The Communion Procession

Friends, peace be with you.

In my previous assignment in Bellevue, it was common for one of the deacons, who assisted at every Mass, to go to the back of the church to distribute communion to all the people sitting in the back three or four pews. My predecessor there started doing that to expedite Mass because he had a bad back and bad hips and found it difficult to stand for any length of time. When I came here, I basically instituted the same policy when there is a deacon or when we have too many Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. You may have experienced this if you sit in the back of the church. At a recent Liturgy Committee meeting, we started talking it over. It was pointed out to me that this is not an appropriate norm to enact for several reasons. First, the body (nave, where the pews are) of the church represents the earth/the world and the sanctuary represents Heaven, our act of processing forward is a prefigurement of shedding our attachment to the world and progressing toward Heaven. Second, think of a wedding procession: we, the Church, the bride of Christ, process forward to receive Christ, our bridegroom, at the Sanctuary, a visible symbol of the Heavenly wedding banquet. Lastly, there are three major processions, the priest and other ministers at the entrance procession, the gifts at the preparation of gifts, and the faithful in good standing during communion. In each of these processions, the movement is toward the altar on which the Blessed Sacrament is confected. For expediency's sake, I was having people move away from the altar toward the back of the church, which is really inappropriate. I was dividing the location of the body of Christ unnecessarily and losing sight of the sanctuary as the image of heaven. It’s one thing if this is being done at a Mass involving several hundred people in a complicated space like St. Peter’s Basilica or the gym at Xavier High School but, at St. Patrick’s Church, we have a very simple processional set-up for a reason. We have one long central aisle and two side aisles so people can easily and in unity walk down the center aisle together and return to their pews by the side aisles. So, I’m asking that we return to the way it was when I got here; namely that one Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion or one of our Deacon Dans takes communion around the church to distribute to people who have mobility difficulties while everyone else stays in the front of church to distribute to anyone who can process. When the Deacon or Extraordinary Minister is finished, he or she will come forward and take his or her place in the front. We won’t distribute in the back any longer other than to people with mobility difficulties. If we have too many people assigned to help distribute Holy Communion, one person will only take communion to the people who have mobility difficulties and then come back to the front and put their ciborium on the altar. I hope this makes sense.

At the end of Mass, I also ask our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to help clean the purified vessels. Either one of the deacons or Jacob or I will purify the vessels to remove particles of the Sacred Species that are present after distribution of Holy Communion. So, the Communion Ministers should take the chalices, ciboria, and patens off the credence table back to the sacristy and make warm to the touch sudsy water. Then, use a wash towel two clean the entirety of the vessel. It shouldn’t be submerged in water and that water shouldn’t be inordinately hot or soapy to protect the gold plating but the goal is to make sure the vessel is clean for the next Mass. Then, put them away in the cupboard after 4:00 Saturday and 12:00 on Sunday or get them ready for the next Mass after 8:00 and 10:00 on Sunday.