What exactly is a "Healing Mass"?

[Lepanto]

Is the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick administered within the context of such Masses?

If not, what exactly makes these Masses “healing”??

 

[Phemie]

Is the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick administered within the context of such Masses?

If not, what exactly makes these Masses “healing”??

Yes, in my experience the Anointing of the Sick is generally administered. What I saw when I went to one is that everyone, even a 23 year old who wasn’t sick but whose mother growled “Do you think you’re perfect and don’t need this?” and a non-Catholic went up to receive this sacrament.

 

[FrDavid96]

Is the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick administered within the context of such Masses?

If not, what exactly makes these Masses “healing”??

In the “official” language employed by the Church there’s no such thing as a “healing Mass” in other words, you won’t find anything refered to by that name in the Sacramentary or elsewhere. There is a Mass for the Sick, and it is certainly permitted to administer the Sacrament of Unction within Mass–Rite of Anointing allows this as a perfectly licit option.

Of course, we use vocabulary all the time which isn’t “official” but in a case like this one, the term can be quite misleading because all Masses are “healing” and all too often when we hear the term “healing Masses” it means that it will go well beyond the legitimate administration of Unction by extending it to everyone present, or anyone who happens to walk up to receive it.

 

[DebChris]

Each year a local parish hosts a healing Mass. This Mass is a Charismatic Mass, although not all who attend are charismatic. After the Mass, prayer teams are formed to pray for any person who comes forward. Prayer focuses on any healing, physical or spiritual, that we may need in our life. It is not unusual for the person who asks for prayer to ask as a proxy for a family member or other person he/she knows is sick. Prayer teams may consist of clergy and/or laity.

This Healing Mass differs from a Mass for the Sick. Only a priest can administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. As Fr. David mentioned, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is administered during the Mass for the Sick. When I lived in WI, this Mass was offered at least once a year. Members from the local nursing homes were brought to the church and a Mass was offered on their behalf. I also attended a couple of these Masses when I lived in CA. None of these Masses was charismatic.

 

[Phemie]

Each year a local parish hosts a healing Mass. This Mass is a Charismatic Mass, although not all who attend are charismatic. After the Mass, prayer teams are formed to pray for any person who comes forward. Prayer focuses on any healing, physical or spiritual, that we may need in our life. It is not unusual for the person who asks for prayer to ask as a proxy for a family member or other person he/she knows is sick. Prayer teams may consist of clergy and/or laity.

All I can say is that the liturgy called ‘Healing Mass’ in my neck of the woods is nothing like what you describe above. So I guess what a ‘Healing Mass’ is depends on where you live.

 

[bpbasilphx]

How do we find more healing than in the Body and Blood of Christ and possibly Holy Anointing?

 

[benedictgal]

When he was the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope Benedict wrote an Instruction on Prayers for Healing. This is what he said, in part:

Prayer for the restoration of health is therefore part of the Church’s experience in every age, including our own. What in some ways is new is the proliferation of prayer meetings, at times combined with liturgical celebrations, for the purpose of obtaining healing from God. In many cases, the occurrence of healings has been proclaimed, giving rise to the expectation of the same phenomenon in other such gatherings. In the same context, appeal is sometimes made to a claimed charism of healing.

These prayer meetings for obtaining healing present the question of their proper discernment from a liturgical perspective; this is the particular responsibility of the Church’s authorities, who are to watch over and give appropriate norms for the proper functioning of liturgical celebrations.

Here is what he notes as far as the liturgy is concerned:

With respect to prayer meetings for obtaining healing, an aim which even if not exclusive is at least influential in their planning, it is appropriate to distinguish between meetings connected to a «charism of healing,» whether real or apparent, and those without such a connection. A possible «charism of healing» can be attributed when the intervention of a specific person or persons, or a specific category of persons (for example, the directors of the group that promotes the meetings) is viewed as determinative for the efficacy of the prayer. If there is no connection with any «charism of healing,» then the celebrations provided in the liturgical books, if they are done with respect for liturgical norms, are obviously licit and often appropriate, as in the case of a Mass pro infirmis. If the celebrations do not respect liturgical law, they lack legitimacy.

In sanctuaries, other celebrations are held frequently which may not be aimed per se at specifically asking God for graces of healing, but in which, in the intentions of the organizers and participants, the obtaining of healing has an important part. With this purpose in mind, both liturgical and non-liturgical services are held: liturgical celebrations (such as exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction) and non-liturgical expressions of popular piety encouraged by the Church (such as the solemn recitation of the Rosary). These celebrations are legitimate, as long as their authentic sense is not altered. For example, one could not place on the primary level the desire to obtain the healing of the sick, in a way which might cause Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to lose its specific finality, which is to «bring the faithful to recognize in the Eucharist the wonderful presence of Christ and to invite them to a spiritual union with him, a union which finds its culmination in sacramental Communion.»(26)

The «charism of healing» is not attributable to a specific class of faithful. It is quite clear that St. Paul, when referring to various charisms in 1 Corinthians 12, does not attribute the gift of «charisms of healing» to a particular group, whether apostles, prophets, teachers, those who govern, or any other. The logic which governs the distribution of such gifts is quite different: «All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who distributes to each one individually just as the Spirit choses» (1 Cor 12:11). Consequently, in prayer meetings organized for asking for healing, it would be completely arbitrary to attribute a «charism of healing» to any category of participants, for example, to the directors of the group; the only thing to do is to entrust oneself to the free decision of the Holy Spirit, who grants to some a special charism of healing in order to show the power of the grace of the Risen Christ. Yet not even the most intense prayer obtains the healing of all sicknesses. So it is that St. Paul had to learn from the Lord that «my grace is enough for you; my power is made perfect in weakness» (2 Cor 12:9), and that the meaning of the experience of suffering can be that «in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church» (Col 1:24).

You can read the whole document at:

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20001123_istruzione_en.html

I hope this information helps. The document was written back in 2000 and remains in force, especially since the author is now the Holy Father and the second signer, the secretary of the Congregation at the time, is now the Cardinal Secretary of State.

 

[benedictgal]

In the same document that I quoted from my previous post, the Holy Father, as prefect, drew some conclusions that should bear notiing.

He does, nonetheless, offer some admonitions that should be followed:

§ 2. Those who prepare liturgical services of healing must follow these norms in the celebration of such services.

§ 3. Permission to hold such services must be explicitly given, even if they are organized by Bishops or Cardinals, or include such as participants. Given a just and proportionate reason, the Diocesan Bishop has the right to forbid even the participation of an individual Bishop.

Art. 5 – § 1. Non-liturgical prayers for healing are distinct from liturgical celebrations, as gatherings for prayer or for reading of the word of God; these also fall under the vigilance of the local Ordinary in accordance with can. 839 § 2.

§ 2. Confusion between such free non-liturgical prayer meetings and liturgical celebrations properly so-called is to be carefully avoided.

§ 3. Anything resembling hysteria, artificiality, theatricality or sensationalism, above all on the part of those who are in charge of such gatherings, must not take place.

…Art. 9 – Those who direct healing services, whether liturgical or non-liturgical, are to strive to maintain a climate of peaceful devotion in the assembly and to exercise the necessary prudence if healings should take place among those present; when the celebration is over, any testimony can be collected with honesty and accuracy, and submitted to the proper ecclesiastical authority.

Art. 10 – Authoritative intervention by the Diocesan Bishop is proper and necessary when abuses are verified in liturgical or non-liturgical healing services, or when there is obvious scandal among the community of the faithful, or when there is a serious lack of observance of liturgical or disciplinary norms.

I wish that this document would have been distributed to the Metropolitans and the Ordinaries so that they can take a closer lok at the types of liturgies that occur within their terriroties. It would help alleviate a lot of the confusion.

 

[DebChris]

All healing comes from God.
Fr. D’Orio had a healing charism. When asked about those who were not physically healed when he prayed over them, “That’s God way of keeping me humble.”
Each of us, by virtue of our baptism, is called to pray for one another. A person does not need a “healing charism” in order to pray for the healing of another person. It is still God to whom the glory is given if and when healing takes place.
God calls us to be open to how He chooses to work through us.

 

[mystified]

In a broad sense, every Mass a “healing” Mass, but prayers for physical or spiritual healing can be offered outside of thr context of the Euchristic celebration.

Our neighboring parish has a “healing Mass” monthly, usually inviting a well-known or popular priest to be the celebrant. To this point, there’s no problem . It is only af the end of the Mass when a team of laypeople approach the sanctuary and take holy chrism with which to annoint anyone who wants it .

Even though I was a stranger, not particularly large, and a “seasoned citizen”, a team leader asked me to stand nearby to as a “catcher” in case someone was healed so suddenly that they would fall. The annointing action reminded me of the old Oral Roberts TV programs in which he’d shove firmly on the petitioner’s forehead and shout, “Heal!”

I guess it wasn’t a very good night, though, because no sign of this kind of hysteria was observed.

 

[Lux_et_Tenebrae]

In a broad sense, every Mass a “healing” Mass, but prayers for physical or spiritual healing can be offered outside of thr context of the Euchristic celebration.

Yes, after the Mass is ended, there is a prayer service, and healing teams are brought in to pray over those who wish this prayer.

Our neighboring parish has a “healing Mass” monthly, usually inviting a well-known or popular priest to be the celebrant. To this point, there’s no problem . It is only af the end of the Mass when a team of laypeople approach the sanctuary and take holy chrism with which to annoint anyone who wants it .

Are you sure it is chrism? There are other blessed oils which are sacramentals (like Holy Water, but an oil) This is most commonly used during prayer services.

Even though I was a stranger, not particularly large, and a “seasoned citizen”, a team leader asked me to stand nearby to as a “catcher” in case someone was healed so suddenly that they would fall. The annointing action reminded me of the old Oral Roberts TV programs in which he’d shove firmly on the petitioner’s forehead and shout, “Heal!”

If you were not comfortable, why didn’t you refuse this service?
Lux

 

[DebChris]

Yes, after the Mass is ended, there is a prayer service, and healing teams are brought in to pray over those who wish this prayer.

Are you sure it is chrism? There are other blessed oils which are sacramentals (like Holy Water, but an oil) This is most commonly used during prayer services.

If you were not comfortable, why didn’t you refuse this service?
Lux

This is the healing Mass that I described in my earlier post.

Thank you, Lux, for clarifying that the oil used is not chrism. Lay people who make up prayer teams are not administering the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. The Sacrament may only be administered by a priest. It is done during the Mass for the Sick, not the Healing Mass that you and I have each described.
I described on a different thread an incident that happened during a regular Sunday Mass. The gospel for the day was The Good Samaritan. There was an emergency in which the paramedics had to be called. Communion was distributed and all were able to receive the Eucharist including the woman experiencing the medical emergency. As the woman was being wheeled out of the church by the paramedics, Father was able to anoint her with chrism. She received the Anointing of the Sick.

I have never seen any hysteria during a Catholic Healing Service. As already stated, healing prayer is offered after the Mass. People quietly come forward for this prayer. The celebrant and his deacon may make up a team that stands in the front of the altar while other teams are off to the side. If we are “slain in the Spirit” it is because we have been overpowered by the Power of God. It is not something that is sought. The last time it happened to me, I was being prayed over by the celebrant, a deacon, and the parish priest. The parish priest had just received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit that day before Mass. I stood in proxy for my brother, now deceased. I went down. After the prayer for my brother I asked for prayers for myself. The prayer had barely started and I was “resting in the Lord” once again. During the last healing Mass I attended, this same priest prayed over me. While I was not slain, I did feel the enormous weight that I was carrying lifted from my shoulders. There is tremendous power in the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

Not all healing is physical. We often find ourselves in the midst of spiritual battles. Prayer is needed to persevere, to not be crushed by the enemy. As we come forward for prayer after the Mass, we come with the knowledge that we have already been fortified by the Word of God and the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

 

[Phemie]

I described on a different thread an incident that happened during a regular Sunday Mass. The gospel for the day was The Good Samaritan. There was an emergency in which the paramedics had to be called. Communion was distributed and all were able to receive the Eucharist including the woman experiencing the medical emergency. As the woman was being wheeled out of the church by the paramedics, Father was able to anoint her with chrism. She received the Anointing of the Sick.

Not Chrism. “Sacred Chrism” is used at Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination. The “Oil of the Ill/Sick” is used for the Anointing of the Sick.

There are three Holy Oils; the other one is:

The Oil of Catechumens with which those coming to the Church for Baptism are anointed – adults when they join the Order of Catechumens and babies as part of the Baptismal Rite (although it is often omitted).

 

[benedictgal]

I would, however, be cautious about anything involving oils, as even though some will explain that there is a difference, I believe that nothing resembling the sacrament should be used. The document that I quoted from the CDF makes that point very clear.

 

[FrDavid96]

Yes, after the Mass is ended, there is a prayer service, and healing teams are brought in to pray over those who wish this prayer.

Are you sure it is chrism? There are other blessed oils which are sacramentals (like Holy Water, but an oil) This is most commonly used during prayer services.

If you were not comfortable, why didn’t you refuse this service?
Lux

The Church addresses precisely this matter in the lnstruction Ecclesia de mysterio. adoremus.org/Instruction-lay-ministry.html

Article 9

The Apostolate to the Sick

1. In this area, the non-ordained faithful can often provide valuable collaboration. Innumerable works of charity to the sick are constantly provided by the non-ordained faithful either individually or through community apostolates. These constitute an important Christian presence to sick and suffering of the greatest importance. The non-ordained faithful particularly assist the sick by being with them in difficult moments, encouraging them to receive the Sacraments of Penance and the Anointing of the Sick, by helping them to have the disposition to make a good individual confession as well as to prepare them to receive the Anointing of the Sick. In using sacramentals, the non-ordained faithful should ensure that these are in no way regarded as sacraments whose administration is proper and exclusive to the Bishop and to the priest. Since they are not priests, in no instance may the non-ordained perform anointings either with the Oil of the Sick or any other oil.

 

[Lux_et_Tenebrae]

Hi,

This is not an anointing, but prayers for healing. Why would there be any sacramentals of blessed oil, if they could not be used?

Again, I will accept the interpretation of a priest whose standing in the Church is known to me.

Lux

 

[benedictgal]

The Church addresses precisely this matter in the lnstruction Ecclesia de mysterio. adoremus.org/Instruction-lay-ministry.html

Article 9

The Apostolate to the Sick

1. In this area, the non-ordained faithful can often provide valuable collaboration. Innumerable works of charity to the sick are constantly provided by the non-ordained faithful either individually or through community apostolates. These constitute an important Christian presence to sick and suffering of the greatest importance. The non-ordained faithful particularly assist the sick by being with them in difficult moments, encouraging them to receive the Sacraments of Penance and the Anointing of the Sick, by helping them to have the disposition to make a good individual confession as well as to prepare them to receive the Anointing of the Sick. In using sacramentals, the non-ordained faithful should ensure that these are in no way regarded as sacraments whose administration is proper and exclusive to the Bishop and to the priest. Since they are not priests, in no instance may the non-ordained perform anointings either with the Oil of the Sick or any other oil.

Fr. David, this is also repeated in the 1997 document issued by the Congregation for Clergy called On Certain Questions on the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of the Priest. It says the same thing your post aptly notes:

In using sacramentals, the non-ordained faithful should ensure that these are in no way regarded as sacraments whose administration is proper and exclusive to the Bishop and to the priest. Since they are not priests, in no instance may the non-ordained perform anointings either with the Oil of the Sick or ony other oil.

In fact, my local ordinary was very specific in stating that this should not be done. He noted as much during a radio address. Yet, there are some, and I have seen this in another Texas diocese, and, here at home, in one parish, where people will use oils to annoint others. This is clearly wrong and it goes against the authoritative documents of the Church.

One of the problems with movements such as the Charismatic Movement is that, inasmuch as they are duly approved, they take upon themselves things that are not in their puriview to do. Part and parcel of being a Catholic is to be faithful to and adhere the teachings and the norms of the Church. No movement is above this. One cannot simply say that because they are Cursillistas, Charismatics, Focolare members of followers of the Neocatechumenal Way they are allowed to do this that and the other.

 

[Phemie]

Hi,

This is not an anointing, but prayers for healing. Why would there be any sacramentals of blessed oil, if they could not be used?

Again, I will accept the interpretation of a priest whose standing in the Church is known to me.

Lux

I have always understood the sacramentals of blessed oil as something we used on ourselves, not on someone else.

 

[FrDavid96]

Hi,

This is not an anointing, but prayers for healing. Why would there be any sacramentals of blessed oil, if they could not be used?

Again, I will accept the interpretation of a priest whose standing in the Church is known to me.

Lux

The reason is that the sacramental of blessed oil is not for the purpose of simulating the Sacrament of Unction, but has its own very legitimate purposes.

The Church has clearly addressed this in the 2 documents which have been quoted. “Since they are not priests, in no instance may the non-ordained perform anointings either with the Oil of the Sick or any other oil.”

“in no instance” means “in no instance”
“Oil of the Sick or any other oil” means “Oil of the Sick or any other oil”

I’m not about to address what your priest decides to do, but I will quote the clear unambiguous instructions published by the Church specifically addressing this practice.

 

[DebChris]

The Church addresses precisely this matter in the lnstruction Ecclesia de mysterio. adoremus.org/Instruction-lay-ministry.html

Article 9

The Apostolate to the Sick

1. In this area, the non-ordained faithful can often provide valuable collaboration. Innumerable works of charity to the sick are constantly provided by the non-ordained faithful either individually or through community apostolates. These constitute an important Christian presence to sick and suffering of the greatest importance. The non-ordained faithful particularly assist the sick by being with them in difficult moments, encouraging them to receive the Sacraments of Penance and the Anointing of the Sick, by helping them to have the disposition to make a good individual confession as well as to prepare them to receive the Anointing of the Sick. In using sacramentals, the non-ordained faithful should ensure that these are in no way regarded as sacraments whose administration is proper and exclusive to the Bishop and to the priest. Since they are not priests, in no instance may the non-ordained perform anointings either with the Oil of the Sick or any other oil.

No oils are used during the prayers after the Mass that I described. The priest forms a team at the foot of the altar. Other teams comprised of laypersons are off to the side. We do lay hands and pray over one another. Words of encouragement or knowledge are spoken with the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
My parish does not have a Charismatic Prayer group although nearby parishes do. The group that meets on Monday nights is an intercessory prayer group that begins with praise and thanksgiving for all the blessing that have been received. After that we engage in intercessory prayer. Toward the end of the meeting the group may pray over one or two individuals.
During the annual Healing Mass, members from prayer groups throughout the city come to the one church previously mentioned. Members of the prayer teams are primarily drawn from that church’s members. Anybody may come forward for prayers after Mass. More time is set aside for this type of individual prayer than is typically available during regular prayer meetings. Likewise, individuals who generally do not attend Charismatic prayer meetings also come for the Mass and stay for the healing prayers.