Dear Catholic Exchange:
Concerning the new directives on the Eucharist, I would like to know if any lay person is permitted to take the consecrated hosts from the tabernacle or replace them there, or if these tasks are reserved only to the priests and deacons.
I would also like to know if the deacon must wear the dalmatic at every Mass and must he also wear the stole underneath it.
Thank you for any help you can give.
Sincerely,
Jean-Paul Laniel
Dear Jean-Paul,
Peace in Christ!
As a matter of principle, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) envisions that a sufficient number of hosts are prepared so that all the faithful communicate from hosts consecrated at the Mass in which they are participating (no. 85). This norm is restated even more forcefully in the Bishop’s Committee on the Liturgy’s document, Norms for the Distribution of Holy Communion Under Both Kinds. No. 30 states, “As a general rule, Holy Communion is given from hosts consecrated at the same Mass and not from those reserved in the tabernacle.”
Thus, it should be rare that anyone needs to remove vessels from the tabernacle. Should the number of people be more than estimated and it becomes necessary to go the tabernacle, the GIRM or other Vatican documents have not addressed the question as to who may perform this function. Neither have the US bishops' conference, so each diocesan bishop may have a policy. For example, in the diocese of Steubenville, where CUF offices are located, other than a priest or deacon, only instituted acolytes (the “first line” of extraordinary ministers) may remove vessels from the tabernacle.
The Office of Divine Worship for the Archdiocese of Chicago, under Cardinal George, issued a bulletin insert called Key Points in the Revised General Instruction. On page four, the norm that enough hosts should be consecrated is strongly affirmed. It goes on to say, “Furthermore, there is nothing in the norms to prohibit someone other than a priest (for example, a deacon or the extraordinary minister of Communion) from taking what is left over of the consecrated hosts to the tabernacle after Communion.”
So there is no general norm on whether an extraordinary minister can remove (or replace) vessels in the tabernacle when ordinary ministers are present. Therefore, the policy of each individual diocese should be consulted and, it is assumed, extraordinary ministers will be instructed what to do when they are trained.
Unless otherwise stipulated by a diocesan bishop’s particular law, extraordinary ministers may repose the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle after Communion.
A fairly recent Church document, the Directory for the Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons is helpful for your second question.
“For the Sacred Liturgy they should vest worthily and with dignity, in accordance with the prescribed liturgical norms. The dalmatic, in its appropriate liturgical colors, together with the alb, cincture and stole, ‘constitutes the liturgical dress proper to deacons’” (no. 30).
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