Healing Mass

[VAC]

A few weeks ago, I returned to an old parish I attended years ago when I heard they were having a healing mass. There is a new music director for that mass, and I have many dear friends at that parish and in the music ministry who are very charismatic.

In the last ten years after reading every church document I could locate, I now lead, sing and play very traditional music at one of the my parish’s early masses. We are the most traditional group at our church, and this is our priest’s preference as well.

My other reason for wanting to attend is that my 25 year old son with addiction and other health problems, who professed to believe in nothing for years, now is clean, obtaining medication legally, believes in Jesus and has been coming to mass with us for several months. He prefers the healing mass, with its upbeat music, and that the priest speaks clearer English than the ones at our parish.

What’s different about this mass is that after the homily and before the prayer of the faithful., the priest invites anyone who feels they need extra prayer to come to the front pews. The priest then goes around laying hands upon and praying for them. Also other members of the congregation follow, circulate and pray over these people. Music is played and sung during this part of the service. I want to know if this is a legitimate extension of the prayer of the faithful, or if this falls under ‘adding or taking away from the liturgy’ as forbidden in the GIRM.

I await your responses.

 

[Sirach2]

Rejoice in God for calling your son back to Himself! At his age, I can easily believe this type of mass would be more favorable to his devotion than others, perhaps. Florida is known to have many elderly and ailing individuals, and it sounds like you have a very compassionate priest.

I have been to healing services in our parishes where we all line up in every other
pew, and the priest walks between the rows and bestows the sacrament of the sick, with prayer, upon those who wish to be anointed. Reading between the lines, it may be what your priest is doing, minus the anointing. Prayers of the community for healing can be very powerful and effective. You might ask your diocesan bishop for clarity as to whether it is okay. If they have advertised in your bulletin that this is specifically a mass for healing of the sick, it may be perfectly lawful.

Some masses combine the sacrament of baptism within the liturgy, and, likewise, are not the normal Sunday liturgy. These are no doubt valid exceptions, but you always have recourse to more information from other pastors and/or bishop. Are you hesitant to ask your pastor, because you perhaps believe he is doing wrong?

 

[InThePew]

What’s different about this mass is that after the homily and before the prayer of the faithful., the priest invites anyone who feels they need extra prayer to come to the front pews. The priest then goes around laying hands upon and praying for them. Also other members of the congregation follow, circulate and pray over these people. Music is played and sung during this part of the service. I want to know if this is a legitimate extension of the prayer of the faithful, or if this falls under ‘adding or taking away from the liturgy’ as forbidden in the GIRM.

I await your responses.

Don’t be too strict in your reading of the GIRM (after all, there’s almost always occasional additions or deletions to some extent) the mass is for the people and so the question that needs to be asked is whether what’s happening helps or hinders their relationship with Christ in the mass.

 

[pianistclare]

We have this at our parish on the Anniversary of our Feast Day every year.
It’s along Mass, but beautiful.

 

[cjforJesus]

A few weeks ago, I returned to an old parish I attended years ago when I heard they were having a healing mass. There is a new music director for that mass, and I have many dear friends at that parish and in the music ministry who are very charismatic.

In the last ten years after reading every church document I could locate, I now lead, sing and play very traditional music at one of the my parish’s early masses. We are the most traditional group at our church, and this is our priest’s preference as well.

My other reason for wanting to attend is that my 25 year old son with addiction and other health problems, who professed to believe in nothing for years, now is clean, obtaining medication legally, believes in Jesus and has been coming to mass with us for several months. He prefers the healing mass, with its upbeat music, and that the priest speaks clearer English than the ones at our parish.

What’s different about this mass is that after the homily and before the prayer of the faithful., the priest invites anyone who feels they need extra prayer to come to the front pews. The priest then goes around laying hands upon and praying for them. Also other members of the congregation follow, circulate and pray over these people. Music is played and sung during this part of the service. I want to know if this is a legitimate extension of the prayer of the faithful, or if this falls under ‘adding or taking away from the liturgy’ as forbidden in the GIRM.

I await your responses.

Healing masses are very common and offered by most parishes.

These masses are not to be confused with the Sacrament of Anointing of the sick as that I believe must always be preceded by sacramental Reconciliation.and is reserved for those who are seriously ill.

In healing masses the priests anoints all who come forward with any type of physical mental or emotional problem, and often times other prayer groups pray over them as well.

Tha’ts my take anyway,but I believe the Sacrament of Last rites(as it used to be called) or Anointing of Sick can also be administered during mass but I am not sure of the rubrics.

 

[silvergrasshopp]

Can I say something?
I am personally not in favour of such masses. The Mass is intended to be a sacrifice to offer to God. People should come to Mass to offer themselves and let God be the one who receives the most benefits out of a Mass, not themselves. The main reason we come to Mass is not primarily to receive something (or even to enjoy the music). Healing mass will give the impression that the people attend it only because they want to be healed.

 

[pianistclare]

Can I say something?
I am personally not in favour of such masses. The Mass is intended to be a sacrifice to offer to God. People should come to Mass to offer themselves and let God be the one who receives the most benefits out of a Mass, not themselves. The main reason we come to Mass is not primarily to receive something (or even to enjoy the music). Healing mass will give the impression that the people attend it only because they want to be healed.

It’s generally once a year.
Let’s not second guess the priests and the way in which the serve the people of God.
Even Jesus washed the Apostles feet at the Last Supper. I doubt He’d have a problem with people being anointed every now and then.

 

[TimothyH]

My parish has a quarterly healing Mass.

After the homily and before the prayers of the faithful we have anointing of the sick. It is one of my favorite Masses to serve and is done in conjunction with a novena to St. Jude, benediction and veneration of a relic of St. Jude.

The parish next door to the local hospital does a healing Mass with anointing every Wednesday at Noon. It is humbling to see all the crutches and wheelchairs.

I don’t understand why a pastor would arrange for a healing Mass with prayers but without the sacrament of anointing. I have heard of it but I don’t understand what the reasoning is, especially since the oil is right there in the ambry.

-Tim-

 

[ProVobis]

The parish next door to the local hospital does a healing Mass with anointing every Wednesday at Noon. It is humbling to see all the crutches and wheelchairs.

The VA hospital my dad stayed at performed such a Mass in its chapel. It appears more visitors took advantage of it rather than the patients themselves. Of course the priest would visit those patients later.

 

[TimothyH]

The VA hospital my dad stayed at performed such a Mass in its chapel. It appears more visitors took advantage of it rather than the patients themselves. Of course the priest would visit those patients later.

The VA hospital can be rough.

At our healing Mass people bring the elderly who clearly have some form of dementia, people on chemo, newborn babies with severe deformities, people missing limbs, bandaged and covered with sores.

When I serve, I stand next to the priest and hold a small silver tray with a custard dish used to hold the oil. The sick and infirm come forward and the priest anoints them two feet in front of me. I can see the parents and family members crying as they come forward, looking for a miracle.

We had a teenager with cancer given up for incurable. He was anointed and had a miracle cure.

I’m not surprised that visitors came to the chapel at the VA hospital ProVobis. Word of our healing Mass has gotten around so that many come. These are people with great faith, looking for God’s presence and power in the sacrament.

-Tim-

 

[FrDavid96]

No, this type of thing is not legitimate.

This is what the Church has to say on the matter:

Art. 3 – § 1. Liturgical prayers for healing are celebrated according to the rite prescribed in the Ordo benedictionis infirmorum of the Rituale Romanum (28) and with the proper sacred vestments indicated therein.

Art. 7 – § 1. Without prejudice to what is established above in art. 3 or to the celebrations for the sick provided in the Church’s liturgical books, prayers for healing – whether liturgical or non-liturgical – must not be introduced into the celebration of the Holy Mass, the sacraments, or the Liturgy of the Hours.
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20001123_istruzione_en.html

There is no “other members of the congregation follow, circulate and pray over these people” in the Church’s liturgy.

It is permitted for the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick to be administered during Mass. But only in the way that it is described in the liturgical texts. These can be found in a few places, the most common being Pastoral Care of the Sick and the book The Rites

The Catholic Church does not have anything called a “healing Mass.” There is a ritual Mass for Anointing of the Sick. The Sacrament of Anointing takes place during this Mass, and there are some minor variations (eg minor changes to the Eucharistic Prayers).

 

[FrDavid96]

M…

I don’t understand why a pastor would arrange for a healing Mass with prayers but without the sacrament of anointing. I have heard of it but I don’t understand what the reasoning is, especially since the oil is right there in the ambry.

-Tim-

The answer is because that’s exactly what the Church intends. There are proper Masses to pray for the sick. One option is for the priest to administer the Sacrament of Anointing during Mass. But it’s just one option among many.

There might be people present who are sick yet are not so ill that they are candidates for Anointing. Also, just because there’s no one to be anointed, that doesn’t exclude the possibility that we can still pray for them in their absence. (For example, we can have a Mass for the Sick in the parish church even though the persons for whom we’re praying are in the hospital). The point is that we can always pray for healing, even though the specific circumstances might be such that no one who needs Anointing is actually present.

 

[TimothyH]

The answer is because that’s exactly what the Church intends. There are proper Masses to pray for the sick. One option is for the priest to administer the Sacrament of Anointing during Mass. But it’s just one option among many.

There might be people present who are sick yet are not so ill that they are candidates for Anointing. Also, just because there’s no one to be anointed, that doesn’t exclude the possibility that we can still pray for them in their absence. (For example, we can have a Mass for the Sick in the parish church even though the persons for whom we’re praying are in the hospital). The point is that we can always pray for healing, even though the specific circumstances might be such that no one who needs Anointing is actually present.

Thank you Father. I appreciate your response very much.

By “healing mass with prayers” I did not mean prayers for the sick legitimately allowed within the Mass itself but as the other poster put it, “other members of the congregation follow, circulate and pray over these people” which you explained are not allowed.

Your use of the term proper Masses prompted me to open my missal and look at the section “Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions” and I do see a Mass for the Sick on 1313 - 1315.

For chastity, for charity, for the preservation of peace and justice, even a Mass for our oppressors. These are all very beautiful and I am going to study them a little tonight.

Thank you again Father David.

-Tim-