Prayer Service vs A Mass

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Jersey_Jeepster

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I should know the answer to this question, but: What is the difference between a prayer service and a mass?

I think a prayer service does not have communion (the Eucharist). My church is offering masses for the dispensation of ashes and a prayer service with dispensation of ashes at another time.
 
The mass is a sacrifice in which Christ is offered to the Father through the action of the priest at the altar. Sadly, and troublingly, this central aspect of what happens at mass has been neglected in the catechesis of many Catholics under the age of 50. At a communion service, there are some prayers and then the Eucharist - already consecrated during a mass - is distributed from the tabernacle.

What might be going on is that your priest has already celebrated the total number of masses he is permitted to do in one day, hence the service. Or maybe your parish shares a single priest with others? …
 
If communion is distributed but a mass is not said, it is normally called a communion service rather than a prayer service. Good Friday is formally a communion service, even if it is presided over by a priest, since it uses bread consecrated at the Holy Thursday mass.

A prayer service, then, normally does not involve communion.
 
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