Absence of precious blood

[NickFrance]

At Mass today I noticed there weren’t any ministers of the cup present. My wife also noticed this and asked me what was going on, "Why aren’t there any ministers of the cup " she asked. I replied, “I do not know.” As we went up to receive communion I went to shake the usher’s hand and share my offering of peace as I exited my pew, he said he was not allowed to shake my hand. I looked at him puzzled. This is a brother knight and the man that knighted me into the 4th degree, and this was very much out of character for him. I asked him, why there wasn’t any precious blood available for the congregation. He simply replied, “the flu.”

Needless to say I was very disappointed to not receive the blood of Christ and I’m not sure what to do.

My question is this; has anyone else, outside my parish of cource, experienced this, and /or is this liturgical abuse?

 

[katolik]

Not giving out the Precious Blood at Mass is not an abuse in the Roman Rite. The Precious Blood doesn’t have to be given out at Mass,becuase we as Catholics believe that the Body and Blood of CHrist is present even under one species[of bread or wine]. Also not shaking hands at the
sign of peace" is alright,becuase in the past only the priests and deacons in the sanctuary would do this to each other.

 

[Deacon_Ed]

NickFrance:

At Mass today I noticed there weren’t any ministers of the cup present. My wife also noticed this and asked me what was going on, "Why aren’t there any ministers of the cup " she asked. I replied, “I do not know.” As we went up to receive communion I went to shake the usher’s hand and share my offering of peace as I exited my pew, he said he was not allowed to shake my hand. I looked at him puzzled. This is a brother knight and the man that knighted me into the 4th degree, and this was very much out of character for him. I asked him, why there wasn’t any precious blood available for the congregation. He simply replied, “the flu.”

Needless to say I was very disappointed to not receive the blood of Christ and I’m not sure what to do.

My question is this; has anyone else, outside my parish of cource, experienced this, and /or is this liturgical abuse?

A) It’s not a liturgical abuse since there is no requirement to offer the Precious Blood to the people. Technically, only the priest must consume the Precious Blood for the Mass to be valid.
B) There has been a great deal of concern shown over the possiblity of spreading the flu, especially in light of the shortage of flue vaccine. This, too, is not an abuse since there is, again, no *requirement *to shake hands at the sign of peace. (In my Eastern Catholic parish we are mostly Arabs and we great each other with a kiss on both cheeks!).

Deacon Ed

 

[kmktexas]

Nick,

You DID receive the precious Blood!!! Both the Body and Blood are present in both species. This is a common confusion. The flu is one of many reasons (including the priest’s personal preference) for not offering Communion under both species.

As for the sign of Peace. The newest instructions for Mass say that IF the sign of Peace is shared amoung the congegation (it is optional), the place for it is after the Pater Noster (Our Father) and it ends when the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) begins. It is not allowed during other parts of the Mass. To have the Sign of Peace while people are going forward to receive Communion would be very improper.

Thankfully more parishes seem to be “going by the book” lately. It is unfortunate that your pastor didn’t announce the changes so that people wouldn’t be confused.

Be at peace that what you experienced was completely proper and correct.

 

[NickFrance]

Thank you all for your prompt replies, I do feel much better. I knew asking here would give me the answer I was seeking and you all came through.

God Bless you for your kindness.

 

[Mysty101]

Hi Nick,

We can only speculate. If you are wondering about the changes in your Parish, ask your Pastor. If he is not available call the Rectory, and make an appointment.

You have a right to know what is going on and why.

I would imagine this has something to do with the sign of peace being changed
usccb.org/liturgy/influenza.shtml

And RS would be the reason for discontinuance of offering the Precious Blood
**

102.

The chalice should not be ministered to lay members of Christ’s faithful where there is such a large number of communicants189 that it is difficult to gauge the amount of wine for the Eucharist and there is a danger that “more than a reasonable quantity of the Blood of Christ remains to be consumed at the end of the celebration.”190 The same is true wherever access to the chalice would be difficult to arrange, or where such a large amount of wine would be required that its certain provenance and quality could only be known with difficulty, or wherever there is not an adequate number of sacred ministers or extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion with proper formation, or where a notable part of the people continues to prefer not to approach the chalice for various reasons, so that the sign of unity would in some sense be negated.
**

I suspect it was determined that a notable part of the people continued to prefer not to approach the chalice for various reasons

But in any event, whatever the reason, some notice should be given to the Parishioners.