Communion Procession: being first

[Beeline]

Well here is a question that leads me to be simmering in Church and the last thing I want to do is simmer in Church:

at daily mass here in Costa Mesa ,CA at St John the Baptist, there is a guy who attends the morning mass every day, he arrives on time,not early and sits near the back of the church.

This person will walk up the aisle and position himself as the first person in line for communion before the the communion procession starts and sometimes even obscenely early before it starts and stand there and wait.
Presumably, his motivation is to be first to sip from the Chalice.
For our diocese, like most, our communion procession is supposed to be orderly starting
from the front pews and processing orderly to the rear.
Now of course, everyone else at Mass is mature
and polite enough to tolerate this however, it leaves
at least a few of us simmering and wondering what
recourse we have to have this end.

This is a Church where upwards of 90% of the people sip the Blood of Christ from the Chalice and
consequently the first few pews get populated on the early side for those who want to be in position for
sipping from the Chalice rather early, especially due to health and sanitation concerns. However, this habitual line cutting stuff is way over the top, improper, violates the order of mass, and leaves many of us simmering rather than our thoughts directed toward the heavenly…

It does not appear that the pastor is willing to address this situation. However, it is his duty and not the parishioneers. Afterall, it is one of the reasons we have Ushers regulating the communion line on Sundays.

Anyhow I was wondering if anyone could direct me to some internet literature concerning the Diocese of Orange Ca concering the order of the communion procession. Armed with some facts , I have a few options towards addressing this.

 

[SeekerJen]

I wonder if 1) he has a compromised immune system and thus prefers to receive from the chalice before others so as to avoid infection, or 2) if he suffers from celiac disease and wishes to receive first so he doesn’t accidentally ingest gluten left on the chalice from others (which remains in the accident of the host, as well as in lipstick traces). Reason 1 would at least explain why he sits apart from everyone else at Mass.

I don’t know what the deal is, but perhaps someone should kindly suggest to him that he sit up front in such a position that receiving first will not disrupt or distract everyone else. If he cannot sit up with the rest of the congregation, perhaps arrangements can be made for an EMHC to meet him where he sits with a fresh chalice, then return to the front to assist the priest.

 

[jpjd]

Honestly, what is the problem here? So what if he comes up first even though he sits in the back.

In an amusement park we would call that line jumping, but we are not in an amusement park. We are in a church and we should show him Christian charity. He wants to receive first, for whatever reason you can only speculate. He also doesn’t want to sit in front for whatever reason. So, he sits in the back and proceeds to the front early. It solves his problem. It causes you no problem except you feel…miffed? Get over it.

BTW, the health and sanitation concerns are minor. As soon as ONE person has sipped from the chalice, it is “contaminated.” Your germiest person could be the one who received first. So being in the front quarter or half of the congregation to receive is no different than being the last to receive. Remember, priests and EMHC finish the remaining Blood, and in the process they consume the full complement of germs in the Cup, and yet there they are week after week, in reasonably good health. Trust in God.

 

[SeekerJen]

BTW, the health and sanitation concerns are minor. As soon as ONE person has sipped from the chalice, it is “contaminated.” Being in the front quarter or half of the congregation to receive is no different than being the last to receive. Remember, priests and EMHC finish the remaining Blood, and in the process they consume the full complement of germs in the Cup, and yet there they are week after week, in reasonably good health. Trust in God.

I agree with you there, but I don’t know the mindset of someone who may have a destroyed immune system due to AIDS, cancer therapy, or immunosuppressive drugs. In that man’s mind, he may feel that receiving first may help in avoiding pathogens.

As I type this, I realize that this is really not my place to speculate further. If this truly bothers the OP to the point of being unable to focus on worship, then the OP needs to approach the priest directly and ask him to speak to this man.

 

[puzzleannie]

I thought I had heard it all but never underestimate the ability of these forums to amaze me on non-essential liturgy topics to gripe about. this has to be a prize winner. there is no “order of Mass” for approaching communion. inidividual parishes may have systems depending on their architecture, layout of pews etc, but there is nothing in the rubrics other than the requirements for being worthy to approach communion. In many parts of the world, Mexico included, and where I live, parishes or shrines with many visitors from Mexico, there is just a general movement of people at communion time and no attempt to impose any order. There is never any problem, recepton is reverent, no one is left out. Yes sometimes the chalice does run out but so be it. Communion is received fully and completely under either form so what is the problem?

I really object to the word “obscene” in conjunction with how a certain individual (who is certainly now identifiable to anyone who attends the church you so thoughtfully specified) receives. Unless he is doing something proscribed by local obscenity laws that is a bad, even libelous choice of words. Can we not find real issues concerning liturgy to become enraged about?

 

[az_4_faith]

Rule #1.

Don’t identify your parish. You’ve just scandelized the poor man.

Rule #2.

Mind your own business.

 

[RB2]

I thought I had heard it all but never underestimate the ability of these forums to amaze me on non-essential liturgy topics to gripe about. this has to be a prize winner. there is no “order of Mass” for approaching communion. inidividual parishes may have systems depending on their architecture,

hmmm, here in the Los Angeles Diocese the communion procession as dictated by Cardinal Mahoney is for the communal
procession to proceed from the rear pews to the front directed
by ushers. Its part of the GIRM allowances procured by the USCCSB(United States Catholic Conference Bishops??) from the Pope that allows local Bishops to tailor the
postures and other details of the mass for their diocese.

As I recall the County of Orange has had alot of people in some
parishes get upset over their ordering of mass and outright refuseal to follow their Bishop in these matters.
Whereas here in LA, I dont like the reverse procession thing, but
I dont think anyone has made a stink about it and it is about 2-3+ years new.

You certainly sound like an expert PuzzleAnn, but you sound like more opinion than knowledge.

 

[Joan_M]

Whether the procession is from the first pews or from the back, it should NOT be row by row. This is one of the things that makes people that should not be receiving to do so - because it makes them stand out if they remain seated.

This “orderliness” is contributing to sacrilege!

 

[Sr_Sally]

Whether the procession is from the first pews or from the back, it should NOT be row by row. This is one of the things that makes people that should not be receiving to do so - because it makes them stand out if they remain seated.

This “orderliness” is contributing to sacrilege!

I have always thought the same. I remember in the past that people simply got up and got in line. I do not rememebr this very orgnaized row by row (especially NOT with ushers!).

In Protestant churches since everyone take communion (since it is just a remembarance, and perhaps folks don’t do it every week, I can see the row by row and the ushers, but that seems so non-Catholic to me.

To the OP, I would say start sitting further in from the aisle, so that this person isn’t in your line of vision, then offer up any remaining frustration. And certainly stop talking about him to other people!!

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Well here is a question that leads me to be simmering in Church and the last thing I want to do is simmer in Church:

at daily mass here in Costa Mesa ,CA at St John the Baptist, there is a guy who attends the morning mass every day, he arrives on time,not early and sits near the back of the church.

This person will walk up the aisle and position himself as the first person in line for communion before the the communion procession starts and sometimes even obscenely early before it starts and stand there and wait.
Presumably, his motivation is to be first to sip from the Chalice.
For our diocese, like most, our communion procession is supposed to be orderly starting
from the front pews and processing orderly to the rear.
Now of course, everyone else at Mass is mature
and polite enough to tolerate this however, it leaves
at least a few of us simmering and wondering what
recourse we have to have this end.

This is a Church where upwards of 90% of the people sip the Blood of Christ from the Chalice and
consequently the first few pews get populated on the early side for those who want to be in position for
sipping from the Chalice rather early, especially due to health and sanitation concerns. However, this habitual line cutting stuff is way over the top, improper, violates the order of mass, and leaves many of us simmering rather than our thoughts directed toward the heavenly…

It does not appear that the pastor is willing to address this situation. However, it is his duty and not the parishioneers. Afterall, it is one of the reasons we have Ushers regulating the communion line on Sundays.

Anyhow I was wondering if anyone could direct me to some internet literature concerning the Diocese of Orange Ca concering the order of the communion procession. Armed with some facts , I have a few options towards addressing this.

Well why don’t you just get up out of the pew and deck him?:

Cripes, are there better things to do at Mass than concern yourself about such petty issues?

Jim

 

[puzzleannie]

hmmm, here in the Los Angeles Diocese the communion
You certainly sound like an expert PuzzleAnn, but you sound like more opinion than knowledge.

I didn’t offer an expert judgement because there is no issue here that requires a judgement about liturgical correctness. I offered an opinion on the inanity of the topic, and some observations related to different ways people receive in different places. I did not offer either an opinion or judgement on the actions described in OP. Why oh why do I even reply to these threads? I need to get back to the real world.

 

[palmas85]

Well here is a question that leads me to be simmering in Church and the last thing I want to do is simmer in Church:

at daily mass here in Costa Mesa ,CA at St John the Baptist, there is a guy who attends the morning mass every day, he arrives on time,not early and sits near the back of the church.

This person will walk up the aisle and position himself as the first person in line for communion before the the communion procession starts and sometimes even obscenely early before it starts and stand there and wait.
Presumably, his motivation is to be first to sip from the Chalice.
For our diocese, like most, our communion procession is supposed to be orderly starting
from the front pews and processing orderly to the rear.
Now of course, everyone else at Mass is mature
and polite enough to tolerate this however, it leaves
at least a few of us simmering and wondering what
recourse we have to have this end.

This is a Church where upwards of 90% of the people sip the Blood of Christ from the Chalice and
consequently the first few pews get populated on the early side for those who want to be in position for
sipping from the Chalice rather early, especially due to health and sanitation concerns. However, this habitual line cutting stuff is way over the top, improper, violates the order of mass, and leaves many of us simmering rather than our thoughts directed toward the heavenly…

It does not appear that the pastor is willing to address this situation. However, it is his duty and not the parishioneers. Afterall, it is one of the reasons we have Ushers regulating the communion line on Sundays.

Anyhow I was wondering if anyone could direct me to some internet literature concerning the Diocese of Orange Ca concering the order of the communion procession. Armed with some facts , I have a few options towards addressing this.

What exactly is the situation? Is there some problem with this guy going up first? If you want to go first go before he does. There is nothing in the rubrics of the Mass that require people to go up in a certain fashion. Also nothing in the rules about those sitting in front getting to receive first. What a petty petty situation.

No big deal as I see it.

 

[quiet52]

Life Ain’t Fair.

And if the communicant referred to by the OP has special needs, life sure ain’t fair to him.

May the heart of the OP, and the hearts of each of us, be transformed by the merciful love of Jesus, no matter if life is fair.

 

[Philothea53]

Usually always (is that a double maybe?) our priests stand at the head of the pews on the Mary side to distribute the Holy Eucharist so that is the side I sit on because I prefer (not negotiable) to receive from the priest. Sometimes, for whatever reason, one may go to the Joseph side or even one time went to one of the side wings. Hmmmm! When it was my row’s “turn” I left the pew and without disturbing the rest of the people in line, went and got in whatever line the priest was at the head of. Any thoughts/comments on the rightness or wrongness of this?

 

[AlexV]

This is truly frightening.

Are there some Catholics who are so obsessed with perceived and imaginary rubrics that they are now dictating how the pews empty to get to Communion?

Scary.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

This is truly frightening.

Are there some Catholics who are so obsessed with perceived and imaginary rubrics that they are now dictating how the pews empty to get to Communion?

Scary.

Agreed! The Vatican needs to establish a ministry of Church Police, who’s job it will be to respond swiftly to any infractions made by stupid people during Mass. People will be publicly reprimanded and even physically thrown out the church into the streets.

Of course I’m joking, but I’m also concerned over what I read in this forum, that following the exact letter of the law is more important than the heart of the human being, just trying to do the best he can with what he knows.

Jim

 

[StephenB]

I don’t know much (and my bride will be the to confirm that) but the last two posts say it all.

The felonious liturgical abuses (TIC) I’ve read about in the short time I’ve been looking at these forums, leads me to believe there needs to be a subset for Liturgy and Sacraments.

This would provide the LA Police (Liturgical Abuse, not the other guys) to post the scandalous behavior they are privy to daily or weekly, and then those who are seeking answers to less abusive questions would not need to weed through so much stuff (spell that with a capital C.)

Amazingly enough after 49 years, it was only as recently as last year that I saw the quote of all quotes, attributed to St. Frank of Assissi(sp?): “Preach the Gospel …” you know the rest.

A little charity and understanding that we are all fraught with foibles, but are created, according to CCC (and don’t ask me the # - look it up in the front of the book) with a good and decent human nature. I’ll bet less than 1/3 of the Liturgical Abusers are doing so with malice aforethought.

To paraphrase my dad, “If you can’t say something nice, shut up.”

 

[StephanieC]

I suppose this thread has just about run out of steam, but I thought I’d share a story from my parish:

(Sidenote: My son and I try to make it to daily Mass as often as we can. We’ve gotten to know so many of the folks, most of them elderly, and they have often stopped us after Mass to comment on how much they’ve enjoyed watching my son grow over the 2.5 years since he was born.)

There’s an elderly man who sits near the back. At every single Mass, when we begin to say the “Our Father,” I hear him start to the front. He has a slow, distinct shuffle, and halfway to the front, he always stops to put coins (“clink! clink! clink!”) into the metal collection box near the statues of the Sacred Heart, and of St. Therese of Lisieux. Then his shuffle continues, until he reaches the front pew. By then it is communion time for everyone.

This whole routine has actually become very dear to me, and I actually find it rather touching. I have no idea why he does this, (rather than just sitting in the front) nor do I want to know. When this gentleman did not attend for a week or so last winter, his absence stood out, and I found myself praying for him & his health.

(Our parish’s Sunday custom is to line up beginning with the back pews first. During the week, with about 50 people present, there’s just a sort of slow-motion, organized free-for-all.)

Just my own experience & observation to throw into the pot!

God bless you, everybody. Let’s pray that we all have the courage to believe Our Lord when he says that “the first shall be last and the last shall be first” in His presence.

 

[jrabs]

I have to agree with a few other posters here that the ushers standing at your row telling you when you may get in line has always indicated to me that we are incapable of conducting ourselves in an orderly and civilized fashion at mass.

I also feel that it does single out those not receiving - and may even make others feel like they should be going up when they are not worthy of receiving.

 

[YADA]

My husband and I went to Rome with our Bishop’s pilgramage group foe the Jubilee YEar 2000.

The were people from all over the world at St. Peter’s and all around Rome. MAss with the Pope was wonderful, 50,000 of our closest catholic frinds and family…Communion was chaotic but truly wonderful…how you can manage Communiion for 50,000 in St Peter’s Square??? But they did it…

We attended Mass daily, this I can tell you from personal observation…

The Americans are orderly, when we drive cars and when we go to communion.

Typically at communion in Rome, the people would rise and come forward whenever they wanted…We americans would wait and when the lines died down, we would approach [without ushers] one row at a time in a very calm and orderly fashion. On that trip there were 154 pilgrams. We did this at every mass. We saw other groups from america, they seemed to do the same as us…

When I was in Guatemala this year and later in the year in Mexico, the people just come up from any where and every where at Communion…

Truely this ia a norm for the american church that is vastly different than the church in the world at large…

Perhaps your loner at mass is from another country…

Don’t sweat the small stuff…

It is not germs we receive in the Cup but the precious blood of our Lord, Jesus…if you stay focused on the reality, your imagination will not run away with you…

Be welcoming and hospitable…

ANd remember Jesus said the “first shall be last and the last shall be first”…I don’t think he was speaking of the communion line…perhaps it refers to about humblng oneself and giving oneself over to serve God…how does

simmering in Church and worrying about another’s habitual line cutting stuff.

help you to serve God?