Question
Question
Are deacons or priests supposed to get a blessing from the presiding priest or bishop before they go pick up the Gospel book and then proclaim the Gospel?
--Buzz in Barrington
Answer
Answer
A deacon asks the blessing of the presiding priest and takes the Book of the Gospels in procession. (See General Instruction on the Roman Missal 2002, 175. [GIRM 2002]) When there is another priest, who is not the presiding priest, (see GIRM 2002, 212) who proclaims the Gospel, he does not seek the blessing of the presiding priest, goes to the altar for the book, bows, and takes the Book of the Gospels in procession to the Ambo.