Dog processes up at mass with priest & altar servers

[mercygate]

catsrus:

As a side note on dogs at Mass:
I attended a Mass on a Yaqui Indian reservation . The Church had no doors and during the Mass, dogs and chickens wandered in and out of the building.
I must say, it was a beautiful Mass and the packed Church was very attentive and reverant.
It was interesting, to say the least.

I have been told that the evolution of the communion rail as we know it derived from the need to keep wandering animals OUT of the sanctuary.

 

[IPTgrad]

One more… unusual service dog use… I know of a priest who has severe diabetes & his dog senses when his sugar levels are getting dangerous & alerts him. If it weren’t for the dog he could not be out and about doing anything. The dog must always be by his side & hence, is at the altar with him during Mass.

 

[CalledtoServe]

mercygate:

I have been told that the evolution of the communion rail as we know it derived from the need to keep wandering animals OUT of the sanctuary.

This is an interesting note mercygate. I suppose as AC became the norm church doors began to be closed & that took care of the animals.

Catsus’ post below is an example of differing church styles or maybe differing economic capability of a community & the presence of animals. This is probably not unheard of in some countries. Even in these situations, people probably do try to keep the animals from the altar I would imagine.

Catsus - As a side note on dogs at Mass:
I attended a Mass on a Yaqui Indian reservation . The Church had no doors and during the Mass, dogs and chickens wandered in and out of the building.
I must say, it was a beautiful Mass and the packed Church was very attentive and reverant.
It was interesting, to say the least.

 

[mercygate]

CalledtoServe:

This is an interesting note mercygate. I suppose as AC became the norm church doors began to be closed & that took care of the animals.

I think animals were no longer wandering into churches long before the Communion rail achieved its rather sacral identity and perhaps a couple of centuries before air conditioning. My guess is that big cathedrals did not have as significant an animal problem as parish churches. The person who relayed this information to me said that parish churches were built by townspeople who felt entitled to use the space to store grain and such. I find that incomprehensible. But I also find that “the way things have always been done” pretty much amounts to “the way things were when I was a kid” in the minds of most people.

 

[QUICUMQUE_VULT]

mercygate:

I have been told that the evolution of the communion rail as we know it derived from the need to keep wandering animals OUT of the sanctuary.

That is probably true. The Rood screen and Later, altar rails, Were used primarily to keep animals out of the sanctuary. Though i do not believe that was their original purpose. In the middle ages. people brought their dogs with them to mass. and some people even brought their facons.

 

[CalledtoServe]

After reading all your responses, I’ve come to the conclusion that it would be best to ask “why” & not judge.

 

[Angels_Watchin]

Asella:

This sounds very wrong, not to mention strange. Unless he is blind and using the dog as a guide, I cannot see any reason why he is doing this.

Plese correct me if I’m wrong, but… I believe a priest who becomes blind can no longer offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, because of the consecration and the cleaning of patens, etc, he must be able to see what he is doing.

God Bless,
Angel

 

[Celia]

Basically, if there is no reason the dogs should be there concerning the priest’s health, then that is totally bizarre that he would have animals up on the altar like that. Especially at a funeral! My grandmother just died recently and if there was dogs “sniffing around” her coffin I would have been furious. How weird…