Was receiving communion at this church ok?

  • Thread starter Thread starter IrishRush
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I

IrishRush

Guest
A while back I attended the funeral of a friend of mine, who was Indian, at St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Church. The mass was in English, mostly, and when it was time for communion I went up as I normally would.
I’ve been reading other posts that talk about receiving communion at Protestant churches and how we are not allowed, and I know this church was not Protestant, and it says it’s in full communion with the Catholic Church, but I thought it might be best to ask, since I feel like there might be some doubt. :confused:
If it was not, is it something I need to confess?
Thanks for any help with this.
 
The Syro-Malabar is a rite that is in full communion with Catholic Church. That being the case you were free to receive communion and are free to do so at any Catholic rite in full communion.
 
The OP might not necessarily have known that the Syro-Malabar rite is in full communion with Rome. Not all of us in the west are familiar with the Eastern rites, I have to admit ignorance of them myself, and need to educate myself better. I was in a similar situation last week when a friend’s father, who was Antioch Orthodox, passed on. I had every intention of attending the funeral service, as an act of charity to the family, but did not know whether, if communion was celebrated, a Catholic could communicate. Thankfully, a couple of really nice Eastern rite folks on this board did explain the difference, which up to that time had managed to elude me.

My general “answer network” for faith related matters was unavailable to me: I had received the call about this friend’s father’s passing early in the evening before the funeral, my parish office was closed, a Catholic priest friend was out for the evening, and I didn’t want to rely on perhaps inaccurate information from a source such as Wikipedia. So I threw the question out here, and got an answer in a timely manner before attending the funeral.

I for one really enjoy the educational aspects of these fora, particularly about aspects of Christianity that aren’t often encountered by some of us. Bless all of you for sharing accurate information!
 
1ke said:
Why would you be in doubt?
Click to expand...
I was away from my faith for a looooong time and came back to it as an adult. What I learned as a kid I had mostly forgotten and I’m still working toward learning it all. My total experience is with what I believe is called the NO mass, so the eastern rites are a total mystery to me. I really have come to depend on the knowledge of the contributors here to help me fill in gaps while I’m learning.
 
I’ve not been to a church with Eastern rites, but I’m very curious. Was the liturgy very different from the Roman rite?
 
AllSeasons said:
I’ve not been to a church with Eastern rites, but I’m very curious. Was the liturgy very different from the Roman rite?
Click to expand...
Yes, it would be. Very. Check the Eastern Catholicism board for more info.
IrishRush said:
A while back I attended the funeral of a friend of mine, who was Indian, at St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Church. The mass was in English, mostly, and when it was time for communion I went up as I normally would.
I’ve been reading other posts that talk about receiving communion at Protestant churches and how we are not allowed, and I know this church was not Protestant, and it says it’s in full communion with the Catholic Church, but I thought it might be best to ask, since I feel like there might be some doubt. :confused:
If it was not, is it something I need to confess?
Thanks for any help with this.
Click to expand...
The Syro-Malabar Church is an Eastern Catholic Church, so you were free to receive communion. However, you should probably not take communion if you are unsure; better safe than sorry. I’m glad you have received this wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Eastern Catholic Churches.
 
The Syro-Malabar Church is an ancient Church who claim to have been founded by St Thomas is Kerala in 52AD. There is no reason to doubt this claim although there is no independent verification. They have been in full communion with Rome since the 17th century and are part of the Syriac Rite
IrishRush said:
The mass was in English, mostly,
Click to expand...
Is nothing sacred?
 
IrishRush said:
I was away from my faith for a looooong time and came back to it as an adult. What I learned as a kid I had mostly forgotten and I’m still working toward learning it all. My total experience is with what I believe is called the NO mass, so the eastern rites are a total mystery to me. I really have come to depend on the knowledge of the contributors here to help me fill in gaps while I’m learning.
Click to expand...
Just a minor point: the mass you are familiar with is the Ordinary Form (or OF). It is no longer specifically the “Novus Ordo” (NO or “new order”)
 
ConstantineTG said:
What is so bad about it? We Eastern Christians have no hangups about using any language in our Liturgy. We don’t have a delusion about languages.
Click to expand...
I’m teasing you. I appreciate that the Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari may be celebrated in Syriac, Malayalam or English. It is of a similar age to the Liturgy of St James of Jerusalem and predates the earliest forms of the Latin Mass by a few hundred years. It just strikes us poor Westerners as slightly incongruous that such an ancient liturgy should be celebrated in a language that can only claim a few hundred years of history.
 
jimrob said:
I’m teasing you. I appreciate that the Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari may be celebrated in Syriac, Malayalam or English. It is of a similar age to the Liturgy of St James of Jerusalem and predates the earliest forms of the Latin Mass by a few hundred years. It just strikes us poor Westerners as slightly incongruous that such an ancient liturgy should be celebrated in a language that can only claim a few hundred years of history.
Click to expand...
Liturgy means work of the people. How can it be the work of the people today if its in a language barely anyone there present speaks? It doesn’t matter how we speak the words (referring to language) as long as what we speak is the same.
 
IrishRush said:
AI know this church was not Protestant, and it says it’s in full communion with the Catholic Church,.
Click to expand...
there is no issue, and you have your answer. Yes this rite is in full communion with the Catholic Church, and it is one of the oldest rites within the Church, and very beautiful.
 
puzzleannie said:
there is no issue, and you have your answer. Yes this rite is in full communion with the Catholic Church, and it is one of the oldest rites within the Church, and very beautiful.
Click to expand...
It’s this Catholic Church that is in Communion with the Roman Catholic Church, not the rite.

This church uses that rite, which I believe it shares with others–some of which are not Catholic.

hawk
 
dochawk said:
It’s this Catholic Church that is in Communion with the Roman Catholic Church, not the rite.

This church uses that rite, which I believe it shares with others–some of which are not Catholic.

hawk
Click to expand...
Yes. All Churches in what is considered the Christian East have Orthodox counterparts save for the Maronites.
 
jimrob said:
The Syro-Malabar Church is an ancient Church who claim to have been founded by St Thomas is Kerala in 52AD. There is no reason to doubt this claim although there is no independent verification. They have been in full communion with Rome since the 17th century and are part of the Syriac Rite

Is nothing sacred?
Click to expand...
The service is normally done in Malayalam, as the priest explained before they started, but because so many Americans came to the funeral service, they had an English service so all could participate.
On another note, I had to explain to one of the doctors who came with me, who happens to be Mormon, why she could not take communion. She said when she and her husband married she took communion. Not sure if it was in a Catholic church or not, but she seemed rather put out by it. Any advice on how to explain, in a not off-putting way, to someone who is not Catholic but attends a service, why they cannot take communion?
 
IrishRush said:
The service is normally done in Malayalam, as the priest explained before they started, but because so many Americans came to the funeral service, they had an English service so all could participate.
On another note, I had to explain to one of the doctors who came with me, who happens to be Mormon, why she could not take communion. She said when she and her husband married she took communion. Not sure if it was in a Catholic church or not, but she seemed rather put out by it. Any advice on how to explain, in a not off-putting way, to someone who is not Catholic but attends a service, why they cannot take communion?
Click to expand...
Because they don’t believe what we believe about communion. If they don’t believe in the Holy Eucharist they cant receive it. There really shouldn’t be anything off-putting about that. If they want to make a big fuss about that to stroke their ego then the problem is with them, not you.

This sounds especially ridiculous coming from a Mormon considering how secretive and closed-off their rituals are. Ask her when is the next time she’s inviting you to a temple ceremony?
 
IrishRush said:
The service is normally done in Malayalam, as the priest explained before they started, but because so many Americans came to the funeral service, they had an English service so all could participate.
On another note, I had to explain to one of the doctors who came with me, who happens to be Mormon, why she could not take communion. She said when she and her husband married she took communion. Not sure if it was in a Catholic church or not, but she seemed rather put out by it. Any advice on how to explain, in a not off-putting way, to someone who is not Catholic but attends a service, why they cannot take communion?
Click to expand...
Ask her why does she want to take part in a Catholic ritual.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top