Eucharistic Service

[JoanneMary]

This morning I witnessed a Eucharistic service led by a lay person. Is this permitted? Thanks for your help. God Bless.

 

[Sure]

Yes.

 

[bilop]

This morning I witnessed a Eucharistic service led by a lay person. Is this permitted? Thanks for your help. God Bless.

Yes, but it should not occur on a weekday, especially if there are other Churches nearby where Mass is being said.

Basically, a communion service in absence of a Priest is only supposed to occur on a Sunday when no Mass is available within a reasonable distance.

God Bless

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Basically, a communion service in absence of a Priest is only supposed to occur on a Sunday when no Mass is available within a reasonable distance.

Do you have a source for this assertion?

It’s certainly not prohibited on a weekday though a communion service is not the same as a Mass.

On the other hand, when my parish takes communion to the people in jail or the people in nursing homes, it’s distributed as part of a communion service and I think that’s wonderful. People have the opportunity to come together to pray, hear Scripture, and receive communion.

 

[Phemie]

Do you have a source for this assertion?

It’s certainly not prohibited on a weekday though a communion service is not the same as a Mass.

On the other hand, when my parish takes communion to the people in jail or the people in nursing homes, it’s distributed as part of a communion service and I think that’s wonderful. People have the opportunity to come together to pray, hear Scripture, and receive communion.

This is what Redemptionis Sacramentum has to say on the subject.

[164.] “If participation at the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible on account of the absence of a sacred minister or for some other grave cause,”[269] then it is the Christian people’s right that the diocesan Bishop should provide as far as he is able for some celebration to be held on Sundays for that community under his authority and according to the Church’s norms. Sunday celebrations of this specific kind, however, are to be considered altogether extraordinary. All Deacons or lay members of Christ’s faithful who are assigned a part in such celebrations by the diocesan Bishop should strive “to keep alive in the community a genuine ‘hunger’ for the Eucharist, so that no opportunity for the celebration of Mass will ever be missed, also taking advantage of the occasional presence of a Priest who is not impeded by Church law from celebrating Mass”.[270]

[165.] It is necessary to avoid any sort of confusion between this type of gathering and the celebration of the Eucharist.[271] The diocesan Bishops, therefore, should prudently discern whether Holy Communion ought to be distributed in these gatherings. The matter would appropriately be determined in view of a more ample co-ordination in the Bishops’ Conference, to be put into effect after the recognitio of the acts by the Apostolic See through the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. It will be preferable, moreover, when both a Priest and a Deacon are absent, that the various parts be distributed among several faithful rather than having a single lay member of the faithful direct the whole celebration alone. Nor is it ever appropriate to refer to any member of the lay faithful as “presiding” over the celebration.

[166.] Likewise, especially if Holy Communion is distributed during such celebrations, the diocesan Bishop, to whose exclusive competence this matter pertains, must not easily grant permission for such celebrations to be held on weekdays, especially in places where it was possible or would be possible to have the celebration of Mass on the preceding or the following Sunday. Priests are therefore earnestly requested to celebrate Mass daily for the people in one of the churches entrusted to their care.

.

I think it’s clear from this that in parishes that might find themselves priestless on an occasional Sunday, Rome’s preference in those instances is for a Liturgy of the Word ‘without communion’. OTOH, Rome doesn’t forbid Communion in those liturgies but says that it has to be carefully considered.

I think it’s also clear from this document that in a parish that has Mass at least every second Sunday a ‘Communion Service’ shouldn’t happen during the week. This of course doesn’t refer to situations in nursing homes or hospitals.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Thanks, Phemie. Communion services are not prohibited, but probably shouldn’t be as readily available as the priests in my former parish made them.

 

[Joannm]

Our diocese had prohibited communion services except for in nursing homes and prisons.

 

[bilop]

Do you have a source for this assertion?

It’s certainly not prohibited on a weekday though a communion service is not the same as a Mass.

On the other hand, when my parish takes communion to the people in jail or the people in nursing homes, it’s distributed as part of a communion service and I think that’s wonderful. People have the opportunity to come together to pray, hear Scripture, and receive communion.

I see someone else has already posted the documentation.

I think the key difference with jails or nursing homes is that those people CAN’T readily go to Mass. The Church does not want people who CAN go to Mass to attending a communion service instead.

Also, some dissenters may be using unecessary communion services as a way to “prepare” people for women “priests” by getting them used to a women presiding at a service.

God Bless

Also,

 

[Phemie]

Our diocese had prohibited communion services except for in nursing homes and prisons.

We have parishes in my diocese where that’s all that’s available except at Christmas and Easter when a priest flies in to the community to celebrate Mass & provide the sacraments. The unfortunate situation in those parishes is that the community won’t come unless they are given something, ie Communion.

Our priests used to go away once every two years for the diocesan gathering (geographically huge diocese with a small spread out population that required flying everywhere). They would be gone over a weekend so for one Sunday we had no Mass. It really bugged me that we had a Liturgy of the Word with Communion on both Saturday and Sunday. That made no sense to me when the number on Sat. was about 30 and could have been amply accommodated on Sunday. But no, we had to keep to the routine as though it was just another regular weekend.

 

[Joannm]

We have parishes in my diocese where that’s all that’s available except at Christmas and Easter when a priest flies in to the community to celebrate Mass & provide the sacraments. The unfortunate situation in those parishes is that the community won’t come unless they are given something, ie Communion.

Our priests used to go away once every two years for the diocesan gathering (geographically huge diocese with a small spread out population that required flying everywhere). They would be gone over a weekend so for one Sunday we had no Mass. It really bugged me that we had a Liturgy of the Word with Communion on both Saturday and Sunday. That made no sense to me when the number on Sat. was about 30 and could have been amply accommodated on Sunday. But no, we had to keep to the routine as though it was just another regular weekend.

I guess we are lucky. In our immediate area you never have to go more than 10 minutes to find another Catholic church. When our bishop called an overnight priest conference he did it during the week so no one would miss a SUnday.

 

[Phemie]

I guess we are lucky. In our immediate area you never have to go more than 10 minutes to find another Catholic church. When our bishop called an overnight priest conference he did it during the week so no one would miss a SUnday.

If there is no priest in my community, I’m 6 hours by car from the next parish with a priest in residence.

 

[ProVobis]

This morning I witnessed a Eucharistic service led by a lay person. Is this permitted? Thanks for your help. God Bless.

I believe this is the relevant Canon Law on this:

Can. 1248 §1 The obligation of assisting at Mass is satisfied wherever Mass is celebrated in a catholic rite either on a holyday itself or on the evening of the previous day.

§2 If it is impossible to assist at a eucharistic celebration, either because no sacred minister is available or for some other grave reason, the faithful are strongly recommended to take part in a liturgy of the Word, if there be such in the parish church or some other sacred place, which is celebrated in accordance with the provisions laid down by the diocesan Bishop; or to spend an appropriate time in prayer, whether personally or as a family or, as occasion presents, in a group of families.

 

[Chatter163]

The name of the ritual book used tells it all:

Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest

 

[Phemie]

The name of the ritual book used tells it all:

Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest

True enough. In Canada it’s called “Sunday Celebration of the Word and Hours”. It includes everything you need to celebrate a Liturgy of the Word, Morning Prayer & Evening Prayer. It also includes a rite for “Distribution of Communion Outside of Mass” which may be incorporated into the Liturgy of the Word.

I have to admit that I have a preference for Morning Prayer vs Liturgy of the Word when there is no priest in residence. Unfortunately, not many are familiar with the LOTH and many just don’t get it: “What prayer? All we did was sing.” It’s sad to hear a faithful Catholic say “I’d rather have a prayer group where we get to share than have Evening Prayer.”

 

[kleary]

This morning I witnessed a Eucharistic service led by a lay person. Is this permitted? Thanks for your help. God Bless.

In order to give the priest days off? NO.

The ONLY time it is permitted is when a priest is not available- like you are in a parish without a priest and a visiting priest comes once a month or so to say Mass.

Sadly however this rule is not obeyed even in my own Diocese. Many priests take two days off from celebrating Holy Mass and have communion services instead of daily Mass twice a week. With lay-sister Mary Jane wannabe officiating.

Ken

 

[Joannm]

True enough. In Canada it’s called “Sunday Celebration of the Word and Hours”. It includes everything you need to celebrate a Liturgy of the Word, Morning Prayer & Evening Prayer. It also includes a rite for “Distribution of Communion Outside of Mass” which may be incorporated into the Liturgy of the Word.

I have to admit that I have a preference for Morning Prayer vs Liturgy of the Word when there is no priest in residence. Unfortunately, not many are familiar with the LOTH and many just don’t get it: “What prayer? All we did was sing.” It’s sad to hear a faithful Catholic say “I’d rather have a prayer group where we get to share than have Evening Prayer.”

We are trying to promote Morning Prayer in our diocese for those parishes that are now affected by the ban on Communion services. The pastors are all for it but the people don’t think of it as something they want to do. They don’t want to gather to pray and worship God, they want Communion. IF they don’t “get something” they don’t want to come. We have to get them away from that mindset and help them to see the value of simply gathering for prayer. Also they have to understand that the LOTH is an official liturgy of the Church. Priests are obligated to pray the LOTH every day, they are not obligated to say mass everyday.

 

[ProVobis]

They don’t want to gather to pray and worship God, they want Communion. IF they don’t “get something” they don’t want to come. We have to get them away from that mindset and help them to see the value of simply gathering for prayer.

I’ve seen statistics to this effect and this is unfortunate. Many fewer Catholics attend Mass but, of those that do attend at least part of the Mass, more receive Communion. However, this is not necessarily the case in the Polish and some other communities. On the other hand, you see those who “love” the English Mass so much don’t think anything of coming in late during or after the vernacular readings causing distractions and leaving right after communion. Need to beat that traffic, I guess.

 

[Phemie]

We are trying to promote Morning Prayer in our diocese for those parishes that are now affected by the ban on Communion services. The pastors are all for it but the people don’t think of it as something they want to do. They don’t want to gather to pray and worship God, they want Communion. IF they don’t “get something” they don’t want to come. We have to get them away from that mindset and help them to see the value of simply gathering for prayer. Also they have to understand that the LOTH is an official liturgy of the Church. Priests are obligated to pray the LOTH every day, they are not obligated to say mass everyday.

Yes! That’s the same problem we run into in the parishes that only have Mass a couple of times a year. If there is a Celebration of the Word without Communion people don’t come because they’re not getting anything. So the priest goes up at Christmas, consecrates enough hosts to last a few months and then they get another Mass at Easter.

A sung LOTH is beautiful and prayerful and while you may not get something ‘physical’ you certainly get a good feeling about having worshipped God.

A few years ago I spent 6 weeks over 3 summers earning a certificate in pastoral liturgy. Every school day started with Morning Prayer and ended with Evening Prayer. As part of the curriculum I had to plan and establish something in my parish over the duration of the course (two calendar years).

I spent the first year teaching about the LOTH in the parish bulletin. Then we celebrated Morning Prayer. Few people liked it, except those who’d done the same course and experienced LOTH as I had.

Evening Prayer attracted a different crowd but the ones who normally attend daily Mass left saying “Evening Prayer? What prayer? We didn’t even say the rosary, all we did was sing.”

We kept EP going once a week for about 2 years but in the end it was too difficult because nobody cared enough to want to train to lead it. That left us with only 2 people committed to lead and cantor and some evenings there were only the leader, the cantor and the reader present. In the end it fell by the wayside.