GIRM for Communion Service?

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Is there something like the GIRM for Communion Service? I went to a Communion Service last nite as our Priest was not available to say Mass. Right before Communion we all went up to the altar at the request of the person doing the Communion Service. It was a small group, 7 or 8 people in all. She gave the paten with the Eucharist on it to the first person and said “Body of Christ” it was then passed to the next person and all through the line of people till we all had the Eucharist. We then held the Eucharist up and said “Lord I am not worthy…” We all consumed the Eucharist at the same time. I felt a little weird doing this but if its OK to do then its OK. So is there some guide for Communion Services that you can check for stuff like that?
 
I’m by no means an expert, and I haven’t been to a communion service, but that doesn’t sound right. Sounds more like how the Lutherans have communion to me. Was the person in charge at least an EMHC or a deacon?

S
 
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Holland:
Is there something like the GIRM for Communion Service? I went to a Communion Service last nite as our Priest was not available to say Mass. Right before Communion we all went up to the altar at the request of the person doing the Communion Service. It was a small group, 7 or 8 people in all. She gave the paten with the Eucharist on it to the first person and said “Body of Christ” it was then passed to the next person and all through the line of people till we all had the Eucharist. We then held the Eucharist up and said “Lord I am not worthy…” We all consumed the Eucharist at the same time. I felt a little weird doing this but if its OK to do then its OK. So is there some guide for Communion Services that you can check for stuff like that?
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Much of the GIRM is applicable to “Communion Services.” The actual rite is contained in:

Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside of Mass It’s available through the Catholic Book Publishing Company, as well as other vendors I’m sure.
 
The liturgical book book for Mass is the Roman Missal. For a Communion Service it is “Holy Communion and the Worship of the Eucharist Outside of Mass”. It was published in Latin in 1973.

The ceremony described did not follow the instructions in this liturgical book:

“46. The minister genuflects. Taking the host, he raises it slightly over the vessel or pyx and, facing the people, says:
This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Happy are those who are called to his supper.
The communicants say once:
Lord, I am not worthy to receive you,
but only say the word and I shall be healed.
COMMUNION
47. If the minister receives communion, he says quietly:
May the body of Christ bring me to everlasting life.
He reverently consumes the body of Christ.
48. The he takes the vessel or pyx and goes to the communicants. He takes a host for each one, raises it slightly, and says:
The body of Christ.
The communicant answers: Amen, and receives communion.”

(From The Rites Volume One, Liturgical Press, 1990, ISBN 0-8146-6015-0, page 656).
 
There are two texts that I would look at. One is “Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass” and the other, less pertinent, really, but often used as a reference, even for weekday communion services is “Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest”. I say that it is less pertinent in that it is specifically designed for Sunday celebrations.

In my opinon, there are two things that require attention here.

First, the “gathering around the altar.” This is always a suspect practice. We are already gathered around the altar, and there is no need to “come closer.”

Second, is the handing off of the paten to each person. This is done with concelebrating priests and assisting deacons when there are a large number of ministers (meaning large, diocesan-wide style celebrations - where there are entire sections set aside for the clergy), and, I suppose, this is an attempt at doing something similar. The problem that I see with this is in that the lay minister who is presiding (I know that this term has had some discussion centered around it, but that** is** what they are doing) at the service is the only one who has been granted permission, even if it were a standing permission, to be, what is in essence, an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. The same procedures that exist in your parish for Communion at Mass should have been practiced for the Communion Service.

In retrospect, I expect that you were all self-communicating, which is reserved for the priest celebrant and concelebrants (not even the deacons ;)).

Dn. Jim
 
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Holland:
Is there something like the GIRM for Communion Service? I went to a Communion Service last nite as our Priest was not available to say Mass. Right before Communion we all went up to the altar at the request of the person doing the Communion Service. It was a small group, 7 or 8 people in all. She gave the paten with the Eucharist on it to the first person and said “Body of Christ” it was then passed to the next person and all through the line of people till we all had the Eucharist. We then held the Eucharist up and said “Lord I am not worthy…” We all consumed the Eucharist at the same time. I felt a little weird doing this but if its OK to do then its OK. So is there some guide for Communion Services that you can check for stuff like that?
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I think the passing of paten and the communicant removing it is “self-communion”. I think that only the ordained can do that (maybe an exception in the case of a lay minister conducting the service). However, it is my suspicion that this was an inadvertent mistake. I live in a rural state. When out deer hunting, I looked up on Masstimes.org for a nearby Mass. When I got there, I discovered that there was no Mass that Sunday as it was a missionary parish and the Priest only came every other week and the other week, they had a Communion Service. The week I was there, the usual person in charge didn’t make it because of weather or illness so another person did his best to fill in. While respect and reverance was present, I can tell that it wasn’t probably done exactly kosher. When I left, everyone was talking about how “Father needs to train a few more of us to fill in if Virgil doesn’t make it.”

My point is that if you think this is going to be a regular occurence, you might want to talk to the Pastor to figure out if there can be a training session(s) and determine a heirarchy or schedule of who will conduct the service.
 
Redemptionis Sacramentum addresses this in a general fashion in paragraphs 134-141.

This instruction, “Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass”, is perhaps more detailed. However, you will see that the so-called “Communion Service” is an unofficial term. Such a gathering should be done only in grave circumstances. Like so many other things (EMHC, for example), we find these employed far too commonly.

I must say, that any rules pertaining to the Mass should logically be observed outside of the Mass, too. With that said, self-communicating is never allowed in the manner you described. Next time, I suggest the group find a nearby Mass or bypass Holy Communion altogether in order to safely comply with the Vatican’s directives.

I believe the documents I provided also mention that for such services, no one individual, lest he be a Deacon, act solely as the “leader”. This is to help maintain the distinction between those who are ordained for this purpose and those who are filling a temporary, extra-ordinary role.
 
With that said, self-communicating is never allowed in the manner you described. Next time, I suggest the group find a nearby Mass or bypass Holy Communion altogether in order to safely comply with the Vatican’s directives.

I believe the documents I provided also mention that for such services, no one individual, lest he be a Deacon, act solely as the “leader”. This is to help maintain the distinction between those who are ordained for this purpose and those who are filling a temporary, extra-ordinary role.
 
I have read all the replies and my sense of things not being quite right was correct. So if you find yourself in that kind of a situation what should you do? If I could have gone to another church I would have. The next nearest church is 60 miles away. Would it really have been better not to go at all? Of course, I didn’t know what the service was going to be like till I was in the middle of it. So its back to, what should you do if you find yourself in the middle of a service like that and you know they are not doing things in the right manner?
 
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Holland:
IThe next nearest church is 60 miles away.
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Wow! I guess that does create a realistic problem.
Would it really have been better not to go at all? Of course, I didn’t know what the service was going to be like till I was in the middle of it. So its back to, what should you do if you find yourself in the middle of a service like that and you know they are not doing things in the right manner?
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You should not have stayed home. After all, the documents *do *encourage prayer and Adoration before the Tabernacle. However, it seems that there was no grave need to distribute Holy Communion to those present.

I have never found myself in this situation (and God willing I never will) but I would certainly discuss what happened with the priest and/or Bishop. The priest may not have a problem with it, but I suspect the Bishop will. How else could he respond in light of the provided documentation?

In Christ,
Michael
 
MSPROULE, since you think that 60 miles is a problem, I know of areas in my state where Priests serve parishes even farther apart than that. The issue of Communion service is a common reality in remote rural areas of the country (I guess Alaska is the extreme). Additionally, in Muslim countries where Christianity is illegal, Catholics come together on the Sabbath in homes to be together (but unless someone has recently traveled outside the country or visited a US military base, they don’t even have access to the Eucharist).

In an effort to allow these people in parish’s w/o a Priest to have a much a Catholic life as possible, Communion Service’s w/o the presence of a Priest or even a Deacon is very common most Sundays. The Church doesn’t want them to have to forego fellowship just becuase they don’t have a Priest (remember it is our fellow worshippers that we are also able to experience physically Christ).

Additionally, becuase these people have to live w/o the benefit of the Mass and its graces, the Church believes that the Eucharist is that much more critical to their spiritual well-being.
 
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Holland:
I have read all the replies and my sense of things not being quite right was correct. So if you find yourself in that kind of a situation what should you do? If I could have gone to another church I would have. The next nearest church is 60 miles away. Would it really have been better not to go at all? Of course, I didn’t know what the service was going to be like till I was in the middle of it. So its back to, what should you do if you find yourself in the middle of a service like that and you know they are not doing things in the right manner?
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No, I certainly wouldn’t have stayed home. This service is designed to provide for the situations when there is no other Mass available to faithful who either a) regularly gather for Mass or b) are gathered for a particular occasion, expecting Mass (as the Solemnity last night), and, for some reason, a priest is not available (sick, detained, etc.). It sounds like this celebration was actually done for the right reasons, in the correct circumstances.

Questions I would ask, though, would be:

Was there a Mass scheduled for this time, and the priest was simply unable to make it for some grave reason?

Was there a Mass earlier or later in the day, that the faithful could have reasonably attended? In which case, the need for the Communion Service is debatable.

Was this a planned Communion Service, “just to have something”, in which case, I would not have scheduled the service, and guided the faithful to one of the other churches in the area, or one of the other Masses at another time of day.

In any case, you celebrated as you were able, and in good conscience. As others have pointed out, you may want to bring your concerns up to your parish priest, and, if there is the possibility of this happening again, I would suggest a training for suitably competent volunteers. I do assume that you have no deacon available, who would be the Ordinary Minister of this celebration were it to be necessary again.
 
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Holland:
Is there something like the GIRM for Communion Service? I went to a Communion Service last nite as our Priest was not available to say Mass. Right before Communion we all went up to the altar at the request of the person doing the Communion Service. It was a small group, 7 or 8 people in all. She gave the paten with the Eucharist on it to the first person and said “Body of Christ” it was then passed to the next person and all through the line of people till we all had the Eucharist. We then held the Eucharist up and said “Lord I am not worthy…” We all consumed the Eucharist at the same time. I felt a little weird doing this but if its OK to do then its OK. So is there some guide for Communion Services that you can check for stuff like that?
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The person conducting the Communion service should have held a host up and said the “Lamb of God”. Then distributed Holy Communion to each individual themselves. It is forbidden to pass the hosts or chalice from one person to another.
 
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Holland:
I have read all the replies and my sense of things not being quite right was correct. So if you find yourself in that kind of a situation what should you do? If I could have gone to another church I would have. The next nearest church is 60 miles away. Would it really have been better not to go at all? Of course, I didn’t know what the service was going to be like till I was in the middle of it. So its back to, what should you do if you find yourself in the middle of a service like that and you know they are not doing things in the right manner?
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You can simply not go up when everyone else does. Wait until Holy Communion is distributed go up receive and step aside. Do not take the paten in your hand simply hold out your hands as you would do to receive.
 
We have a priest here most Sundays but during the week he serves other nearby communities. I usually attend mass at a parish that is more than 100 miles away and am happy to drive that distance. Good time to say the Rosary! I am happier at a more traditonal Parish. I have come away from Mass here in this community upset more than once over something that went on during Mass. Having said that it seems most of the people here seem to be quite happy with what they have and I will attend Mass here if I can’t get to the Parish I prefer. That is what happened yesterday. Weather conditions did not allow me to travel the distance to the Parish I usually attend. If the people here are happy with what they have who am I to complain, right? I guess what I was looking for was some advice on what to do on an individual basis. Should I just get up and leave if something outrageous should occur during a Communion Service or Mass?
 
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Holland:
Should I just get up and leave if something outrageous should occur during a Communion Service or Mass?
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I wouldn’t say so, generally. I do tend to believe the best of people, and so I would assume that the things that you have described are not being done out of malicious intent, but out of ignorance of the rubrics for the celebration. Now, if it is persistent, and, so, interfering with your worship, yes, you might consider not attending, but a single instance, a one-time thing, unless it is egregious and outright malicious, no, stay, and then address your concerns.
 
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Holland:
Is there something like the GIRM for Communion Service? I went to a Communion Service last nite as our Priest was not available to say Mass. Right before Communion we all went up to the altar at the request of the person doing the Communion Service. It was a small group, 7 or 8 people in all. She gave the paten with the Eucharist on it to the first person and said “Body of Christ” it was then passed to the next person and all through the line of people till we all had the Eucharist. We then held the Eucharist up and said “Lord I am not worthy…” We all consumed the Eucharist at the same time. I felt a little weird doing this but if its OK to do then its OK. So is there some guide for Communion Services that you can check for stuff like that?
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The local bishop is responsible for the procedure followed in a Communion Service. He has the responsibility to see that people are trained properly. In our diocese, the bishop has a list of people that are trained to help out. You should voice your concerns to the diocese.

Deacon Tony
 
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Orionthehunter:
…since you think that 60 miles is a problem…
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Similar situations exist in remote areas of my state, as well…I understand that not all have as many luxuries as we enjoy here in South East MI. Holland did not mention this piece of very relevant information in the original post. It possibly alters the interpretation of the regulations, and that is to what I was referring.
In an effort to allow these people in parish’s w/o a Priest to have a much a Catholic life as possible, Communion Service’s w/o the presence of a Priest or even a Deacon is very common most Sundays.
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Although this was not a Sunday it was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (a Holy Day of Obligation in the U.S.). So perhaps that, coupled with the unique opportunity for a Plenary Indulgence, was grave enough reason to partake in Holy Communion. I do not know…
:hmmm:
 
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