in time as well as forward to the end of history.

Question of the Day for Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Cinco de Mayo?

Q. I have a 2009 calendar distributed by my parish, which features beautiful Catholic art and tells most of the special days on the Church calendar, including saints’ days. For May 5 it says “Cinco de Mayo.” I presume that it’s the name of a feast day in Spanish, but I don’t know what it is. What does the Church celebrate on “Cinco de Mayo”?

 O.P., Jackson, Miss.

A. Cinco de Mayo (“Fifth of May”) is actually not a feast day of the Church, but rather a secular and civil holiday, observed especially in the state of Puebla, Mexico, and elsewhere throughout that nation. The day is also observed in the U.S. by Mexican-Americans as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride, with parades, mariachi music, folklorico dance, and other festivities.

Cinco de Mayo is sometimes confused with Mexican Independence Day, but that celebration actually takes place on September 16. May 5 commemorates instead the Mexican army’s defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

If the calendar distributed in your parish is like the one distributed in mine, it includes secular and civil holidays as well as those on the Church calendar. For example, my calendar also notes New Year’s Day, Earth Day, Flag Day, American Independence Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Halloween, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Day.

Question of the Day For Monday, May 4, 2009

Number of Catholics Worldwide?

Q. How many Catholics are there in the world?

 H.F., via email

A. The 2009 Pontifical Yearbook (Annuario Pontificio) came out at the end of February, with the most recent statistics (from 2007). The number of Catholics worldwide grew from 1.131 billion in 2006 to 1.147 billion in 2007. The Catholic population continues to explode in Africa especially, as the demographic center of the Church shifts south.

Priestly vocations are growing in Africa and Asia, by 27.6 percent and 21.2 percent respectively, and the total for North and South America together remains more or less stationary. But priestly vocations have fallen in Europe and Oceania, by 6.8 percent and 5.5 percent respectively.