Nollaig Shona Dhaoibh.

I have two questions for you. 1) Is the Roman Catholic Mass available online in Irish in print and in video? 2.) And for those of you in Ireland, our church here in America has begun bowing at communion; is this practice done in Ireland?

Go raibh maith agaibh.

quote:

2.) And for those of you in Ireland, our church here in America has begun bowing at communion; is this practice done in Ireland?

Catholicism has been abandoned for the most part here in Ireland. There was a time when the "non-practising Catholics" would go to mass on Christmas Day, but even that has died off. The number of priests being ordained per year in the country has steadily dropped and is somewhere around 5 at the moment. Funnily enough though, there seems to be a steady increase in "non-denominational Christians", most of whom I think were baptised as Catholics in their youth.

To answer you question though, the last time I was in a Catholic church was at a wedding a few months ago, and there was no bow at communion. The communion recipient just walks up the aisle, has the bread placed in their hand or onto their tongue, does the sign of the cross on themselves, and walks back to their seat. Parents are advised that all young boys should be accompanied and kept in field of vision at all times.

Tá urnaithe an Aifrinn ar fáil anseo (Mass prayers available here) --

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaeilge/corpus/urnaithe/Aifreann.html

Agus anseo. Fainic! Ceol uafásach ar an suíomh seo, áfach. Molaim duit cnaipe an cheoil a mhúchadh. (Also here, but watch out for the awful music on the site. I recommend turning off the sound button.) --

http://www.irishpage.com/prayers/mass.htm

Aifreann an lae le chloisteáil ar an raidió (Mass of the day can be heard over the radio from various places) --

http://www.rte.ie/rnag/aifreannanlae.html

I don't remember bowing before Communion when I was at Mass in Ireland a few years ago.

I was coming out of a weekday Mass here in America once and I remarked to a nun from Ireland about how fast it was (about 30 minutes). She told me that weekday Mass in Ireland lasts about 15 minutes.
I think that speed is the biggest difference between Mass in Ireland and Mass in America. I attended Sunday Mass in Ireland a few years ago and it lasted 35 minutes, including a bilingual homily. They said the prayers as fast as they could get them out of their mouths. But maybe my experience wasn't typical.

Liz and Fear na mbróg,

Thanks! Attendance in USA has also dropped off for a variety of reasons, including scandals involving the church. Our family made it to Christmas mass in order to bring older members, but we do not go as often as we once did. Has a lot to do with the hectic schedule we live in, I suppose. We are now off to visit relatives.

Beidh mé ag foghlaim mo Ghaeilge ansin. Nó beidh mé ag féachaint ar an telifís. Scannaín, is docha. (I will be studying my Irish there. Or I will be watching televison. Movies, probably.)

Go raibh maith agaibh arís.

Slán,

Sounds typical Liz!The Irish mass experience isnt so interactive!Pity!

Liz, my experience in mass in Ireland have been the same. They are always very short and I haven't heard many songs like is common in America--just say your prayers and get out of there. The only mass that was a little longer was on the Sunday after Thanksgiving one year when the homily was said in Irish then English. I am not sure if it was a special mass (the rest was in Irish so I'll never know) but it lasted about 40 minutes. It was in the little church between Barna and Spiddal (Co. Galway).

quote:

The only mass that was a little longer was on the Sunday after Thanksgiving one year when the homily was said in Irish then English. I am not sure if it was a special mass (the rest was in Irish so I'll never know) but it lasted about 40 minutes. It was in the little church between Barna and Spiddal (Co. Galway).

Domhan beag, a Bethrua. Is dócha go rabhamar ag an eaglais chéanna.

That sounds like the same church I was talking about, at Furbo, across the road from the beach. The church has a labyrinth on the ground next to it. Although I tried very hard to find the name of the church on a sign somewhere, I didn't see it.
Do you know the name of the church??
We thought the start of the Mass was strange because there was no procession. The priest and servers just came out of the sacristy and started the Mass. Also, no live music. They played an audiotape or CD during Communion. The people did participate in the prayers and spoke Irish with each other before and after the Mass.

When I went to Ireland, Easter Mass was 45 minutes! In the US, it's more than twice as long.

A Mhaidhc! I am not sure exactly what you mean "bow". You mean before receiving the host right? The traditional Catholic thing to do is kneel - as required in the Tridentine Mass, which according to unretracted Papal Bulls of Pius V remains the only form of service legal under canon law in the Roman Catholic Church (yeah, I know: they ignore this). Before you used to face East, as did the priest: when the priest led the congregation in prayer he faced East, and when he spoke in the name of Jesus he faced the congregation. Now, all prayers are uttered facing the congregation, as if the congregation is being prayed to. So the proper thing to do is not bow but kneel. Bowing is just an innovation to cope with the fact that the vernacular Mass has led people to stroll up chatting and take the host in their hand in a very unreverent way. Intinction is the only form of receiving the Eucharist a real traditionalist would accept - to take the Saviour in your hand is a mark of casual disrespect. Also the very concept of a Mass in Irish or any other vernacular is Protestant - see Cardinal Ottaviani's objection to the Novus Ordo Mass for further details.

Thanks, Kieran. I am not certain either what is meant by bowing. The priest said to reverently bow. People were bowing all the way from tilting their heads to bending their bodies halfway to the floor. It all seemed more amusing than reverent. Some people took the hosts in their hands and some in their mouths. The mass that we attended was very theatrical in that it included a children's pagent depicting the birth of Jesus Christ, a visit by Santa Claus to Jesus in the cradle on the altar stage, and a standing ovation salute to a local serviceman in the congregation. Over 1500 people attended this mass held in our high school auditorium. You would know better than I what Cardinal Ottaviani might have thought. I will take a look at your reference to his writing. Go raibh maith agat.

A Wike! You are right: having abolished the traditional Catholic mass in favour of a largely Protestant version, there is a problem of how to make it reverent without theatricals and even absurdity. Oh dear, it sounds awful. Santa Claus in church - was the Archangel Gabriel dressed as a reindeer? :-) :-) A standing ovation? It sounds like the whole thing lacked reverence and dignity from beginning to end, and even encroached on politics. You can read about Cardinal Ottaviani at http://www.ihsv.com/ottaviani.html. The main thing is that you attended church, however, whatever the form.

Mass as far as it goes in America now is usually about what one gets out of it, rather than paying homage to God. It all began with Vatican II and further strengthened by the 60's generations (hippies, etc.) Hence the reason why the priest faces us, and in quite a few cases, we face each other in round-shaped, turkey houses constructions. You'll also find that many of the bowers, hand-holders, hand-shaker types are adamant about instituting their own, self-conceived practices and don't give a damn about anything traditional in the church. Tradition can be equated with the sum contribution of peoples over the centuries perfecting the way to properly worship God. Just go to a Byzantine Mass and you'll see what I mean - beauty and worship at the same time!

And it terms of scandals, of course no one can deny the scandal that has plagued the Church, which has been ignored by the hierarchy and has caused untold harm to innocent children. But an even bigger scandal, which is totally ignored here in the States is the same type of abuse occurring in our public schools. Some researchers estimate that the occurrence of child abuse in our public schools is as high as 10%! What is being done about it? Nothing! Will the media report on it? No! So, if one is concerned about being with their children when visiting a priest, they shouldn't they be twice as concerned when their children are around public school teachers???

Please stay on topic or this thread will be closed.

Caoimhín

A Chaoimhín,

I thought when I posted the questions that the discussion might take a turn farther from the direction than I had intended, so I apologize for this.

Do you know if the Daltaí Mass prayer booklet has been scanned and made digitally available? If it were scanned, could it be added to this site? I thought that the links that Liz provided above nicely provided Irish and English translations. Thanks.

P.S. I am working on Mo Vhalintín for the February weekend. I followed up Mo Phimpcín at Jameson with Mo Chrann Nollag for our Irish holiday party in East Haven. If I keep this up I will have a book!

Liz, the church I went to was in Forbacha (I think it was just called Séipéal Na bhForbacha). I was living between Forbacha and Spiddal at the time.

http://www.galwaydiocese.com/parishes.asp?p=13

Réalt na Mara

A Aonghus,

Is maith le mo bhean chéile Contae Clár? An nasc idirlín agat? Go raibh maith agat.

cén saghas?

http://www.clare.ie/

http://www.killaloediocese.ie/index.htm

http://www.killaloediocese.ie/index.htm - sin é! Go raibh míle maith agat.

Thanks alot, I brought the translations with me to Mass this morning, it was cool!

Ye keep it related to the language..

There is irish language mass in dublin agus na Gaeltachtaí freisin.
I've never actually come across an english mass in any gaeltacht. Priests seem to fly through the mass sna Gaeltachaí, i suppose they do speak faster than the speed of light in conamara in all fairness.. :)