When I read the late Fr. Richard W. Gilsdorf’s Sign of the Times there was one thing mentioned in the book that really stood out for me and something that he repeated. While in seminary he learned the phrase "You can tell a good priest by how he cares for the fragments." While this is of course a generality in my own limited experience it is something I found to be true.
One of my favorite parts of the Mass is the purification of the sacred vessels. There is just so much to love in the Mass, but there is a special joy for me to watch a priest take the time and care when purifying the sacred vessels. When I watch a couple of priests that I know it seems to me that when they are doing this that it reminds me so much of Michelangelo’s Pieta with Mary holding Jesus. There is such evident love and care in performing this seeming mundane action that it all the more brings to me the reality of Jesus being sacramentally present in the Holy Eucharist. The attention to detail to ensure that even the smallest fragment of Our Lord is treated with the reverence and worship our Lord deserves can say more than a dozen homilies on the Eucharist.
As I was heading into the direction of the Church one of the first doctrines that I believed in was the Eucharist. While I came to intellectually accept the reality of the Eucharist it was how the Eucharist was handled in what became my parish Church when I started attending Mass that I came to more fully believe. The use of Patens reinforced this reality to me that care must be taken to ensure that the fragments must not fall to the floor and way the priest would look at the host and into the chalice after the consecration in an obvious act of adoration also helped me to adore Jesus with them.
I truly wish I could say the same thing for other parishes I have attended. Where you hardly see a genuflection upon entering and leaving the Church and Patens are nowhere to be seen. It seems strange to me that even parishes that have introduced Eucharistic Adoration that there are so few acts of piety towards the Blessed Sacrament before, during, after the Mass.
A trend I have noticed in more in more parishes is that the sacred vessels are not being purified during the Mass. Now I am aware the that in the GIRM there is an option that if there are several vessels to purify that this can be done after Mass. Though what I notice happen is that the chalices and ciboriums are being taken by EMHC’s somewhere like a room behind the sacristy. The GIRM specifies that they when they are purified after Mass that they be taken to the altar or credence table. I suspect what is going on is that the EMHCs are then purifying the sacred vessels themselves in defiance of the fact that the indult for them to do so has been removed and are being rather sneaky about it. Besides the fact that their doing so is not allowed I think it also robs the faithful of the act of purifying the sacred vessels.
But then again often in the same parishes the purifications of the sacred vessels is not quite done as a sacred act and sometimes as if the priest was just going through the motions with no seeming care that a fragment of the Eucharist might end up on the floor. I think of how Saint Elizabeth Ann Seaton came into the Church partly because of her witness of Eucharistic piety and I wonder how the lack Eucharistic piety might affect others. If we truly believe that Jesus is sacramentally present in the Holy Eucharist shouldn’t we all act accordingly? Does the cacophony often present before and after Mass show this reality? Do people rushing to the parking lot right after Communion display this reality? Does our choice of clothing truly reflect that we will be witnessing Christ when we receive his Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity? Are we growing in holiness and accepting the graces we can receive from the sacraments? This is an area we all must work on (especially myself) and just receiving Communion worthily is not enough. Before Christ we are never truly worthy and the Eucharist is a gift beyond are wildest imaginings and we all need to be acting accordingly. I thank God for the priests and laity who show this respect and I pray that more will do so.
"Lord, I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed."
18 comments
I was just thinking of this at Mass yesterday. I was watching how our parochial vicar “cleaned” his paten before he turned to distribute Communion to the deacon and the EMHCs and how he wants his chalice put away with a purifcator between the paten and chalice and how the paten needs to be covered. It often amused me that I as a layperson took more time to purify the sacred vessels (when we were allowed) than some of the ordained ministers.
Fr. Brian, the priest I am talking about shortly after coming to my parish struck a good note with me, and now he is by far one of my favorite priests to listen to and have the pleasure of serving with. I’ll have to thank him for his simple yet awesome actions when I see him at a meeting later. Thanks for that little reminder.
It’s no wonder the Catholic Church has experienced some of the problems it has as of late. If there was a truly faithful return to the love and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament by all attending Catholics I believe many fallen away brother and sisters would return and we would be amazed at the resurgence of the Church, spiritually and physically.
A new priest arrived in our parish about a year ago and one of the first things I noticed is how he carefully said Mass, especially at the consecration, and how much time he took in cleaning out each paten and chalice. (We have a decent sized Parish with 6 chalices and 5 or 6 patens used during Sunday Mass. It takes awhile to purify these but I agree, it is a moment I enjoy experiencing.
One of the things that bothers me most is the almost total lack of reverence on the part of some priests. They won’t genuflect or elevate the Host and truly act like it is just bread they are handling. They will not come to adoration and dislike devotions. With Sunday Mass just a ‘gathering of the community’, a pubic and noisy atmosphere is found.
And the secular sisters who will not kneel at all and deliberately avoid male pronouns are also reasons why reverence is decreased.
Ok — I know I could probably find the answer to this in a number of other places, but I’m not completely sure where, so I’ll ask here:
Is the use of glass vessels allowed at all during Mass? For example, I was too far back to see what the main chalice was made of, but when I received the Precious Blood this Sunday, I noticed I was receiving from a glass (chalice? cup? not sure what it should be called). These should not be of glass…am I correct? And where does one read/look to find these answers?
Thanks,
The Blessed Sacrament should never be placed in any vessel which would break if dropped – this precludes both glass and pottery.
The Chalice, Ciborium and Patten should all have gilt surfaces where the Blessed Sacrament contacts them. The people’s Communion Plate should at least be silver where particles might fall onto it.
Re: extra sacred vessels
Do not assume that the EMHCs are purifying — or that they are taking them to a room behind the sacristy, rather than the sacristy itself. The practice at our parish in Northern Virginia is that, after distribution of Communion, the priest takes the ciborium or bowl paten used by the EMHC and moves the remaining Hosts to a single ciborium, which is then removed to the Tabernacle. The now-empty extra ciborium/bowl patens are given to the EMHCs, who take them to the sacristy — a room behind the altar — and they place the vessels on a corporal.
The EMHCs then wash their fingers in a special libation bowl of water that is on the corporal, so as to cleanse their fingers of any minute, dust-sized particles of the Host. The EMHCs then return to the sanctuary/main church area and, after bowing before the altar, return to their seats. While this is going on, the celebrating priest purifies the altar vessels at the altar.
Meanwhile, one of the priests who has assisted in distribution of Communion has come into the sacristy and he — not the EMHCs — purifies the extra vessels. The only time an EMHC might purify something themselves is when they are cleansing an empty pix after a hospital/home visit and there is no priest available.
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Now, that is the practice at our parish. What I witnessed at a relative’s parish in Ann Arbor will and should outrage everyone, but here goes — at the conclusion of distribution of Communion, I don’t know who did the purification, but I did see that the vessels were simply left on a tray in the corner, as nothing more than party dishes left on a tray for the bus-boy to come pick up, complete with napkins (purificators) stuffed into the not-necessarily-empty wine glasses (chalices) (yes, glass), and the glass salad/pretzel bowls (ciborium/bowl patens) stacked on top of each other — and this after Communion was begun by the priest scooping the glass bowls into the big punch bowl of Hosts, as if scooping up pretzels.
The disciples were careful to pick up the fragments, twelve baskets worth, at the feeding of the multitudes. That bread was miraculous, but this even more so. I agree with you 100%. That care needs to be taken, and we need to see it being taken. It is respectful and devotional. Excellent post!
Bender,
Taking them anywhere else is not an option in the GIRM. The GIRM specifically says that they must remain on the altar or credence table.
Oh, I’m sorry. I thought your main objection was that “EMHCs are then purifying the sacred vessels themselves in defiance of the fact that the indult for them to do so has been removed and are being rather sneaky about it.”
While it is true that Redemptionis Sacramentum states: “119. It is permissible, however, especially if there are several vessels to be purified, to leave them, covered as may be appropriate, on a corporal on the altar or on the credence table, and for them to be purified by the Priest or Deacon immediately after Mass once the people have been dismissed.”
General Instruction of the Roman Missal itself states: “279. The sacred vessels are purified by the priest, the deacon, or an instituted acolyte after Communion or after Mass, insofar as possible at the credence table.”
The “insofar as possible” language of GIRM 279 would seem to allow an application of RS 119 to remove the vessels to the immediately adjacent sacristy, to be immediately purified by a priest, especially if that is more dignified and respectful than leaving the vessels on a credence table to be purified later (after Mass).
But what do I know? I’m not a bishop. I only follow what the bishop says.
“and the way the priest would look at the host and into the chalice after the consecration in an obvious act of adoration also helped me to adore Jesus with them.”
You remind of the moment at Mass when our most reverent priest looked at the Host and said “Lamb of God.” I realized he was looking AT Jesus and speaking directly TO Him. My heart trembled in awe, and I won’t forget that…ever.
We as Catholics should take absolute care in even the smallest fragments of the Host. Don’t get me started on EOMHC’s…They need to go. Rome has denied them the indult for cleaning of the vessels. I know this is still going on in LA. The capital of Liturgical Disobedience.
At my parish the priest does not usually purify the vessels and when he does he only rinses the chalice. All the particles remain in the paten and ciborium.
His comment, “We can’t get particle crazy”. I’m sorry, but I doubt he would feel that way about the dishes in his kitchen. I mean, why wash the dishes. Let’s just leave all the old food on them. After all, we don’t want to get crumb crazy.
I may be wrong, but this abuse drives me crazy, so I take it upon myself to purify the vessels properly. Abuse or not, it can’t be worse than leaving the particles there.
I assist with the altar linens in my parish. I often find purificators stained with the Precious Blood in the laundry bag in the sacristy. This has bothered me tremendously. Does anyone know the proper procedure if Precious Blood has obviously soaked into the cloth? I purify the linens at home and place the water in my Mary garden before laundering, but shouldn’t this be done in the sacristy so the Precious Blood isn’t left on the linens? I agree completely with the comment about the abuses brought about by the multitudes of EMOHC -it seems, by definition, to increase sloppiness and irreverance.
Jeff,
I believe that an indult has been issued in the Archdiocese of Washington (where I am) which allows EMs to purify the vessels themselves. It is certainly within the canonical powers of the diocesan bishop to grant this. I do not know the status of this in other dioceses, but certainly the universal indult has expired.
Anne, at the very least, the purificators should be very thoroughly rinsed in the sacrarium sink before set aside for laundering.
I’m in the good Bishop Vasa’s diocese in Oregon. The word went out something like a year ago that the extraordinary ministers were not to purify the vessels. Our priest has made it clear, but some ministers still do it. Frankly, I think they just forget that things have changed. We haven’t had new ministers or training in too many years. I thought I knew why, and apparently I was right. Training has finally been announced, and it is only for male lectors and EMHCs. I was wondering when this would happen. The priests are probably all bracing themselves for the backlash. This is a good thing and I’m not going to complain, but I wish I had known the last time I served in that way that it was the last time. That makes me a little sad.
Anne,
My parish has a container said aside where the purificators get placed in water so they can soak.
Matt,
It is not within a Bishop’s authority to give an indult to something concerning universal liturgical law where there are no options specified. There is a reason why it had to be Pope John Paul II that gave the indult in the first place since it is only at this level that the indult could be made.
In the aftermath of the removal of the indult the Bishop’s had been looking for other ways to do this such as instituting Acoylytes since they realized they had no authority to do this themselves. If a Bishop has actually released a letter authorizing this I would like to see it since it is simply not allowed. I doubt if such an indult has been issued because surely we would have heard about this. More than likely some people have just told you and others that the bishop has issued an indult. Otherwise I would love to see this “indult.”