Bare minimum required to celebrate Mass?

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This is something I have been wondering for awhile. After watching There Be Dragons, and seeing the character of St. Jose Maria celebrating a secret EF Mass in plain clothes and in what appeared to be someones apartment with a couple of people, and also in the end on the side of a mountain. My curiosity has gotten the best of me and *I got to wondering what is the basic requirements for a priest to say Mass, especially in dire circumstances such as his, where one could not safely say Mass in public. *I guess my interest also stems from my fascination with survival and post-apocalyptic scenarios, especially with a Catholic twist in my own imagination, being able to receive the Eucharist after a major disaster.

Thing I could think of that may be required??

A validly ordained priest (duh:p)

chalice made of precious metal, or lined with precious metal.

paten made or plated with precious metal

a purificator of other cloth to place the sacred vessels on

unleavened wheat bread ( or can any wheat bread be used??)

grape wine

the days readings

the priests knowledge of the liturgy, if from memory

Thanks!
 
You don’t need sacred vessels. The bare minimum is a priest, bread and wine. And of course assuming the priest has all the words memorized.
 
Yep, priest, wine, bread, proper words.

Our priest traveling with us for WYD celebrated Mass in some unusual circumstances–hotel breakfast room for example. He did have a Mass kit and basic vestments with him though.
 
Remember, the bare minimum required for any sacrament is the proper form, matter, minister, and intent.
 
Let me just go through the list so the OP can have his questions answered:
JeraldW said:
Thing I could think of that may be required??

A validly ordained priest (duh:p)
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Obviously 😉
JeraldW said:
chalice made of precious metal, or lined with precious metal.

paten made or plated with precious metal
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Not a requirement at all if its extraordinary circumstances. It also depends on how extraordinary it is. If the priest is travelling, he may be expected to have a Mass kit. If its like a concentration camp, then anything goes.
JeraldW said:
a purificator of other cloth to place the sacred vessels on
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Same as above. Not necessary.
JeraldW said:
unleavened wheat bread ( or can any wheat bread be used??)
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Any wheat bread is suffice in extraordinary circumstances.
JeraldW said:
grape wine
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Of course
JeraldW said:
the days readings
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Not even. Any readings will do. Remember in special Masses, the readings are different. And in the different Rites of the Church, the readings are also different from one Rite to another. There is no hard rule on having specific readings for a specific day especially in extraordinary circumstances. So if you are stranded on a deserted island with a priest (say a “Lost” scenario) then the priest can probably use whatever readings he has in his head.
JeraldW said:
the priests knowledge of the liturgy, if from memory

Thanks!
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Of course. Paraphrasing at this point is tolerable, as long as the words of consecration are accurately said out.
 
Doctrine
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…
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CHAPTER VII.
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On the water that is to be mixed with the wine to be offered in the chalice.
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The holy Synod notices, in the next place, that it has been enjoined by the Church on priests, to mix water with the wine that is to be offered in the chalice; as well because it is believed that Christ the Lord did this, as also because from His side there came out blood and water; the memory of which mystery is renewed by this commixture; and, whereas in the apocalypse of blessed John, the peoples are called waters, the union of that faithful people with Christ their head is hereby represented.
…
CANON IX.–If any one saith, that the rite of the Roman Church, according to which a part of the canon and the words of consecration are pronounced in a low tone, is to be condemned; or, that the mass ought to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue only; **or, that water ought not to be mixed with the wine that is to be offered in the chalice, for that it is contrary to the institution of Christ; let him be anathema. **
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thecounciloftrent.com/ch22.htm
 
ProVobis said:
or, that water ought not to be mixed with the wine that is to be offered in the chalice, for that it is contrary to the institution of Christ; let him be anathema.
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This decree of the Council of Trent is not really relevant to the question. The question isn’t what ought to be done, it’s what must be done to maintain validity.
 
I remember a US Navy Chaplain saying Mass in naval uniform atop a hatch top aboard an ammunition ship, off the coast of Viet Nam (ca. mid 1960’s) reciting the Mass in Latin from memory because he lost his Mass kit overboard. He had some Hosts on his person, but the wine came from medical stores in sickbay. Instead of a chalice, he used a coffee mug. That Chaplain later became Cardinal O’Connor of New York City.
 
Digitonomy said:
This decree of the Council of Trent is not really relevant to the question. The question isn’t what ought to be done, it’s what must be done to maintain validity.
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Hmmm. It seems to come down to whether he “remembers” or not.

Advertere - to direct one’s attention to, to perceive

From De Defectibus:
Code: 
Si autem Celebrans ante consecrationem Calicis **advertat**, non fuisse appositam
aquam: statim ponat eam, et proferat verba consecrationis. Si id** advertat **post
consecrationem Calicis: nullo modo apponat, quia non est de necessitate
Sacramenti.
Code: 
 If the celebrant remembers before the consecration of
the chalice that there was no water added, he is to put some in
at once and say the words of the Consecration. If he remembers
this after the consecration of the chalice, he is not to add
any water, because the water is not necessary to the Sacrament.
 
ProVobis said:
Hmmm. It seems to come down to whether he “remembers” or not.

Advertere - to direct one’s attention to, to perceive

From De Defectibus:
Code: 
Si autem Celebrans ante consecrationem Calicis **advertat**, non fuisse appositam
aquam: statim ponat eam, et proferat verba consecrationis. Si id** advertat **post
consecrationem Calicis: nullo modo apponat, quia non est de necessitate
Sacramenti.
Code: 
 If the celebrant remembers before the consecration of
the chalice that there was no water added, he is to put some in
at once and say the words of the Consecration. If he remembers
this after the consecration of the chalice, he is not to add
any water, because the water is not necessary to the Sacrament.
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I agree that if one intentionally omits, then one is committing a grave sin. But we’re talking about bare minimums here, which means its extraordinary situations where everything else may not be available. As I mentioned earlier, we’re talking about “Lost” scenarios here. Clean water may not be readily available. But there could be bottles of wine in the wreck.
 
George_Stegmeir said:
I remember a US Navy Chaplain saying Mass in naval uniform atop a hatch top aboard an ammunition ship, off the coast of Viet Nam (ca. mid 1960’s) reciting the Mass in Latin from memory because he lost his Mass kit overboard. He had some Hosts on his person, but the wine came from medical stores in sickbay. Instead of a chalice, he used a coffee mug. That Chaplain later became Cardinal O’Connor of New York City.
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I bet the chaplain added a tiny bit of water to the mug… 👍
 
ProVobis said:
Hmmm. It seems to come down to whether he “remembers” or not…
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I don’t think so. I don’t read that section of De Defectibus as requiring water for validity, IF the priest remembers. That would be a rather strange condition of validity.

De Defectibus merely prescribes what the priest should do if he remembers. The question here is what could he do and still confect a valid Eucharist.
 
Digitonomy said:
De Defectibus merely prescribes what the priest should do if he remembers. The question here is what could he do and still confect a valid Eucharist.
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Technically he could, as you state. You’ve proved your point. But it seems he could just as easily forget the words of consecration too.(What if he says, This is My Flesh, for example?) Or intention, for that matter. IMO.
 
Digitonomy said:
I don’t think so. I don’t read that section of De Defectibus as requiring water for validity, IF the priest remembers. That would be a rather strange condition of validity.

De Defectibus merely prescribes what the priest should do if he remembers. The question here is what could he do and still confect a valid Eucharist.
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It will be valid, but the priest is committing a grave sin if he intentionally omits and there is no good reason to omit water.
 
I think there is a difference between Mass and the sacrament of the Eucharist. There are minimum requirements to be fulfilled for the Eucharist to be validly confected: validly ordained priest, priest having appropriate intention, the correct matter being used (i.e. regards the bread and wine), and the correct form, i.e. the words of the institution. I do not think the Church has laid down any minima for the celebration of the Liturgy of Mass. If she did, there are, unfortunately, people who would only do the minima.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
I think there is a difference between Mass and the sacrament of the Eucharist. There are minimum requirements to be fulfilled for the Eucharist to be validly confected: validly ordained priest, priest having appropriate intention, the correct matter being used (i.e. regards the bread and wine), and the correct form, i.e. the words of the institution. I do not think the Church has laid down any minima for the celebration of the Liturgy of Mass. If she did, there are, unfortunately, people who would only do the minima.
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Of course is there is no Eucharist, then there is no Mass. The minimum for Mass would be the weekday setting. 1 reading, Gospel, no creed, no prayers of the faithful, not even hymns.
 
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