rites

This subsection contains various copies of the Church's ritual for distributing Holy Communion outside Mass by extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. These rituals are drawn from the official texts approved for use within the United States by NCCB for the Latin-rite dioceses, and are reproduced here for any EM who may need to refer to the rites for their ministry.

Holy Communion Outside Mass [html format]
� ~ This rite is used exclusively by extraordinary ministers of Communion when distributing Communion to Catholics outside the celebration of Mass in the absence of an ordained minister. The lay minister must have the permission of his/her pastor to distribute Communion in those circumstances

Communion of the Sick [html format]
� ~ This rite is used by extraordinary ministers of Communion when bringing Communion to the sick when no ordained minister is able to do so. It contains the rite both for a communal celebration setting and a hospital setting where the communicants are dispersed over various rooms.

Viaticum Outside Mass [html format]
� ~ This rite is used by extraordinary ministers of Communion when bringing Communion as Viaticum to the sick or dying outside Mass, and when no priest or deacon is able to do so.

For those interested in getting a book form of such rituals for lay ministers, you might want to consider the following:

Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass, published by Catholic Book Publishing Co. 1976

A Ritual for Laypersons, published by LIturgical Press, 1993