Who can handle the Blessed Sacrament?

[dominicsavio]

peace be with you! can anyone tell me who is allowed to expose and repose the Blessed Sacrament. well, i know that priests, deacons and acolytes can…so maybe my question is more to who can be an acolyte? i know that it used to be reserved for those on the way to the priesthood but i know that lectors and extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist can be lay people. so if a lay person had the permission of his pastor, would he be allowed to take the Blessed Sacrament out of the tabernacle and put Jesus back?

i have been wondering for a while because one night a week I go to a parish (not my own) for Adoration. it goes late into the night when the pastor would be in bed. he is a very busy priest and pastor for two parishes. the young man was given a key by the priest and both takes Jesus out of the tabernacle and puts Him back at the end of our adoration time. he doesn’t do the Divine Praises or anything. could anyone tell me if this could be allowed?

 

[yinekka]

Lay people exposing amd reposing the Blessed Sacrament is not ideal Dominic but in these days, with priests either being too busy or not really keen on Adoration lay people can be given permission. In our parish this happens but the lay people are mature and daily Mass goers. We say some prayers for vocations and the parish, the Divine Praises and sing a Eucharistic hymn before the Blessed Sacrament is reposed.

The alternative would be not having Adoration.

 

[Deacon_Ed]

Dominic,

Let’s see if I can answer your questions…

“can anyone tell me who is allowed to expose and repose the Blessed Sacrament.”

Any priest or deacon, and any “properly deputed lay person.” This generally refers to an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion who has been given the responsiblity of doing this either by the bishop or the individual’s pastor.

“maybe my question is more to who can be an acolyte?”

This is a more technical question. The ministry of acolyte and lector are reserved to men, and require “installation.” More generally, any Catholic lay person who is fully initiatiated and who meets the bishops requirements may function as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. This is, to all intents and purposes, a “temporary acolyte.”

“so if a lay person had the permission of his pastor, would he be allowed to take the Blessed Sacrament out of the tabernacle and put Jesus back?”

Yes.

Deacon Ed

 

[Dr.Colossus]

Extremely Off Topic: Ok, this shows how much more sleep I need to get. I read “Who Can Handle the Blessed Sacrament”, and started thinking about Christ being the Truth…so I started thinking about “Who Can Handle the Truth” and then of course “You Can’t Handle the Truth!!!” :whacky:

 

[dominicsavio]

peace be with you! thank you all very much for your responses. i thought that it could probably be allowed for the man to expose the Blessed Sacrament because the pastor at that parish is very good. he is a very good and holy priest and i couldn’t have imagined him letting something like this slide. so thank you for clearing it up for me.