Posted on 09/16/2014 5:21:54 PM PDT by NKP_Vet
“I learned that it is appropriate to wait until the priest has left. The hymn has nothing to do with it”
You’re exactly right. But most priests leave while the last hymn is being sung.
Oh, and don’t eat the cookie.
; )
LOL
LOL -
...or you will end up sitting in your own pew.
Yeah, I put that in because as a non-Catholic who has frequently attended Catholic services, I know how it can feel a little affronting (to those who do not understand the Mystery) when the prohibition is expressed very strictly, to a non-RC Christian. A Jewish visitor like the one asking about it might feel a sense of exclusion, as well, from not understanding the theology behind it. I knew the rules would be explained at the service, so why stir things up here? -- was my train of thought.
fwiw, I once was offered communion at an RC Christmas Eve mass, when the officiant offered it to any baptized Christian. I guess it was a seasonal goodwill gesture. Yep, shocked me, too. I think it may have been at ithe Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. I seem to remember they printed an explanation in the program.
Freepmail for you about the rest.
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