Describe the most liturgically abused Mass that you have ever been to

  • Thread starter Thread starter GoLatin
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Go Latin asked:
Has anyone ever been to a Mass in which the congregation was invited to "co-consecrate:mad: " the Eucharist along with the Priest?

I haven’t, but has anybody else been to such a Mass?
Click to expand...
I don’t know if it would be considered co-consecration, but in the EDIT Diocese it has long been a custom (I’ll let you guess where it came from) to have the entire congregation stand throughout the entire Eucharistic prayer. No kneeling needed until the communion lines form, then everyone kneels before standing up to go to communion.

Anyway, during our time of standing the entire congregation is supposed to hold both hands upward and forward toward the body and blood as the priest says the words of consecration. Given that it is honey wheat bread anyway, I can’t see the fuss 😉 .

That is why I was so surprised a month or so ago when the priest at St. Brigid said not to do that anymore, and that there would be no more lay homilists as well. However, the practice mentioned is still going strong at the other Midland Catholic Churches that I’ve been to (one doesn’t have kneelers, so you pretty much have to stand). God Bless,

MBS1
 
For those that missed it the first time: please see Post #26…
While those wishing to contribute to the thread are free to do so, let us in charity edit out the names of particular dioceses and/or specific locations.
Click to expand...
 
I don’t know if this strictly qualifies as a liturgical abuse, but gosh it was funny to watch … a dear old priest in the church I went to today (wasn’t my regular church but that’s another story …) had possibly been into the sherry for St Patrick’s Day a little early … skipped from somewhere shortly after the homily to somewhere shortly after the start of the Eucharistic Prayer without doing the inbetweens such as the Offertory Prayers etc.

Several blank looks from the congregation later he finally noticed that he’d skipped, so he stopped and apologised, promptly went back and filled in the part he’d left out, then skipped over the bit he had already said … quite bizarre all in all.
 
LilyM - as we get older sometimes the things we have done most repeatedly are the ones we forget to do correctly. Maybe this elderly priest had one of the “senior moments” as they call it. God Bless him and try to help him out with something sometime.
 
40.png
need_to_know:
Is white wine valid/licit? We had this at our RCIA retreat.
Click to expand...
See:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=83189&highlight=white+wine

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=77350&highlight=white+wine

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=70607&highlight=white+wine
 
40.png
LilyM:
Several blank looks from the congregation later he finally noticed that he’d skipped, so he stopped and apologised, promptly went back and filled in the part he’d left out, then skipped over the bit he had already said … quite bizarre all in all.
Click to expand...
That is not a liturgical *abuse, *it simply is an accident. I hope no one would condemn the priest for that.
 
Im lucky. I have a great parish, and havent been to that many abused masses.

The worst was at a parish in Wisconsin. We first drove to the church in the town. It was a beautiful old church, but there was a sign on the door saying that the church had closed and a new one had been built. We drove out to that, and it was horrible. Big church in the round, no stained glass, seats arranged amphitheater style, confessionals at the center of weird spiral things.

The mass was not that bad considering some things I’ve heard. But it was bad. Its just that: a woman delivered the homily, the creed was skipped, an improvised eucharistic prayer was used (luckily the words of consecration were the same), no one kneeled during the kneeling parts, what looked like glass dinnerware bought at walmart or something were used to distribute communion, and the priest himself did not distribute communion but instead got inline himself and recieved from an EME.
 
40.png
grotto:
LilyM - as we get older sometimes the things we have done most repeatedly are the ones we forget to do correctly. Maybe this elderly priest had one of the “senior moments” as they call it. God Bless him and try to help him out with something sometime.
Click to expand...
I see that my comment sounded uncharitable, and I didn’t intend it to. Lord knows I’m only 32 and I have more than enough ‘senior moments’ of my own, probably more than this priest has ever had in his life. And I’m sure I’ll live to provide many others with funny (in the nicest possible way) stories as he has for those of us who were there yesterday.
 
40.png
LilyM:
I see that my comment sounded uncharitable, and I didn’t intend it to. Lord knows I’m only 32 and I have more than enough ‘senior moments’ of my own, probably more than this priest has ever had in his life. And I’m sure I’ll live to provide many others with funny (in the nicest possible way) stories as he has for those of us who were there yesterday.
Click to expand...
 
40.png
Liberalsaved:
The intentions are important to me, not the way you perform the ceremony. The only time I had a problem was when the pastor started trying to tell the congregation what to do in a political matter.
Click to expand...
If the Mass is invalid, there is no Sacrament- period. If the priest is treating the Mass like a joke, yet it is still valid, he is still putting his soul in danger- and the souls of those entrusted to his care (making his soul even more in danger)- because he is committing sacrilige. If a priest makes an honest mistake, that’s fine- it happens- we’re all human. Bishops and Priests who know better than to play games with the Mass, yet still think it’s ok to do so are being presumptuous (at best). There is definitive truth- and it is found in the doctrines of the Church (this includes the Bible). Clergy have a responsibility to learn that truth, and be spiritual parents to the laity. When they do not, as when a parent neglects the physical needs of their children, the children suffer and the parents get in legal trouble, so do priests and bishops who neglect the spiritual needs of the souls entrusted to their care- only they don’t get thrown in prison- they get thrown in hell.

Believe it or not, the Mass, celebrated in accordance with the liturgical books- with no deviation from the norm, and a homily that only reflects the theachings of the Church- can be an inspirational, and powerful experience. The liturgy is supposed to be inspiring. The communion between God and Man is something more powerful than anything given to the angels- and it happens at every Mass. It is very sacriligious to treat such an amazing event like a joke, or to make a political statement, or to entertain people.
 
In a message I posted some time ago, I mentioned the specific diocese involved…

“…Except for the dancer, this was EVERY sunday - I guess the dancer was for special occasions. EDIT”

Why was this reference edited out?
 
To what outrages does our Lord expose Himself in the Blessed Sacrament that He may remain in the midst of us!
-St. John Vianney
 
40.png
Crumpy:
There’s this ultramodern church (as far as our town goes) that just has chairs, not pews, for example.
Click to expand...
I’ve seen this one several times on this site now, and I must say that it is bogus. Pews are a relatively modern innovation. The great cathedrals were built wihout fixed seating at all. Their naves werre immense open spaces, often not even intended to seat the observant congregation (that all happened in the choir). When they were filled that way, everybody stood and then perhpaps knelt on the bare floor at key moments. As recently as 1975 in as exalted a church as St. Peter’s in Rome on as important an occasion as Holy Thursday, while there was some seating, standing was still the rule.

Where fixed (or movable) seating has been introduced, pews are a nice convenience commonly found in many countries, but there is nothing wrong with individual seats as long as they have kneeelers. If they lack those, then I can understand your objection.

If you had to attend church in Germany with its unbelievably uncomfortable pews and kneelers without padding, you would be glad to have to stand in what in the same church in the 13th century was a vast empty nave during Mass. Anglican churches (and yes, I know they are not in communion with Rome) have gotten it much better.
 
When my family went to Disneyworld in Orlando Florida they used overhead projectors with the person pointing to each and every word as it was read and sung during the Mass.

In New Jersey at a parish in my diocese the priest used to tell jokes before the Mass started, wore only a white alb with stole, used wine glass instead of chalice, didn’t wash fingers, broke host during the Eucharistic Prayer, chanted loudly in tongues after the consecration of each- with the people in the congregation doing the same thing and giving the Adolf Hitler Salute towards the priest. He also took the book of Gospels out into the aisle and read it, only reading the touchy feely parts of it instead of the whole thing.

Yet at another a Chritmas play was substituted for the Gospel.

Ken

Ken
 
I went to Catholic high school and the masses we went to in the beautiful neo-modern church next door were somewhat awful.

The nun would read the epistle wearing a very bright hawaain t-shirt and pants! She would even sometimes begin the mass, and say “peace be with all.”

Sometimes the priest would be out of town or unavailable so the deacon would preside over entire mass. Once a cell phone rang out “Everybody Dance now!” and everyone started laughing hysterically and a man yelled “now thats a way to worship!” And it took forever to calm everyone down. Then the deacon really quickly rushed through Mass and allowed a student to help him give communion- she was wearing a very short kilt too.

Once after Mass, the priest road around INSIDE the church with a kid’s scooter!

Once the priest even joined the liturgical dancers dancing before the altar shaking his hands in the air.

Also, the music used at most, if not all the masses were rock music. One song I clearly remember for communion was :“You can make a difference, you can do it!”

The funniest was when during the kiss of peace, people would rush over to their friends or families and have a mini conversation and act as if they haven’t seen each other in years.

I’m glad Popr Benedict is supposedly going to start coming down on stuff like this.

My high school masses made me hate church even though the priest andf teachers and nun thought that it was great since it is all modern and supposedly integrates us all better in the church. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
 
Last summer, we had a visiting priest who put his own words in the eucharistic prayers (thankfully he didn’t change the epeclesis) then there was no elevation of the gifts, he elevated them during the words of initiation.

The second most abused Mass I’ve been to was at college when on the Sunday right after 9/11 the priest substituted the 2nd reading with a reading from the Koran to show unity. He should have read it during his homily, not substituted it.
 
40.png
MBS1:
Go Latin asked:

I don’t know if it would be considered co-consecration, but in the EDIT Diocese it has long been a custom (I’ll let you guess where it came from) to have the entire congregation stand throughout the entire Eucharistic prayer. No kneeling needed until the communion lines form, then everyone kneels before standing up to go to communion.

Anyway, during our time of standing the entire congregation is supposed to hold both hands upward and forward toward the body and blood as the priest says the words of consecration. Given that it is honey wheat bread anyway, I can’t see the fuss 😉 .

That is why I was so surprised a month or so ago when the priest at St. Brigid said not to do that anymore, and that there would be no more lay homilists as well. However, the practice mentioned is still going strong at the other Midland Catholic Churches that I’ve been to (one doesn’t have kneelers, so you pretty much have to stand). God Bless,

MBS1
Click to expand...
The way you talk, you sound like you want to kneel in church. What a silly idea. Don’t you remember back in the 1970’s when the Bishop in your Diocese (I know which one it is) made it a Mortal Sin to kneel in church. Also sins are all bowing, genuflecting, and praying.

That isn’t true, but I think you get my point.

Standing is common, and so is the congregation putting their hands out during the Consecration, and singing along with the “through him, with him, in him…” part.

Standing is the the way it is in all of the churches in that Diocese. There’s only one church I know of in the area that still has kneelers, and about a third of the congregation uses them.

With the relatively new Bishop there, I’m hoping things change back, at least a little bit, to being more reverent.
 
40.png
MichCath:
There’s only one church I know of in the area that still has kneelers,
.
Click to expand...
There are several others. Go to the little country parishes on the outskirts of the diocese. The farmers won’t put up with that “no kneelers” folderol.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top