Consecration left out of the Mass, priest unaware

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anna

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Three weeks ago I went to daily Mass, { 8 a.m. } as always when it came to the Consecration., I knelt. As the priest began he totally left out the Consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ…He just continued with the prayers that followed. Now I thought did I fall asleep for a few seconds, or black out. When it came time to say the Our Father I turned to a nun who was sitting behind me, and ask her " did father leave out the Consecration ?", she nodded her head yes. Communion was starting, the hosts were from the Tabernacle, so I was sure they were Blessed. When Mass was over the two of us went to talk to father. He was visibly upset that this happened, he kept trying to go over and over it, he could not remember… Also what saddened me was that no one else in the church even noticed. [ about 15 people ] Sister thought that father should say Mass over again, but he did not. In all the years I have been going to Mass nothing, ever set me back like this did.I could not bring myself to post it on here yet, not until now. It was heavy on my heart…Should father have said Mass again? God bless.
 
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How do you miss the consecration? That shows that there’s something wrong.
 
Is he very elderly and forgetful? We had a retired priest who forgot little bits and pieces…but never the consecration .We were able to prompt him at times though.
 
I know this priest and have been at many of his Masses,I do not know if he has any medical problems or not. As i said when sister and I spoke with him after Mass he was visibly shaken that he had left out the Consecration. He stood there trying to remember. Should he have said Mass again?
 
No, I would say about 60 years old…In fact being I go to this little church often because it is so close to my home, and they have priests rotate, this priest has been back two or three times and has never brought it up, neither have I …It does continue to bother me God less
 
Agreed, but what and where? I pray for him and all priest that this never happens again… God bless
 
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This happened to us a few years ago when we had an elderly substitute priest.

Unfortunately unconsecrated and consecrated hosts were commingled into one ciborium after communion . We took them all to a nearby parish to have them consecrated during a daily mass.

The Msgr told my husband he should have halted the priest immediately and alerted the celebrant to the error.

As for the question of whether he “should have” said mass again— that is a prudential matter that is up to the priest.
 
1ke said:
The Msgr told my husband he should have halted the priest immediately and alerted the celebrant to the error.
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Is your husband part of the parish’s ministry? I just ask for clarification.
 
anna said:
I know this priest and have been at many of his Masses,I do not know if he has any medical problems or not. As i said when sister and I spoke with him after Mass he was visibly shaken that he had left out the Consecration. He stood there trying to remember. Should he have said Mass again?
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His reaction when you pointed out the error is what is quite distrubing. It sounds like a medical problem. as @(name removed by moderator) said, it could be blood surgar, or even a mini-stroke, or early on-set memory issues. Please follow-up to make sure he has access to thorough medical care. He should see a doctor and be evaluated, since it could be one of many things.
 
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anna said:
Also what saddened me was that no one else in the church even noticed. [ about 15 people ]
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Be at peace. It is not necessary that they follow along and notice such irregularities. God bless them.
anna said:
nothing ever set me back like this did. I could not bring myself to post it on here yet, not until now. It was heavy on my heart
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Once again, be at peace. If this is the worst you have experienced, rejoice and give thanks. No evil was intended. No one died. As far as we know, no one gave up the faith. All things considered, it was a good day.
 
How do I do that? In all due respect am I to ask father about any medical problems he has and make sure he follows up. I do not believe I have that right. My prayers and those of you here would help. God bless you.
 
all i can say is preist are only human and yes it is a mistake. but we have to remember preist have a busy life. often a preist is a councillor a social worker aiding the sick and dieing plus other vocational commitments ie parish meetings. i often wounder about some preist diets and medical needs are these been taken care of. speaking from being a single man until I met my wonderful wife. who set me straight and to the doctor. Now have pills for high celstrol and being treated for skin cancers. So please pray for him or show some support maybe invite him over for good hearty meal. sometime they need a ear to learn to. god bless our servant to the lord
 
I was just going to bring that up, also they break the host into pieces so two or three others also had consumed unconsecrated host.but that was three weeks ago, fter reading what Smurfie posted, along with what you and others posted I feel more at peace. God bless
 
Thank you so much for you response. We aall need to think about tthat. God bless you and your wonderful wife.My prayers are with you as well as the priest…Will take your advice. i.e. Ain’t marriage grand? Everyday you have one another is a blessing.
 
Hopefully this situation will never arise again, but if it does, I would make it a point to get the priest’s attention and let him know what happened. You may need to move up to a place near the sanctuary so that he can see you.

As for the people you say didn’t notice, consider that they, like you, noticed but didn’t know what to do. Everyone let the moment pass without taking action.
 
Well in general, yes.

My DH wasn’t in the sanctuary during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, if that’s what you are asking. He was in the pew.
 
It’s a serious situation. It’s not a case of blame, as humans make mistake, but it’s something the pastor should be aware of. Once at the cathedral, an elderly priest failed to consecrate the chalice. He said “this is my body” over both the bread and the chalice. I was many pews back among the crowd, but I was alarmed none of the servers in the sanctuary said anything. I emailed the Rector and he thanked me for bringing it to his attention.
 
As others have stated, the real concern would be for Father’s health, if he was that visibly shaken by it. Of course, we can all make a mistake.

Since it was daily Mass, and no one intended anything irreverent, it’s not the end of the world for anyone who received the unconsecrated bread. It wasn’t sacrilege or deception; just an accident. You all prayed, and despite an invalid Mass, you were honoring God and no doubt received some blessing by doing so.

I would worry unless it became a pattern…
 
RandomAlias said:
Be at peace. It is not necessary that they follow along and notice such irregularities. God bless them.
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I the byzantine liturgy, leading up to the Anaphora, we sing, “Now let us set aside all earthly cares.”

In all seriousness, I would frequently not notice missing parts in the portions that follow. (unfortunately, more than once, I’ve set those cares far enough aside to miss the next cue to prepare incense in the censor . . .).

hawk
 
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