Im Episcopalian and I was invited to a Catholic Baptism...

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Casey123

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Hello all,

I’m an Episcopalian, and I would like to know something: I was invited to the baptism of my cousin’s child, and it’s a Catholic ceremony. I know there are certain rules that I should abide by to be respectful, like not taking the Eucharist, but that’s pretty much all I know. There will be a mass, and I wanted to know if there are any other protocols that I should follow while I’m visiting the church?

I don’t want to be disrespectful, or commit a religious faux pax.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Casey
 
As long as you refrain from receiving Communion I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I think you’ll be familiar with the Mass but will notice that the order of things is not quite the same. That was my experience when I attended an Anglican Communion service.
 
As above. Also, go up for a blessing. Fold your arms and the celebrant will know you want a blessing. Always good to have a blessing.

Enjoy the celebration and the love of God.

God Bless You
 
Thank you! That’s so kind! 🙂 God’s peace and blessings be with you as well 🙂
 
Hi Casey123

Yes, just like the others have said - non-Catholic visitors should not take communion, (unless they are an eastern orthodox, who presents themselves of their own free will), but are welcome to approach for a blessing as described.

Do not be hesitant (or whatever) about the event: much will be familiar to you, as stated (I know when I attended Church of England Anglican services as a child, when on holiday, there was almost no difference between those services and ours).

And it is of course true that the Catholic clergy and congregation will want you to feel most welcome and fully at ease.

🙂
 
Casey123 said:
Hello all,

I’m an Episcopalian, and I would like to know something: I was invited to the baptism of my cousin’s child, and it’s a Catholic ceremony. I know there are certain rules that I should abide by to be respectful, like not taking the Eucharist, but that’s pretty much all I know. There will be a mass, and I wanted to know if there are any other protocols that I should follow while I’m visiting the church?

I don’t want to be disrespectful, or commit a religious faux pax.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Casey
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The only thing non-Catholics shouldn’t do at a normal Catholic mass is receive the Eucharist. In everything else just follow along with those around you :).

The one thing I would add to what others have said has to do with going up for a blessing during communion. This has become common in a lot of places, but it isn’t universal (and I’ve read that it is being discouraged by the Vatican, since everybody gets a blessing at the end of the Mass anyway and communion isn’t the ‘proper time’ for individual blessings).

In my diocese, people who can’t receive – because they aren’t Catholic, or they need to go to confession, or they haven’t fasted for 1 hour – are encouraged to stay at their seats to pray and make a spiritual communion.

I would ask your cousin about what the norm is at the parish where the Baptism will take place. But either way, don’t stress about it :). I’m a convert (from the Methodist church), and when I first started going to Catholic Mass I had no idea what was going on…but nobody was glaring at me or judging me or anything like that. They were just glad I was there!

Oh, one more thing. When we say the ‘Our Father’ (the Lord’s Prayer), we stop earlier than most non-Catholics do. We leave off the ‘for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever’ part. We do have a very similar response, but it’s after a break where the priest says some other words. My dad jokes that it’s trap for Protestants ;). First couple times I went to Mass I continued with the prayer on autopilot and got a couple words out before I realized everybody else had stopped.

God bless!
 
Casey123 said:
Hello all,

I’m an Episcopalian, and I would like to know something: I was invited to the baptism of my cousin’s child, and it’s a Catholic ceremony. I know there are certain rules that I should abide by to be respectful, like not taking the Eucharist, but that’s pretty much all I know. There will be a mass, and I wanted to know if there are any other protocols that I should follow while I’m visiting the church?

I don’t want to be disrespectful, or commit a religious faux pax.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Casey
Click to expand...
Unless the Baptism occurs in the context of the Mass (which isn’t the usual practice for Catholic infant baptism in the U.S.) the issue of the Eucharist will not come up.
 
I don’t know of any Catholic or Anglican parish that would not want you to take communion. There would be no objections in practice. The Real Presence of Christ is recognized; this wonderful gift to all present. Even little children sometimes take holy communion before receiving their First Communion; it is Christ’s Body & Blood whoever receives the Host/ Wine.

Anglicans would find the service almost identical to the Prayer Book; same for Lutherans.
 
EvangelCatholic said:
I don’t know of any Catholic or Anglican parish that would not want you to take communion. There would be no objections in practice. The Real Presence of Christ is recognized; this wonderful gift to all present. Even little children sometimes take holy communion before receiving their First Communion; it is Christ’s Body & Blood whoever receives the Host/ Wine.

Anglicans would find the service almost identical to the Prayer Book; same for Lutherans.
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But Catholic theology is that communion is about commonality of belief among recepients - all belief, not just belief about the Real Presence. The Body of Christ subsists in the Catholic (big C) Church, so when a Catholic priest says ‘the Body of Christ’ and you say ‘Amen’, you are agreeing that you are in communion with the big-C Catholic Church.

It’s a bit like a US citizen pledging allegiance to the US flag. Citizens of other countries, however much they may have in common with the US, do not and should not do so. Neither would American citizens appreciate someone who is not a citizen aping (by the pledge) something proper only to US citizens.
 
LilyM said:
But Catholic theology is that communion is about commonality of belief among recepients - all belief, not just belief about the Real Presence. The Body of Christ subsists in the Catholic (big C) Church, so when a Catholic priest says ‘the Body of Christ’ and you say ‘Amen’, you are agreeing that you are in communion with the big-C Catholic Church.

It’s a bit like a US citizen pledging allegiance to the US flag. Citizens of other countries, however much they may have in common with the US, do not and should not do so. Neither would American citizens appreciate someone who is not a citizen aping (by the pledge) something proper only to US citizens.
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Mass is God coming to us and offer His most holy body and blood for all who believe. Once the words of institution are said, the very presence of Christ is physically among us. We kneel in awe, transported to the Upper Room with the holy apostles. A person cannot be considered Lutheran or Catholic unless he fully believes in this sacramental Union with our Lord.

That unity with Christ in the Eucharist is what is important for all catholics [Roman, Eastern, Anglican Lutheran].
 
EvangelCatholic said:
Mass is God coming to us and offer His most holy body and blood for all who believe. Once the words of institution are said, the very presence of Christ is physically among us. We kneel in awe, transported to the Upper Room with the holy apostles. A person cannot be considered Lutheran or Catholic unless he fully believes in this sacramental Union with our Lord.

That unity with Christ in the Eucharist is what is important for all catholics [Roman, Eastern, Anglican Lutheran].
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You cannot be unified sacramentally with Christ if you are divided from your fellow believers. And Anglicans, Lutherans and Catholics are divided from each other in many ways, both great and small.

To intercommune among denominations is a sham, a pretence to a state of togetherness that does not exist much as we might wish it did, and a failure to properly discern the Body and Blood.
 
LilyM said:
You cannot be unified sacramentally with Christ if you are divided from your fellow believers. And Anglicans, Lutherans and Catholics are divided from each other in many ways, both great and small.

To intercommune among denominations is a sham, a pretence to a state of togetherness that does not exist much as we might wish it did, and a failure to properly discern the Body and Blood.
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With this, I agree.

Evangel, confessional Lutherans, at least in theory, are only to commune those with whom they are in fellowship with. No different from Catholicism in that respect.
 
Gaelic_Bard said:
With this, I agree.

Evangel, confessional Lutherans, at least in theory, are only to commune those with whom they are in fellowship with. No different from Catholicism in that respect.
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Yes I am painfully aware that Lutherans can also deny Christ. For example, at my Dad’s funeral service, the LCMS pastor wrote in the Liturgy notes that anyone else must see him before Mass. Who is going to have time to speak with the priest before a requiem mass? What priest has time to question every worshiper? My Roman Catholic family members felt insulted that they could not commune since the Mass was essentially identical to their own parishes and they very much wanted to partake of the holy Meal.

We become one with our Lord when he is present. Do you think Jesus even considers affiliation? Everyone who communes receives Christ’s holy Body and Blood.
 
Dave_Noonan said:
Unless the Baptism occurs in the context of the Mass (which isn’t the usual practice for Catholic infant baptism in the U.S.) the issue of the Eucharist will not come up.
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This varies from parish to parish, and perhaps from diocese to diocese. In many places, baptisms are held once a month (or once a quarter) at a regular Sunday Mass, for all the babies in the parish who need to be baptized.
 
EvangelCatholic said:
Yes I am painfully aware that Lutherans can also deny Christ. For example, at my Dad’s funeral service, the LCMS pastor wrote in the Liturgy notes that anyone else must see him before Mass. Who is going to have time to speak with the priest before a requiem mass? What priest has time to question every worshiper? My Roman Catholic family members felt insulted that they could not commune since the Mass was essentially identical to their own parishes and they very much wanted to partake of the holy Meal.

We become one with our Lord when he is present. Do you think Jesus even considers affiliation? Everyone who communes receives Christ’s holy Body and Blood.
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Evangel, would a pastor who believes that those who do not commune properly be responsible in letting those persons potentially receive communion to their harm?
 
EvangelCatholic said:
My Roman Catholic family members felt insulted that they could not commune since the Mass was essentially identical to their own parishes and they very much wanted to partake of the holy Meal.
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As Catholics they should not receive Communion in a Protestant church. Your Roman Catholic family perhaps do not realize this which is rather strange.

Even if the outward ritual is similar, a Protestant mass is not the same as the Catholic mass, at least not int the Catholic’s view. Lily M has explained on the Catholic mass and that holds true indeed.

As for the mass as a Sarcrament, it essentially needs to have three requirements to make it valid, at least licit. These are matter, form and minister. In the Eucharist, form are words uttered in the Consecration, forms are the bread and wine and minister is the celebrant who could be a priest, a bishop or even a Pope and recognized by the Catholic Church as being ordained and thus having apostolic succession. A protestant mass though they may have matter and form, their celebrants are not endorsed by the Catholic Church and therefore make their mass invalid (through the eyes of the Catholic Church).

I am saying that you may know why Catholic forbids Communion in Protestant churches.
 
It’s strange to read on this forum what is clearly not practiced. I have celebrated Mass with Roman Catholics and Anglicans/ Episcopalian all my life. I have made cursillo retreats where everyone was either Lutheran or Catholic and expected to commune. The very thought that we would not take holy communion together would be considered an injustice and contrary to our worship in Christ. Likewise, I have made retreats in Catholic religious communities [ie. Franciscan] where the Padre was so moved by having Lutheran retreatants at Mass that he cried in joy.

Most Lutherans would never question someone standing/ kneeling at the altar; just like Anglicans, Orthodox and Roman Catholic.
 
EvangelCatholic said:
It’s strange to read on this forum what is clearly not practiced. I have celebrated Mass with Roman Catholics and Anglicans/ Episcopalian all my life. I have made cursillo retreats where everyone was either Lutheran or Catholic and expected to commune. The very thought that we would not take holy communion together would be considered an injustice and contrary to our worship in Christ. Likewise, I have made retreats in Catholic religious communities [ie. Franciscan] where the Padre was so moved by having Lutheran retreatants at Mass that he cried in joy.

Most Lutherans would never question someone standing/ kneeling at the altar; just like Anglicans, Orthodox and Roman Catholic.
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That may be your experience and good for you. I am telling you the position of the Catholic Church regarding receiving Communion in a Protestant mass. And that she disallows.

Please, it is not what you or me privately think but what the Church says.
 
There are some Orthodox Churches that would not give Communion to me, if their priest knows that I am a Catholic. What do I do? Will I be insulted? No, not at all. It is their prerogative and their rule.
 
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