Abuse! Call Liturgical Services!

"Yeah, we got a case of Eucharistic abuse in East Sussex. It's serious, get me all the squadrons you have."

Yesterday I got into a fight with both a Berberis and a gigantic Ilex with only a pair of shears and a ladder as weapons and managed to come out on top. In the evening I headed back to base. I stopped in at a Church on the way as the doors were open. I was delighted when I looked at the weekly newsletter and discovered that if I waited for a little while, there would be Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

I must point out to anyone reading this who is not a Catholic (unlikely I know) that Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is when the Eucharist, which we Catholics believe is the Real Presence of God, the Body of Christ, the Blessed Host, is placed in a Monstrance, and we give Him praise, reverence and worship, knowing that we are in the Presence of God Himself.

Whenever I have been at Adoration before, it has always been a Priest, dressed in the Sacred Vestments of the Church, who has entered the Sanctuary and unlocked the Tabernacle, with a great sense of awe and reverence, and placed the Host inside the Monstrance to be exposed to the Faithful for adoration.

On this occasion, however, I waited to see a Priest emerge. But he didn't. Then a lay lady got up and walked over into the Sanctuary, unlocked the Tabernacle and performed the duty of the Priest. 'Where is the Priest?' I thought. 'Surely, he would not encourage the lay faithful to touch the Holy of Holies and to be responsible for something which by all accounts is the awesome responsibility of the consecrated Priest?' Yet he was nowhere to be seen.

I am not sure how common this is but it did not seem to me to be very fitting at all with a true sense of piety and certainly not in keeping with the Tradition of Holy Mother Church. Certainly, all present were aware of the Real Presence. I tried to remain calm and not say anything that would detract from Our Blessed Lord made present on the Altar. A lady sang into a microphone, 'O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine'.

Yet, the faithful were mere yards away from Our Lord. Was there really any need for a microphone? Public prayers were then poured out to Our Lord, prayers of thanksgiving and prayers for healing for others and the microphone was passed to every member of the Faithful present. Some of these prayers seemed to go on for an eternity. The microphone was passed to a man next to me who refused it. I too refused it, thinking, 'But Our Lord can hear me quite well without a microphone and I am already praying to Him!'

A pious lady echoed my sentiments when she said very humbly, "Dear Jesus, I love You and I know that You see and hear everything that goes on in my heart. You know what I need, Lord. I do not need to say anything. Help me to love You more."

I don't know, perhaps I am over-reacting. I was just glad when the lady with the microphone said, "And now we will have 15 minutes silence before singing the Divine Praises." 'Thank God for that!' I thought. I tried to put away any uncharitable thoughts, knowing I was in the presence of Our Saviour and knowing He is All Good and All Forgiving. Yet, I couldn't help thinking afterwards that my parish Priest would not do that at St Mary Magdalen's. I couldn't help thinking that St Pio of Pietrelcina, whose biography the lay faithful had earlier been reading aloud, would not countenance the lay Faithful undertaking the entire ceremony of Adoration, unguided, without his spiritual leadership as an ordained and sanctified Priest.

It strikes me that Social Services are (usually) very responsive to rumours of abuse. Perhaps each Diocese could have a Liturgical Services team, who go around, sniffing out liturgical abuse and imposing strict guidelines on parishes that do not follow canon law properly. I suppose in this case it is not so much a case of abuse, so much as what Social Services describe as 'neglect'. I have always thought that if the laity are allowed to run anything without the wise and prudent guidance of a Priest, it almost always goes wrong...or at least becomes more about us than about Him.

After all, don't Social Services say to parents, "Clearly, you do not know how to look after your child. If you do not look after him, there is the risk we will remove him, until you demonstrate you can look after him well." Liturgical Services could say, "Clearly, this parish does not know how to look after Our Lord. If you do not look after Him, there is a risk we will remove Him, until you demonstrate you can look after Him well."