From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I have a couple of questions regarding something that happened recently at a weekday TLM. Our good and reverent priest was distracted during Mass one morning and completely forgot to consecrate the Precious Blood. After consecrating the host, he genuflected, and then continued on with the prayers after Consecration. My 12 year old son happened to be serving. I have two questions… was the Mass valid? And should the altar boys have, somehow, alerted the priest to his mistake as soon as they realized he had missed part of the Consecration?

Oh dear.

First, it is a serious problem to consecrate the sacred species outside of Mass. It is a serious problem to consecrate one species without the other.

If intentional, either of those would be serious sins, possibly leading to the gravest of canonical penalties.

In this case, it seems that the priest was distracted and didn’t intend anything. He didn’t sin and he is not open to canonical penalties.

However, if he did not consecrate both species, that means that he did not consume both species. If he did not consume both, the it wasn’t Mass. For the Sacrifice of Calvary to be renewed, you have to have the two-fold consecration and then the priest must consume them both. That didn’t happen in this case, so Mass was not celebrated.

If Mass was not celebrated then the intention for that Mass was not fulfilled. The priest must see that a Mass is celebrated for that intention as soon as possible.

The 12 year old server had no responsibility in the matter. He could have done something, but he was not obliged to. It is not his role as a minor to bring these things up. If, being certain about what he saw and understanding what he witnessed, he had said something during Mass he would have done something meritorious. He would have drawn the priest’s attention to the issue and the priest could have decided how to proceed. However, he did not sin by not saying something, especially if he was not completely sure. Another case could be made for a, say, seminarian serving or a man in his majority.

At this point, I want to assert that I know that a great many of the TLM altar boys out there DO understand about the two-fold consecration and its important to complete the Sacrifice and Holy Mass.