Prayer services rise, not same as Mass

Weekday prayers are more common; Sunday services in lieu of the Mass less so.

In the Albany Diocese, these Sunday services without a priest occur as well but only as a last resort and are not to be confused with the Mass.

“We must be prepared liturgically and pastorally for Sunday worship without a priest,” said Elizabeth Simcoe, diocesan chancellor for Pastoral Services and director of the Office of Prayer and Worship. “Although some dioceses have chosen the option of using planned celebrations in some circumstances, that does not happen here.”

Sunday contingencies

In November 1989, the U.S. bishops drafted and approved guidelines for Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest. The new guidelines were designed to provide a means for Catholics to gather for Sunday prayer in the absence of their pastor or liturgical minister when a Sunday liturgy could not be celebrated.

The guidelines clearly stated that such prayer services were to occur only on an emergency basis but also provided a second option: that of planned celebrations without a priest.

In the Albany Diocese, however, these Sunday options are used only in emergencies.

What’s allowed

There are four types of worship services currently approved by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard: morning or evening prayer; morning or evening prayer with Holy Communion (previously consecrated); liturgy of the Word for the day; and Liturgy of the Word for the day with Holy Communion (previously consecrated).

At no time is the Mass celebrated without a priest and a parish cannot schedule such worship services on its own; permission from the diocesan administrative advocate is required.

On weekdays

At Sacred Heart parish in Lake George, Deacon Frank Herlihy, has had the opportunity to lead weekday prayer services.

“I’ve done liturgies of the Word for the day both with and without Communion,” he said.

“Basically you read from the Scriptures, give a homily and if communion is available, it is distributed,” he said.

The rite does not necessarily include communion because there may not be sufficient consecrated hosts in the tabernacle for the number of people in attendance.

Deacons and lay persons that lead such celebrations should be assisted by other ministers just as the presider would be assisted at a Mass, Mrs. Simcoe said.

If a priest is not available to celebrate Mass close to the scheduled time of the liturgy, one of the appropriate optional prayer services would take place.

“Just about all of our parishes have designated deacons and/or lay persons ready and able to lead these Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest,” Mrs. Simcoe noted.

No confusion

When such celebrations do occur, they are led by deacons or trained parishioners so that the community can still assemble for prayer and worship.

“I cannot clarify enough that these are Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest, not Communion services. They are deacon or lay-led prayer services,” she emphasized.

Mr. Herlihy has been ordained for 17 years. He said that he thinks the current worship services will increase dramatically in the next year or so, in view of the Called to Be Church initiative.

“Up until now, the need hasn’t really been there for frequent use of these services. As some parishes close and others are regrouped, I think that need would rise,” Mr. Herlihy said.

“I think the idea for the future is that in each group of parishes, one Mass will be celebrated. I’m not sure we’ll be seeing a lot of daily masses anymore but the reality exists that priests will get sick, some won’t be available on some occasions,” he added. “This is where these worship services will be useful and likely more frequent.”

More likely

The optional Sunday celebrations were designed by the American bishops to meet the requirement for the obligation to attend Sunday Mass.

In the Albany Diocese, there has been an increase in the number of such celebrations in recent years due primarily to the dwindling number of available priests and growing number of parishes led by lay parish life directors. But the need to provide planned celebrations without a priest has not surfaced.

“We are still using these celebrations in limited and prescribed circumstances on an emergency basis only,” Mrs. Simcoe said.

“We do encourage people to seek out a Sunday liturgy at another parish if they have advanced notice that a Sunday liturgy in their own parish is canceled. The celebration of the Mass is always centered on the Eucharist.”

(Under what circumstances would a Sunday celebration in the absence of a priest take place?
-When the parish priest is taken sick suddenly and is unable to preside at a liturgy.
-When a cluster plan for weekend Mass coverage was to be implemented and cannot be put into effect on a given weekend.
-When the priest scheduled to celebrate the liturgy is prevented from or delayed in reaching a parish.
-When a priest is absent because of prolonged illness, sabbatical, retreat, or vacation.) [[In-content Ad]]