Extra ordinary Eucharistic ministers

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At mass a few weeks ago while handing out communion the priest took some hosts from the extra ordinary minister and as I was approaching to receive communion I noticed the extra ordinary Eucharistic minister break the host into smaller pieces.Is this allowed for him or her to break Jesus into smaller pieces?
 
Yes,Jimmy.
For instance,when you take Holy Communion to hospital or nursing homes,some people can only take a tiny piece. So we were allowed to do this.As you know,all of Jesus is present in a little piece.
 
The priest should have more host than anyone else and other ministers extraordinary or ordinary should be going to him when they run out. That he had to go to the EMHC to get host suggest that there were no reserve host in the Tabernacle. It is best to assume that the EMHC was instructed to by the Priest and not working on his/her own. Whether the Priest handled it the correct way, I don’t know. It may be that the best option would be for the Priest to consecrate some new host. Remember the Priest breaks the host during the fracturing rite so Jesus isn’t broken and is fully present in all pieces. Without knowing all of the details it is hard to know if anyone did anything wrong.
 
AndyP2010 said:
It is best to assume that the EMHC was instructed to by the Priest and not working on his/her own.
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This is true.We are “extra” and “ordinary” people. We follow precise instructions and do exactly as told and allowed.
 
For future information, it’s not the best to refer to the lay people who distribute the Eucharist as “Extraordinary Eucharistic Ministers”. It would be better to call them “Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion” (Redemptionis sacramentum, 156) to avoid confusion as to whether lay people can minister the Eucharist (something only a priest does) or not. 🙂
 
jimmy_eblin said:
At mass a few weeks ago while handing out communion the priest took some hosts from the extra ordinary minister and as I was approaching to receive communion I noticed the extra ordinary Eucharistic minister break the host into smaller pieces.Is this allowed for him or her to break Jesus into smaller pieces?
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Facite is correct. The priest is the Eucharistic Minister. Lay people cannot be that. The lay who distribute Communion are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHC). They are not Eucharistic ministers.
 
Can we get a morotorium on people correcting others on the term EMHC, or whatever you want to (respectfully) call them. This is getting a little absurd.
 
Reborn2013 said:
Can we get a morotorium on people correcting others on the term EMHC, or whatever you want to (respectfully) call them. This is getting a little absurd.
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Not everyone posting here knows the difference. CAF has non Catholics, Inquirers and the newly received into the Church. This website is not just for cradle Catholics that know everything. There is nothing wrong with pointing out the differences between EM and EMHC’s.
 
Why are EMHC being used as the norm if their title says they’re extraordinary? I’m just asking because the Extraordinary Form is titled thus because it’s not the Ordinary Form. So shouldn’t the name of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion be dropped and given the title of how they’re truly operating in our Churches as Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion?
 
Cider said:
Not everyone posting here knows the difference. CAF has non Catholics, Inquirers and the newly received into the Church. This website is not just for cradle Catholics that know everything. There is nothing wrong with pointing out the differences between EM and EMHC’s.
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Except that it doesn’t address the question at hand as put forward by the OP.
 
AndyP2010 said:
Except that it doesn’t address the question at hand as put forward by the OP.
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The OP’s question includes the mistaken premise that those distributing apart from the priest are Eucharistic Ministers. There is nothing wrong in correcting that.
 
Cider said:
…This website is not just for cradle Catholics that know everything…
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😃 That line just struck me funny.

Much of the time, cradle Catholics are the ones who have come here to learn after realizing that they don’t know what they should.

I make this observation in a charitable way, of course. 😃
 
Credo_in_Deum said:
Why are EMHC being used as the norm if their title says they’re extraordinary? I’m just asking because the Extraordinary Form is titled thus because it’s not the Ordinary Form. So shouldn’t the name of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion be dropped and given the title of how they’re truly operating in our Churches as Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion?
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True. It doesn’t seem so extraordinary to me, but the norm.

In a recent Mass, I saw the priest step to the side with his paten, to allow two EMHC’s to stand side by side and distribute communion to the main two lines approaching from the center aisle.

This particular priest spends a lot of time stressing community and makes comments about how he is just one of us. Guess he was trying to demonstrate that?
 
Credo_in_Deum said:
Why are EMHC being used as the norm if their title says they’re extraordinary? I’m just asking because the Extraordinary Form is titled thus because it’s not the Ordinary Form. So shouldn’t the name of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion be dropped and given the title of how they’re truly operating in our Churches as Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion?
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novusCatholic said:
True. It doesn’t seem so extraordinary to me, but the norm.

In a recent Mass, I saw the priest step to the side with his paten, to allow two EMHC’s to stand side by side and distribute communion to the main two lines approaching from the center aisle.

This particular priest spends a lot of time stressing community and makes comments about how he is just one of us. Guess he was trying to demonstrate that?
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Because the Ordinary Minister of Holy Communion is the priest, which is still the norm.

This thread is extraordinarily in the TC. Should be in the Liturgy and Sacraments. 😛
 
choliks said:
Because the Ordinary Minister of Holy Communion is the priest, which is still the norm.

This thread is extraordinarily in the TC. Should be in the Liturgy and Sacraments. 😛
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A deacon is also an Ordinary Minister of Holy Communion.
 
Ordinary and extraordinary in this context does not mean “common” or “usual” vs “uncommon” or “unusual.” They are canonical terms that refer to who performs a certain function by right and who performs that function by delegation.

For example, a Bishop is the Ordinary minister of the sacrament of confirmation. A priest is the extraordinary minister of confirmation. In some diocese it is the norm for a priest (e.g. the pastor or the dean) to administer the sacrament of confirmation but he is still the extraordinary minister since he needs delegation to administer the sacrament. A Bishop does not need delegation from anyone to administer the sacrament of confirmation and thus remains always the Ordinary minister even if he rarely performs confirmations.

When it comes to distributing communion, the laity do not do so as if it is their right to distribute communion. They need to be appointed/delegated to do so.
 
NewEnglandPriest said:
Ordinary and extraordinary in this context does not mean “common” or “usual” vs “uncommon” or “unusual.” They are canonical terms that refer to who performs a certain function by right and who performs that function by delegation.

For example, a Bishop is the Ordinary minister of the sacrament of confirmation. A priest is the extraordinary minister of confirmation. In some diocese it is the norm for a priest (e.g. the pastor or the dean) to administer the sacrament of confirmation but he is still the extraordinary minister since he needs delegation to administer the sacrament. A Bishop does not need delegation from anyone to administer the sacrament of confirmation and thus remains always the Ordinary minister even if he rarely performs confirmations.

When it comes to distributing communion, the laity do not do so as if it is their right to distribute communion. They need to be appointed/delegated to do so.
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Thank you Father, for the explanations! I am always learning. 🙂
 
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