How to be a good EMHC

[Annabelle_Marie]

a number of people at my parish kneel ,and it doesn’t hold up the line at all.and if it did for a few seconds, and why aren’t the kneelers used ?

In our parish you can kneel while receiving but I hardly ever see it done. Space is so tight that it would be problematic…you are liable to take out the person behind you. But I am thankful for the “problem” of too many parishioners for our space.

 

[Greg_N]

Accordingly, a reprehensible attitude is shown by those priests who, though present at the celebration, refrain from distributing Communion and leave this task to the laity.

So what’s the problem with the laity doing it themselves?

 

[Cathryn]

I would add when finished giving the chalice, do not wipe the inside of the chalice. Consume any precious blood that is left and lay the chalice and purificator on the altar (hopefully on a corporal) for the priest or deacon to purify. Do not soak up left over precious blood with the purificator by stuffing it into the chalice.

 

[agnes_therese]

So what’s the problem with the laity doing it themselves?

In the United States, that would be a violation of the GIRM, #162: " . . . they (the Extraordinary Ministers) are always to receive from the hands of the Priest Celebrant the vessel containing the species of the Most Holy Eucharist for distribution to the faithful."

Whether the instruction is different in other countries, I couldn’t say.

 

[Greg_N]

Greg_N;11039802:

So what’s the problem with the laity doing it themselves?

In the United States, that would be a violation of the GIRM, #162:

I was being coy.

 

[Urn]

So I’ve decided to become an EMHC or “Eucharistic Minister” as they’re called at my parish. I wanted to ask if anyone had any tips or suggestions for being a good EMHC. I want to help people receive the Eucharist and want to do it well. I will be serving at a Saturday Evening Eucharist with about 350 attendees and 10-14 EMHCs. We are a parish where in the hand is the norm and kneeling is out of the question.

That appears to be very out of kilter. Then again the WEstern Half of the Church does not set hard numerical specifications for the use of EMsHC like some of the Eastern churches do.

 

[Urn]

It is the duty of the pastor to instruct or make sure that the EMHC have been instructed properly. I don’t think it is wise for an EMHC to follow the instruction that you provided without having first received instruction or approval from their pastor concerning giving Holy Communion to infants and small children.

Many Latin Rite pastors really wouldn’t even know how to respond. It can also be very difficult to distribute communion to babies in the West.

I was once serving a Mass (I’m also a commissioned EMHC) and I saw a woman from my Byzantine Parish with her baby staring at me up in the sanctuary. It was a fairly easy read – the EMHC had refused to give her baby communion and there was no way she could physically maneuver to where the priest was distributing communion which would have been problematic anyway.

This was an small infant who couldn’t handle even a particle from a host at least not in that setting. I simply took the chalice that had been used by the priest, stepped down into the nave and assisted the infant in consuming a tiny drop of the Precious Blood. It was safe, the woman was happy and her child had received communion.

As we were clearing the altar my pastor quietly asked what that was all about? I said “Byzantine Catholic baby.” He knew and quietly said “OK, gotcha.” Some of the EMsHC on the other hand were upset after Mass and “wanted an explanation.”

 

[babochka]

It is the duty of the pastor to instruct or make sure that the EMHC have been instructed properly. I don’t think it is wise for an EMHC to follow the instruction that you provided without having first received instruction or approval from their pastor concerning giving Holy Communion to infants and small children.

I never assume that a EMHC knows what to do in this case, and I have no wish to create confusion or delay in the communion line. I try to approach the priest ahead of time, and do my best to get in his line. If this cannot be accomplished, then I find it easier to have my very young children not receive. My 5 and 6 year-olds usually receive regardless, but sometimes the priest or other minister looks at me for confirmation. Occasionally, they just get a blessing, and I have encouraged my children to just move on and not create a fuss in the communion line. It simply isn’t the time or place to be trying to assert their rights.