The rule requires that life professed brothers and sisters receive the Holy Eucharist every Lord's Day and on Major Feast Days - it also encourages more frequent attendance if possible - with many believing that daily reception should be undestood as the Dominican ideal (not to mention the Roman Catholic and Anglo-Catholic standard for those pursing the spiritual life seriously).
How do you live this out? Where do you need to grow?
Do you observe any specific devotions or practices related to the Mass (e.g. fasting before receiving, holy hours, genuflecting to the reserved sacrament, etc)
Looking forward to your responses.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
12 comments:
With the exception of Monday, my day off, we have Daily Eucharist at Annunciation. Generally I have company (all staff required to attend either MP or HE). Again, we've heard the volunteers staying with us say over and again how they wish this was offered at their home parishes. For me it's a great "break" in the middle of the day. Generally, after Morning Office, etc. the chaos begins. But whatever is happening, I get to drop it and head off for the chapel.
At our main Sunday Service we're working to reinforce the the horizontal axis of the eucharistic celebration. Prior to my time here the vertical was emphasised solely. When we renovated the sanctuary post Katrina we very intentionally moved the altar into the area where the congregation is gathered and fanned the seats around it. I think this restoration of the horizontal has made our celebration much richer.
I have the chance to receive outside Sunday at a Wednesday evening mass. I would love to be able to partake every day but it is not possible here. I guess I have always felt that saying the Offices was how I could be in the presence.
Our Wednesday evening group is quite small, small enough that we can all fit up at the alter in a semi circle. When our Associate presides we can all fit at the rail. I fear that at some point this service will disappear as last year in Holy Week we did not have service at night Monday or Tuesday since only a couple of people came the year before. If we do not have mass every evening during Holy Week, how long before the 12 or so of us from Wednesday will be an inconvenience?
I do not have any special practice beforehand and would be interested in hearing from anyone else who does.
Besides Sundays, our parish offers Eucharist on Tuesday morning, Wednesday evening, and a healing Eucharist Thursday at lunch. I have not been faithful about attending the weekday masses except during Holy Week. It would be easier for me to attend morning masses and I could probably get into an every day habit of that if it were offered. One of several reasons I contemplate from time to time swimming the Tiber.
What are the major feast days? For example, today is the Nativity of the BVM-- does that count?
Like Br. Harris, I always pray what I call the RC prayer of humble access: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive, but only say the word and I shall be healed." I use this prayer at the rail right before the host is offered to me. I pray this even though my parish almost always uses the Rite I liturgy for Mass, which contains a longer and much richer prayer of humble access. Rite II has no prayer of humble access, which is one of my many grievances against that liturgy.
When kneeling during the mass, I try to keep focused by listening for the epiclesis and also by listening for my favorite phrase: "Through faith in his blood." At the rail I try to be mindful of exactly what it is I am receiving. It is certainly the most precious substance and the most precious liquid in creation.
We have the 1928 PB Service at 8a but switched to Rite II . . . for a lot of reasons . . . at the main Sunday Service. Rick you'll be happy to know, however, that we add in the Prayer of Humble Access. I feel it's needed plus it was a bone to our older crowd who insist on it! I may switch us over to the Kenyan Rite later this year which is really lovely. It's the best Prayer Book out there for my money.
On this point it is great to be the priest! I get to set the schedule for Mass. Carl, I am sorry that any priest might ever find Mass to be an inconveince. I am convicted that the Eucharist with one other is to be approached with all the mystery and awe as the First Mass of Easter. It is a fuss over God, not a fuss over the congregation, thoug uniquely for the congregation.
I do not say Mass daily, but all the "bold type" or "red letter days" are celebrated, not because my congregation wants them, but because they ought to be remembered.
I appreciate Fr Jerry's commenbt about the "vertical" being over emphasized, and so I have this to offer on the Communion of the Saints...
In the traditional Mass, some of the saints are lidted by name, especially the Blessed ever-Virgin Mary, the Apostles and Martyrs. Might we begin to refer to them in the present tense rather than the past? They are still alive to God!
What would that change about Communion as a corporate act?
To add to Br. Guy's comments..... we celebrate regularly Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
During our time supplying a Presbyterian church we have missed, among other things, the Eucharist. I may have mentioned before that Sally and I use our formal dining room as a chapel and Bible study room. Early on, we began Celebrating during the week as part of our dining room activities. Celebrating in our home is a special time for us. I am always reminded of the early Christians huddled in small groups in their homes, sharing the Body and Blood together.
Dear All--
The Eucharist, for me, is a sort of death and rebirth. The shared humanity of those waiting to partake, the approach to the altar, the gift of great mercy from God, and the return to life in community-- these are the things I prize.
Because of me limited ability to get myself around, I have to be content with taking the Eucharist once a week. I have been in retreat situations where I was able to take it once a day or more, and always profited by the increase.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, let me again say that it is the Eucharist, not the Mass. Differentiating the two is one of the things that sent Cranmer to the pyre. If we honor his prayer book, we should also honor the distinction it represents.
One devotion that I know many Christians enage is whenever they enter a church they always go to the nave and sanctuary to pay our Lord a visit in the reserved sacrament. It may be brief, but it is a way for them to acknowledge the presence of Christ in the Holy Sacrament.
Others of course genueflect and bow when entering and leaving as an acknowledgement of the Divine King.
There is an old custom of fasting before receiving the sacrament on Sunday mornings - I have done this in different seasons of my life.
There are various devotional prayers one can use prior to and after receiving the sacrament on Sundays.
There is of course the great devotional society: The Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.
http://home.sandiego.edu/~baber/CBS/
I will have to respectfully disagree with Br. George. Distinguishing between Mass and Eucharist was important to Cranmer because he denied that the Eucharistic elements contain a Real Presence, something he told Parliament when the first BCP was being debated there in 1548. It was this denial of the Real Presence by early CoE bishops that undergirds the contention of the Roman Catholic Church that the line of apostolic succession for Anglican priests was broken. As a subscriber to the doctrine of transubstantiation and a firm believer in the Real Presence, I appreciate and endorse the use of the term, Mass.
Sr. Jackie said:
For years at Grace Church Eucharist was celebrated every other Sunday, the other Sunday, just Morning Prayer. I always felt I needed more than just MP. Since Fr. Kevin has been our Priest we have Eucharist every Sunday. I fast before, as I was taught this by a wonderful older Episcopalian lady when I was just a kid and I also bow. Silently, I five thanks to God for this blessing of his Son's body and blood. I am sometimes annoyed by the conduct of others at the rail....so I pray for them!
Regarding the discussion about the Mass and the Eucharist, which I appreciate; how does the role of the Priest/Celebrant differ if we talk about one or the other. Does the Priest represent Christ Himself in the Mass while at the Eucharist acts in behalf of the people at the table?
Post a Comment