Deacon Conducting Communion Service QUESTION from Rev. Mr. Larry Lottier December 25, 1999
Recently I read on the EWTN Q&A; that the deacon when conducting a communion service (weekdays when the priest is absent) should include the Gloria (if called for in the Ordo) and other prayers such as the Lamb of God, etc. All except the prayers specific to the priest e.g. the Eucharistic prayer. This would apply only to a deacon and not to an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist. I cannot find this directive in the Rite of Distributing Communion Outside of Mass. What can you tell me? Thanks and a blessed New Year. Deacon Larry Lottier ANSWER by Mr. John Miskell on December 26, 1999
Dear Deacon Lottier, The EWTN expert is probably citing the document titled Directory for Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest, issued June 2, 1988 by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship. In Chapter III: Order of Celebration, Item # 45 we find the following instruction; 45. The thanksgiving may follow either one of the ways described here. 1.After the general intercessions or after holy communion, the leader invites all to an act of thanksgiving, in which the faithful praise the glory and mercy of God. This can be done by use of psalm (for example, Psalms 100, 113, 118, 136, 147, 150), a hymn (for example, the Gloria), a canticle (for example, the Canticle of Mary), or a litanic prayer, together recite the thanksgiving. This document allows for the Gloria to be used during the service but it's not in the same order as in the Mass. This document also tells us which vestments, postures, actions and prayers are appropriate for a deacon and those that are appropriate for a layperson who presides at a Sunday celebration in the absence of a priest. God bless you, John Miskell Back to Index Page