When you stand for the opening song at Sunday Mass, who do you welcome? From my perspective, it seems some think they are welcoming me as presider as they turn and stare rather than participate in song, and obviously there is a procession of altar servers and clergy. However, those in procession are not the ones who begin our prayer at Mass.
The opening procession at each Sunday and holy day mass is led by the cross of Christ. That cross leads us into the celebration of the Mass, where it is Christ who celebrates and offers praise and worship to his Father. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us: “All gather together. Christians come together in one place for the Eucharistic assembly. At its head is Christ himself, the principal agent of the Eucharist. He is high priest of the New Covenant; it is he himself who presides invisibly over every Eucharistic celebration” (n. 1348).
To remind us of this reality, the cross of Christ leads us into Mass. The U.S. Bishops document on church art and architecture noted that, “The cross with the image of Christ crucified is a reminder of Christ’s paschal mystery. It draws us into the mystery of suffering and makes tangible our belief that our suffering, when united with the passion and death of Christ, leads to redemption.” In Catholic liturgical language, the cross refers to a crucifix.
Once the procession has reached the sanctuary and the altar is reverenced, the processional cross is moved to one of two places. This is explained in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal: “The cross adorned with a figure of Christ crucified … may be placed next to the altar to serve as the altar cross, in which case it ought to be the only cross used; otherwise it is put away in a dignified place” (n. 122). The U.S. bishops’ document also notes that the processional cross “of sufficient size, placed in a stand visible to the people following the entrance procession, but adds that “If there is already a cross in the sanctuary, the processional cross is placed out of view of the congregation following the procession.”
Corpus Christi has a large processional cross which also serves as the altar cross. It has been used in procession in the past, but practically is quite difficult for anyone to carry and the stability of it in procession has been compromised. Thanks to donations given as memorials, we have purchased a new processional cross that is easier for our servers to carry and therefore we will be able to have the cross lead us in our Eucharistic liturgies. Since we have a larger cross in the sanctuary, the new processional cross will be placed out of sight, since the focus during Mass is to be on the one cross.
At the end of Mass, the processional cross is brought back for the recessional. Again, it has pride of place in the exit procession. The Corpus (body) of Christ is always facing toward the people in procession to symbolize Christ leading his people, who follow Christ as his disciples, or as the sheep following the Good Shepherd.
