EMHCs and the Tabernacle

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Hello,

I recall reading somewhere in one of the litrugical documents (i.e. GIRM, Redemptionis Sacramentum, etc.) that the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are not to take any consecrated hosts out of the Tabernacle. They are to receive the ciborium or chalice they will use from the celebrant of the Mass and not take them from the Tabernacle themselves. Does anyone know where exactly this instruction is located?
 
At the two parishes I attend the only one’s who approach the Tabernacle are EMHC’s…come to think about it, can’t remember the last time I seen it different…

Good luck

james
 
usccb.org/liturgy/girm/lit4.shtml

At our parish, the Extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, may not approach the Tabernacle to retrieve the consecrated hosts at Communion time. Only the priest or deacon may do so. Hope this helps.
 
Sorry to say, I find no text addressing the subject in the link provided…

james
 
Hello,
stbruno said:
usccb.org/liturgy/girm/lit4.shtml

At our parish, the Extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, may not approach the Tabernacle to retrieve the consecrated hosts at Communion time. Only the priest or deacon may do so. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Indeed it does help. It provided me with the location of the text in question.

GIRM no. 162:
  1. The priest may be assisted in the distribution of Communion by other priests who happen to be present. If such priests are not present and there is a very large number of communicants, the priest may call upon extraordinary ministers to assist him, e.g., duly instituted acolytes or even other faithful who have been deputed for this purpose.97 In case of necessity, the priest may depute suitable faithful for this single occasion.98
These ministers should not approach the altar before the priest has received Communion, and they are always to receive from the hands of the priest celebrant the vessel containing either species of the Most Holy Eucharist for distribution to the faithful.

and Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion Under Both Kinds in the Dioceses of the United States of America no. 38 and 40
  1. If extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are required by pastoral need, they should not approach the altar before the priest has received Communion. After the priest has concluded his own Communion, he distributes Communion to the extraordinary ministers, assisted by the deacon, and then hands the sacred vessels to them for distribution of Holy Communion to the people.
  2. After all eucharistic ministers have received Communion, the bishop or priest celebrant reverently hands vessels containing the Body or the Blood of the Lord to the deacons or extraordinary ministers who will assist with the distribution of Holy Communion. The deacon may assist the priest in handing the vessels containing the Body and Blood of the Lord to the extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion.
Thank you so very much stbruno,

JMJ_coder
 
JMJ_coder said:
Hello,

I recall reading somewhere in one of the litrugical documents (i.e. GIRM, Redemptionis Sacramentum, etc.) that the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are not to take any consecrated hosts out of the Tabernacle. They are to receive the ciborium or chalice they will use from the celebrant of the Mass and not take them from the Tabernacle themselves. Does anyone know where exactly this instruction is located?
Click to expand...
Instruction on the Eucharist, Redemptionis Sacramentum: Chapter IV, paragraph 107; partial quote: Whatever remain of the Blood of Christ must be entirely and immediately consumed by the Priest or by another minister, according to the norms, while the consecrated hosts that are left are to be consumed by the Priest at the altar or carried to the place for the reservation of the Eucharist.

I am no Canon Lawyer but one could go either way on this. This statement does not specifically state that the priest must carry the host; just that he must consume them at the altar. Many will say that since it is one complete sentence or thought, he either consumes or carries the host to the place of reservation.

This is th only reference I could find. One point to consider: EMHC should not enter the sanctuary until the Priest has consumed the Precious Body and Blood so that indicates that they should not be available to remove any reaming Eucharist from the place of reservation unless if is located in another location outside of the sanctuary.
 
Don’t forget that in modern times many tabernacles are located outside of the altar/sanctuary area, little chapels…sometimes totally out of the sight of the laity…

james
 
I my parish we receive the ciborium from the priest and we bring it back to the altar once we are done serving. He will then put all the hosts in a single ciborium and the deacon or the acolyte will put it in the tabernacle. At the same time the priest or the deacon will gather the particles from the several ciboriums into the main one and then will complete the purification rite.

I have not noticed EMHCs retrieving the hosts from the tabernacle, only the acolytes. However, I do not know who moves the host from the ciborium to the pyx.
 
JMJ_coder said:
GIRM no. 162:

These ministers should not approach the altar before the priest has received Communion, and they are always to receive from the hands of the priest celebrant the vessel containing either species of the Most Holy Eucharist for distribution to the faithful.
Click to expand...
Does this apply for US only? Is there any clear regulation valid for Europe, or the world?
 
Based on the documents, the EMHCs are not supposed to approach the tabernacle during Mass unless the priest can not due to physical reasons.

Whether an EMHC can approach the tabernacle during times outside of Mass depends on the policies of the parish in relationship to the Ministry of the Sick. There is no official policy from the Vatican that addresses these situtations. Most parishes I have dealt with allow this because an EMHC once they receive the Eucharist is supposed to go directly to the person receiving the Eucharist. Due to real life issues, people may not be able to see an EMHC directly after the times that Mass are offered so an EMHC would need to get the Eucharist at different times.
 
Windmill said:
As an aside, in the document On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained in the Ministry of Priest, Article 8 says that “**the habitual use of EMHC’s at Mass is to be eliminated.” **If we are scheduling people for these roles, that’s pretty habitual.
Click to expand...
Here is the correct quote, with some more context:
“§ 2. Extraordinary ministers may distribute Holy Communion at eucharistic celebrations only when there are no ordained ministers present or when those ordained ministers present at a liturgical celebration are truly unable to distribute Holy Communion. They may also exercise this function at eucharistic celebrations where there are particularly large numbers of the faithful and which would be excessively prolonged because of an insufficient number of ordained ministers to distribute Holy Communion. …
To avoid creating confusion, certain practices are to be avoided and eliminated where such have emerged in particular Churches: …
— the habitual use of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion at Mass thus arbitrarily extending the concept of “a great number of the faithful”.”
 
The problem lies in the over-interpretation of:

“particularly large numbers of the faithful and which would be excessively prolonged because of an insufficient number of ordained ministers to distribute Holy Communion”

Too many times, we don’t want to extend Mass 5 minutes, or worse, there ARE Ordinary Minsters of HC who are told not to show up. We artificially try to create the need for EMHC’s at EACH MASS EVERY SUNDAY. That is the definition of “habitual”, and it is an abuse.
 
Well, I can’t say that I’ve done much reading in regards to the technicalities regarding the Eucharist, but from my experience I can tell you this:

At my church it is during Communion time that the priest is the only one allowed to approach the tabernacle to retrieve the pre-consecrated hosts. He retrieves the Eucharist and distributes it to the EMHCs for Communion.

Outside of Mass, I know that EMHCs are allowed to approach the tabernacle (such as Mass Coordinators who check to see how many consecrated hosts there are so that the amount to be consecrated at the following Mass can be gauged accordingly). I’m not sure about actually taking them out (such as to give the Eucharist to the sick in hospitals), because I haven’t been trained in that yet.

From my own personal reflection, I would assume that restricting this duty to the priest comes from the fact that he is acting “In Persona Christi” during the consecration and that, just as at the Last Supper Christ gave His body to the disciples, the priest is the one who is to give the Body of Christ to the “disciples” of the Mass.

Just a guess though…😃
 
JMJ_coder said:
Hello,

I recall reading somewhere in one of the litrugical documents (i.e. GIRM, Redemptionis Sacramentum, etc.) that the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are not to take any consecrated hosts out of the Tabernacle. They are to receive the ciborium or chalice they will use from the celebrant of the Mass and not take them from the Tabernacle themselves. Does anyone know where exactly this instruction is located?
Click to expand...
There is a presumption in the GIRM & RS that nobody will retrieve consecrated hosts from the Tabernacle because enough will have been consecrated during this Mass to distribute to all who choose to receive. I don’t believe your specific situation (it’s also mine and not likely to change) is addressed in either document.
 
Windmill said:
The problem lies in the over-interpretation of:

“particularly large numbers of the faithful and which would be excessively prolonged because of an insufficient number of ordained ministers to distribute Holy Communion”

Too many times, we don’t want to extend Mass 5 minutes, or worse, there ARE Ordinary Minsters of HC who are told not to show up. We artificially try to create the need for EMHC’s at EACH MASS EVERY SUNDAY. That is the definition of “habitual”, and it is an abuse.
Click to expand...
We only have 1 ordinary minister of communion so if he wishes the congregation to receive the Precious Blood we need an EMHC. On Saturdays for a while, with an average 40 people in church, we were using 3: 1 to help with the Body of Christ and 2 for the Chalice. We’re down to 2 but we could easily do with only 1 Chalice since few receive the Blood of Christ. Nobody is willing to go that route.

At one point we had 2 and sometimes 3 priests who concelebrated. Suggesting that when this occurred we needed fewer EMHCs since the documents clearly indicated that concelebrant(s) were to give communion only got me yelled at by one of the priests that they had never paid attention to documents from Rome and weren’t about to start.
 
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