[German Version]

A liturgical term used to refer to (sometimes spontaneous) responses of people in the congregation to an announcement, a reading or a prayer. These include such occasions as acclaiming candidates for ordination as “worthy,” ratifying the election of a bishop, and permitting the consecration of an abbot, or the coronation of a pope. In recent years, the term has referred especially to congregational responses during the Eucharistic prayer. Such refrains, which have a long tradition…