www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Private masses: prohibited?

Is it true that private masses are prohibited in the Byzantine Rite?

OK, I may sound dumb here, but what exactly is a private Mass? How can one have a Banquet for one?

Alexandr

A private Mass is a Mass the priest celebrates alone or perhaps attended by just one or a few people.

It makes sense when viewed through the lense of "Mass as sacrifice" which was highly focused on in the West.

I hope that the comment "How can one have a Banquet for one?" isn't meant to sound flip or glib. No one would appreciate it if "Westerners" started, for example, denigrating the fact that daily parochial liturgy is near unheard of in most of the East.

Different homes, different traditions.

Nothing glib intended, and I apologize if it came across as such. But to the East, the Liturgy (leitourgia) comes from the Greek laos (people) and ergon (work). Quite literally, it is the work of the people. It is inclusive. It involves all the members of the community-the Body of Christ-and requires our active participation. For example, it is up to us to listen to, assimilate, appropriate for ourselves, and finally give our consent-our "Amen" [So be it!]- to the prayers that the priest intones, almost all of which are the prayers of the people. It is up to us to give our consent-our "Amen"-to not only the words of Institution ("Take eat this is My body which is broken for you for the forgiveness of sins..."), but to the words of consecration ("And make this bread the precious body of Your Christ-Amen...And that which is in this cup, the precious Blood of Your Christ-Amen. Changing them by Your Holy Spirit-Amen. Amen. Amen.") and the words of the fraction. It is the entire people of God who call on the Holy Spirit to be present with us. In fact, in Orthodox ecclesiology (i.e. how we understand ourselves as Church), a priest cannot serve the Divine Liturgy alone. He needs the people!

Alexandr

Philippe,

The CCEO does not proscribe private celebration of the Divine Liturgy, but encourages that it be served publicly.


The Latin Code says:



I won't swear to the absolute accuracy of the following, but it generally describes how the practice of "private" Masses came about.


Many years,

Neil

Just a quick follow-up, there is another usage for the term "private Mass" and that relates to one served for a small number of persons, often in a private residence or chapel. It was not infrequently done for royalty or very rich patrons who had their own chaplain, although it occurred in other circumstances as well - sickrooms, etc.

That is generally discouraged now, if not outright prohibited. Not sure if it is addressed in the CCEO, but it is in a Latin Code provision that says something to the effect that, barring unusual circumstances (and maybe requiring authorization by the local Ordinary), Mass is to be celebrated in a church or public chapel.

Many years,

Neil

At times I think it had to be done though, for example with the recusants.

Are funeral Masses celebrated for a family considered a "private Mass"? I think it's only prohibited if the family prevents others from attending, since all Masses are open for anyone to attend.

Alexandr, but the liturgy would not reach all cosmos, humankind and nature, per se? "We offer You your own, from what is your own, in all and for the sake of all".

And what is the role of the words of institution, since you called "words of consecration" only the words of Epiclesis?

Thank you, Neil, for quoting the Canon Laws!

In response to this thread, I humbly offer these beautiful words of St. Ephraim's (5th century) "Canticle of the Wilderness"

He who celebrates alone
in the heart of the wilderness,
he is a great assembly.

If two together celebrate among the rocks,
thousands and tens of thousands are present there.

If three are gathered together, a fourth is among them.
If there are six or seven together,
twelve thousand thousand are assembled.

If they range themselves in rank,
they fill the firmament with prayer.

If they be crucified on the rock,
be marked with a cross of light,
the Church is constituted.

When they come together,
the Spirit hovers over their heads.
When they end their prayer,
the Lord rises to serve His servants.

Blessed be God in the wilderness forever. Amen



I really love holy Ephraim's liturgical ecclesiology.

Beautiful!

Complementing St Ephraim's statement, we in the East teach that the Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the midst of the heavenly hosts, the saints, and before the throne of God.

Thus, a "private Divine Liturgy" with no one present except the celebrant is not possible.

I don't know that this is authorized Church teaching but it is the conclusion which I deduce.

It is actually as what Paul said, even in the Latin Church.
Thus even if it is only the priest who assist the Mass, still it is a Liturgy of the whole church. The same with the Divine Office. Thus even if I pray it alone in private in my room, it is a public liturgy with the whole church in attendance.

This is simply not the case in the East. It is not in the Orthodox Tradition for a priest to serve alone. I have been looking on the net, and though pickings in English are slim, I did find this from the Archives of the Antiochians.
"It is not proper for the priest to conduct the Divine Liturgy alone, as there are no "private liturgies" in the Orthodox tradition. Indeed, such would be impossible because of the communal nature of the Liturgy"

http://www.frmichel.najim.net/liturgyvid.pdf

This concept of "private liturgies" sounds like something that has crept in from the West, and is alien to Orthodox praxis and mindset, whilst being more in tune with Latin liturgical viewpoints.

I will look at the Slavonic sources and give you the final word on how the Church rules on the concept of a "private liturgy".

Alexandr

Yes 'private masses' were taken up by many of the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. It belongs to the days that everything the Latins did was better and copying them was the way to go. Rome has put up the ideal that Mass/Liturgy should have someone else present other than the Priest.

Since Vatican II many Eastern Catholic Churches have restored the non liturgy days which was their original practice before copying the Latins in everything was the fashion. We still see occasionally older priests going their separate ways in Eastern Catholic Churches to have Liturgy going on simulatiously in the same church, at various altars instead of concelebrating together at the one altar. This practice is not encouraged.