Ciborium in the wrong place

[mdpo11]

Hin Everyone,

I need some advice on a mistake I made. As Sacristan, while preparing for the unconsecrated host, I removed the Ciborium from the Tabernacle in order to count the hosts. In this process, I was distracted. Upon return, I placed the Ciborium on the gift table at the back of the church.

Upon commencing of mass, the Priest observed my mistake. He proceeded to call out the error, approached me, called out my mistake publicly, and then upon commencement of mass told me I made a grave and unforgivable error. He then demanded a meeting with me. Is this error reserved for confession and what type of penance is appropriate?

Thank you everyone.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

Hin Everyone,

I need some advice on a mistake I made. As Sacristan, while preparing for the unconsecrated host, I removed the Ciborium from the Tabernacle in order to count the hosts. In this process, I was distracted. Upon return, I placed the Ciborium on the gift table at the back of the church.

Upon commencing of mass, the Priest observed my mistake. He proceeded to call out the error, approached me, called out my mistake publicly, and then upon commencement of mass told me I made a grave and unforgivable error. He then demanded a meeting with me. Is this error reserved for confession and what type of penance is appropriate?

Thank you everyone.

Were those the exact words he used, "grave and unforgivable"?

You did not willingly make this mistake. If you have a choice, I would recommend not serving as sacristan for this priest anymore, he sounds pretty severe.

You might mention it to another priest in confession --- I said "mention it", not "confess it as a sin" --- and see what he tells you.

 

[mdpo11]

Thank you for your response. Yes, those were the words that he used. But thank you for your advice.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

The only problem (aside from leaving a ciborium full of consecrated hosts out where it didn't belong) was that the priest would have been put in the position of consecrating hosts that had already been consecrated, which if those were the only hosts used in the Mass, would have invalidated the Mass. The priest always has his own larger host that he consecrates, which presumably was not in the ciborium, so that wouldn't have been an issue.

It was simply a mistake and you did nothing willingly. Again, I would say simply to bow out of the role of sacristan for this priest. He sounds kind of irritable.