For the 25th Sunday of Time, I celebrated my first two Masses (8:30 and 10:30) at the Parris Island Marine Corps Base. I will do so through October as they await a new Catholic Chaplain assigned by the Archbishop of the Military Archdiocese.
The 8:30 Mass was in a humongous multi-purpose building and there were about 1,000 Marines who are in various stages of boot camp, some as young as 17 years old! The altar was set up ad orientem. Only about 300 of the 1,000 received Holy Communion.
I distributed along with one Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. The set up for distribution was great and not like any thing I had ever done in the Modern Mass.
As I mentioned, the building is humongous with a great amount of space behind the altar all three hundred lined up rectangularly the full, very long width of the building half on one side of the altar and the other half on the other side. They formed two lines on each side but facing each other. Then I, on my side, and the EMHC on the other side, went to each recruit rather than them coming to us in two lines. Quite a few knelt for Holy Communion but others received standing. There was a combination of receiving on the tongue or the hand. But since I and the Communion Minister were doing the processing to each communicant, it was all very reverent and many after receiving knelt of the floor in thanksgiving before returning to their seats.
AND YES, WITH THE COMMUNION MINISTERS DOING THE PROCESSING, IT ALL WENT VERY QUICKLY
The 10:30 AM Mass in the chapel was ad orientem and Holy Communion distributed to Communicants kneeling at the altar railing.
This should be the norm, thank you very much!
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