Dear Jane,
The Sign of the Cross at he beginning of Mass is mandatory. The
Sacramentary (the large book on the altar from which the priest
reads the prayers of each day's Mass) makes this clear in four
places:
1) page 23*, no 28: "After the entrance song, the priest and
congregation makes the Sign of the Cross."
2) page 31*, no 86: "After the entrance song, while all are
standing, the priest and the faithful make the Sign of the
Cross."
3) page 37*, no 213: "After he reverences the altar, the priest
makes the Sign of the Cross.
4) page 357 (The Order of Mass with a Congregation): "After the
entrance song, the priest and the faithful remain standing and
make the Sign of the Cross, as the priest says: `In the Name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit' The people
answer: `Amen.'"
The instruction "Eucharisticum Mysterium" (Sacred Congregation of
Rites, April 13, 1967), no 45, says: "The laws of the Church must
be faithfully observed in celebrating Mass. In the celebration
of the Eucharist, above all, no one, not even a priest, may on
his own authority add, omit, or change anything in the Liturgy."
Pope John Paul II writes: "(The priest) cannot consider himself a
`proprietor', who can make free use of the liturgical text and of
the sacred rite as if it were his own property, so as to stamp it
with his own arbitrary personal style" (Dominicae Cenae*, Feb. 24,
1980, no. 12).
Perhaps others in your parish are disturbed at the departure from
the correct liturgical rite at the beginning of Mass. You would
do them a service and the priest himself a kindness by bringing
these official texts to his attention.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit -
* Encyclical or document is available "free" as a text file
from Catholic Information Network (CIN)
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DOMINICA.ZIP 29,118 Dominicae Cenae, On the Mystery & Worship
of the Eucharist, John Paul II
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