The Power of a minor seminarian?

[Jester Catholic]

Hello, I,am Jester

And I want to ask all of you what is the power of a seminarian or duty on his Parish.
Now the main question is could I give Communion to the people, could I sit beside a priest,
could I purify the chalice, could I etc... now many things are going in my mind of what would
be my role in the mass all in all I am still confused so
any clarifications or some sort would be great full



--If I put this on the wrong thread kindly relocate it thx

[maryjk]

I am not sure what you mean by the "Power" of a minor seminarian.

I can tell you that our seminarians aren't at their local parish. They are, for the most part, at the Seminary. When one visits our parish they generally serve as a altar server.

So no they don't sit with the priest or purify the vessels. They also don't distribute Communion.

Once they are Deacons, they are generally to do all of the above.

[Chatter163]

The use of the word power in the OP is troubling.

[maryjk]

Originally Posted by Chatter163

The use of the word power in the OP is troubling.

Yes, it is.

I would hope that no one joins the seminary for "power."

[BertBlyleven]

The guy's from the Philippines, chances are the word power doesn't convey the same meaning as it does here (in the US).

...unless he's talking about the Holy Ghost Power: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FmQVHVL8S4

[The Idiot]

OP is a seminarian .

In my country the Rectors in the Seminary instruct their students [ seminarians] as to what they may , or may not do , when temporarily in a Parish [ such as when on vacation from studies and living at home ]

Jester - you MUST ask your Rector in the Seminary. You should not volunteer to help in the Parish till you know exactly what you may do.

[L Marshall]

If the seminarian is installed as an instituted acolyte (if you seminary does that still, and remember it's only been oppressed, not abolished), then they would be expected to serve all masses they go to if other instituted acolytes have not filled the serving spots (acolytes take precedence over altar servers since servers should only be used when acolytes are present), and that would require them to be present in the sanctuary for the Mass.
An instituted acolyte is allowed to purify the vessels with the permission of his pastor, and should vest as directed by the pastor during the Mass.
As far as the distribution of Holy Communion, it should be reserved for priests and deacons unless it is not possible for them to do it alone, and after that Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion would be used. If you have the permission of the pastor to act as an EMHC, then it's fine.

If you are not an instituted acolyte, then you are treated as a member of the laity until you are instituted as one or enter major seminary.

[Tarpeian Rock]

Originally Posted by L Marshall

If the seminarian is installed as an instituted acolyte (if you seminary does that still, and remember it's only been oppressed, not abolished), then they would be expected to serve all masses they go to if other instituted acolytes have not filled the serving spots (acolytes take precedence over altar servers since servers should only be used when acolytes are present), and that would require them to be present in the sanctuary for the Mass.
An instituted acolyte is allowed to purify the vessels with the permission of his pastor, and should vest as directed by the pastor during the Mass.
As far as the distribution of Holy Communion, it should be reserved for priests and deacons unless it is not possible for them to do it alone, and after that Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion would be used. If you have the permission of the pastor to act as an EMHC, then it's fine.

If you are not an instituted acolyte, then you are treated as a member of the laity until you are instituted as one or enter major seminary.

But isn't a minor seminary the equivalent of high school? I thought there were age requirements to be an instituted acolyte. No issue with altar serving as such, but unsure about a high school boy and purifying the vessels or distribution of Communion.

[archangel04]

The OP just wants to know about power

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dJolYw8tnk

[superamazingman]

Originally Posted by L Marshall

If the seminarian is installed as an instituted acolyte (if you seminary does that still, and remember it's only been oppressed, not abolished), then they would be expected to serve all masses they go to if other instituted acolytes have not filled the serving spots (acolytes take precedence over altar servers since servers should only be used when acolytes are present), and that would require them to be present in the sanctuary for the Mass.
An instituted acolyte is allowed to purify the vessels with the permission of his pastor, and should vest as directed by the pastor during the Mass.
As far as the distribution of Holy Communion, it should be reserved for priests and deacons unless it is not possible for them to do it alone, and after that Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion would be used. If you have the permission of the pastor to act as an EMHC, then it's fine.

If you are not an instituted acolyte, then you are treated as a member of the laity until you are instituted as one or enter major seminary.

Exactly correct, with one exception: if an instituted acolyte is present, he is the first place among the other EMHCs, and should distribute himself if only one is needed. He is the highest ranking extraordinary minister, a super-emhc of sorts.

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by Tarpeian Rock

But isn't a minor seminary the equivalent of high school?.

No, a Minor Seminary is where a seminarian completes his 'undergrad' work in Philosophy. The Minor Seminary will grant the canidate a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Philosophy. In some cases, the Minor Seminary also has an attached high school\secondary education institution, but that depends a lot of local custom and practical necessity.

The Minor seminary I worked at in Tanzania has such a secondary school, but there, it was customary for such students to live at school during the week, due to the distances the young men would need to walk to get to school.

A Major seminary is the seminary for graduate studies. There, a seminarian will complete Masters level work in Theology ( an M.Div) in addition to the various liturgical practica.

In the US, and most of the West, most the Minor seminaries have been combined with the Major seminary, so the seminarian will complete all their collegiate studies at one location

But that is not true worldwide.

[Brendan]

The roles of Instituted Reader and Acolyte would be conferred during the Theologate studies at Major seminary prior to Diaconal ordination.