Purifying Sacred Vessels

[Benedict_MAC]

I have been an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at my home parish for a couple years now, as well as daily Sacristan and Altar Server. As part of the standard duties in my parish, it has been the responsibility of the Sacristan to purify the extra chalices after Mass. I only learned today that it was a liturgical abuse to do so. I will not have the opportunity to discuss this with my pastor for the next few days and the Associate Pastor is 87 and set in his ways. I don’t feel right about continuing to do something that is the responsibility of the Priest/Deacon/Instituted Acolyte (of which I am none.) Any advice for tomorrow would be helpful!

Thanks!

 

[UpUpAndAway]

I am the head sacristan in my parish, and I’ve run up against this problem before. Who is saying the Mass tomorrow?

 

[Benedict_MAC]

The older Associate Pastor has the morning Mass.

 

[zab]

You could ask the priest to purify the vessels after Mass. If he refuses then, In your situation, it seems only logical that it is better for you to continue to purify the vessels than to leave them unattended.

 

[UpUpAndAway]

The older Associate Pastor has the morning Mass.

You could ask the priest to purify the vessels after Mass. If he refuses then, In your situation, it seems only logical that it is better for you to continue to purify the vessels than to leave them unattended.

This is the most straightforward approach, and would be fine (in my opinion) at least until you are able to speak to your pastor about the situation. According to the sacristan’s manual from a neighboring archdiocese, the sacristan can purify the vessels if those to whom the responsibility belongs (priest, deacon, instituted acolyte) “forget” to do so. It’s certainly better than no one doing it. Confirm this course of action with the head sacristan—maybe (s)he has already encountered the problem and/or knows how to proceed in light of it.

Note: I’m using the manual from the archdiocese next door because as far as I can tell my own does not publish such a document.

In your place I would also move heaven and earth to have that conversation with the pastor. I don’t know why it will take “a few days” to speak to him, but see what you can do to shorten the wait. If that’s not something you can do on your own, perhaps the head sacristan can help—as the one in that role in my own parish, I am able to contact the pastor at any time of the day or night, for any reason.

God bless!

 

[Benedict_MAC]

Thanks for the advice! He didn’t exactly refuse, but he gave me a long lecture about how ridiculous it is to be caught up with rules when that misses the point. He was very frustrated, and said that he would leave it up to me, but I couldn’t just leave them there while he goes out to greet people after Mass, so I did the purification before I left. I am afraid that I am going to get the same reaction from my Pastor, and that is why it will be a few days, because I need to actually talk to him rather than use email. They are both going to be leaving at the end of next month, as our Pastor has been reassigned, and I am hesitant to “rock the boat” right before they leave. Perhaps it is better to merely take this up with the new Pastor in July.

 

[TimothyH]

The correct thing to do is obey. Just do exactly as you are told even if it is wrong. Jesus didn’t want to die but he did the Father’s will. The priest is your spiritual father placed there by God so do his will even if you think it is wrong.

Clean the vessels as reverently as you can. Pray and sing a hynm of thanksgiving as you do. Polish the paten, chalice and cups as if they were the very vessels used by Jesus at the last supper. Kiss the chalice and place the vessels back in the safe as if they were the Pope’s personal property. Give thanks that you were chosen to handle the sacred vessels and given such an important task as if you were King Solomon’s personal cup bearer.

God will be pleased with your humility in the presence of his legitimate authority and pleased with your willingness to bear with the faults of others. You will learn to imitate Christ who said, “Not my will but thy will be done” and God will be pleased with your sacrifice.

-Tim-

 

[Benedict_MAC]

The correct thing to do is obey. Just do exactly as you are told even if it is wrong. Jesus didn’t want to die but he did the Father’s will. The priest is your spiritual father placed there by God so do his will even if you think it is wrong.

Clean the vessels as reverently as you can. Pray and sing a hynm of thanksgiving as you do. Polish the paten, chalice and cups as if they were the very vessels used by Jesus at the last supper. Kiss the chalice and place the vessels back in the safe as if they were the Pope’s personal property. Give thanks that you were chosen to handle the sacred vessels and given such an important task as if you were King Solomon’s personal cup bearer.

God will be pleased with your humility in the presence of his legitimate authority and pleased with your willingness to bear with the faults of others. You will learn to imitate Christ who said, “Not my will but thy will be done” and God will be pleased with your sacrifice.

-Tim-

Thank you! This is exactly how I feel about this, but I wanted to get some other thoughts, with perhaps a different perspective. It is as I told the priest this morning: “I only ask because I want to understand!”

 

[UpUpAndAway]

Thanks for the advice! He didn’t exactly refuse, but he gave me a long lecture about how ridiculous it is to be caught up with rules when that misses the point. He was very frustrated, and said that he would leave it up to me, but I couldn’t just leave them there while he goes out to greet people after Mass, so I did the purification before I left. I am afraid that I am going to get the same reaction from my Pastor, and that is why it will be a few days, because I need to actually talk to him rather than use email. They are both going to be leaving at the end of next month, as our Pastor has been reassigned, and I am hesitant to “rock the boat” right before they leave. Perhaps it is better to merely take this up with the new Pastor in July.

It well might be, if you’re willing to do the purification in the meantime. In the end, I have a hard time believing the Lord would be upset that you purified the vessels since the person who is supposed to refused the responsibility. The bigger offense (again, in my opinion) would be to leave the vessels unpurified.

We have an 85-year-old retired priest who is much the same way as your associate pastor sounds. Even our 69-year-old pastor is afraid of upsetting him

I’d be curious to know what your associate pastor thinks “the point” is, to be honest. The rules exist for a reason.

The correct thing to do is obey. Just do exactly as you are told even if it is wrong. Jesus didn’t want to die but he did the Father’s will. The priest is your spiritual father placed there by God so do his will even if you think it is wrong.

Clean the vessels as reverently as you can. Pray and sing a hynm of thanksgiving as you do. Polish the paten, chalice and cups as if they were the very vessels used by Jesus at the last supper. Kiss the chalice and place the vessels back in the safe as if they were the Pope’s personal property. Give thanks that you were chosen to handle the sacred vessels and given such an important task as if you were King Solomon’s personal cup bearer.

God will be pleased with your humility in the presence of his legitimate authority and pleased with your willingness to bear with the faults of others. You will learn to imitate Christ who said, “Not my will but thy will be done” and God will be pleased with your sacrifice.

-Tim-

Thank you for putting this much more eloquently than I ever could.

 

[DCNBILL]

Your reaction is purely understandable and this happens in our parish as well when there is no deacon at the Mass, I have told the sacristan and her assistants to do what the priest tells them. I explained that the sacred vessels should not lay unattended with the Consecrated Elements still in them and that this would be worse than them making sure they were “properly cleaned,” using the purification rite, before they were put away.

BTW do you use the prayer of purification when you purify the vessels?

 

[Benedict_MAC]

BTW do you use the prayer of purification when you purify the vessels?

I have not done so before, but I will do so if/when I continue to do so.

 

[EasterJoy]

The correct thing to do is obey. Just do exactly as you are told even if it is wrong. Jesus didn’t want to die but he did the Father’s will. The priest is your spiritual father placed there by God so do his will even if you think it is wrong.

Clean the vessels as reverently as you can. Pray and sing a hynm of thanksgiving as you do. Polish the paten, chalice and cups as if they were the very vessels used by Jesus at the last supper. Kiss the chalice and place the vessels back in the safe as if they were the Pope’s personal property. Give thanks that you were chosen to handle the sacred vessels and given such an important task as if you were King Solomon’s personal cup bearer.

God will be pleased with your humility in the presence of his legitimate authority and pleased with your willingness to bear with the faults of others. You will learn to imitate Christ who said, “Not my will but thy will be done” and God will be pleased with your sacrifice.

-Tim-

This. The purification of vessels is ideally done in silence, though.

As far as the purification goes, it is also possible to commiserate with the priest and yet to say, “Still, it is not up to us. The US bishops asked the Vatican to extend the permission for it, but after considering the request the Vatican chose not to permit it. I know what you mean about the rules, but when permission was expressly asked for and expressly denied, we ought to be obedient, even when we do not agree. It is good for us, don’t you think? When obedience is not unjust and will do no harm, I think we ought to be obedient. I’m sure your life in this parish would be far easier if those who did not understand your reasoning still trusted you enough to act according to your directions, rather than writing them off as silly rules.” I would be very surprised if that last bit of reasoning did not hit home with him at all.

CONGREGATIO CULTO DIVINO ET DISCIPLINA SACRAMENTORUM

Prot. n. 468/05/L Rome, 12 October 2006
Your Excellency,

I refer to your letters of 9 March 2005 and 7 March 2006, in which, in the name of the Conference of Bishops of which you are President, you requested a renewal of the indult for extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion to purify the sacred vessels after Mass, where there are not enough priests or deacons to purify a large number of chalices that might be used at Mass.

I have put the whole matter before the Holy Father in an audience which he granted me on 9 June 2006, and received instructions to reply as follows:

1. There is no doubt that “the sign of Communion is more complete when given under both kinds, since in that form the sign of the Eucharistic meal appears more clearly” (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 281; Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 390).
2. Sometimes, however, the high number of communicants may render it inadvisable for everyone to drink from the chalice (cf. Redemptionis Sacramentum, no. 102). Intinction with reception on the tongue always and everywhere remains a legitimate option, by virtue of the general liturgical law of the Roman Rite.
3. Catechesis of the people is important regarding the teaching of the Council of Trent that Christ is fully present under each of the species. Communion under the species of the bread alone, as a consequence, makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace (cf. Denzinger-Schönmetzer, no. 1729; General Instruction of the Roman Missal, nos. 11, 282). “For pastoral reasons”, therefore, “this manner of receiving Communion has been legitimately established as the most common form in the Latin rite” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1390).
4. Paragraph 279 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal directs that the sacred vessels are to be purified by the priest, the deacon or an instituted acolyte. The status of this text as legislation has recently been clarified by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. It does not seem feasible, therefore, for the Congregation to grant the requested indult from this directive in the general law of the Latin Church.
5. This letter is therefore a request to the members of the Bishops’ Conference of the United Status of America to prepare the necessary explanations and catechetical materials for your clergy and people so that henceforth the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 279, as found in the editio typicatia of the Roman Missal, will be observed throughout its territories.

With the expression of my esteem and fraternal greetings, I remain, Your Excellency,
Devotedly yours in Christ,

• Francis Cardinal Arinze
  Prefect

Monsignor Mario Marini
Under-Secretary

 

[Brendan]

The correct thing to do is obey. Just do exactly as you are told even if it is wrong. Jesus didn’t want to die but he did the Father’s will. The priest is your spiritual father placed there by God so do his will even if you think it is wrong. Tim-

The point is though, that it is NOT a case of obedience. Aquinas defined the virtue of Obedience as the virtue by which we conform our will to the will of the one with authority.

The authority in this matter is with the Holy See, not with the priest. It would not be a virtuous act then, to conform one’s will to the will of the one who is, in fact, being disobedient to the correct authority.

Actually the reverse is true, it would involve the willing participation in the vice of disobedience.

 

[UpUpAndAway]

This. The purification of vessels is ideally done in silence, though.

As far as the purification goes, it is also possible to commiserate with the priest and yet to say, “Still, it is not up to us. The US bishops asked the Vatican to extend the permission for it, but after considering the request the Vatican chose not to permit it. I know what you mean about the rules, but when permission was expressly asked for and expressly denied, we ought to be obedient, even when we do not agree. It is good for us, don’t you think? When obedience is not unjust and will do no harm, I think we ought to be obedient. I’m sure your life in this parish would be far easier if those who did not understand your reasoning still trusted you enough to act according to your directions, rather than writing them off as silly rules.” I would be very surprised if that last bit of reasoning did not hit home with him at all.

Thank you for posting this. I was unaware that an indult is required to allow purification of the vessels by the laity.

In light of this, I feel the need to clarify my position as stated above: I am in France. The sacristan’s manual to which I referred above bears the archbishop’s seal, so while I don’t have concrete evidence the indult has been granted to France I will assume the best possibility. I doubt an archbishop would so publicly approve a practice that is actually forbidden (though I leave room in the universe for that being the case).

A few months ago a newly-ordained permanent deacon asked me why I couldn’t purify the vessels myself. My pastor is adamant that only priests, deacons and instituted acolytes can purify and that I should do it only if they all “forget” and leave me alone with a stack of unpurified liturgical vessels. So that’s what I go with. But again, being in France the rules may be different here than they are elsewhere.

Sorry for any confusion my response may have caused. I didn’t know geography has a role in this.

 

[InThePew]

The problem with this particular paragraph of the GIRM is that it seems to assume that there is only one chalice being used. Where that’s the case, then purification is simple; on the other hand, where there a multiple chalices then it becomes more of a problem to try and purify all of them. the same is also true of consumption of any remaining Precious Blood which should similarly be done by the priest, deacon or instituted acolyte. Again, where there’s only one chalice then all well and good, on the other hand… the priest might need to reconsider driving anywhere after mass.

 

[Brendan]

The problem with this particular paragraph of the GIRM is that it seems to assume that there is only one chalice being used. Where that’s the case, then purification is simple; on the other hand, where there a multiple chalices then it becomes more of a problem to try and purify all of them. the same is also true of consumption of any remaining Precious Blood which should similarly be done by the priest, deacon or instituted acolyte. Again, where there’s only one chalice then all well and good, on the other hand… the priest might need to reconsider driving anywhere after mass.

An EMHC can certainly help with the consumption of any excess species of wine. But the purification of the chalice(s) can only be done by a priest, deacon, or acolyte

As far as if there are too many chalices, the post that EasterJoy provided contained the Vatican’s response.

 

[Aran_Houlihan]

Are preist allways purify the scareed vessels wilse saying this prayer while purifying the vessels: “What has passed our lips as food, O Lord, may we possess in purity of heart, that what has been given to us in time may be our healing for eternity.”

 

[Gorgias]

The problem with this particular paragraph of the GIRM is that it seems to assume that there is only one chalice being used. Where that’s the case, then purification is simple; on the other hand, where there a multiple chalices then it becomes more of a problem to try and purify all of them.

Really? Try this simple experiment: line up four wine glasses on your kitchen counter. Pour water into one, swirl the water all around, pour the water into the next glass, and then wipe the inside of the glass. Repeat for all four. I’m betting that it takes one minute – maybe two, at most. That’s a ‘problem’? Even if a priest is purifying (for instance) four ciboria and three chalices, it only takes a couple of minutes. It’s hardly the hardship that some make it out to be…

the same is also true of consumption of any remaining Precious Blood which should similarly be done by the priest, deacon or instituted acolyte.

Brendan mentions that an EMHC may do this. In the U.S., this may be done, as long as the diocesan bishop has given permission for the EMHCs to do so, for the chalice of Precious Blood that the EMHC had been distributing.

 

[John_Lilburne]

A video that may help is at youtube.com/watch?v=Z8cvw7gMcG0 . It demonstrates how the Priest can purify a number of chalices. Unfortunately it makes no mention of instituted acolytes being able to do the purifications.

Rather than participating in a liturgical abuse I think the first poster should be prepared to resign from the position of sacristan and report the matter to the bishop. Then, if the bishop does not correct the problem, to report the matter to the Vatican.

From the 2004 Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, at vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20040423_redemptionis-sacramentum_en.html :

“[119.] The Priest, once he has returned to the altar after the distribution of Communion, standing at the altar or at the credence table, purifies the paten or ciborium over the chalice, then purifies the chalice in accordance with the prescriptions of the Missal and wipes the chalice with the purificator. Where a Deacon is present, he returns with the Priest to the altar and purifies the vessels. It is permissible, however, especially if there are several vessels to be purified, to leave them, covered as may be appropriate, on a corporal on the altar or on the credence table, and for them to be purified by the Priest or Deacon immediately after Mass once the people have been dismissed. Moreover a duly instituted acolyte assists the Priest or Deacon in purifying and arranging the sacred vessels either at the altar or the credence table. In the absence of a Deacon, a duly instituted acolyte carries the sacred vessels to the credence table and there purifies, wipes and arranges them in the usual way.[209]”

“[184.] Any Catholic, whether Priest or Deacon or lay member of Christ’s faithful, has the right to lodge a complaint regarding a liturgical abuse to the diocesan Bishop or the competent Ordinary equivalent to him in law, or to the Apostolic See on account of the primacy of the Roman Pontiff.[290] It is fitting, however, insofar as possible, that the report or complaint be submitted first to the diocesan Bishop. This is naturally to be done in truth and charity.”

 

[InThePew]

Really? Try this simple experiment: line up four wine glasses on your kitchen counter. Pour water into one, swirl the water all around, pour the water into the next glass, and then wipe the inside of the glass. Repeat for all four. I’m betting that it takes one minute – maybe two, at most. That’s a ‘problem’? Even if a priest is purifying (for instance) four ciboria and three chalices, it only takes a couple of minutes. It’s hardly the hardship that some make it out to be…

It takes about a minute or so per chalice to wipe them both inside and out - so five chalices = five minutes. Granted that’s far from an extraordinary length of time but it does tend to hold up things somewhat. In fairness, the GIRM, envisaging this, permits them to be left but requires the purification to be done immediately after mass. One opportunity (for an acolyte at least) would be during any “brief announcements to the people” prior to the end of mass.

The GIRM does not allow the consumption of any remaining precious blood do be done by extraordinary ministers (except instituted acolytes). Quantities can also be notoriously difficult to estimate so it’s often very difficult to tell when “more than a reasonable quantity” will likely be left over. Largely the GIRM leaves it up to individual bishops to determine whether communion should be provided under both kinds.

So the solution (if indeed there is one) is either to renew the indult (while ensuring proper training for those EMHC’s entrusted with purification) or the wider use of instituted acolytes beyond those preparing for priesthood.