The Priest and the Mass

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garysibio

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I need my memory jogged on this. If I remember correctly, a Mass is not rendered invalid - I’m not sure that’s the correct word - because the priest saying it is in a state of mortal sin. Am I correct? The priest receives the Eucharist after the consecration. What happens if he is in a state of mortal sin? Does he just skip it?
 
No, the priest cannot actually “skip” receiving communion. He is the only person who must receive.

If a priest is in the state of mortal sin, he needs to find a priest to hear his Confession. If such is not possible, then he must do his very best to make a perfect Act of Contrition prior to offering Mass. Offering Mass is the greatest most holiest thing on earth a priest does, and therefore he needs to make frequent confession for himself a priority. I know my FSSP priest said they are required to go to Confession weekly. This seems like a good practice for all priests who live some place where there is another priest available to hear his confession.

That being said, if the priest is in the state of mortal sin when he offers Mass, it does not invalidate it.
 
garysibio said:
I need my memory jogged on this. If I remember correctly, a Mass is not rendered invalid - I’m not sure that’s the correct word - because the priest saying it is in a state of mortal sin. Am I correct? The priest receives the Eucharist after the consecration. What happens if he is in a state of mortal sin? Does he just skip it?
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No, a priest who celebrates Mass must receive the Eucharist. He either has to go to confession prior to Mass, have another priest say Mass for him, or make the intention of going to confession ASAP after he says Mass.

For more info:
ewtn.com/library/Liturgy/zlitur68.htm
 
From the Catechism:

1128 This is the meaning of the Church’s affirmation [49] that the sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: “by the very fact of the action’s being performed”), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that “the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God.” [50] From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.

[49] Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1608.
[50] St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 68,8.

Yes, it would still be valid, even if it may be illicit for the priest to do such a thing.

I don’t think it would be helpful for those of us who are already prone to gossip and judgmentalism to be put in the position of having to ascertain our priest’s personal holiness in order to know with confidence that we were getting our sacramental due. 😛
 
garysibio said:
I need my memory jogged on this. If I remember correctly, a Mass is not rendered invalid - I’m not sure that’s the correct word - because the priest saying it is in a state of mortal sin. Am I correct? The priest receives the Eucharist after the consecration. What happens if he is in a state of mortal sin? Does he just skip it?
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In fact, the belief that a sacrament is invalid because of the personal sin of the priest is a heresy, known as Donatism.

The problem is that since we are all sinners, where would you ever draw the line? What would happen if a priest did something like hide an affair for a decade? Would all of the baptisms performed by the priest be invalid? Would thousands of children actually NOT be Catholic, and not even realize it?
 
garysibio said:
I need my memory jogged on this. If I remember correctly, a Mass is not rendered invalid - I’m not sure that’s the correct word - because the priest saying it is in a state of mortal sin. Am I correct? The priest receives the Eucharist after the consecration. What happens if he is in a state of mortal sin? Does he just skip it?
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no he must actually consume both the consecrate bread and the precious blood.
 
Thanks, all. That’s what I thought but I just wanted to be certain.
 
YoungTradCath said:
How does a priest in a country parish by himself get to confession?
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He would probably avail himself of the opportunity the next time he travelled to the seat of the diocese - probably at Chrism Mass when he collected the Holy Oils, since parish priests are supposed to make the effort to attend if possible - or make a special visit to another priest if he felt the need. There would almost certainly also be Deanery or Chapter meetings as well.
 
TheMc said:
Generally, that’s where this newfangled thing called the automobile comes in…😃
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😃 Yes, priests generally put on a lot more miles on their cars than the average person. If ther are in a parish that is further away from other parishes than most, trust me, they are used to traveling for meetings. They probably have a friend and colleague to whom they regularly go for Confession.
 
Joe_5859 said:
😃 Yes, priests generally put on a lot more miles on their cars than the average person. If ther are in a parish that is further away from other parishes than most, trust me, they are used to traveling for meetings. They probably have a friend and colleague to whom they regularly go for Confession.
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Yes, the way my priest was explaining this, it sounded as if a priest not being able to find a confessor in order to offer Mass seemed pretty rare.

I know in my diocese where there is an extreme priest shortage and most of the priests are in their late 70s to late 80s (and still offering Mass) it’s difficult for them to get around in the winter with driving in the country.

I would think it would also be an act of charity for those younger priests who are more mobile to go and visit these priests on a regular basis and offer to hear their Confessions.
 
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