Ummm.. thats not a mass!

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youngsaint

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This morning, I went to a Catholic Church up in the Mountains. Unfortunately, the priest was who-knows-where. It was the only Catholic church in the area, and it only had one priest. I went in and started praying, as is my custom before mass. The alter servers soon came in, followed by the first reader, then by a woman dressed in an alb! When she went up to the alter, she immediately started, with the confession of sins! (I have sinned through my own fault, through my thoughts and my actions…). At this point I was really weirded out, can’t only a priest say that? I patiently sat through it, all the way through the second reading. Then the choir started singing “alleluia”; she went over, kissed the alter, picked up the gospel, and went over podium! At this point I left the church, in total disgust. I then remained outside, praying the rosary for the rest of the “mass”, despite my parents asking me to come back in. It turns out, that they were doing a community gathering or something instead of a mass.

Am I in the clear for missing mass, and did I do the right thing? I’m not quiet sure, but I would do the same had I gone back. 🤷
 
Yes, you did the right thing.

I would write to the Dioceses (the Bishop really) and explain what you saw. If I was you, I would also ask for a reprimand from the Dioceses.

You’re right; this is disgusting.
 
See here for the Directory for Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest.
 
Thanks, I’ll look it over, but what do you think, goo or bad choice??
 
Was this in Big Bear? I went there several summers ago…attended a daily mass and everyone went up around the altar during the Eucharistic Prayer. Did not like it and did not go back for the rest of my vacation. (Was home by Sunday)
 
In the absence of a priest on Sunday a communion service is permissable (see previous post). It is also valid for a lay person leading such a service to wear an alb. So actually it was wrong of you not to attend the remainder of the service as it is a valid replacement for mass when the priest is absent and thus fulfills the Sunday requirement.
 
You did the right thing. Praying the rosary as an alternative is better than nothing. Like others have suggested, write to the diocease and see if they can get a deeper look into what is going on in that church. This is not acceptable.
 
It sounds like a communion service, or more precisely, Sunday Celebration in the Absence of a Priest.

When there is no priest available there can be no Mass. There can, however, be prayers, Scripture readings, and communion.

You walked out on the opportunity to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.
 
You did the right thing, these “communion services” (which btw is a Protestant term) are borderline heretical, especially a women leading a group in prayer from the altar! :mad: People will start saying why not make them Priests? Read Chapter two of First Timothy!!

And a woman should never read the Gospel in public.

BTW they don’t count for your Sunday obligation whether you stay or not, one is obligated to attend the Sacrifice not recieve Communion.
 
cspb56 said:
So actually it was wrong of you not to attend the remainder of the service as it is a valid replacement for mass when the priest is absent and thus fulfills the Sunday requirement.
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It is wrong to do something that you are, in good conscience, opposed to. If the original poster felt uncomfortable at one of these “services” then they were not wrong to leave. I have walked out of a Mass celebrated by a Priest where the things going on were too uncomfortable.
 
So what you are saying is that we can disagree with the church if it goes against ones conscience. That opens up a can of worms.
 
cspb56 said:
So what you are saying is that we can disagree with the church if it goes against ones conscience. That opens up a can of worms.
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Yep, that was definitely what I was saying. Because, you know, one’s conscience, rightly formed, will lead them to do the wrong thing. Right?

No.

There’s a reason “communion services” led by women and Masses full of abuses make many people uncomfortable. What opens a can of worm is telling them that they are morally obliged to attend and participate at these sorts of things.
 
cspb56 said:
In the absence of a priest on Sunday a communion service is permissable (see previous post). It is also valid for a lay person leading such a service to wear an alb. **So actually it was wrong of you not to attend the remainder of the service as it is a valid replacement for mass **when the priest is absent and thus fulfills the Sunday requirement.
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Not exactly. A Sunday Celebration in the Absence of a Priest is a valid liturgy but there is no obligation to attend one, even if no Mass is available. If there is no Mass that you can reasonalby attend on Sunday (or Saturday evening), you are dispensed from your obligation. The Sunday Celebration does not fulfill your obligation. It is a valid service to allow the faithful who are not able to attend a Sunday Mass an opportunity to hear the Gospel proclaimed and to receive Holy Communion. It is not wrong to attend, nor worng to leave (as long as one is not rude about it).
 
youngsaint said:
This morning, I went to a Catholic Church up in the Mountains. Unfortunately, the priest was who-knows-where. It was the only Catholic church in the area, and it only had one priest. I went in and started praying, as is my custom before mass. The alter servers soon came in, followed by the first reader, then by a woman dressed in an alb! When she went up to the alter, she immediately started, with the confession of sins! (I have sinned through my own fault, through my thoughts and my actions…). At this point I was really weirded out, can’t only a priest say that? I patiently sat through it, all the way through the second reading. Then the choir started singing “alleluia”; she went over, kissed the alter, picked up the gospel, and went over podium! At this point I left the church, in total disgust. I then remained outside, praying the rosary for the rest of the “mass”, despite my parents asking me to come back in. It turns out, that they were doing a community gathering or something instead of a mass.

Am I in the clear for missing mass, and did I do the right thing? I’m not quiet sure, but I would do the same had I gone back. 🤷
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Welcome to the future … get used to it.
 
I guess I will be the only one to say this: I think you should have honored your mother and father’s wishes, and deferred to their judgement. 🙂
 
coolduude said:
Well hey I think that’s a low blow. Sure, some NO churches do this, but certainley not all. Mine hasn’t. It’s a rare thing, even by NO standards.
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Actually, quite a few of the Churches near me have this. It actually seems to be quite common these days. Check out the websites for the Catholic Churches in your diocese, you will likely find more have these type of services than you think. Although, I will say that this is the first I have heard of any Church using this on a Sunday in place of an actual Mass.

I’ll also say this is one more reason why I attend the Traditional Latin Mass. We don’t have ‘Communion Services’.
 
NeelyAnn said:
Actually, quite a few of the Churches near me have this. It actually seems to be quite common these days. Check out the websites for the Catholic Churches in your diocese, you will likely find more have these type of services than you think. Although, I will say that this is the first I have heard of any Church using this on a Sunday in place of an actual Mass.

I’ll also say this is one more reason why I attend the Traditional Latin Mass. We don’t have ‘Communion Services’.
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Well, actually, there is provision in the Traditional Liturgical books for a “Communion service” of sorts. The only thing was that the priest and extraordinarily, the deacon could distribute Communion.
 
It seems the root cause of the problem is not enough priests especially in rural areas. Maybe if more reverence returns to the Mass, there will be more vocations. I think everyone can help with that. I do hear about positive trends like more seminarians and improvements to the translation of the Mass. In the mean time, it is helpful to read the guidelines for communion services when there is no priest available and to support the priests we have.
 
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