Elderly Priest lost his place & forgot Consecration

[rosarywoman]

I used to live in an Oregon coastal resort town which had a Catholic Church. A visiting priest, an elderly man with his heart in the right place, lost his place in the missal and subsequently skipped over the consecration. Most all of the congregation was aware of it and there was an undercurrent of murmuring in the church, and not one was brave or stupid enough to bring it to the attention of the priest.

He continued with the mass, unaware of the problem, and then went on to distribute “holy communion.” Many people then became angry and louder and walked/stormed out of the little church and still the priest was unaware of his error. My husband and sons looked to me and I said, “It was not deliberate, he’s obviously doing the best he can, so we’ll rely on the angels to make the correction and assume we are receiving a valid holy communion.”

Did I do the right thing or did the angry people who walked out to try and find a different mass to attend, do the right thing. Finding another mass is not that easy. We would have had to drive at least 50 miles (if we got lucky and found a later mass that close to us) or more than 100 miles to the nearest city that had late afternoon and evening masses.

 

[Jordan_Francis]

“It was not deliberate, he’s obviously doing the best he can, so we’ll rely on the angels to make the correction and assume we are receiving a valid holy communion.”

I am no expert, but I would say this line of reasoning makes the most sense to me. Though it is true that the host always becomes the Eucharist when consecrated by a validly ordained Catholic priest, the consecration is not “magic”. We are not dealing with magical forces that need the consecration formula to effect transubstantiation, but with God who has given this formula to us and accomplishes the transformation Himself.

It is His gift to give as He wishes because He is not bound by the words.

Again, that is just my personal consideration of the question.

 

[CollegeKid]

I think you handled an unfortunate situation with a good bit of grace. Don’t take mine as the last word (because I’m not as well educated as I should be on a matter such as this) but here goes:

1. You’re right to not storm out-the priest skipped the Consecration not out of willful sin but due to infirmities of the mind brought on by old age.
2. Whether or not still receiving “Communion” was technically the right thing to do, I’m not sure, but keep in mind that one can always make a good act of Spiritual Communion if you do not receive Christ’s Body under the species of bread and wine, and through the prayer still receive the graces of Holy Communion.
3. What you said to your family was very tactful, but of course, in time and with their spiritual formation make sure that they do come to learn that the Sacrament of the Altar can **only **be validly administered by the words of Consecration spoken by the priest, who is acting not in his own but in the person of Jesus Christ.

 

[otjm]

The same thing happened once at our parish; my brother was an usher, and went up to Father and quitely mentioned it. Father said the words of Consecration and then proceeded to distribute Communion. Causation was the same; he got himself lost at some point near the time of Consecration.

As to going to Mass elsewhere, a reasonable effort is what is required; had you had to try to find one that far away, the normal law would prevail that you are not able to attend through no fault of your own, and the obligation is lifted.

As to going to Communion, if he took additional hosts from the tabernacle that were previously consecrated then you might have received properly. It is a judgement call that is difficult to make. Somone should have simply gone up and told him when he came down to start distributing Communion; that would have been the best solution.

Storming out mad? It is a good thing they didn’t talk to me about it; they would not have liked to hear what I would have to say, and it would start with charity - or lack thereof.

 

[puzzleannie]

TheStorming out mad? It is a good thing they didn’t talk to me about it; they would not have liked to hear what I would have to say, and it would start with charity - or lack thereof.

hope somebody got that on videotape to play back to those slobs when they reach this venerable priest’s stage of age and infirmity.

 

[Catholig]

“It was not deliberate, he’s obviously doing the best he can, so we’ll rely on the angels to make the correction and assume we are receiving a valid holy communion.”

I don’t think I’d agree with you, unless as another poster said, he took previously consecrated hosts out of the tabernacle; if he didn’t consecrate the bread then it is not Jesus. Whether or not you should receive in such a circumstance - I don’t know. We eat a lot of food that isn’t Jesus, and this would be in a Catholic Church so you wouldn’t be saying your in communion with another church, but someone could make the argument that it’d cause scandal. In either case, I think that if anything you made a mistake, not knowing all the facts, and that it wouldn’t be sinful.

Personally, though, I wouldn’t have received “communion”.

Catholig

 

[AJV]

I am no expert, but I would say this line of reasoning makes the most sense to me. Though it is true that the host always becomes the Eucharist when consecrated by a validly ordained Catholic priest, the consecration is not “magic”. We are not dealing with magical forces that need the consecration formula to effect transubstantiation, but with God who has given this formula to us and accomplishes the transformation Himself.

It is His gift to give as He wishes because He is not bound by the words.

Again, that is just my personal consideration of the question.

Yes, but at the same time we cannot *assume *that it is. It would not be correct to receive communion (from what was supposed to be consecrated at the Mass) since the signs of reverence etc. could be idolatry.

It would have been much better for one of the people who stormed out, to have alerted the priest so he could have repeated that part of the Mass. If one is going to make a public statement like that, then why not risk a tiny bit of embarrassment and go and tell the priest? Or perhaps the altar server, or an usher, or even one of the communicants could have whispered to him that he had forgotten. From the OP’s description, I’m sure he’d have gone back and rectified the situation.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I used to live in an Oregon coastal resort town which had a Catholic Church. A visiting priest, an elderly man with his heart in the right place, lost his place in the missal and subsequently skipped over the consecration. Most all of the congregation was aware of it and there was an undercurrent of murmuring in the church, and not one was brave or stupid enough to bring it to the attention of the priest.

He continued with the mass, unaware of the problem, and then went on to distribute “holy communion.” Many people then became angry and louder and walked/stormed out of the little church and still the priest was unaware of his error. My husband and sons looked to me and I said, “It was not deliberate, he’s obviously doing the best he can, so we’ll rely on the angels to make the correction and assume we are receiving a valid holy communion.”

Did I do the right thing or did the angry people who walked out to try and find a different mass to attend, do the right thing. Finding another mass is not that easy. We would have had to drive at least 50 miles (if we got lucky and found a later mass that close to us) or more than 100 miles to the nearest city that had late afternoon and evening masses.

No one seemed to do the right thing, which would have been to approach the altar and quietly let the priest know so he could have corrected the error.

Receiving “Holy Communion” would have been incorrect. Getting angry or storming out was incorrect.

Even after if everyone had just simply stayed and said something the priest could have gone back and simply picked up from the error and said the last portion of the Mass correctly.

 

[old_altar_boy]

I used to live in an Oregon coastal resort town which had a Catholic Church. A visiting priest, an elderly man with his heart in the right place, lost his place in the missal and subsequently skipped over the consecration. Most all of the congregation was aware of it and there was an undercurrent of murmuring in the church, and not one was brave or stupid enough to bring it to the attention of the priest.

He continued with the mass, unaware of the problem, and then went on to distribute “holy communion.” Many people then became angry and louder and walked/stormed out of the little church and still the priest was unaware of his error. My husband and sons looked to me and I said, “It was not deliberate, he’s obviously doing the best he can, so we’ll rely on the angels to make the correction and assume we are receiving a valid holy communion.”

Did I do the right thing or did the angry people who walked out to try and find a different mass to attend, do the right thing. Finding another mass is not that easy. We would have had to drive at least 50 miles (if we got lucky and found a later mass that close to us) or more than 100 miles to the nearest city that had late afternoon and evening masses.

I hate to say this, but something about this post doesn’t sound right. Sorry, but it doesn’t.

 

[turtle18]

We have an elderly priest who helps in one of our parishes. About a month ago who skipped the Transubstantiation Prayer during the Eucharistic Ritual.

What worried me though was that no one in the congregation even seemed to notice it!! It was a weekday mass so only about 50 people were there.

 

[windswept]

We had a not-so-elderly priest skip the Consecration at the 7:30 morning Mass on Christmas a few years ago. Poor man had been up half the night with Midnight Mass and the fire marshal raising cain about the overflow crowds. One of the ushers wrote a note on a business card to tell him he forgot and slipped onto the corner of the altar. It took him a few minutes to notice it, but he apologized and “backed up to start over.”

He now keeps the card in his wallet to remind & humble him from time to time.

It’s become a fondly-told part of parish lore.

It seems we have a lot of time to find mistakes and abuses, but not a lot of time for compassion and understanding for these overworked and under-appreciated shepherds of ours.

 

[PaixGioiaAmor]

The mass, even if consecration was omitted by mistake, is not valid.

However - because of the situation, it certainly would not count as “missing mass”.

Someone could have gotton the priest’s attention, as other posters have said. That would have been great. In the situation at hand, no one did - and that’s ok too, given that it was an awkward, unexpected situation. To have taken the bread and wine, and simply left having experienced the other two “real presences” of Christ - the gathered assembly and the Word proclaimed - is no sin; you did fine.

 

[hilde_the_dog]

Old Alter Boy what do you mean?

 

[rosarywoman]

Older Altar Boy, I also would like to know, what does your comment mean?

 

[otjm]

Yes, but at the same time we cannot *assume *that it is. It would not be correct to receive communion (from what was supposed to be consecrated at the Mass) since the signs of reverence etc. could be idolatry.

I really, really seriously doubt that there was even one individual who would be guilty of idolatry, or that there was even one in there who would have considered that anyone else was engaged in an idolatrous act. An idolatrous act requires an intention to give worship to something that is not worthy of it - as in, anything but God. No one intended to worship a piece of bread, and I find it incredulous that anyone present would think that anyone else was doing so. Should someone be that far off the mark in their concept of theology, it would not be a matter of giving scandal; it would be a matter of warped theology.

 

[otjm]

Older Altar Boy, I also would like to know, what does your comment mean?

I think he is suggesting a troll. I don’t agree; I have been around enough elderly people to know that they have brain f$%ts periodically.

 

[AJV]

No one intended to worship a piece of bread, and I find it incredulous that anyone present would think that anyone else was doing so. Should someone be that far off the mark in their concept of theology, it would not be a matter of giving scandal; it would be a matter of warped theology.

No, but for example, what are you going to say if he communes you bread and says “The Body of Christ”? To say “Amen” would not be correct. Neither can one reverence something with a bow/genuflection that isn’t the Body of Christ. That is idolatry, if someone follows the proper Communion procedure for something that is not the Body of Christ, though as to each one’s culpability (or lack thereof) *if *they do so, it is different and subjective.

 

[YADA]

I hate to say this, but something about this post doesn’t sound right. Sorry, but it doesn’t.

That was my inital thought as well…especially the 50 -100 mile trip to the next church…the Oregon Coast is only a little over 300 miles long and there are many catholic churches along the coast line…On the North - Astoria, On the South Brookings - in between -Bandon, Coos Bay, Florence, Gold Beach [Mission], Lincoln City, Newport, North Bend, Reedsport, Rock Away, Seaside, Tillamook and Waldport. Some fourteen in the 300 +/- miles of coast line and this does not count those cities that are inland but near the coast like: Myrtle Point, Coquille, Powers that come to mind…

And the comment was “no one was brave or stupid enough” huh?!?!?

The post starts out in the past tense…like it was long ago, then the story seems like something recent…

 

[Cathryn]

I used to live in an Oregon coastal resort town which had a Catholic Church. A visiting priest, an elderly man with his heart in the right place, lost his place in the missal and subsequently skipped over the consecration. Most all of the congregation was aware of it and there was an undercurrent of murmuring in the church, and not one was brave or stupid enough to bring it to the attention of the priest.

He continued with the mass, unaware of the problem, and then went on to distribute “holy communion.” Many people then became angry and louder and walked/stormed out of the little church and still the priest was unaware of his error. My husband and sons looked to me and I said, “It was not deliberate, he’s obviously doing the best he can, so we’ll rely on the angels to make the correction and assume we are receiving a valid holy communion.”

Did I do the right thing or did the angry people who walked out to try and find a different mass to attend, do the right thing. Finding another mass is not that easy. We would have had to drive at least 50 miles (if we got lucky and found a later mass that close to us) or more than 100 miles to the nearest city that had late afternoon and evening masses.

I believe the right thing to do would have been to kindly tell the priest what happened, when it happened. Relying on the angels to make the correction is a mistake. The angels can’t make the correction.

 

[otjm]

That was my inital thought as well…especially the 50 -100 mile trip to the next church…the Oregon Coast is only a little over 300 miles long and there are many catholic churches along the coast line…On the North - Astoria, On the South Brookings - in between -Bandon, Coos Bay, Florence, Gold Beach [Mission], Lincoln City, Newport, North Bend, Reedsport, Rock Away, Seaside, Tillamook and Waldport. Some fourteen in the 300 +/- miles of coast line and this does not count those cities that are inland but near the coast like: Myrtle Point, Coquille, Powers that come to mind…

Given the amount of traffic and speed zones throughout 101, an individual would be lucky to accomplish an average of 40 mph. And given that many of the costal communities may only have one Mass on Sunday, or the next town that has a church would be 1 or more hours away, most priests I would suspect would say that one had no further obligation. In addition to the time frames above, assuming this Mass was on a Sunday morning, one would have a hard time finding out where the next Catholic Church was, and would have to leave this one to go somewhere to even find a phone; then not knowing where to call, the problem begins to compound itself. Even if there was another Mass available within an hour’s drive from the parish in question, it could well be two hours before it could be located, everyone loaded into the car, and off down the road.

For example, it takes a good half hour to get from Seaside (which doesnt have a church) to Astoria, and then find the church. And that is without the half hour drive from St Peter the Fisherman south of Cannon Beach, and assumes flowing traffic. And from St. Peter’s it is a good hour to get to Tillamook…