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Estoy Confundida


Romans1513

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Ok... so I'm confused. Well, I'm confused about half of the day every day here but anyway...

So I'm here in Chile living with a host family and today I went to Mass for the first time here, the daily 7pm Mass. It wasn't Mass though. Apparently what happened tonight wasn't the norm, because my family was a little confused when I told them what happened when I got home, but everyone present at the Mass seemed ok with it (as far as I could tell). I think the priest was sick but still I don't know if this is legit/allowed or not.

"Mass" was in a chapel beside the main church, which is cool because after all it was a small daily Mass. But here's the thing. There wasn't a priest; there was a woman. She said all of the Mass things. All the way through Gospel, homily, creed, petitions. Then we skipped to Our Father and sign of Peace and sang Lamb of God while someone brought out the already-consecrated Eucharist. The woman passed out Communion and then said all the end of Mass stuff like the blessing and all that.

Weird, si?

So, I didn't receive communion because I didn't know what to do. Are people allowed to do this? What should I do if it happens again? I was so scared when she started Mass, I was like if she consecrates the bread I'm going to go cry and then on Sunday find the local SSPX church (um yeah... I don't condone SSPX AT ALL but that would be my only hope of a traditional Mass here that I could be sure of-no other Tridentines at the moment).

So if someone could give me some advice here, or at least some words of comfort?
Ayudame por favor!
Gracias, chao.

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goldenchild17

sounded like a communion service to me. happens a lot especially during the week. At least it did when I was still Novus Ordo. As long as the lady wasn't trying to consecrate the host herself I'd say don't worry too much about it. It wasn't a real mass, but then again I don't think they intended it to be so. Now, (and this is just me) I do get a little annoyed with the growing number of women "ministers" (not sure what you guys call them) who do most of these things that occur outside of the actual mass/sacraments. But other than that I think it was prolly legit.

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CatholicCid

I agree with the above. Sounds like a normal Communion service. If your host family normally attends daily Mass and this sounded strange to them, possibly Mass is normally offered but the Priest was indisposed at the time.
Check with the Parish to see if Mass is normally said at that time to make sure.

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Groo the Wanderer

Yep. A Communion Service. We have had them on a rare occasions. The latest was a daily Mass where father got called away to an emergency. The Director of Liturgy & Music officiated instead. But... she did so from the choir area, not from the Sanctuary. The readings were done at the ambo and the already-consecrated hosts were brought to the altar.


Kinda weird feeling, but perfectly legit.

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Ok, I have seen similar things before, but this was different because it had all the exact words and exact Mass parts minus the consecration. But you all are probably right, and hopefully next time I try go to daily Mass it goes better, not so weird at least.
Thanks, I feel really relieved.

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goldenchild17

just adding to clarify that my post doesn't mean I advocate these communion services, just to point out that it is not an uncommon thing.

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CoffeeCatholic

maybe i'm wrong, but I was under the impression that only Deacons could perform "Communion Services" and only when absolutely necessary.

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Hi Romans1513,
Hey, I'm from Chile! I have seen those Communion services too... I have to confess I find them weird, in fact, I always avoid them...

Are you in Santiago? If so, I can refer you to the Institute of the Good Shepherd ([url="http://www.ibp-la.org"]www.ibp-la.org[/url]), which has daily Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, and of course, is in full communion with the Holy Father.

Hope you enjoy your stay in Chile :)

Un abrazo!

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[quote name='CoffeeCatholic' post='1341920' date='Jul 26 2007, 11:13 PM']maybe i'm wrong, but I was under the impression that only Deacons could perform "Communion Services" and only when absolutely necessary.[/quote]

I'm sure it's at least preferential that Deacon do it, I'm not sure whether or not it's required. Most communion services I've attended were basically a "daily Mass" style Liturgy of the Word, immediately followed by reception of pre-consecrated hosts, and then that was the end.

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CatholicCid

[quote name='CoffeeCatholic' post='1341920' date='Jul 26 2007, 10:13 PM']maybe i'm wrong, but I was under the impression that only Deacons could perform "Communion Services" and only when absolutely necessary.[/quote]

The Catholic Answers Apologists seem to state, that if a Priest is available, a Mass should be said. If no Priest is available, a deacon should preside over the Communion service because he is also ordained, and laypeople may preside if necessary.

Redemptionis Sacramentum (RS) explains, “Indeed, the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion may administer Communion only when the Priest and Deacon are lacking, when the Priest is prevented by weakness or advanced age or some other genuine reason, or when the number of faithful coming to Communion is so great that the very celebration of Mass would be unduly prolonged” (RS 158).

[url="http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=58322"]http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=58322[/url]
[url="http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=46504"]http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=46504[/url]
[url="http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=40054"]http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=40054[/url]

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[quote name='cpp' post='1342030' date='Jul 27 2007, 01:43 AM']Hi Romans1513,
Hey, I'm from Chile! I have seen those Communion services too... I have to confess I find them weird, in fact, I always avoid them...

Are you in Santiago? If so, I can refer you to the Institute of the Good Shepherd ([url="http://www.ibp-la.org"]www.ibp-la.org[/url]), which has daily Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, and of course, is in full communion with the Holy Father.

Hope you enjoy your stay in Chile :)

Un abrazo![/quote]

Hola!
I had heard of IBP in Santiago-I was in Santiago last weekend but I wasn't able to get there. But I'm studying at la Catolica in Valparaiso, living in Vina. Thanks though.
Chao.
-Katie

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if it wasnt a Sunday, and no Priests within reasonable distance, then it was one of those 1970 s Protestant reforms allowed into the Catholic Church..we have allot of those in Quebec
you could always walk on like a pilgrimage to the closest Catholic Church

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JMJ
7/27 - Sixteenth Friday

Yeah, any layman or laywoman is capable of presiding at a communion service - it's preferred that a deacon do it, and if not a deacon then an acolyte, but without either of those, anyone can.

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The Sunday Celebration in Absence of a Priest was recently revised to make it seem less Mass-like to avoid the confusion described here. It also provides for combining Holy Communion with lauds, which I think is a wise choice. Daily Mass, while certainly laudable, should also lead us to the other public prayer of the church: the Divine Office.

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