Strange thing at Mass today

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I attended the Spanish Mass this morning in a nearby parish. First off I don’t usually attend the Spanish Mass and this was not my normal parish. I attended since that Mass was offered for a dead friend of mine who was Hispanic. I’m fluent in Spanish so I was able to follow the Mass in the Roman Missal. One thing that struck me was that the priest used a Eucharistic Prayer that I’ve never heard of. It was none of the four main ones nor was it any of the ones of Reconciliation or the ones of the Mass with children. I cross checked it with the parish Misallete and my Roman Missal and I could not find it. And then at the Our Father when the prayer “Deliver us lord we pray from all evil etc…” Was said the priest improvised and embellished it by adding things to the prayer for God to deliver us from wars, persecutions, and the hardships of daily living. He sort of gave it a personal touch. Then, right before the last blessing, the priest made a joke about a newspaper political cartoonist. I left church wondering if this was a valid Mass.
I’m in the USA
 
In addition to what you already checked, there are about 4 more Eucharistic Prayers called “various needs.”

Have you checked to see if he used one of those?

Also, what language did he use? It seems like the answer is Spanish, but I can’t be certain.

It’s possible that if he used Spanish, he might be using a Eucharistic Prayer approved for his home country, but not for use in the U.S.

I say that it’s possible, but there’s no way for me to know based on what you typed.

It’s also possible he might be using a Spanish Missal that differs from the one you’re accustomed to using. The Missals from Spain, Mexico, and S. America all differ from each other slightly.

As far as I know, at the present time, all the Eucharistic Prayers are now universal. In the past, certain ones were approved for some countries but not others. I am not aware of any other approved EPs beyond the original 4, plus those for Reconciliation, plus the Various Needs.
 
FrDavid96 said:
In addition to what you already checked, there are about 4 more Eucharistic Prayers called “various needs.”

Have you checked to see if he used one of those?

Also, what language did he use? It seems like the answer is Spanish, but I can’t be certain.

It’s possible that if he used Spanish, he might be using a Eucharistic Prayer approved for his home country, but not for use in the U.S.

I say that it’s possible, but there’s no way for me to know based on what you typed.

It’s also possible he might be using a Spanish Missal that differs from the one you’re accustomed to using. The Missals from Spain, Mexico, and S. America all differ from each other slightly.

As far as I know, at the present time, all the Eucharistic Prayers are now universal. In the past, certain ones were approved for some countries but not others. I am not aware of any other approved EPs beyond the original 4, plus those for Reconciliation, plus the Various Needs.
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The priest is Cuban but has been in this country since early 70s. Also the improv at the prayer after Our Father?
 
jp54321 said:
I attended the Spanish Mass this morning in a nearby parish. First off I don’t usually attend the Spanish Mass and this was not my normal parish. I attended since that Mass was offered for a dead friend of mine who was Hispanic. I’m fluent in Spanish so I was able to follow the Mass in the Roman Missal. One thing that struck me was that the priest used a Eucharistic Prayer that I’ve never heard of. It was none of the four main ones nor was it any of the ones of Reconciliation or the ones of the Mass with children. I cross checked it with the parish Misallete and my Roman Missal and I could not find it. And then at the Our Father when the prayer “Deliver us lord we pray from all evil etc…” Was said the priest improvised and embellished it by adding things to the prayer for God to deliver us from wars, persecutions, and the hardships of daily living. He sort of gave it a personal touch. Then, right before the last blessing, the priest made a joke about a newspaper political cartoonist. I left church wondering if this was a valid Mass.
I’m in the USA
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There is a Misal Romano from Spain and another from Mexico (published in 2013). he new Spanish missal for the USA s was approved for use in July of 2016.

I see that the four eucharistic prayers in all Spanish missals have more optional inserts than appear in English. Example for Mexican Eucharistic Prayer III is that the priest may add this on any Sunday:

Atiende los deseos y súplicas de esta familia que has congregado en tu presence en el domingo, día en que Cristo ha vencido a la muerte y nos ha hecho partícipes de su vida inmortal.
 
Vico said:
There is a Misal Romano from Spain and another from Mexico (published in 2013). he new Spanish missal for the USA s was approved for use in July of 2016.

I see that the four eucharistic prayers in all Spanish missals have more optional inserts than appear in English. Example for Mexican Eucharistic Prayer III is that the priest may add this on any Sunday:

Atiende los deseos y súplicas de esta familia que has congregado en tu presence en el domingo, día en que Cristo ha vencido a la muerte y nos ha hecho partícipes de su vida inmortal.
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Is this the proper translation? Attend to the desires and pleas of this family that you have gathered in your presence on Sunday, the day Christ has conquered death and made us partakers of his immortal life.
 
cyberjibe said:
Is this the proper translation? Attend to the desires and pleas of this family that you have gathered in your presence on Sunday, the day Christ has conquered death and made us partakers of his immortal life.
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I’m only a novice in Spanish, but it seems ok. This is optional for Eucharistic Prayer III.
 
jp54321 said:
The priest is Cuban but has been in this country since early 70s. Also the improv at the prayer after Our Father?
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As you may or may not know, there is a difference between licity and validity (as spoken of by the Latin Church). As horrendous, disobedient, irreverent and anthropocentric as “improv” is, so long as the mass retained its necessary elements, it could have been licit, fell far from fitting worship for the Lord, and an insult to the senses but certainly valid.

To be honest, it is a bit of a silly question when laity go around in inquisition to determine whether or not something is “valid.” The person in the pew is the recipient of the mercy and graces of God. Certainly, if something is so horrendously inappropriate and one is informed what constitutes an invalid mass, you are obliged to say something. However, rely in the mercy of God, pray for the priest, and leave such inquiries up to canon lawyers and liturgists.
 
poche said:
It sounds like the mass was valid.
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The only time a Mass is not valid is when the priest changes the words of Consecration. Otherwise it can be illicit if he improvises his own words for the ones to be used in the Rubrics. If it is illicit then that falls on the priest to answer for. If it is invalid them we should not even receive Communion if you know it is, as we receive NO grace for an invalid Consecration. I went to a Mass one time when an elderly Priest completely forgot to consecrate the hosts. He did the wine OK but forgot the hosts. The EMHC got his hosts from the tabernacle so I went to his side to receive. All those that received from the priest did not receive Our Lord or the Sacramental Grace even if they were unaware of the mistake. God Bless, Memaw
 
Memaw said:
. All those that received from the priest did not receive Our Lord or the Sacramental Grace even if they were unaware of the mistake. God Bless, Memaw
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I wouldn’t want to be so dogmatic as that. All that can be said, in my opinion, is that they couldn’t be sure they had received grace in the same way as the others who had received the consecrated Host.

We mere mortals can’t be so bold as to say they definitely didn’t. We can’t limit God’s goodness. How can we be so sure that in His goodness He didn’t give them grace? They were acting in good faith and with a sincere desire to receive Him. What father, when his son asks for an egg, would give him a stone, as Jesus says in the Gospel?
 
I like to think in situations where a priest makes a technical mistake and the congregation is unaware because they are not versed in technicalities and they trust the priest, that God takes care of it on behalf of the congregation.

I would not want to see a world where lay people constantly had to be double-checking our priests.
 
jp54321 said:
I attended the Spanish Mass this morning in a nearby parish. First off I don’t usually attend the Spanish Mass and this was not my normal parish. I attended since that Mass was offered for a dead friend of mine who was Hispanic. I’m fluent in Spanish so I was able to follow the Mass in the Roman Missal. One thing that struck me was that the priest used a Eucharistic Prayer that I’ve never heard of. It was none of the four main ones nor was it any of the ones of Reconciliation or the ones of the Mass with children. I cross checked it with the parish Misallete and my Roman Missal and I could not find it. And then at the Our Father when the prayer “Deliver us lord we pray from all evil etc…” Was said the priest improvised and embellished it by adding things to the prayer for God to deliver us from wars, persecutions, and the hardships of daily living. He sort of gave it a personal touch. Then, right before the last blessing, the priest made a joke about a newspaper political cartoonist. I left church wondering if this was a valid Mass.
I’m in the USA
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I would hope you left with something or SOMEONE else on your mind.
 
The current edition of the Mexican Roman Missal has additional options in the “regular” Eucharistic Prayers and I believe also contains other Eucharistic Prayers that are not in the English version of the Roman Missal.
Then there’s the editions of the Roman Missal from other countries/regions that might contain other options/additions.
Unfortunately the USCCB is yet to release a Spanish Missal for the USA.
 
NewEnglandPriest said:
The current edition of the Mexican Roman Missal has additional options in the “regular” Eucharistic Prayers and I believe also contains other Eucharistic Prayers that are not in the English version of the Roman Missal.
Then there’s the editions of the Roman Missal from other countries/regions that might contain other options/additions.
Unfortunately the USCCB is yet to release a Spanish Missal for the USA.
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Any idea when they may do that? I know we’re anxiously awaiting this in our area…
 
pianistclare said:
Any idea when they may do that? I know we’re anxiously awaiting this in our area…
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I’m in the same boat. One of the liturgical book websites still says “Coming in Fall of 2014.” LOL

I don’t know what the hold up is. My parish had the old ones from the 70s that were falling apart and I got impatient and simply purchased the new Mexican edition.

There’s also supposed to be a new Spanish lectionary for the USA but that is also heavily delayed due to certain copyright issues. Maybe they’re waiting until everything is all set to go and they’ll release the Missal and Lectionary at the same time. 🤷
 
NewEnglandPriest said:
I’m in the same boat. One of the liturgical book websites still says “Coming in Fall of 2014.” LOL

I don’t know what the hold up is. My parish had the old ones from the 70s that were falling apart and I got impatient and simply purchased the new Mexican edition.

There’s also supposed to be a new Spanish lectionary for the USA but that is also heavily delayed due to certain copyright issues. Maybe they’re waiting until everything is all set to go and they’ll release the Missal and Lectionary at the same time. 🤷
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Thank you so much! I hope it’s soon They’ll make a bundle when they finally put it out there, LOL 😃
peace,

Clare
 
paperwight said:
I wouldn’t want to be so dogmatic as that. All that can be said, in my opinion, is that they couldn’t be sure they had received grace in the same way as the others who had received the consecrated Host.

We mere mortals can’t be so bold as to say they definitely didn’t. We can’t limit God’s goodness. How can we be so sure that in His goodness He didn’t give them grace? They were acting in good faith and with a sincere desire to receive Him. What father, when his son asks for an egg, would give him a stone, as Jesus says in the Gospel?
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All I know is that in order to receive Sacramental Grace, one MUST receive the Sacrament properly !!! We mortals should know what the Church teaches and not come up with our own opinion. God Bless, Memaw
 
Memaw said:
All I know is that in order to receive Sacramental Grace, one MUST receive the Sacrament properly !!! We mortals should know what the Church teaches and not come up with our own opinion. God Bless, Memaw
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I think you are forgetting that the Church teaches that whereas WE are limited and bound by the Sacraments, Almighty God isn’t.

Again to quote the Gospel, God sends His rain and sun on whomever He chooses, good people and not good people alike.
 
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