Can EMHCs bless throats?

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jmcrae said:
Yes, and their hands are also consecrated to Christ, as well.

A lay person’s hands are not, though.
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So is it better to receive from a Priest or a Deacon. I don’t recall anywhere where a Deacon acts “in persona Christi” in the context of mass, do you?
Brendan said:
Is recieving from the hands of Christ the same thing as recieving it from me or you?
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The sacrament is the same either way, isn’t it? There’s no distinction between “regular” communion and “better” communion.

Look, I see what you’re trying to say, but theologically or liturgically, the Eucharist is the Eucharist; it is not made “better” by who offers it.
 
Thank you for the correction – you did say “outside of the Mass.”

As to your last post, I would say that yes, receiving CHRIST from the hands of Christ is the same as receiving CHRIST from you. To attach so much importance to the deliverer takes the focus off of the host, which is really what conveys the Eucharistic grace.
 
Brendan said:
Is recieving from the hands of Christ the same thing as recieving it from me or you?
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Ontologically in terms of the Divine Reality in a properly confected Eucharist, yes, it is the same. To say otherwise would be to hold that there are degrees of Jesus’ presence depending on who was distributing the Sacrament.

A baby baptized by the Pope in the Sistine Chapel is no more baptized than a baby receiving the sacrament from the local deacon.
 
I can see, though, where emotionally it would mean more and in that sense be “better” for some, if that’s what is meant by “better”.
 
surritter said:
Thank you for the correction – you did say “outside of the Mass.”

As to your last post, I would say that yes, receiving CHRIST from the hands of Christ is the same as receiving CHRIST from you. To attach so much importance to the deliverer takes the focus off of the host, which is really what conveys the Eucharistic grace.
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That’s not really true.

What conveys the “Eucharistic grace” is being present at Calvary when Jesus Christ is offered to God His Father for our sins, past present and future.
 
Merkel said:
What conveys the “Eucharistic grace” is being present at Calvary when Jesus Christ is offered to God His Father for our sins, past present and future.
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So if we’re both at Mass, and you go to Communion but I don’t, you’re saying that we have received the same grace simply by being present at Calvary. Why receive at all, then?

I always thought that when I am at adoration in front of a tabernacle, that the host(s) therein were important…
 
surritter said:
So if we’re both at Mass, and you go to Communion but I don’t, you’re saying that we have received the same grace simply by being present at Calvary. Why receive at all, then?
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I’m saying the primary reason we attend Mass is to be present at Calvary during the Sacrifice. Being present at Calvary is the primary way we receive salvific grace. That fact is lost on many who seem to want to treat Mass as a pit-stop to receive communion.
 
thereseozi said:
This just posted at the Ask an Apologist forum regarding our topic of discussion:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=307805
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I just asked a question to clarify. What concerns me is that the Book of Blessings came out in 1989. If you read Fr. Serpa’s response, he notes that this is pretty much another blurring of the lines between the roles of the priest and the laity. The document Ecclesiae de Mysterio, which came out in 1997, was signed by several Roman discasteries (Congregations) with the intent to clear up those blurring lines. One of the provisions that the document makes is that:
. To promote the proper identity (of various roles) in this area, those abuses which are contrary to the provisions of canon 907 are to be eradicated. In eucharistic celebrations deacons and non-ordained members of the faithful may not pronounce prayers – e.g. especially the eucharistic prayer, with its concluding doxology – or any other parts of the liturgy reserved to the celebrant priest. Neither may deacons or non-ordained members of the faithful use gestures or actions which are proper to the same priest celebrant.
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.

Now, by virtue of Holy Orders, deacons can certainly bless. However, if the St. Blaise blessing is to be conferred wtihin the confines of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, then, it should only be done by those who are ordained. While I respect the argument regarding “pauses”, it really doesn’t make sense.

Why would I go to an EMHC who is only going to recite the prayer (which I could very well do on my own), when I can go to the priest or the deacon, who, by virture of their ordinations, have the faculty to actually impart a blessing?
 
Merkel said:
Game set and match.
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I wouldn’t be too quick to declare victory. Fr. Serpa, himself, noted that the section only adds to the blurring of the lines. Ecclesiae de Mysterio, written in 1997, nine years after the Book of Blessings came out, was promulgated to clear up those lines.

I would suspect that if the Holy See is starting to look over ICEL’s works, the ritual books will probably be the next ones to be examinied under a microscope.

Liturgiam Authenticam came into being because a former Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Jorge Cardinal Medina Estevis, found fault with the ICEL translations for the Rite of Oridnation and, eventually, the Roman Missal.

The provisions in the Book of Blessings isn’t as cut and dried as one might think, especially if these blessings are to be imparted within the context of the Mass.

Since we have already established that they laity do not impart blessings (and, at least the Book of Blessings makes that clear), it really makes no sense, as I see it, to come before an EMHC or whoever and have them pray over me (something that I can do for myself) when I can just wait for the priest or deacon and actually receive the blessing.

Down here, the aveage attenandance for dailiy Mass, Ash Wednesday notwithstanding, is about 30-35. First Fridays have more folks. Nonetheless, the priests do not call up an EMHC to come foward to help distribute Holy Communion for so few numbers. That being the case, they certainly don’t need help to bless the throats.

In fact, the Book of Blessings carries an interesting provision if the number of folks at Mass is to high to carry out the blessing:
1635 If all cannot be blessed individually, the celebrant, without candles, extends his hands over the assembly and says the prayer of blessing.
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So, this provision could, in effect, eliminate having lay people involved in assisting the priest.
 
The original post—
RosalieM said:
I’m a revert and today was the first time in years I’ve been to a blessing of the throats on St. Blaise’s day. I became fidgety when I saw there were two EMHCs that were going to bless throats in addition to the monsignor. I got in the monsignor’s line. Then one of the EMHCs started working his way up from the back of that line :banghead: and I kept ducking in and out of line until I could finally receive the blessing from the monsignor. Was I overreacting? :o
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This is certainly a subjective question. Sure it’s over-reacting to me—this isn’t a serious situation. I have seen many persons fret more over these type of situations than attending Mass on Sunday. Each to his own.

But if the question is “is it allowed?”

The answer is yes.

Lux
 
FrDavid96 said:
Precisely. The Book of Blessings itself says that a layperson delivers a “prayer” not a “blessing.”

Thanks for the link to the text.
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The Book of Blessings (#1626) states: "The blessing of throats may be given by a pirest, deacon, or* lay minister** who follows the rites and prayers designated for a lay minister…"* .
 
Sir_Knight said:
The Book of Blessings (#1626) states: "The blessing of throats may be given by a pirest, deacon, or* lay minister*** who follows the rites and prayers designated for a lay minister…" .
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Yes. the “prayers designated for a lay minister” The part which all too conveniently is often left-out of internet posts is that when a layperson does this, the blessing itself is omitted. That’s what is found in the Book of Blessings.
 
Sir_Knight said:
Why did Fr. Vincent Serpa leave that part out of his reply?
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Of course, there was also this provision that has been left out in the posts (concerning the blessing of the throats):
1635 If all cannot be blessed individually, the celebrant, without candles, extends his hands over the assembly and says the prayer of blessing.
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As far as I am concerned, this is a much better option than getting the laity involved. At least the faithful will be getting the blessing; they may not get touched with the candles, but, they will be getting blessed. I would rather have that than an EMHC or a layperson saying a prayer over me which is not the same as a blessing.
 
FrDavid96 said:
You would have to ask him that. I can’t answer for him.

All I can say is to repeat that if one reads the Book of Blessings and looks at the ritual, the blessing itself is omitted if a layperson is doing the prayer.
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That is most disturbing because his OFFICIAL reply seems to IMPLY otherwise.
 
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