EWTN "Called to Communion" - lay blessings at communion?

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If I’m remembering correctly, Dr David Anders fielded a question in the past couple weeks about lay blessings at Mass at communion time.

I liked his answer, because he approached it from the perspective of what a blessing from an ordained priest “means”.

Does anyone else remember hearing this question and answer? Does anyone remember on what date this question aired?

Thanks!
G.
 
A layman can invoke God’s blessing, however. It’s different than a constitutive blessing and one must be careful not to confuse people or blur the lines. We understand there’s a difference between clergy and laity, right?

One diocese has the following guidelines:
  • The EMHC does not bless people with the consecrated host. This specific blessing is leftto the ordained and only at the conclusion of the celebration of Eucharistic expositionwith benediction.
  • The EMHC may place a hand on the individual’s shoulder and say “May God bless you.” They do not make the sign of the cross over the individual in the manner of a priest or adeacon as this gesture is reserved to the ordained.
Emphasis on “may” - EMHC doesn’t have to do this but if put on the spot, it’s better to do things properly than to make mistakes. The burden here is on the commnunicants - whatever happened to remaining in the pews and performing an act of spiritual communion?
 
I’ve been an EMHC before and have occasionally had people come up wanting a blessing. I usually would just say “may God bless you” or something to that effect. I don’t make the Sign of the Cross or say “I bless you…” etc. in the way a priest would.
 
CTBcin said:
I don’t make the Sign of the Cross or say “I bless you…” etc. in the way a priest would.
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The Priest does not say “I bless you” either.

For the Rite of Distributing Holy Communion Outside Mass, the Priest’s blessing is:

“May almighty God bless you,
the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.”

The rubric has “Instead of this formula a solemn blessing or prayer over the people may be used, as in the concluding rite of Mass in the Roman Missal.”

For a lay minister it has:

“40. If the minister is not a priest or a deacon, he invokes God’s blessing and, crossing himself, says:

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.

or:

May the almighty and merciful God bless and protect us,
the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.”

(This last cross symbol “ + ” is in my English translation, published by E.J. Dwyer (Australia) in 1975, ISBN 0855744014. But there is no equivalent to it in the Latin edition published in 1974. Not that the presence of absence of it makes any difference, since the rubric is explicit about what is to happen.)

In the Roman Missal the Priest says:

“May almighty God bless you,
the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.”

or with additional parts before it (a Solemn Blessing or with Prayers Over the People):

“And may the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit,
come down on you and remain with you for ever.”

[Excerpts from the English translation of Holy Communion and the Worship of the Eucharist Outside of Mass, © 1974, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal, © 2010 International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.]
 
I’m surprised that there isn’t any uniform wording for lay eucharistic ministers across the church.
 
All of that confusion is the main reason why I have avoided becoming an EMHC at our parish. Other reasons – they already have enough, and we now have enough deacons so that there can be an ordained man at the head of each of the double communion lines; he can bless anyone who comes up in either line.

D
 
DaveBj said:
All of that confusion is the main reason why I have avoided becoming an EMHC at our parish. Other reasons – they already have enough, and we now have enough deacons so that there can be an ordained man at the head of each of the double communion lines; he can bless anyone who comes up in either line.

D
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is that correct? I know a Deacon can bless things - I didn’t know he could bless people like a priest does?
 
A deacon is part of the clergy consisting of deacon, priest and bishop. Three different levels with different responsibilities and tasks before the bishop, who has all of them.

A deacon may celebrate the Liturgy of the Word when the priest is not present. At the end there is a blessing. A deacon blesses the baby he baptised as well as it´s parents. A couple getting married are also blessed. He may not celebrate Mass, hear confessions or confirm.
 
The distinction is that a priest or deacon may bless people and things. An extraordinary minister or other layman can only request God’s blessing. When people unable to receive Holy Communion are encouraged to come forward for a blessing, that leaves an extraordinary minister in a slightly awkward position for which formation is sadly lacking. The formula used in our diocese is “May the Lord Jesus bless you” whilst holding out one’s right hand. Then it is clear that it is not the minister who is imparting the blessing. The confusing thing is that priests and deacons use the same formula.
 
JohnLilburne said:
The Priest does not say “I bless you” either.
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But the priest blesses. The current English translation doesn’t appear to fully render the theology behind it if we focus exceedingly on the word may as used in a mundane context, outside of canon and liturgy.

When the priest says benedicat te/vos, he is not asking but rather he is blessing. This power is granted him by the holy orders. Just as for the other blessing you mention, where the sign of the cross is traced and the affirmation is made benedictio Dei omnipotentis…descendat super vos et maneat semper, which is not a request but a binding.

The layman on the other hand invokes the blessing: benedicat nos. And he is directed to cross himself.

The only exceptions I know of are due to direct authority (ex. parents blessing children, religious superiors blessing their community members).
 
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I found the episode. I don’t remember which day (again!), but it was around the third week of September or so.

Anders made the connection between blessings of persons and sacramentals (and the blessing that the priest gives them), as both being actions by virtue of priestly ordination – that is, an acting ‘in persona Christi’ specifically as a priest.
 
There is uniform wording for lay ministers of holy communion. “The body/blood of Christ”

No other wording needs to be clarified by the Church.
 
IdaCatholic said:
There is uniform wording for lay ministers of holy communion. “The body/blood of Christ”

No other wording needs to be clarified by the Church.
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I’d have thought it was clear from the context that TheAdvocate was referring to the wording that EMHCs should use when someone presents themselves wanting a blessing instead of receiving Holy Communion. Am I right, TheAdvocate?
 
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The church does not ned to clarify wording that is not part of the Mass. Why would it?
 
No…the blessing formulas for laity quoted above are not intended for the Communion line. CCC 1669 makes clear that in the context of a sacrament, only the ordained have the capacity to give a blessing. emHC are not forbidden to give a blessing in the Holy Communion line, they are incapable of doing so. When they pretend to give a blessing by making a gesture, they are being false, and our Faith is about Truth.
In our parish the emHC are instructed to acknowledge those not receiving with a charitable smile, and the words “peace be with you.” Nothing else.
Our Archdiocese also adds the rule “do not touch” … no touching on the head or the shoulder or at all.
 
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