Non-Catholics in communion line

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USAFwife said:
I really was not surprised by the first couple of responses I got. I will definitely listen to my priest over faceless online liturgy police.
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Just in case you’re referring to my post, please note that I said in my post that whatever went on between you and your priest that knows you is just fine, before I went on to explain that Catholic churches generally characterize this as receiving a “blessing”.

I don’t consider anything I said to have been in the vein of “faceless online liturgy police”, and if you read every response that discusses something clearly unusual that your priest is doing in that way, that’s painting with a very broad, unfair, and un-thoughtful brush.

As Gorgias said, what your priest is doing (characterizing this as “spiritual communion”) is unusual, although I can see it being very suitable for your situation. I wouldn’t say it is “wrong” or forbidden, but it is not the norm and you should understand that.

Also just for the record I could not care less if 50 non-Catholics all come down the aisle in the Communion line for a blessing. it doesn’t bother me. I was simply pointing out they are not required to do so and many choose to not do so.
 
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Well if you want to be legalistic, I would say it is not an element. However, the amount of good it can do to draw those who are not in communion with the CC, far outweighs the strick adherence to code law!
 
Gorgias said:
Well… it’s not yet been formalized , I’ll grant you that. However, it is something that was never formally approved of to begin with!
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There’s nothing saying the priest can’t allow this.
 
Swimming the Tiber is not easy. It has been a looooong and bumpy road, and it’s not over. I appreciate the encouragement, everyone.
 
It does! I’m learning where the best places are to get encouragement.
 
I am sorry about that. Pray to St John the Baptist, he is good at preparing a path and getting all those rocks and tree limbs off the road. Also, start watching The Journey Home on EWTN. It has wonderful conversion stories from those who made the swim.🙏
 
angel12 said:
There’s nothing saying the priest can’t allow this.
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Actually… there is. It comes to us from the documents of the Second Vatican Council. 😉
Sacrosanctum concilium:
the sacred Council establishes the following general norms:

A) General norms
    1. Regulation of the sacred liturgy depends solely on the authority of the Church, that is, on the Apostolic See and, as laws may determine, on the bishop.
  2. In virtue of power conceded by the law, the regulation of the liturgy within certain defined limits belongs also to various kinds of competent territorial bodies of bishops legitimately established.
  3. Therefore no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.
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Gorgias said:
There’s nothing saying the priest can’t allow this.
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The article does not refer to this specifically. There is nothing that specifies this is not allowed. The only answer, years ago, said the issue was under review. You took that letter to mean the Vatican is “leaning” in a certain direction, and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. However, you claim more than the Church does on this topic.

People here need to trust their priests on these type of issues, not the posters here.
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I also asked my Priest about this after reading comments on CAF. He took time to think about it, and said for me to continue to come up during communion. I accept his authority. It was absolutely wonderful the first time I went up and was able to receive the Eucharist.
 
pnewton said:
The article does not refer to this specifically. There is nothing that specifies this is not allowed.
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Maybe it doesn’t say “priests can’t do blessings”, but then again, it doesn’t say “priests can’t dance a jig on the altar” or “priests can’t say the words of institution backward” or “priests can’t omit every other word in the eucharistic prayer.” That’s because it would be silly to assert that there must be a distinct prohibition for each and every possible change to the Mass. Instead, they issued a blanket statement:

"no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority."

If you want to claim that since it doesn’t say anything about blessings explicitly, then you can make that claim… but that doesn’t stand up, in light of what it does actually say.
pnewton said:
The only answer, years ago, said the issue was under review.
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In other words, it doesn’t exist in the rubrics, and the Vatican is reviewing it. That means it’s not part of the Mass as it exists today. If you want to take that to mean “… and therefore, it’s ok”, that would also mean that it’s ok for the priest to say the prayers in Klingon, while acting out a scene from The Wrath of Khan. (See how silly the assertion is, when we push it to its logical extremes? 😉 )
pnewton said:
However, you claim more than the Church does on this topic.
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No – I claim precisely what the Church claims: it’s not part of the Mass, and priests aren’t allowed to change the Mass.

The real issue here, IMHO, isn’t that there are some priests who change the Mass on their own authority (at least, not for blessings – that’s small potatoes). To my mind, the issue is that it confuses people when their priests (not the posters on CAF 😉 ) do something they’re not supposed to and then people think it is the right thing to do. Then, they end up castigating priests who do actually do the right thing, and making fun of folks who also demand that their priests do the right thing!

Anyway, that’s my 2 cents worth. The world’s not going to come to an end over blessings… but they’re still not what the Church asks for, in Mass – no matter how many priests say ‘yes’ to them… 😉
 
Gorgias said:
No – I claim precisely what the Church claims: it’s not part of the Mass, and priests aren’t allowed to change the Mass.
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And that this constitutes such a change as is not permissible. It is the in between premise that matters.
 
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pnewton said:
And that this constitutes such a change as is not permissible. It is the in between premise that matters.
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Sorry – it’s been a long day. I’m not getting at what you’re claiming, here.

I’m claiming that blessings aren’t part of the Mass, and therefore, they should not be introduced or permitted by priests. (Although we all know that many priests do permit them.)

What are you claiming, then? 🤔
 
Gorgias said:
What are you claiming, then? 🤔
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That bishops do not consider this adding something to the Mass.

I have seen other blessings, like an anniversary, graduates, teachers, mothers, etc., a Mass.
 
pnewton said:
That bishops do not consider this adding something to the Mass.
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That flies in the face of what’s been claimed here, however. Folks have claimed that it’s really just a “spiritual communion”, not something new.
I have seen other blessings, like an anniversary, graduates, teachers, mothers, etc., a Mass.
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Apples and oranges. In fact, these other blessings are found in the Church’s “Book of Blessings”. In that ritual book, these blessings exist – and they often have two or three forms: one in the context of Mass, one in the context of a Liturgy of the Word, and one as a simple blessing, outside these other two contexts. Therefore, these are accounted for in the liturgical traditions of the Church. Communion blessings, on the other hand… are not.
 
Found something interesting here…

http://www.ewtn.com/library/liturgy/zlitur81.htm

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This is what my priest or deacon says to me. They don’t bless me.

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With all rejoicing for your impending baptism, and with every due respect to your priest: What does it mean for an unbaptized person to make a spiritual communion?

Or does he perhaps mean the two of you are making some sort of expression of your desire for baptism?
 
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