Sunday, April 1
Somebody's Knockin' At Your Door
Fr. Z mentions the Pope's reference today to the old liturgical custom on Palm Sunday of knocking on the door of the Church with the processional cross. At my church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we continue to use this custom, and I have heard from others whose parishes (in the Missa Normativa) also keep up this venerable practice. Furthermore, the Graduale Romanum still contains the liturgical text, Ingrediente Domino, appropriate for this moment in the Mass.
It seems to me in this case we have an example of a custom that, while no longer mandated, is certainly not expressly forbidden, and thus is a part of the liturgical patrimony that we can (and do, in many cases) retain right now. After all, it would be a kind of rubricism to presume that just because the liturgy does not prescribe something like this, that it therefore proscribes it. It would be good, then, to seek to implement this custom in the future, since, as the Pope points out, it clearly symbolizes for us Christ opening the doors of the world and of our hearts. For those prevented by doing this from exigencies such as glass doors, I would recommend using a liturgical clapper to simulate the effect without potential damage.
Here's hoping the Pope's reference incites some discussion of this practice and, more importantly, its wider use.
It seems to me in this case we have an example of a custom that, while no longer mandated, is certainly not expressly forbidden, and thus is a part of the liturgical patrimony that we can (and do, in many cases) retain right now. After all, it would be a kind of rubricism to presume that just because the liturgy does not prescribe something like this, that it therefore proscribes it. It would be good, then, to seek to implement this custom in the future, since, as the Pope points out, it clearly symbolizes for us Christ opening the doors of the world and of our hearts. For those prevented by doing this from exigencies such as glass doors, I would recommend using a liturgical clapper to simulate the effect without potential damage.
Here's hoping the Pope's reference incites some discussion of this practice and, more importantly, its wider use.
![[SMMMHDH]](http://www.mgilleland.com/music/smmmhdh.png){kind=small}
