After church yesterday, I got to wondering about the number of masses taking place in one day...(we have 2 on sunday, but our priest goes to another parish to fill in for another 2 masses also on the same day) Since I only attend ONE service on Sundays,(8:30 AM) I do not know about the other masses...Does the priest take communion at each of these or does he not since he already did at the 8:30? (not meaning to sound facetious, but he must be full of wafers by mid-day) and doesnt this sort of take away the meaning by repeatedly taking communion in the same day? I suppose this is okay for priests though??? Anyone? (*Does anyone still have the 'tinkling' bells during the transubstantiation? I miss this during mass and wonder why it was taken out)

-- Ima Catholic (me@church.net), July 19, 2004

Answers

The consecration and consumption of the Eucharist by the priest are essential elements of the Mass which cannot be omitted.

Some parishes, including my own, still use bells at the elevation of the Eucharist.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), July 19, 2004.

i forgot about the bells. the churches i go to in this area dont use them.

ima-- im curious as to what you think during transubstantiation? i attend mass only 4-6 times a year, but at every moment of transubstantiation, i hold my breath because of what is said to happen. i become very focused, and relaxed (even though im in a kneeling position that can be cumbersome! lol), and i am continually amazed at this custom.

-- jas (jas_r_22@hotmail.com), July 19, 2004.

I cry everytime Im in church because I am deeply moved by it all. Does your church hand you the host? I was brought up not to take it by hand, but my pastor says that Jesus instructed us to 'take and eat this', handing it to everyone at the table. (Thus also allowing the chewing that we were told not to do when I attended catholic school in the early 70s)

-- Ima Catholic (not@home.net), July 19, 2004.

The choice of receiving the Eucharist in your hand or on your tongue is entirely yours. The Church fully approves both methods, and leaves the decision to the recipient, not to the priest or other Eucharistic minister.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), July 19, 2004.

".I attend Mass only 4-5 times a year..."

If possible you need to attend the Holy Mass every Sunday(or Sat after 4pm) and Holy days of obligation.

I know every situation is different, but missing the Holy Mass on Sundays is a very grave sin( for Catholics)unless you are sick or can't make it? You are missing out on attending the Holy Mass 90% of the time you are required to as a Catholic(unless you just can't make it.

God bless you

-- - (David@excite.com), July 19, 2004.

And not to judge you, jas, but you should NOT be receiving Communion, as, other things being equal, you are in the state of grave sin.

-- Christina (introibo2000@nospam.com), July 19, 2004.

well, i didnt say i actually receive communion. and i disagree with you and david about being in a state of grave sin.

-- jas (jas_r_22@hotmail.com), July 20, 2004.

jas,

I didn't judge the state of your soul because I don't know your situation. For all I know you don't live anywhere near a Catholic Church or have transpoortation to get to Holy Mass etc.....

But, I will say that Catholics that miss participating in the Holy Mass on Sundays and Holy days, and can make it to Holy Mass are committing a very grave sin and must confess this sin before receiving the Holy Eucharist or they will be committing another grave sin.

Sometimes if one is struggling with missing Mass than this is a bad habit that can be broken with help from the Blessed Virgin. Satan loves Catholics to miss Mass. Maybe one could also go to Saturday evening Mass and that way one won't be tempted to miss on Sunday because the obligation will already be taken care off. After four or five weeks of this than the bad habbit will be broke.

If you could of went and didn't,than go cleanse that beautiful soul and make a good confession and start with a clean slate and start going. It will make you feel better knowing you are making your peace with the Lord.

God bless you and yours.

-- - (David@excite.com), July 20, 2004.

jas...I was a fallen away Catholic and came back home a few years ago. I used to feel like you. When I finally worked through my journey back, I learned to obey--obey God's law. It is one of the 10 commandments--Keep Holy the Sabbath Day. God bless you.

-- Laura (laura@lauraperson.com), July 30, 2004.

Yes that's a shame. Too bad your teacher didn't stick to the teachings of the Church. He/she did you a disservice.

It's really kind of a dumb story anyway. Even if it were true, the lesson to be learned from it would not be "don't chew the host", but rather "why would anyone be talking while the Body of Christ was still in their mouth??"

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), July 30, 2004.

The instructions Jesus gave regarding consumption of the Eucharist were "take this and eat it". He didn't say anything about letting it dissolve in our mouths.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), July 30, 2004.

This is not something that can be decided by a given parish. It is a matter of what the Church allows. Parishes which are part of the Church must conform to the teaching of the Church. Besides, what could they do to you if they told you not to chew the host and you did anyway?

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), July 30, 2004.

instilling fear,

i know what you mean, it is a common misconception that you are not allowed to chew the Host AT ALL. the idea was that you are not allowed to chew it in a manner which is disrespectful, such as acting as though you're knawing on something like, say, bubblegum. i normally hold the Host in my mouth until after consuming the Blood of Christ which softens the Host. then the host does not need to be chewed much at all to swallow.

-- paul h (dontsendmemail@notanaddress.com), July 31, 2004.

Instilling Fear is actually Faith, who is prohibited from posting in this forum. Her posts have been removed.

Moderator

-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), July 31, 2004.

"Does anyone still have the 'tinkling' bells during the transubstantiation? I miss this during mass and wonder why it was taken out." The altar server used to ring a bell at the consecration, because with the Mass said in Latin and the priest with his back to the congregation, it would otherwise be very difficult for the congregation to know when it was happening. Now that the priest faces us and speaks in English we don't need the bell, though it remains a permissible option and a few parishes still use it.

-- Steve (55555@aol.com), July 31, 2004.

oh, yeah, my parish still uses them, they add a great effect to the mass. at my college, i miss alot of things like that... but i guess thats because my 'catholic' college is so uber-unorthodox that it hardly counts as catholic.

-- paul h (dontsendmemail@notanaddress.com), August 01, 2004.