What was the most egregious liturgical abuse you ever witnessed?

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The cup not be made of precious metal or plated with precious metal, but it must be non-absorbent (which glazed pottery is) and again, it must be something special, something noble. It cannot be a dime store cereal bowl.
 
GIRM 326. In choosing materials for sacred furnishings, besides those which are traditional, others are admissible that, according to the mentality of our own age, are considered to be noble and are durable, and well suited for sacred use. In the Dioceses of the United States of America these materials may include wood, stone, or metal which are solid and appropriate to the purpose for which they are employed.

III. Sacred Vessels
  1. Among the requisites for the celebration of Mass, the sacred vessels are held in special honor, and among these especially the chalice and paten, in which the bread and wine are offered and consecrated and from which they are consumed.
  2. Sacred vessels should be made from precious metal. If they are made from metal that rusts or from a metal less precious than gold, they should generally be gilded on the inside.
  3. In the Dioceses of the United States of America, sacred vessels may also be made from other solid materials which in the common estimation in each region are considered precious or noble, for example, ebony or other harder woods, provided that such materials are suitable for sacred use. In this case, preference is always to be given to materials that do not easily break or deteriorate. This applies to all vessels that are intended to hold the hosts, such as the paten, the ciborium, the pyx, the monstrance, and others of this kind.
  4. As regards chalices and other vessels that are intended to serve as receptacles for the Blood of the Lord, they are to have a bowl of material that does not absorb liquids. The base, on the other hand, may be made of other solid and worthy materials.
Redemptionis Sacramentum

[117.] Sacred vessels for containing the Body and Blood of the Lord must be made in strict conformity with the norms of tradition and of the liturgical books. The Bishops’ Conferences have the faculty to decide whether it is appropriate, once their decisions have been given the recognitio by the Apostolic See, for sacred vessels to be made of other solid materials as well. It is strictly required, however, that such materials be truly noble in the common estimation within a given region, so that honour will be given to the Lord by their use, and all risk of diminishing the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species in the eyes of the faithful will be avoided. Reprobated, therefore, is any practice of using for the celebration of Mass common vessels, or others lacking in quality, or devoid of all artistic merit or which are mere containers, as also other vessels made from glass, earthenware, clay, or other materials that break easily. This norm is to be applied even as regards metals and other materials that easily rust or deteriorate.
 
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LoveJoyPeace said:
Are lay Eucharistic Ministers allowed to refuse to give Holy Communion to someone if they know the person is not Catholic?
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If he knows for sure that the person is not a Catholic, like someone that he knows personally, then it is his responsibility to protect the Communion from being desecrated, which he does by willfully and knowing giving it to a non-Catholic/a person who is not supposed to receive it.

In practical situation, he can direct the person to a priest, tell the priest about the situation and let the priest talks to the person concerned.
 
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A parish I attended in the 1980s in a college town, where people gave each other communion. The communion bread was a big round leavened loaf that the priest tore in bits. Some people dunked their bit in the wine. The same parish often had the sermon given by a lay woman. Wow, just thinking about all these abuses; I didn’t even know better then. It was a crazy time.
A funeral mass for a person who was an angry dissenting Catholic.That person arranged it before he died, and selected a completely inappropriate in-your-face secular song for the closing–just as a last defiant gesture. The person’s wishes were honored.
 
I was traveling for work and after the meeting drove to the highway and saw “Church Road” … Hmmm … Came upon “The Community of St. Benedict”. Went in and asked if there would be a Mass. They said yes, in the chapel in the back. So, there were a bunch of people, a man who might be a priest, an altar girl, and on a side table two loaves of pumpernickel bread. But is it Catholic. A lay man read the gospel … maybe he was a deacon. But is it Catholic. And then the priest got up and gave the homily AND THEN I KNEW IT WAS CATHOLIC. Protestant ministers all give excellent homilies but this one was very weak.

And so the Mass continued and at the Communion, the Eucharistic Ministers had to deal with the two loaves of pumpernickel and the crumbs. And you could tell by their huge discomfort and embarrassment that it is Catholic, but definitely a liturgical abuse.

It was also St. Patrick’s Day, so many of the people were wearing something green.
 
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Sometimes the discipline for such things like the vessels will change. We too used to have some very nice earthen ware vessels that were donated. When the rules change, we changed with them, though not right away. A little patience might be needed for Church’s with smaller budgets.
 
At the campus chapel I once went to during the days I was enrolled in university, the priest used grape juice instead of wine…he even had the audacity to announce it to everyone…
 
TradidiQuodEtAccepi said:
At the campus chapel I once went to during the days I was enrolled in university, the priest used grape juice instead of wine…he even had the audacity to announce it to everyone…
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A bit of a side track here… Would this not invalidate the entire consecration?
 
no, he was a practicing jew. I am an ethnic jew who was born into Catholicism, but this man was an unconverted jew.
 
TheLegend said:
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TradidiQuodEtAccepi:
At the campus chapel I once went to during the days I was enrolled in university, the priest used grape juice instead of wine…he even had the audacity to announce it to everyone…
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A bit of a side track here… Would this not invalidate the entire consecration?
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Yes it would invalidate it.
 
TheLegend said:
A bit of a side track here… Would this not invalidate the entire consecration?
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It would depend. If he used pasteurized grape juice (eg. Welchs), the Precious Blood would not be confected. It would not impact the consecration of the hosts though. It would result in an invalid Mass.

If he used unpasteurized grape juice without other additives (AKA “mustem”), the Precious Blood would be confected, but it would be illicit to use mustem in that manner.
 
Well, I do recall peeking into the sacristy and seeing some of those kid’s fruit punch kind of juice boxes…it was definitely invalid.
 
my parish always keeps a few Capri Suns in the mini fridge we store our altar wine in, in case someone faints- are you sure it wasnt a situation like that?
 
Well, if so, then the priest wouldn’t have stopped in the middle of the Canon of the mass to let people know that he didn’t use wine but grape juice instead…
 
Interestingly enough, the priest didn’t last even a year in the diocese. A few months later, he was “recalled” by his religous order.
 
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