Are these odd things at Mass OK?

[Nick_Russell]

I went to a new Church today and saw some unusual things at mass.

1st-the altar servers were giggling and smirking all through mass. One boy One Girl
2nd- Right after the opening prayer the priest started talking about the election being over and how we can all go back to life as normal.
3rd- He explained the meaning of the readings before they were read.
4th- The Altar Servers sat in pews and not with the priest.
5th- During the Eucharistic prayers the priest held a big wafer in a dish in one hand and the chalice in another hand. Doesn’t he have to hold the wafer above the cup?
6th- before the priest took communion he took the wafer from a monstrance and then ate it.

Is all of this normal and okay? I read through the missal and didn’t see anything about it.
Thanks

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

1st-the altar servers were giggling and smirking all through mass. One boy One Girl

That’s a perpetual problem when dealing with children serving at Mass. I’m sure it was addressed at an appropriate time by the priest or the person in charge of altar servers.

2nd- Right after the opening prayer the priest started talking about the election being over and how we can all go back to life as normal.

Without knowing the context its impossible for me to comment on this.

3rd- He explained the meaning of the readings before they were read.

This is not necessarily unforeseen by the Church. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal does appear to permit this to some degree:
31. It is also up to the priest, in the exercise of his office of presiding over the gathered assembly, to offer certain explanations that are foreseen in the rite itself…In addition, he may give the faithful a very brief introduction to the Mass of the day (after the initial Greeting and before the Act of Penitence), to the Liturgy of the Word (before the readings)…

4th- The Altar Servers sat in pews and not with the priest.

All that the USCCB says in its Guidelines for Altar Servers on this matter is:
*Servers should be seated in a place from which they can easily assist the priest celebrant and deacon. *

Without knowing the layout of the church and sanctuary I can’t comment further.

5th- During the Eucharistic prayers the priest held a big wafer in a dish in one hand and the chalice in another hand. Doesn’t he have to hold the wafer above the cup?

I’m not sure which part of the Eucharistic Prayer you are referring to. During the Doxology (Through Him, With Him, In Him…) and “Great Amen” the celebrant normally holds the paten with the host and the chalice up side by side as indicated in the GIRM:
151. …At the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest takes the paten with the host and the chalice and elevates them both while alone singing or saying the doxology.

The only time the rubrics specify that the host is to be held above the chalice is during the Lamb of God:
*57. When the prayer is concluded, the priest genuflects, takes the host consecrated in the same Mass, and, holding it slightly raised above the paten or above the chalice, while facing the people, says, Ecce Agnus Dei (This is the Lamb of God). *

6th- before the priest took communion he took the wafer from a monstrance and then ate it.

While it is more correct to consume the host from the celebrated Mass first, it is not a big deal that he consumed the host from the monstrance first. The host for the monstrance needs to be replaced regularly and thus consumed.