What to do if Eucharist is Dropped

[MaronKnight]

Good Morning

I have a question about what the process is, if the blessed Eucharist is dropped during communion.

Recently, i witnessed a person receiving the Blessed Eucharist by hand and dropping the body of Christ whilst receiving.

The priest picked up the Eucharist and gave her another and he kept the Eucharist in his fingers whilst continuing to offer communion. I don't know what he did with the Eucharist that had been dropped.

Also, i attend a Maronite church and altar boys used to hold a tray under the Eucharist at all times just in case the above mentioned happened. Why has this been removed?

[Stephen Spiteri]

The priest would have "disposed" of the consecrated host in a manner congruent with canon law.


The proper way of disposing of a Consecrated Host is to:

A. In a situation where a communicant drops the Sacred Host on the floor in the Church when receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion, he should pick it up and consume it immediately.

B. In the case where a priest or eucharistic minister served the Sacred Host to an elderly in a Senior's Home and the senior spit it out, being unable to swallow it, the Sacred Host should be collected in a piece of linen and returned to the parish for the priest to dispose of it.

C. To dispose of a Sacred Host, the priest or eucharistic minister must dissolve it in water to the point where the Host no longer has the appearance of bread. This may require that the Host be broken up in pieces prior to placing it in water.

D. The next step is to pour the liquid down the sacristies sacrarium (a special sink with a drain going directly into the ground, not the sewer). When such is not available, the liquid should be poured on the ground in a location that would not be walked over, such as behind a flower bed that is along a wall, at the foot of a statue or similar places. - http://www.catholicdoors.com/faq/qu171.htm

"A person who throws away the consecrated species or who takes them or retains them for a sacrilegious purpose incurs an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; if a cleric, he can be punished with another penalty including dismissal from the clerical state." - Canon 1367, Code of Canon Law

[DavidObeid]

... i attend a Maronite church and altar boys used to hold a tray under the Eucharist at all times just in case the above mentioned happened. Why has this been removed?

My guess is either laziness or a lack of servers. Have you asked the priest(s)?

[MaronKnight]

I have not yet asked the priests. Your point however brings me to another topic about change in the church in the last 20 years.

[MelanieM]

new thread :)