Tridentine wedding with multiple priests

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emeraldocean

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I was wondering what would happen in this situation. I am nowhere near getting married, but when I do I might want to have a Latin Mass for the wedding Mass. I would want my parish priest to do the ceremony, but there would most likely be one, possibly two other priests there as well. One is a retired priest who made a big difference in my life when I was getting much more interested and involved in my faith several years ago. I think there’s a strong possibility he would not know how to celebrate the Latin Mass. I thought that priests can’t just attend Mass, they have to concelebrate if they are at a Mass…so what would happen in such a circumstance, where a priest was at a Mass but could not concelebrate due to not knowing this form of the Mass?
Thanks!!
 
emeraldocean said:
I was wondering what would happen in this situation. I am nowhere near getting married, but when I do I might want to have a Latin Mass for the wedding Mass. I would want my parish priest to do the ceremony, but there would most likely be one, possibly two other priests there as well. One is a retired priest who made a big difference in my life when I was getting much more interested and involved in my faith several years ago. I think there’s a strong possibility he would not know how to celebrate the Latin Mass. I thought that priests can’t just attend Mass, they have to concelebrate if they are at a Mass…so what would happen in such a circumstance, where a priest was at a Mass but could not concelebrate due to not knowing this form of the Mass?
Thanks!!
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A priest doesn’t have to concelebrate; it’s perfectly normal for a priest to simply wear choir dress and attend Mass.
 
Priests don’t have to concelebrate in either the ordinary or extraordinary form. A priest attending a Mass who is not concelebrating (or in the case of a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form, assisting as Deacon or Subdeacon) may sit in choir, in cassock, surplice, and biretta, donning an appropriately colored stole for the reception of Holy Communion.

-ACEGC
 
We had a solemn high mass for our wedding some 50 years ago with three priests and a deacon. My wife’s uncle was celebrant, her cousin [also a priest] was deacon. The sub-deacon was a high school classmate of mine who was a deacon preparing for his ordination to priesthood. Meanwhile, the pastor, a Monsignor and a close friend of my wife, attended in choir. And two of my cousins were altar servers.
While liturgically correct, I think it may have been unique for the area at least.*
 
edward_george said:
donning an appropriately colored stole for the reception of Holy Communion.
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I thought that the stole was worn for the distribution of communion, rather than the priest’s reception. As I understand it, a cleric is to wear a stole whenever he handles the sacred species. Our deacon wears a stole for Benediction.
 
Elizium23 said:
I thought that the stole was worn for the distribution of communion, rather than the priest’s reception. As I understand it, a cleric is to wear a stole whenever he handles the sacred species. Our deacon wears a stole for Benediction.
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It would be for that too, but at every special occasion I’ve been to–i.e. ordinations, Eucharistic Congresses, other big Masses like on Solemnities–where there have been clergy in choir (or vested in cassock and surplice and serving as Master of Ceremonies), all donned stoles to receive Communion, whether they distributed or not. Whenever the Bishop would attend professions and feast day Masses at the Abbey where I went to school, he’d sit in choir, and they’d have a prie-dieu with a stole draped over it for him, and he’d put on the stole before Communion.

-ACEGC
 
edward_george said:
It would be for that too, but at every special occasion I’ve been to–i.e. ordinations, Eucharistic Congresses, other big Masses like on Solemnities–where there have been clergy in choir (or vested in cassock and surplice and serving as Master of Ceremonies), all donned stoles to receive Communion, whether they distributed or not. Whenever the Bishop would attend professions and feast day Masses at the Abbey where I went to school, he’d sit in choir, and they’d have a prie-dieu with a stole draped over it for him, and he’d put on the stole before Communion.

-ACEGC
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Same here. choir clergy usually don stoles at the agnus dei around here.
 
As has already been answered, in the Tridentine Form, there is no such thing as concelebration. If the other priests do not know the TLM they sit “in Choir”. This should be done with a chair and Prie Deau for each priest in choir. If they can learn the correct words for administering communion then they can assist in that manner.

Most priests already are aware of this and are usually willing to accept their role.
 
It has always been customary for a priest to wear a stole when receiving communion, be he in alb or surplice.
 
Elizium23 said:
I thought that the stole was worn for the distribution of communion, rather than the priest’s reception. As I understand it, a cleric is to wear a stole whenever he handles the sacred species. Our deacon wears a stole for Benediction.
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I think that priests in choir serve themselves the sacred species; so wearing the stole would be appropriate.
 
We had involved in the liturgy: 2 bishops, 3 priests, 1 msgr. In the congregation were also 2 priests (I think) and several others who were invited but sent their regrets.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
I think that priests in choir serve themselves the sacred species; so wearing the stole would be appropriate.
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No, they receive from the priest, and wear their stoles when they receive and continue wearing the stole throughout the communion rite.
 
Chatter163 said:
No, they receive from the priest, and wear their stoles when they receive and continue wearing the stole throughout the communion rite.
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Do they receive from the priest, or does the priest hand them a ciborium, and they self communicate? I’m quite sure it would be the latter…
 
superamazingman said:
Do they receive from the priest, or does the priest hand them a ciborium, and they self communicate? I’m quite sure it would be the latter…
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In the EF, they receive from the priest, just as if they were members of the faithful.

And I even saw that in the OF.

It was a case at a Mass I was at in Africa. The local bishop was sitting in choir to allow our pastor to celebrate Mass at our sister parish. If a bishop vests, he is the main celebrant, so the bishop just ‘sat this one out’, to allow our pastor to be the main celebrant Mass.

So the bishop sat in choir. As such, he did not concelebrate the Eucharistic prayer, as did the other priests in attendance.

When communion time came, the bishop received Holy Communion from our pastor on the tongue. He then assisted with the distribution of Holy Communion.

So I believe that when a priest sits in choir ( does not concelebrate), even in the OF, the correct form is for the priest to receive as if he is a member of the faithful. You just do not see priests sitting in choir very often in the OF.
 
superamazingman said:
Do they receive from the priest, or does the priest hand them a ciborium, and they self communicate? I’m quite sure it would be the latter…
Click to expand...
If a priest concelebrates, he administers Holy Communion under both Species to himself. If he attends in choir, he receives just as anyone else.
 
FYI, here is a picture from the Mass in Tanzania that I had mentioned. The occasion was the dedication of a new parish church, one our parish had funded the construction of.

Our pastor was given the honor of celebrating the first parish Mass there (as opposed to the dedication Mass the day before)

Which was why the bishop sat in choir. If he had vested, the traditional practice of the Church would have been for him to celebrate

This is a picture from the homily, where the bishop is translating the homily of our pastor into Swahili

But it shows how a bishop dresses for choir.
 
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