Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: When 2 Deacons Are Present
ROME, NOV. 30, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
There was a question on file related to our Nov. 16 column on the service of deacons:
"We have a large suburban parish with six weekend Masses. Every fourth Sunday is 'deacons preach' weekend, an event which we permanent deacons look forward to with eagerness and no small amount of joy.
"When we had three deacons each of us would preach at two Masses. This worked very well for us. Recently, however, the bishop transferred one of our deacons to another parish. That left two of us to cover six Masses. The question has arisen as to the mechanics of one deacon serving at three Masses. It is our understanding that we should not serve as Mass deacon at more than two celebrations in a single weekend.
"The solution we have come up with is for us to serve as Mass deacon for two Masses and to be the preacher only at one other Mass. Now the question. When not serving as Mass deacon, is it proper for us to proclaim the Gospel in addition to preaching? Or should the celebrant be the one to proclaim the Gospel? It seems to be an odd reversal of roles. One priest -- an associate -- insists on doing it this way. My brother deacon says that the rubrics are clear: The deacon, if present, should proclaim the Gospel.
"If the deacon is not Mass deacon but is preaching only, is he 'present' in the sense the GIRM [General Instruction of the Roman Missal] intended?"
Although this question addresses a particular situation, I would say the following.
I am supposing that the general rule that nobody may receive Communion more than twice in one day applies also to deacons.
On that basis, there would be some difficulty with a deacon serving three Masses on a single day. It is true that it would not be obligatory to communicate at the third Mass, but it would be strange to carry out all of the diaconal ministries and not receive Communion.
However, there is no reason why he could not serve at one Saturday evening Mass and two Sunday Masses, or the reverse. The fact that the same liturgy is followed on Saturday and Sunday has no bearing on the norm that allows no more than two communions in any one day.
Thus, I believe that our reader's supposition that the deacon can serve no more than two Masses over the weekend does not hold up.
At the same time, I would say that it would not generally be in conformity with the norms for a deacon to read the Gospel or preach if he were not actively ministering at Mass. GIRM, No. 66, says: "The Homily should ordinarily be given by the priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to the deacon, but never to a lay person. In particular cases and for a just cause, the homily may even be given by a Bishop or a priest who is present at the celebration but cannot concelebrate ."
Therefore, while GIRM allows for an exceptional case in which a non-concelebrating bishop or priest may preach at Mass, no such exception is envisioned for a deacon.
There was a question on file related to our Nov. 16 column on the service of deacons:
"We have a large suburban parish with six weekend Masses. Every fourth Sunday is 'deacons preach' weekend, an event which we permanent deacons look forward to with eagerness and no small amount of joy.
"When we had three deacons each of us would preach at two Masses. This worked very well for us. Recently, however, the bishop transferred one of our deacons to another parish. That left two of us to cover six Masses. The question has arisen as to the mechanics of one deacon serving at three Masses. It is our understanding that we should not serve as Mass deacon at more than two celebrations in a single weekend.
"The solution we have come up with is for us to serve as Mass deacon for two Masses and to be the preacher only at one other Mass. Now the question. When not serving as Mass deacon, is it proper for us to proclaim the Gospel in addition to preaching? Or should the celebrant be the one to proclaim the Gospel? It seems to be an odd reversal of roles. One priest -- an associate -- insists on doing it this way. My brother deacon says that the rubrics are clear: The deacon, if present, should proclaim the Gospel.
"If the deacon is not Mass deacon but is preaching only, is he 'present' in the sense the GIRM [General Instruction of the Roman Missal] intended?"
Although this question addresses a particular situation, I would say the following.
I am supposing that the general rule that nobody may receive Communion more than twice in one day applies also to deacons.
On that basis, there would be some difficulty with a deacon serving three Masses on a single day. It is true that it would not be obligatory to communicate at the third Mass, but it would be strange to carry out all of the diaconal ministries and not receive Communion.
However, there is no reason why he could not serve at one Saturday evening Mass and two Sunday Masses, or the reverse. The fact that the same liturgy is followed on Saturday and Sunday has no bearing on the norm that allows no more than two communions in any one day.
Thus, I believe that our reader's supposition that the deacon can serve no more than two Masses over the weekend does not hold up.
At the same time, I would say that it would not generally be in conformity with the norms for a deacon to read the Gospel or preach if he were not actively ministering at Mass. GIRM, No. 66, says: "The Homily should ordinarily be given by the priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to the deacon, but never to a lay person. In particular cases and for a just cause, the homily may even be given by a Bishop or a priest who is present at the celebration but cannot concelebrate ."
Therefore, while GIRM allows for an exceptional case in which a non-concelebrating bishop or priest may preach at Mass, no such exception is envisioned for a deacon.
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