Holy Thursday Transfer of the Holy Eucharist Procession?

[TigerKitty]

We may or may not have done something inappropriate on Holy Thursday…

We are new to a particular parish, and when they started the procession for the transfer of the Holy Eucharist, the people in front of us in the pews filed out and started following the process. As did everyone on that side of the church. Being new to the parish, we thought that maybe this was the tradition there, although I had never seen this done anywhere else.

We were sitting about half-way back, and everyone in front of us joined the procession, so we did, too. And people behind us did as well. Then the procession stopped at the remote tabernacle, and everyone in the procession went back to their seats. It was a bit unorganized. My husband likened it to a mini flash mob.

Any rate, I feel horrible if this was inappropriate. Has anyone else ever had an experience like this? We didn’t know what to do, so we just followed the people in front of us…

 

[agnes_therese]

When the missal says “a procession is formed,” it doesn’t say that ONLY those listed (priest,etc.) can be in the procession.

 

[brian614]

At out Church the entire Parish joins in the procession as it goes outside before the Altar is stripped…

 

[aemcpa]

As far as I know, the people are always permitted to participate in any public Eucharistic procession.

 

[Joannm]

We all processed out of church to our parish center.

 

[TigerKitty]

Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut everyone. Now I don’t feel so bad.

 

[Martin15]

I have never seen a procession like this in any church that I have been to the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at (in the UK); but then Eucharistic Processions are very rare in general here.

Not wanting to hijack the thread, but a related question; was the procession done in silence? or was there a hymn? if so, what hymn was it? I ask as our parish had a guitar-accompanied modern hymn (although with relatively sympathetic lyrics); I would rather have had the Pange Lingua Gloriosi .

 

[Chatter163]

It is the norm for the people to walk in any eucharistic procession, including the transfer of the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of repose on Maundy Thursday.

I have seen churches where the people do not walk in the procession, usually because the altar of repose has been set up somwehere in the main church, making the distance from the high altar to the altar of repose very short and probably confusing, as the OP mentions, if a church full of people tried to walk the very short distance, where there is little space. Ideally, however, the altar of repose is set up in a place other than the main church, and this enables the people to walk in the procession. IME, this is what the majority of parishes do.