Dear Father,
At the end of each month, my priest wants to acknowledge parishioners’ birthdays and anniversaries. Before the final blessing, he asks those with birthdays to stand. He then asks us to sing happy birthday to them. For the anniversaries, he says a blessing for the couples. I don’t think it’s appropriate to sing the birthday song out loud in church. What is your opinion on this? Is it irreverent?
-Frank
Dear Frank,
You are correct about the happy birthday song at Mass. It’s quite irreverent.
For all the clergy who claim that Vatican II loosened the formality of the liturgy, I like to remind them of what the actual document about the liturgy says. In the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (no. 22.3), we read: “Therefore no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.” We find no exceptions to this Vatican II rule.
Liturgical law stipulates that during the Concluding Rites of the Mass, after the Prayer after Communion but before the final blessing, necessary but brief announcements may be made (see General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 90). Citing birthdays and anniversaries is not necessary, and singing “Happy Birthday” is not brief.
What’s next? Announcing upcoming surgeries or work anniversaries or sports results of the parish school teams?
Adding things to the Mass (and other liturgies) that don’t belong there, especially secular matters, is most inappropriate and just plain wrong. I recently posted in this column about the solemnity of the Mass, even in a so-called simple early morning weekday Mass.
At Mass, we are privileged to hear the word of God and to worship God through the sacrifice of the Word made flesh on our altar. The Mass is a sacred prayer offered in a sacred place. For that period of time, we set aside, to the best of our ability, anything that is not involved in the direct worship of Almighty God.
Someone might argue that the priest should first end the Mass and then sing happy birthday for certain people. This would be to forget that we are still in a sacred space, set aside for the worship of God. We are demeaning the sacred by imposing profane activities in that space.
Moreover, many of those in attendance will have just received Holy Communion. As the bishop of Columbus has recently instructed, the time immediately after Mass is meant for each person to make an act of thanksgiving to God for the gift of the Eucharist. Even if a person did not receive Communion, he or she should still offer thanksgiving for the gift of being part of the holy sacrifice and for being in the presence of the Eucharistic Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus Christ himself.
The appropriate place for singing “Happy Birthday,” “Happy Anniversary,” or “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” and other profane music, including so-called classical music pieces such as Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March,” is anywhere other than at the sacred liturgy or the celebration of any of the sacraments.
It may not be failproof, but a good test is to ask whether what Father Ricky Relevant wants to add to the Mass is about glorifying God or about someone other than God, including Father himself.
The part you ask about blessings needs more nuance. A general blessing is given at the end of Mass. It is for everyone in attendance who desires to receive a blessing and is spiritually disposed to receive it. Someone attending a Catholic funeral Mass but practicing another religion would most likely not be disposed to receive the blessing.
At certain times, other blessings may be added to the Mass. For instance, there are a number of specially composed solemn blessings found in the Roman Missal. The priest may not ad lib these blessings. He must read them as printed.
If a priest desires to offer a special blessing for certain groups, he is welcome to do so after the dismissal and final hymn of Mass. In this case, he should return to the sacristy, remove his chasuble and re-enter sanctuary to bless those who remained for some minutes after their Eucharistic thanksgiving. Such blessings might include prayers for expectant mothers, or to enroll people in the Angelic Warfare Confraternity and other devotional practices.
For those celebrating wedding anniversaries, there is a special rite in the Order of Celebrating Matrimony (a ritual book that all priests have) called “The Order of Blessing a Married Couple within Mass on the Anniversary of Marriage.” It is foreseen that the main anniversaries, such as the 25th, or 50th, or 60th years, are blessed, not each and every annual anniversary.
To the Blessed Trinity be the glory!
Questions about the sacraments should be sent to sacraments101@columbuscatholic.org.