Standing on the sides of the altar at time of consecration

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EIF5A

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Hi,

I haven’t been to many Catholic parishes, but only once have I seen (during small weekday Mass) lay people get up from the pews and stand around the altar during the consecration of Bread & Wine. What was the historical precedent for this?
 
There isn’t, assuming they are in the Sanctuary.

There were two groups that did this extensively, the Neocatechumenal Way, and the LifeTeen movement.

The Vatican has instructed both groups to cease this practice.
 
Brendan said:
There isn’t, assuming they are in the Sanctuary.

There were two groups that did this extensively, the Neocatechumenal Way, and the LifeTeen movement.

The Vatican has instructed both groups to cease this practice.
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Ohh…so was the Mass invalid and/or Jesus wasn’t actually present in the Host?
 
EIF5A said:
Ohh…so was the Mass invalid and/or Jesus wasn’t actually present in the Host?
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No, based on what you saw, there’s no problem with the validity of the Mass or the consecration of the Eucharist.
 
I’m just worried that if the Vatican told groups to stop this, I don’t want to participate on the chance that something is “irregular” (not sure if that’s the right word).
 
Non-licit liturgical practices do not affect the validity of the consecration.
 
EIF5A said:
I’m just worried that if the Vatican told groups to stop this, I don’t want to participate on the chance that something is “irregular” (not sure if that’s the right word).
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I like this quote! More Catholics need to be thinking this and acting on this! God Bless
 
This makes me sad…I was confirmed and received first Communion here.

Is there an actual ruling against this somewhere, or is it perception of disrespect? One can argue that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the same Jesus that ate with sinners and was amongst humans, but then Mass is a holy sacrifice. Still, we receive the Host eventually, so is it different if we stand around the altar? This is very confusing…

(But on Sundays, the liturgy seems to be the same as elsewhere.)
 
EIF5A said:
This makes me sad…I was confirmed and received first Communion here.

Is there an actual ruling against this somewhere, or is it perception of disrespect? One can argue that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the same Jesus that ate with sinners and was amongst humans, but then Mass is a holy sacrifice. Still, we receive the Host eventually, so is it different if we stand around the altar? This is very confusing…

(But on Sundays, the liturgy seems to be the same as elsewhere.)
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Welcome to the catholic world my friend here in the US its hit or miss finding a parish that follows the rules. I have three in my area and only one is more traditional in its practices. The more you learn about the faith and proper/improper liturgical practices the more you will notice these abuses. In my experience and this is my experience here I’m sure there are many great parishes who follow Romes lead but I haven’t found many yet and I’ve been to a lot. This is probably why I relegate myself to parishes that offer the Traditional Latin Mass and attend those exclusively.
 
It’s possible that some of these people are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, but for sick people instead of at that Mass. They shouldn’t be up there as early as the Consecration to get their pyxes filled, but at least that’s a reason.

But basically, the only people who should be up in the altar area during the Eucharistic Prayer are the priest and the servers.
 
Mintaka said:
It’s possible that some of these people are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, but for sick people instead of at that Mass. They shouldn’t be up there as early as the Consecration to get their pyxes filled, but at least that’s a reason.

But basically, the only people who should be up in the altar area during the Eucharistic Prayer are the priest and the servers.
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Ohh…yea, we were all up there…

I don’t want to judge (maybe Jesus is fine with it), but perhaps I should attend a different parish for weekday Mass…

(I hope I haven’t cause someone to be scandalized…just was curious since it doesn’t seem to be a common practice 😊 )
 
Fr. Z has a good article about this today, so obviously you’re not the only one running into this. He explains why it’s an abuse for laypeople to be standing around in the altar area.

It’s treating laypeople as if they’re not good enough unless they act like clergy, that’s what it is. Sigh. I hoped that Seventies craziness was gone.

Re: Jesus – He commanded people to obey His laws and His Bride, if they loved Him. It’s not the worst abuse, but yeah, it’s just not the right thing to do.

The Church didn’t just make up the instructions for the various Rites of the Mass. There are reasons behind them – mostly Scriptural, as well as some that are historic, or come from experience with human nature. Priests fiddling around at random is so silly, when there’s no reason and we’re not supposed to.
 
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