Eucharistic Minister

Before Mass (5pm)

• Arrive at church at 5:15 and check in with the Liturgical Ministry team in the sacristy
• Be sure to sit near the front of the church on an aisle

Lord's Prayer (Our Father...)

Sign of Peace
The Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist (EMEs) come up during the Sign of Peace, making sure that they bow toward the altar at the entrance to the sanctuary. If (and only if) the priest does not do so, one of the EMEs should get the extra hosts from the tabernacle and place them on the altar. The EMEs then kneel with the server to the side of the sanctuary.

Holy Communion
After the priest has given himself Communion, the server and EMEs should come forward and stand in a row perpendicular to the altar to recieve Communion. After Communion, one EME will recieve a paten/ciborium of hosts and two will receive a chalice from the priest. (EMEs are never to go to the altar and take the Sacred Species themselves; they are to always receive them from the priest.) The EME with the hosts goes with the priest to the center aisle (preferably on the priest's right) and distributes the hosts at the threshold of the sanctuary. The EMEs with the chalices go to the far left and right ends of the threshold of the sanctuary.

Notes on distributing Holy Communion:

1. Exhibit reverence
2. Never begin distributing until the priest does so
3. Show each person the host/chalice and say clearly "The Body/Blood of Christ"
4. If the person fails to respond "Amen", do so for them
5. Make sure that the person consumes the host; if (s)he does not, ask her/him to do so; if (s)he refuses, inform the priest immediately
6. Do not allow intinction (dipping the host into the chalice); ask the person to consume the host first; if the person is sick, (s)he does not have to receive under both species (Christ is fully present in each species)
7. If someone seems unsure/irreverent in preparing to receive Communion, ask if that person is Catholic; if (s)he is not, just say a prayer over her/him
8. If you drop a host, pick it up and place it somewhere in the paten/ciborium will you will not lose it; give it to the priest to dissolve or consume
9. If you spill Precious Blood, stop distributing, use your purificator to clean up the spill; if that is insufficient, leave the purificator covering the spill and go to the sacristy to get more purificators to absorb everything (all those purifcators must be placed in the soiled linens for special cleaning); tell the priest so he can take any additional action necessary

After Communion, the EME with the hosts takes his paten/ciborium with any remaining hosts to the altar. The priest places all remaining hosts in a single ciborium. If (and only if) the priest does not return this ciborium to the tabernacle, the EME does so, remembering to genuflect after placing the ciborium in the tabernacle, and being sure to wash/dry her or his fingers with the small purifying bowl/purificator found to the immediate right of the tabernacle. The EMEs with the chalices purify them at the credence table. When all three EMEs have finished purifying (and after the priest has finished purifying), they return to their seats in the congregation.