Dear Rachel:

What this woman is doing is condemned by the Church. What she is doing smacks of concelebration with the priest. It is a misplaced devotion. She is not a priest and is not allowed to raise the blood up like that and say a prayer as if she is come priest junior.

I am not sure what the issue of an alcoholic priest has to do with this. The priest can still present the blood without drinking from it.

In any event there is no ocassion or excuse for laity to make gestures and actions that to closely resemble the actions reserved to priest and/or deacons.

What this woman you mention is doing, and any other extraordinary ministers out there doing the same thing, is wrong and should be stopped immediately.

Article 6 of the document ON CERTAIN QUESTIONS REGARDINGTHE COLLABORATION OF THE NON-ORDAINED
FAITHFUL IN THE SACRED MINISTRY OF PRIEST states:

§ 2. To promote the proper identity (of various roles) in this area, those abuses which are contrary to the provisions of canon 907 are to be eradicated. In eucharistic celebrations deacons and non-ordained members of the faithful may not pronounce prayers — e.g. especially the eucharistic prayer, with its concluding doxology — or any other parts of the liturgy reserved to the celebrant priest. Neither may deacons or non-ordained members of the faithful use gestures or actions which are proper to the same priest celebrant. It is a grave abuse for any member of the non-ordained faithful to "quasi preside" at the Mass while leaving only that minimal participation to the priest which is necessary to secure validity.

In the same way, the use of sacred vestments which are reserved to priests or deacons (stoles, chasubles or dalmatics) at liturgical ceremonies by non-ordained members of the faithful is clearly unlawful.

Every effort must be made to avoid even the appearance of confusion which can spring from anomalous liturgical practices. As the sacred ministers are obliged to wear all of the prescribed liturgical vestments so too the non-ordained faithful may not assume that which is not proper to them.

To avoid any confusion between sacramental liturgical acts presided over by a priest or deacon, and other acts which the non-ordained faithful may lead, it is always necessary to use clearly distinct ceremonials, especially for the latter.

In Article 8 we read:

To avoid creating confusion, certain practices are to be avoided and eliminated where such have emerged in particular Churches:

— extraordinary ministers receiving Holy Communion apart from the other faithful as though concelebrants;

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary