What's the minimum requirement for holding Mass?

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EphelDuath

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Hypothetically suppose a priest crashes on a deserted island. Miraculously, he discovers wine and yeast among the wreckage. What is the minimum amount of stuff he needs in order to hold Mass?
 
EphelDuath said:
Hypothetically suppose a priest crashes on a deserted island. Miraculously, he discovers wine and yeast among the wreckage. What is the minimum amount of stuff he needs in order to hold Mass?
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Uncorrupted grape wine, unleavened bread made only from wheat flour and water, some water – and the words of institution of the Mass accurately memorized of course.
 
EphelDuath said:
Hypothetically suppose a priest crashes on a deserted island. Miraculously, he discovers wine and yeast among the wreckage. What is the minimum amount of stuff he needs in order to hold Mass?
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Himself, the ability to move his lips, the proper words of the Mass memorized, wheat bread and grape wine. Yeast is not required, wheat flour would be.
 
EphelDuath said:
What would the proper words be? No Gospel reading required?
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The priest should complete the prayers of the Mass as much as possible, the Readings and Gospel need only be a single line. The words of institution and Consecration need to be exact.
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
Himself, the ability to move his lips, the proper words of the Mass memorized, wheat bread and grape wine. Yeast is not required, wheat flour would be.
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He would not necessarily need to move his lips – I can speak audibly without moving mine. It would be nice to have some water to mix with the wine, but I don’t think that’s absolutely necessary – although it might be.

Further, all he needs is wheat bread. I said unleavened made only of wheat and water – and that is the specification by the Church, but if all he had was Wonder Bread, that would not stop a valid confection of the Blessed Sacrament or the invalidation of the Mass…
 
Is another person besides the priest required to be there to have a Mass? Or can the priest say Mass with just himself present?
 
Daprato said:
He would not necessarily need to move his lips – I can speak audibly without moving mine. It would be nice to have some water to mix with the wine, but I don’t think that’s absolutely necessary – although it might be.

Further, all he needs is wheat bread. I said unleavened made only of wheat and water – and that is the specification by the Church, but if all he had was Wonder Bread, that would not stop a valid confection of the Blessed Sacrament or the invalidation of the Mass…
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He is required to move his lips, and it is valid even if he cannot audibly speak.
 
jpjd said:
Is another person besides the priest required to be there to have a Mass? Or can the priest say Mass with just himself present?
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A priest may say Mass by himself. Especially in these conditions. He does not have to wait for someone else to become stranded with him.
 
<<Uncorrupted grape wine, unleavened bread made only from wheat flour and water, some water – and the words of institution of the Mass accurately memorized of course.>>

Unless he’s an Eastern Catholic priest, in which case leavened bread is the norm.
 
Daprato said:
Yeah? Where is that documented?
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My notes say that this will be found in The Celebration of Mass- A Study of the Rubrics of the Roman Missal. Part 1 Chapter 1 The Voice in the Celebration of Mass. submissa voce and clara voce.
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
My notes say that this will be found in The Celebration of Mass- A Study of the Rubrics of the Roman Missal. Part 1 Chapter 1 The Voice in the Celebration of Mass. submissa voce and clara voce.
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Is that a Church document?
 
Daprato said:
Is that a Church document?
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No, it’s a textbook used to study the Roman Liturgy. Let me explain where this came from. Several years ago we had a priest who when we arrived on Sunday morning could not speak. He had a sore throat the prior week and lost his voice to laregitus. He wrote notes asking every one to simply follow along with the Mass by his movements and actions, the Deacon read the Gospel and preached the homily. Wher we arrived on Wednesday everning for the weekly Lectionary study he had his voice mostly back. We asked about the Mass. He explained that Mass could be validly said in a “secret voice” it was not necessary for the priest to clearly speak all the words as long as he moved his lips and not only thought the words in his mind. He later got this book from his study and read part of the chapter I noted. The footnotes made reference to some Church documents but I didn’t make note of them.
 
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