A Visitor to Mass

[Monica4316]

For some time now I have attended the Sunday 7am Mass as a visitor.
I am not catholic, and have never in my life had any religious affiliation or instruction. I do, however, feel drawn to the church in ways I do not understand and cannot explain. Especially I am drawn to the sounds and images of the liturgy. I love early liturgical music (Palestrina, Monteverdi) I love to follow the English translations of Latin Prayers.
I know that I am not to participate in the communion, and remain seated and in prayer during that part of the Mass.
My question is this, I read somewhere that non catholics may proceed to the altar with the rest of the congregation, but approaching the priest should cross arms at the chest to receive a blessing instead of the eucharist. Is this common and/or acceptable at Catholic Mass?
Baxter

Baxter, that is so wonderful to hear
are you attending a Latin Mass?
(those are awesome!!)

if you want, you can say the Spiritual Communion prayer that was posted before. It’s a great idea. Jesus appeared to one of the Saints and told her that Spiritual Communion is the next best thing to sacramental Communion.

God bless you in your journey!

 

[benedictgal]

Ah, but don’t forget that the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of our faith experience.

Mass is indeed about, in part, what we receive; grace, forgiveness and when receiving the Eucharist. It is also about receiving God’s word. Sure, the attitude shouldn’t be "what do I GET out of it, but methinks saying that “The Mass is not about receiving Our Lord or a blessing” is a gross misstatement.

In any case, I stand by my previous thoughts on blessings, in context of the hypothetical that I presented.

Grand discussion, though.

When speaking of the Eucharist, the Church is referring to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, not necessarily just Holy Communion. The Eucharist is also another term for the Mass.

It is not a gross misstatement for me to have said what I said. Remember, too, that for many years, the faithful did not receive Holy Communion when they went to Mass; only the priest did. Yet, they still asssited at the Mass. Granted, it was not the most ideal of circumstances for the faithful back then, but, as the Church grew and evolved, more and more of the faithful were able to receive Our Lord. Furthermore, the consumption of the Sacred Species by the priest is what completes the Sacrifice, not our consumption.

Some, from what I can tell, are misconstruing what I (and my parochial vicar) have said regarding the Mass. We are not downplaying receiving Holy Communion. However, to simply believe that this is the high point of the Mass and the basis for why we are there is to completely miss the point. Receiving Holy Communion is not more important than the Sacrifice. If that were the case then those who cannot receive Our Lord but make every effort to be at Mass would not be satisfying their Sunday obligation. As LRThunder noted, the Church requires that we make the effort to receive once a year, not every Sunday. Furthermore, we have to remember the wordes of Jesus, “Many are called, but few are chosen.”

The bottom line is that encouraging the OP to go up and receive a blessing when you know full well that the Church, for the time being, does not approve of this practice is wrong. It is as though you are setting yourself as an authority higher than the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Rome has already made that call.

Even though you present a hypothetical, there are many who read these forums who are in real-life situations that are similar to that of the OP. To encourage such a practice is to just stir the pot of confusion even more. Just take Romer for her word and don’t encourage something she has already said should stop for the time being.

 

[Texas_Roofer]

You can find the actual copy by following this thread:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=292341

thank you this is very helpful

You were the one who brought up the sermons on money and I was pointing out that this could be done since the topic will, at times, come up in the readings.

not sermons, many thing have occurred before during and after mass ( particularly immediately after communion) the question is where are these allowed and what of these are allowed in GIRM ?

No one is saying that the kids should be left alone. That is your statement. They should not, however, approach with their arms crossed and expect to receive a blessing as this is wrong. If you note that the celebrant is not supposed to be creating some sort of ritual and embedding it within the Rite of Holy Communion. It is the fault of the folks in charge of religious education who are fostering a practice that has no basis in the Liturgical Tradition of the Church.

what a minute what happened to "* they should not approach Holy Communion* " literal interpretation would seem to leave them in the pew even require it.

It is not. My parochial vicar and a mutual priest friend of ours got into a debate regarding this issue. The main reason we go to Mass is to give God the worship, praise and honor due to Him. We are also there to be present at the Sacrifice. The veil between heaven and earth, and time and space is lifted. We are just as much present at Calvary as were the Blessed Mother and Sts. John and Mary Magdalene. We unite our imperfect selves, our imperfect love and our imperfect sacrifice to the perfect one of Jesus Christ.

If the main thrust of the Mass was to simply show up and receive Our Lord, then, we have missed the boat entirely. The Mass is not about those who can receive Our Lord. First and foremost it is about worshipping the Triune God.

If that were the case, what about those who, like the OP (who are not Catholic, but exploring) or those in an invalid marriage or in some other situation, want to assist at Mass, but cannot, for whatever reason receive Holy Communion? Especially for those who are in mortal sin or in an invalid marriage, staying away from the Mass and failing to satisfy their Sunday obligation would put a further wedge between themselves and God because they would be heaping on the additional mortal sin against the Third Commandment. Mind you the precept of the Church clearly states that we are to assist at Sunday Mass. Assisting does not necessarily mean that we must receive Holy Communion at every Mass we attend.

Furthermore, why would the Church have as its precepts that you have to receive Holy Communion at least once a year during what is commonly called the “Easter Duty”, which runs from Ash Wednesday to Trinity Sunday?

What benedictgal says makes sense. That is why there is an obligation to attend Mass every Sunday and other Holy Days of Obligation, but there is only an obligation to receive communion once a year. If our only purpose of attending Mass was to receive communion, don’t you think the Church would mandate we receive every time we go to Mass?

I would be happy to explore this in another tread, that would be interesting.

 

[benedictgal]

thank you this is very helpful not sermons, many thing have occurred before during and after mass ( particularly immediately after communion) the question is where are these allowed and what of these are allowed in GIRM ? what a minute what happened to "* they should not approach Holy Communion* " literal interpretation would seem to leave them in the pew even require it.

In the Roman Missal there are allowances made for announcements, but, these should be done after the post-Communion prayer, but, before the final blerssing.

Regarding small children, I am referring to single parents who cannot leave little ones alone in the pew (especially if the parent has no help). In this day and age, no small child should be left alone unsupervised. They should not have their arms crossed and expect a blessing.

As soon as this letter came out, I printed a copy and gave it to my parochial vicar and the same mutual friend who was arguing about the Mass/Communion issue. Both of them were relieved with the finding. That weekend, I assisted my Parochial Vicar as an EMHC. Two small children came up to us with their arms crossed and we did nothing. The same held true for our mutual friend at his parish.

 

[Texas_Roofer]

…Regarding small children, I am referring to single parents who cannot leave little ones alone in the pew (especially if the parent has no help)…

And how do you reconcile that with " they should not approach Holy Communion" ?

 

[benedictgal]

And how do you reconcile that with " they should not approach Holy Communion" ?

Please refer to what I wrote in my earlier response:

Regarding small children, I am referring to single parents who cannot leave little ones alone in the pew (especially if the parent has no help). In this day and age, no small child should be left alone unsupervised. They should not have their arms crossed and expect a blessing.

In this day and age, we also need to safeguard our children. This is about a safety issue, as someone in another thread noted. Now, if both parents are there, one could alternate and receive Our Lord first while the other one stays with the little ones. When that parent returns to the pew, then the other one can receive.

In the matter of the single parent, the parent needs to instruct the child not to have his or her arms crossed. Small children, by the way, would be those who could very well be carried. I know some four-year-olds who are still being carried.

With all due respect, you seem to not want to take the document seriously or are merely trying to find ways to circumvent what Rome has already indicated for the time being. You keep insisting on the issue of approaching the altar and I have offered workable solutions.

 

[Texas_Roofer]

With all due respect, you seem to not want to take the document seriously or are merely trying to find ways to circumvent what Rome has already indicated for the time being. You keep insisting on the issue of approaching the altar and I have offered workable solutions.

Not at all look what is next

Regarding small children, I am referring to single parents who cannot leave little ones alone in the pew (especially if the parent has no help). In this day and age, no small child should be left alone unsupervised. They should not have their arms crossed and expect a blessing.

this is legalism at its core where is the " they should not approach Holy Communion " answer is it is ignored why should the legalist ignore selected phrases and demand other phrases from the same document? Because all legalist are at heart desiring to judge or control others, which is to strip free will