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Patso
Guest
Is there an age limit on who can be a lector? Can a child receiving their first communion read the readings at that mass?
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benedictgal
Guest
While there may not necessarily be an age limit on lectors (as far as I can tell), you must bear in mind a very important issue that Pope Benedict XVI raised in Sacramentum Caritatis:
Furthemore, you must also bear in mind that there are some words that pop up in the Lectionary that even adults can’t properly pronounce.
Just because a child is able to read well, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he can proclaim well. There is a big difference between reading and proclaiming. When a person goes up to the ambo, it is not a simple matter of reading the words in front of him. There needs to be some solid training and an understanding that the reader is actually proclaiming the text in a clear and direct manner.
Furthemore, you must also bear in mind that there are some words that pop up in the Lectionary that even adults can’t properly pronounce.
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Phemie
Guest
Like prophesy vs prophecy.
I’ve heard one and only one child of 8 ‘proclaim’ the OT reading at Mass. I’ve heard her lately as a 17 year old and she is not as good at it as she was then. I think the difference is that at the age of 8 her mother made her practice over and over and explained the reading to her. As a senior in high school I doubt very much that her mother listened to her reading at home.
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Patso
Guest
Of course I would prepare the child. I just was sure if there was a regulation saying that children couldn’t do the readings.
My parish priest won’t allow me to have a child making their first communion read.
He said the lectors would be offended because they were properly trained.
It’s just sad that children are not really allowed to be involved until after confirmation.
My parish priest won’t allow me to have a child making their first communion read.
He said the lectors would be offended because they were properly trained.
It’s just sad that children are not really allowed to be involved until after confirmation.
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benedictgal
Guest
In my diocese, parental involvement is also a big factor as to whether or not a child will serve as a good reader. The big problem is that while the child may have some proficiency in English, the parent(s) may not. Then, the child doesn’t really have a chance at practicing the readings.
This was one of the arguments my father used with his pastor regarding the issue of having the altar servers proclaim the readings (they weren’t very good at all). Furthemore, the pastor has them proclaiming the readings while they are vested in cassock and surplice. This shouldn’t be done, especially since the qualified and trained lectors are out in the pews.
My father told his pastor that serving as a reader should not be some rite of passage for the kids. Furthermore, the altar servers don’t even want to read. My dad has lost quite a few kids because they would rather serve than read.
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benedictgal
Guest
Patso, perhaps you may not understand that because your child is not just reading the text, but proclaiming the text, a great deal of preparation is needed. A good reader also needs to understand what he or she is proclaiming. That is why, not only is practical training needed, but, a good sense of understanding of the text. During my training, we were strongly encouraged to pray as we read the text. The person training us also added that we may want to read the full passage from which the particular text was pulled.
A child may nor may not have the capacity to fully understand what he or she is proclaiming. That’s why you need to take things one step at a time.
Plus, there is also an additional thing to consider. Now, please don’t take this personally, but, there are some parents who will burst with joy because their child was reading to the point that they take pictures and turn this into something it shouldn’t be. The proclamation of the Word of God is very important, as Pope Benedict indicated, and should be done with great care.
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bpbasilphx
Guest
It’s just sad that children are not really allowed to be involved until after confirmation.
Once I was at Divine Liturgy in an Orthodox Church, and the Epistle was CHANTED beautifully by a 9 year old girl.
Once I was at Divine Liturgy in an Orthodox Church, and the Epistle was CHANTED beautifully by a 9 year old girl.
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idrum677
Guest
I second this. The DRE at my former parish would make sure all the confirmation cantidates were involved the liturgy during Holy Week- including reading. Never mind making sure kids can “proclaim” the readings, some of these kids just plain couldn’t read. Not to mention the irreverent distraction having 40 students who don’t want to be there make but that’s a rant for a different thread:knight2:
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Phemie
Guest
There is a school of thought out there that children who are receiving the sacraments of initiation shouldn’t be doing anything else at that Mass. It takes their focus away from the sacrament they are about to receive.
Think about it: brides and grooms don’t do anything else at their own wedding. The ordinand doesn’t usually do the readings at his own ordination and odds are he’s the only instituted Lector there.
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Patso
Guest
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Digitonomy
Guest
I was going to mention that I attended a Melkite liturgy, and the boy reading the epistle did an admirable job, really belting it out beautifully. He was around 13 or 14.
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idrum677
Guest
If they have the ability and maturity to handle being a lector, I have no problem with using teens.
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Phemie
Guest
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benedictgal
Guest
Frankly, it is not at all odd. As Phemie noted, a couple getting married concentrates on their sacrament. During my time at the Catehdral (we used to average about 88 weddings a year–sometimes three to five on a weekend), I have never, ever seen the bride and groom proclaim the readings at their own Nuptial Mass.
I have also been to several ordinations, and as Phemie has noted (and I give her credit for the Nuptial scenario as well), I have never seen the party to be ordained proclaim the readings, let alone, preach (if the candidate is going from the transitional diaconate to the priesthood, or from the priesthood to the episcopacy) preach at his own ordination Mass.
Let the children focus on Who they are receiving rather than performing a ministry that, frankly, they may not yet have the capacity to exercise. Forcing the issue just because you don’t think it’s right doesn’t necessarily give your point credence. Furthermore, at 7 years of age, they may even have difficulty readnig some of the words, let alone fully understanding what they mean (which is also essential to proclaiming the readings). You can’t adequately proclaim what you don’t understand.
With all due respect, your pastor is correct. Let a trained and competent person proclaim the readings.
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hilde_the_dog
Guest
This is what St Leo’s in NoVa requires at a minimum “The Lectors are open to all parishioners who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation and have a love of Scripture, solid prayer lives, and the basic talent and desire to read the Word of God clearly and faithfully.” Except at children’s masses, then kids can read, most do not do it well.
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John_Lilburne
Guest
Children should not become instituted lectors, only men. Canon 230 of the Code of Canon Law: “Lay men who possess the age and qualifications determined by decree of the conference of bishops can be installed on a stable basis in the ministries of lector and acolyte in accord with the prescribed liturgical rite; …”.
If these instituted lectors are present, they should do the readings. From the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) approved for the USA, which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html :
“99. The lector is instituted to proclaim the readings from Sacred Scripture, with the exception of the Gospel. …
101. In the absence of an instituted lector, other laypersons may be commissioned to proclaim the readings from Sacred Scripture. They should be truly suited to perform this function and should receive careful preparation, so that the faithful by listening to the readings from the sacred texts may develop in their hearts a warm and living love for Sacred Scripture.”
In the 1973 Directory for Masses with Children, it encourages children in proclaiming the readings. “22. … Every effort should therefore be made to increase this participation and to make it more intense. For this reason as many children as possible should have special parts in the celebration: for example … acting as cantor … proclaiming the readings … reciting the intentions of the general intercessions …”.
But it should be noted that this is in Chapter Three “Masses with Children in Which Only a Few Adults Participate”. I would not see this as being the situation in a First Communion Mass.
In the absence of an instituted lector I see the decision on who reads as the parish priest’s. From the GIRM: “107. The liturgical duties that are not proper to the priest or the deacon and are listed above (cf. nos. 100-106) may also be entrusted by a liturgical blessing or a temporary deputation to suitable lay persons chosen by the pastor or rector of the church.”
If these instituted lectors are present, they should do the readings. From the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) approved for the USA, which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html :
“99. The lector is instituted to proclaim the readings from Sacred Scripture, with the exception of the Gospel. …
101. In the absence of an instituted lector, other laypersons may be commissioned to proclaim the readings from Sacred Scripture. They should be truly suited to perform this function and should receive careful preparation, so that the faithful by listening to the readings from the sacred texts may develop in their hearts a warm and living love for Sacred Scripture.”
In the 1973 Directory for Masses with Children, it encourages children in proclaiming the readings. “22. … Every effort should therefore be made to increase this participation and to make it more intense. For this reason as many children as possible should have special parts in the celebration: for example … acting as cantor … proclaiming the readings … reciting the intentions of the general intercessions …”.
But it should be noted that this is in Chapter Three “Masses with Children in Which Only a Few Adults Participate”. I would not see this as being the situation in a First Communion Mass.
In the absence of an instituted lector I see the decision on who reads as the parish priest’s. From the GIRM: “107. The liturgical duties that are not proper to the priest or the deacon and are listed above (cf. nos. 100-106) may also be entrusted by a liturgical blessing or a temporary deputation to suitable lay persons chosen by the pastor or rector of the church.”
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THurifer2
Guest
Lectors must be males over age of 18
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puzzleannie
Guest
first, unless one has been commissioned as an instituted lector, that one who reads the first and second readings at Mass is a reader, not a lector. Yes, if it is a children’s Mass, such as a first communion Mass, school Mass etc., children who have been properly prepared may be readers, may be cantors and choir, may read the petitions, carry up the gifts, serve as ushers and greeters. they may not be EMHCs.
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OutinChgoburbs
Guest
My daughter read the petitions with another child at her First Communion Mass, a little boy. Both children did a lovely job. Her only problem: She was intrigued by the abundance of flowers in the sancutary, as it was Eastertime. She had to sniff them all on her way back to our pew, remarking, “I’ve been waiting to smell these all Easter!”
Two other children did the First and Second Readings, and did just fine.
Two other children did the First and Second Readings, and did just fine.
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venite_angeli
Guest
I’d like to be allowed to read. As it happens, our parish is undergoing a thanksgiving programme at the moment, and we are being called to offer our God given talents to the church and the parish at large. However, not having been baptised in the faith yet, I wouldn’t offer my services. I have joined the ministry of music, and have been successful in that, but I leave the reading of the Word to those who have been trained properly.
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