Bow at the Name of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saint.

Yesterday I was reading the Ceremonial of Bishops regarding the bow of the head. It has in 68(a) “a bow of the head is made at the name of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saint in whose honor the Mass or the liturgy of the hours is being celebrated.”

I have not been doing this in the YouTube videos I have posted of Morning and Evening Prayer, for about the last five months. I should have known about this, but I did not not. My apologies for the poor example for those who have been watching and learning from these videos.

The instruction in Ceremonial of Bishops is in Part I General Considerations, Chapter 4 General Norms, Section II Signs of Reverence in General. So it not something that only applies to Mass, or the Liturgy of the Hours. It applies to all liturgical ceremonies, like grace before and after meals, the sacraments, celebrations of the Word of God.

The instruction on bowing the head for Mass, the Eucharist, is a little different. It is in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 275a. In addition to the names of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Saint it has “when the three Divine Persons are named together”. So when Father, Son and Holy Spirit is said. So I do the bow for this at Mass, but I do not do this in celebrating the Liturgy of the Hours or other ceremonies that are not a Mass.

For me this highlights the importance of Ceremonial of Bishops in how ceremonies are to be done. There is no instruction about bowing the head in the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours. I would be surprised if the instruction to bow the head at the name of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saint of the day is any of the other liturgical books. So to know how to do the ceremonies in the liturgical books of the Roman Rite correctly you need to know what is in the Ceremonial of Bishops.

I will do a demonstration of the bows with Grace Before Meals, Second Plan, Christmas Season in the Book of Blessings.