Father Orthoduck is happy to reprint the following from Fr. Z’s blog. It is not the entire article. You will need to go there in order to read it, but it is quite a bit of the post. Enjoy the humor!
From a reader:
I have a question for you. Suppose during a EF Mass, a gunman or threatening person enters the church, and opens fire. What can be done within the rubrics to protect the Blessed Sacrament, the priest, the servers, and the congregation? Please keep in mind that the congregation is made up of slow, aging men, who no offense to them, really can’t protect anyone.
Lemme get this straight… what rubrics are followed in case of gunfire…?
I believe there is a little known rubric which calls for the deacon and subdeacon (who in any event should be packing) to take out, reverently, their .9mm and return fire. As I read it, they are to recite the Maledictory Psalms while firing. At the change of a clip/magazine, they may bow, or duck.
In the case of, probability actually… of the mention of the Holy Name, it is still necessary to uncover.
If one crosses the sanctuary, however, honorifics are not to be observed.
In the case of an incapacitating wound, it is permitted for the priest celebrant, or one of the sacred ministers, or any priest in choir, to give the assailant, et al., last rites.
Any bishop present ought immediately place himself in the line of fire between the assailant and the priest celebrant and then begin to remonstrate with the attacker, invoking the help of St. Michael. He is to wave his arms and shout: “in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum”.
At the conclusion of the gunfire, it is permitted to sing the Te Deum…. unless it is Good Friday.
Mass (or the service) continues afterward from the point it was interrupted, though it is not necessary to start in the middle of a word; going back to the first word of the sentence is sufficient.
Alternately, if the sacred ministers are not packing, there is no reason why a group of religious could not be formed as a sort of liturgical militia against such an eventuality.
I believe in this case, the gun stock must have a ribbon of the color of the days.
Okay…
Now what is to be done if the service is not the EF Mass, but the Divine Liturgy according to the Byzantine Rite?
I have been toying with some ideas. The East is forbidden from violence by the clergy. But, we do have Royal Doors. So, I have the idea that the deacon and subdeacon should immediately shut the royal and angel doors. In the Slavic tradition these are solid, so the Divine Liturgy can continue unabated. In our case, it would be the chanters and the choir who would be responsible for the return fire.
However, there would have to be some Eastern rules. For instance, no Western weapon should be used. Thus a stockless Kalishnikov might be the weapon of choice. Because of the many icons, and to prevent damage, spudder and frangible ammunition is the appropriate choice. And so on. . . .