I have read some lists of defects in the mass & what to do about them. That includes what to do if a priest dies while celebrating, but none said anything about his eternal fate.
On the other hand, an anti-Wyclif text by Thomas Gascoigne says he had a stroke at the elevation & implies it was a divine punishment for his errors about the Eucharist. See Andrew Larsen's article in A Companion to John Wyclif (2006).
Tom Izbicki
Has anyone else come across a tradition that a particularly holy priest might be called to Heaven while celebrating Mass? I've come across the idea that if you died while at Mass you could go straight to heaven (in the Lay Folk's Mass Book and its Welsh
equivalent) but this was a new one on me. I wonder if it was a story to explain priestly effigies with chalices, but I'd be interested to know how far back it goes. (Graham Jones will know where I am coming from on this one!)
Maddy