Pope rejects continuing indult on purification of vessels

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I don’t see the reasoning behind this. If they can distribute the Eucharist, why can’t they clean up afterwards?
 
cheese_sdc said:
I don’t see the reasoning behind this. If they can distribute the Eucharist, why can’t they clean up afterwards?
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Extraordinary ministers of communion are supposed to be used in extraordinary situations where not enough priests or deacons are available to distribute the Eucharist. This is not supposed to be the norm, although is has become so in the U.S. because the laity have demanded more participation in the litergy. Most Masses don’t need, and shouldn’t have, lay people distributing the Eucharist. The priest is supposed to conduct the Mass, including purifying vessels. These activities are not supposed to be delegated.
 
JimO
Extraordinary ministers of communion are supposed to be used in extraordinary situations
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We need to add the word ONLY at the end of the above statement. I wonder if anyone has done a study in the lack of priests to the use of “extrodinary” ministers and “alter girls”.

The use of the above are to be used when there are not enough priests or male alter servers.

Sorry if this hurts anyones feelings.
 
cheese_sdc said:
I don’t see the reasoning behind this. If they can distribute the Eucharist, why can’t they clean up afterwards?
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There has been great abuse in this area. Laypeople have not been purifying the vessels and they have been "cleaning"them as you suggest. Purifying would involve what you see the priest do at the altar. Pouring some water in swirling around , drinking this , wiping carefully with a purificator… Then the purificator is supposed to be rinsed in water that is poured down the sacrarium. Most of these steps have been eliminated as a by product of using lay people.
 
Seatuck said:
There has been great abuse in this area. Laypeople have not been purifying the vessels and they have been "cleaning"them as you suggest. Purifying would involve what you see the priest do at the altar. Pouring some water in swirling around , drinking this , wiping carefully with a purificator… Then the purificator is supposed to be rinsed in water that is poured down the sacrarium. Most of these steps have been eliminated as a by product of using lay people.
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Sounds like the parish priest isn’t instructing the correct method, rather than the laity being “unworthy” as some seem to suggest. I am a part of the laity, and would have no problem cleansing and purifying the altar vessels in that fashion (I’m not a Eucharistic Minister).
 
cheese_sdc said:
…rather than the laity being “unworthy” as some seem to suggest…
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It has nothing to do with worthiness. It has to do with duty and proper roles. If worthiness mattered, then what about Masses said by priests who are not in a state of grace? Then, the consecration would depend on the worthiness of a sinful man and we might never received a valid Eucharist. The point is that certain duties have been assigned to the office of priest. There must be clear lines drawn, otherwise the offices of deacon, priest and bishop lose their meaning. The Pope, in his office as vicar of Christ has determined that this task is reserved for priests. As a Eucharistic minister in my parish, I’m willing to accept his decision.
 
Seatuck said:
There has been great abuse in this area. Laypeople have not been purifying the vessels and they have been "cleaning"them as you suggest. Purifying would involve what you see the priest do at the altar. Pouring some water in swirling around , drinking this , wiping carefully with a purificator… Then the purificator is supposed to be rinsed in water that is poured down the sacrarium. Most of these steps have been eliminated as a by product of using lay people.
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Do priests pray a certain prayer when they are cleaning the vessels? It would seem to me they do. I have never observed any EMHCs doing this.

I am a former Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Communion. I have never been a “Eucharistic Minister” as I have never received the Sacrament of Holy Orders. I ceased performing EMHC function because of conscience.

It does not seem right to me that I was scheduled to serve at Mass months ahead, but if I was not there that is okay because it is supposed to be impromptu [wink, wink]. EMHCs are used at every Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation in my parish.

Furthermore, I began to feel more and more uncomfortable handling the Body and Blood of the Creator of the Universe like so many Ritz crackers. While I was always careful to go to reconciliation immediately before any Mass I served at, most other EMHCs did not.

I cannot help but to respectfully disagree with those who say “worthiness” is not an issue. In fact, I take the exact opposite view. Worthiness is everything. Since I have not been ordained to any clerical position, I have not received Holy Orders in any form I no longer believe I am worthy to assist in distributing Holy Communion. I realize this is a personal decision and you are free to disagree with me. This is not a matter of faith, but a conclusion based upon personal reflection.

I for one applaud anything that reduces the instances of non-consecrated people from handling Holy Communion or the vessels that contained it.
 
rpp said:
Do priests pray a certain prayer when they are cleaning the vessels? It would seem to me they do. I have never observed any EMHCs doing this.

I am a former Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Communion. I have never been a “Eucharistic Minister” as I have never received the Sacrament of Holy Orders. I ceased performing EMHC function because of conscience.

It does not seem right to me that I was scheduled to serve at Mass months ahead, but if I was not there that is okay because it is supposed to be impromptu [wink, wink]. EMHCs are used at every Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation in my parish.

Furthermore, I began to feel more and more uncomfortable handling the Body and Blood of the Creator of the Universe like so many Ritz crackers. While I was always careful to go to reconciliation immediately before any Mass I served at, most other EMHCs did not.

I cannot help but to respectfully disagree with those who say “worthiness” is not an issue. In fact, I take the exact opposite view. Worthiness is everything. Since I have not been ordained to any clerical position, I have not received Holy Orders in any form I no longer believe I am worthy to assist in distributing Holy Communion. I realize this is a personal decision and you are free to disagree with me. This is not a matter of faith, but a conclusion based upon personal reflection.

I for one applaud anything that reduces the instances of non-consecrated people from handling Holy Communion or the vessels that contained it.
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I too have my struggles in this area. I am installed as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion but I refuse to be put on a schedule and used in an ordinary manner. I became one because I was convinced I was not worthy to do it. I will be thrilled when the church no longer does it. But I will do it on occaision so that it is done reverently instead of what I was used to seeing.I don’t agree with your view entirely. If I am worthy to recieve then I am worthy to touch . Still, serving makes me extremely uncomfortable and wish we had the multitudes of priests that my fathers generation grew up in. Another reason I dislike the schedule is because on any given Sunday I might not be in a position(state of grace) to recieve and it is difficult to try to get a replacement. Funny no other EMOC’s seem to have such a problem with sin the way I do. They also seem to go to other churches and times for confession.

The EMOHC should not be instructed to mimic the Priests but only to assist. So I agree wholeheartedly with this decision. The priest who just offered the sacrifice should be completing the process by the purification rite.
 
Wow, I am a EMHC at our Church and I didn’t even know this was an issue anywhere. At our Church, the Priests ALWAYS purify the vessels, it’s never a lay person.
 
EMOCs are used in my parish every Sunday because of the large congregation, four morning Masses with only 15-30 minutes in between Masses. We have been reverently purifying the vessels and preparing them for the following Masses. I think that requiring the priest or deacon to do this themselves will greatly add to their burden, which is why the USCCB asked that the indult be allowed to continue. None of is are worthy to participate in such a great mystery. It is a great privilege and blessing to be called to serve in such a capacity. We also serve by taking the Eucharist to one hospital, two nursing homes and many home-bound parishioners. Perhaps large parishes which have more than one priest do not have the same needs as we do. We do have a need for more vocations, but in the meantime, it is a blessing than the laity can serve in such a wonderful way.
 
Thank God!

I have been an Extraordinary Minister for over years at three parishes, but have been increasingly troubled by the abuses.

A new pastor was assigned to our parish earlier this year and matters deteriorated somewhat as he assigned the role of purifying vessels back to the Extraordinary Ministers (something our prior pastor had corrected only the year before). I had brought it up with him but he simply would not discuss the matter. We would typically have two Extraordinary Ministers distributing the Precious Blood and one distributing the Previous Body along with the priest. It was commonly understood that the Extraordinary Minister that distributed the Precious Body would be the one to purify the vessels, but I often saw cases where NOBODY was doing it!! Just this past week I was serving as an Extraordinary Minister of the cup and it was obvious that it was going to be overlooked so I made sure it was done. There have been at least a couple of instances when I thought someone else had taken care of it but found that the celebrant’s chalice still had the Precious Blood in it when we were washing the vessels in the sacristy (sp?). Jesus was about to be dumped down the drain! I am certain it has happened many times and I’ve said that I wanted to discontinue serving by the end of the year. We desparately needed this, thank you Pope Benedict!!
 
I’m probably in the minority, but I wish priests were required to purify vessels at the altar immediately after Communion like some in our diocese do, then the issue would be completely resolved. I personally love to see a priest reverently purify vessels - I think it’s another chance for our children (and everyone) to see the respect our Lord is due. Even if multiple chalices are used, so what if it takes an extra 5 or 10 minutes?
 
Our priest mentioned tonight that although he wasn’t overly happy with the decision,we were going to start doing this! 😃 I had been worried that this would be ignored, so I excited to hear that we would be in compliance with this.
 
I am not sure this has been answered, but here goes. Is this rubrick refer to the altar only. What about the sacristy? The sacristy is out of view and no one is doing any ritual like the priest does at the altar. I think this all boils down to blurring the line between a priestly function versus laity function. Should a extraordinary minister ever purify at the altar?..NO, that should never have happened in the first place. The word purify connotates a ritual and thats for priests only, especially during Mass. But what about after the Mass is ended? IN the scaristy out of public view where no rituals are being attempted or there is any blurring of lines between Priesthood versus laity. Lay people with the permission of the local ordinary an priest can open the tabernacle, place the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance for adoration. They can also lead communion services where communion is distributed with permission of course. These are in public view and in my mind can distort the line between ordained and non-ordained, but this is allowed? But cleansing the vessels in the privacy of the sacristy out of public view is not? IM not arguing for or against, just seeking clarity. It seems that what is priestly and what is laical varies across diocesan lines.
 
joshua1,

It refers to all cases - whether the purification occurs in public or in private. The reason is not because “people might see” but rather due to the consecrated nature of a cleric.
 
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