How do they do it at World Youth Day Masses?

[Rosalinda]

An interesting question was posed to me today and I didn’t know the answer but said I would post it for a response.

As hundreds of thousands of Catholics receive communion at the World Youth outdoor Masses how is it possible to confect the Eucharist for all of them?

Are some of the communion wafers consecrated and reserved beforehand?

or

Does all of the bread and the wine which is going to be consecrated actually need to be directly on the altar itself while the Pope prays the words of the Eucharistic Liturgy?

If he intends it can he confect the Eucharist in wafers being held in a chalice even a mile away?

This same person wanted to know is it possible to have containers with wine on the altar during the words of consecration which do not undergo transubstantiation and therefore do not change into the Precious Blood because the priest simply had too much wine which he didn’t intend to confect? Rather than put the extra wine on a side table he simply sets it to a corner of the altar.

Anyone up to handling these questions- if they aren’t too confusing- please do.

 

[netmilsmom]

Rosalinda:

An interesting question was posed to me today and I didn’t know the answer but said I would post it for a response.

As hundreds of thousands of Catholics receive communion at the World Youth outdoor Masses how is it possible to confect the Eucharist for all of them?

Are some of the communion wafers consecrated and reserved beforehand?

or

Does all of the bread and the wine which is going to be consecrated actually need to be directly on the altar itself while the Pope prays the words of the Eucharistic Liturgy?

If he intends it can he confect the Eucharist in wafers being held in a chalice even a mile away?

This same person wanted to know is it possible to have containers with wine on the altar during the words of consecration which do not undergo transubstantiation and therefore do not change into the Precious Blood because the priest simply had too much wine which he didn’t intend to confect? Rather than put the extra wine on a side table he simply sets it to a corner of the altar.

Anyone up to handling these questions- if they aren’t too confusing- please do.

On the website, Free Republic, one of our “FReepers” (who is also a member of the Anti-Catholic Troll Hunters League, with me) is there right now. She is reporting back every day.

I will ask and post what I find out.

 

[joshua1]

My priest was a seminarian when Pope John Paul II visited Baltimore and held an outdoor Mass. He explained to us that at the moment of the words of consecration, all the seminarians that were stationed throughout the stadium unwrapped their chalice that contained the hosts and held them up in the air. I guess that all the hosts were consecrated by intention. This was a papal Mass and it does make sense being so many partaking communion. This of course is extraordinary because usually I think what on the corperal is consecrated,???

 

[flamingsword]

When I have been to large Masses, Mother Theresa’s Beatification and others. What happens is that the Pope consecrates hosts on the main altar, an altar at the back of the square, and then in the ciborium held by priests who are vested with albs and stoles. I am unsure if they were concelebrating. But what happens is that most people do not receive. Therefore the parishes close to the celebration are told to distribute already consecrated hosts to people wishing to receive for a short time after the Mass. This happened to me a few times when I was studying there.

 

[mosher]

It is not strictly necessary for all the matter to be on the corporal for the consecration. However under normal circumstances it must be on the altar. As far a “special” situations such as a large papal mass or the like it is not necessary for it to be directly on the altar. The celebrating priest is made aware of the other matter scattered about in different locations and as long as he intends to consecrate them then it happens.

As far as limiting the number of hosts or the amount of wine that is consecrated it is technically up to the priest. If he directly decides to not intend the confection of one ciboria or another of hosts then that is his perogative. However, it is not a good practice because it could confuse the faithful.

 

[Brain]

from what I know of large outdoor masses, (like JP the great’s funeral or B16’s inaugeral mass), there are dozens, if not hundreds (B16’s inaguration had 300) of rank and file priests (as opposed to the dignitary bishops cardinals and partiarchs who stand in the sanctuary with the pope) who are either in the front off the mass of people or stationed throughout the crowd holding ciboria in their hands and concelebrating the mass with the pope (thus concecrating the bread in their hands).

 

[robertaf]

I went to the LA Coluseum when the Pope was there. They served everyone, just as they do when we go to the Conference this Labor Day in Anaheim. Granted Anaheim is small potatoes, only approx. 15,000 compared to other events but still a large croud to serve.

Jesus only had 5000 to feed but that is the whole thing. The Priest or the Pope is an instrument, used by God to consecrate the Holy Eucharist. God will complete what the celebrant starts.

He doesn’t need our idea of perfect arrangements to get it done either.

 

[mosher]

robertaf:

I went to the LA Coluseum when the Pope was there. They served everyone, just as they do when we go to the Conference this Labor Day in Anaheim. Granted Anaheim is small potatoes, only approx. 15,000 compared to other events but still a large croud to serve.

Jesus only had 5000 to feed but that is the whole thing. The Priest or the Pope is an instrument, used by God to consecrate the Holy Eucharist. God will complete what the celebrant starts.

He doesn’t need our idea of perfect arrangements to get it done either.

Not to be too direct but that is really bad theology. God has bound Himself to the cooperation of humans in the confecting of the Sacraments. If all the necessary human requirements are not there then God will not act. Any other position on the nature of the Sacraments is contrary to basic Sacramental Theology and the canons of Trent.