May a deacon read the Preface and other prayers usually reserved to the priest?

[Justinian777]

Here is the situation in my parish. A visiting priest usually celebrates the early Mass each Sunday, but in the past two years he developed a problem with his eyesight and he can no longer read the Preface or prayers of the Final Blessing. He has the second Eucharistic Prayer memorized and uses that, but the deacon reads the Preface and Final Blessing prayers. I do not think that deacons are permitted to take parts of the Mass usually reserved for priests as this would disrupt the hierarchical structure of the Mass and the Preface is a part of the Eucharistic Prayer. Can the Bishop grant a dispensation for the deacon to continue this practice or does Father’s failing eyesight mean that he can no longer celebrate Mass publicly unless he can also memorize the Preface? Thank you.

 

[japhy]

… the deacon reads the Preface and Final Blessing prayers. I do not think that deacons are permitted to take parts of the Mass usually reserved for priests as this would disrupt the hierarchical structure of the Mass and the Preface is a part of the Eucharistic Prayer.

By “Final Blessing”, do you mean the prayer after Communion, or the blessing that takes place after that prayer and immediately before the dismissal? The Preface and the prayer after Communion are reserved to the priest alone:

“Among the parts assigned to the priest, the foremost is the Eucharistic Prayer, which is the high point of the entire celebration. Next are the orations: that is to say, the collect, the prayer over the offerings, and the prayer after Communion. These prayers are addressed to God in the name of the entire holy people and all present, by the priest who presides over the assembly in the person of Christ. It is with good reason, therefore, that they are called the ‘presidential prayers.’” (GIRM 30)

“The Preface is sung or said by the principal priest celebrant alone…” (GIRM 216)

As for the blessing, this too belongs to the priest, although the deacon does have an introductory role: “If a prayer over the people or a solemn formula for the blessing is used, the deacon says, Inclinate vos ad benedictionem (Bow your heads and pray for God’s blessing). After the priest’s blessing, the deacon, with hands joined and facing the people, dismisses them, saying, Ite, missa est (The Mass is ended, go in peace).” (GIRM 185)

Can the Bishop grant a dispensation for the deacon to continue this practice or does Father’s failing eyesight mean that he can no longer celebrate Mass publicly unless he can also memorize the Preface?

I don’t know how much authority the bishop has in this case.

 

[Justinian777]

Thank you for your reply. By “Final Blessing,” I mean the three prayers that precede the actual blessing following the Prayer after Communion and the Dismissal, not the Prayer after Communion.
So if only the priest-celebrant may read the Preface, then what does a priest do if he is nearly blind and cannot read it himself?

 

[japhy]

By “Final Blessing,” I mean the three prayers that precede the actual blessing following the Prayer after Communion and the Dismissal, not the Prayer after Communion.

Ah, a solemn blessing.

So if only the priest-celebrant may read the Preface, then what does a priest do if he is nearly blind and cannot read it himself?

While an allowance might be made for a concelebrating priest to say them instead, I don’t think such an allowance is permissible for a deacon. I would hazard a guess that a nearly blind priest is not physically capable of celebrating Mass. I don’t say this out of lack of charity; it just seems to me that he no longer has the necessary faculties, unless he could make up for it somehow, such as by memorizing each of the prayers before Mass.