Backwash in the Blood of Christ

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On two occasions recently, while receiving Communion under both kinds, I have been utterly revolted to notice pieces of the Body of Our Lord ‘backwashed’ into his Blood by previous communicants. Aside from being unhygienic, this strikes me as profane. It causes me to question not only whether I want to receive under both kinds, but also the wisdom of regularly offering Communion under both kinds at all. What are your thoughts on this?
 
Are you sure that it was backwash?

You do know that the priest puts a little fragment of Host into the Precious Blood in one of the chalices as part of the Mass? It could be that this chalice is the one that is being presented to you.
 
I did not know that. Well, that certainly makes me feel better.
 
And SOME priests place little particles of the host into all the cups, not just the chalice.

(Whether they are supposed to or not is irrelevant to the fact that some - if not many - do this)
 
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I count myself so fortunate that I can receive the Eucharist at all. 😃✝️
 
I think it is called the Fraction Right, that occurs during the Lamb of God litany and it symbolic of Christ’s body broken, so that when we receive holy Communion we may be one, united in Christ.
 
With the tiny amount of wine that people drink from the chalice, plus the difficulty of holding the chalice at all, backwash is unlikely. People are not opening their mouths and going chug-a-lug.
The piece of Christ’s body in the chalice is placed there by the priest during the Mass before Communion.

This question has come up before on here . I’m surprised people don’t know this/ aren’t taught this.
 
The order of the Mass is:
The Pater Noster (Lord’s Prayer)
The Libera nos (fracting of the host)
The comingling of the body and blood (places the fracted host in the chalice)
Angus Dei (lamb of God 3 times)
Communion prayers

Peace and God Bless
Nicene
 
Remember when Christ was hanging on the cross and blood and water was flowing from his side? The priest adds a few drops of water to the wine in the chalice and then as others have written a piece of the host. Christ is “whole” again and that is the explanation why we could only receive either the Body or the Blood of Christ and in fact receive both.

I have been asked several times why not every single host is broken and a small piece of them are put in the chalice. Well, Imagine 15000 small pieces in a chalice when the pope is celebrating the Mass with a large crowd… The Latin Church has no tradition of offering Holy Communion on a spoon as some of the Byzantine Churches do.
 
You aren’t obligated to receive from the Chalice at all if you do not wish to do so, so can jist skip it. I do so at least during cold and flu season.
 
Perhaps speak with your priest “Father, I was unaware of the Fraction/comingling until just this week. Might the details be added to the EMHC training so the next guy is not caught unawares as I was?”
 
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Sounds like all in RCIA as well as children´s and already Catholic adult faith formation will benefit from it. I have had a few asking me as a sacristan if I know and I’ve only been Catholic for 5 years. I deliberately sat in different areas of the church to be able to see what was happening during Mass when I was in RCIA and asked if I had understood it correctly why X, Y and Z and if that relates to A, B and C.

(The teacher within me never leaves or goes on a holiday.)
 
One time back when I was Catholic and an EMHC, the first lady in my line had on too much lipstick and a chunk of it was floating around in my chalice the whole time!

When we got to the last sip or two, I had one guy see it and literally just leave my wine line, while the last person took a look, grimaced, and drank it!
 
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I wonder if any of these people getting all squicky about the chalice ever passed around a bottle of whiskey or cheap wine with a bunch of their drunken buddies in college or even high school. Talk about your backwash.
 
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The body and blood, soul and divinity is present in the bread. You do not have to receive from the cup, especially if you are concerned about hygiene.

At our parish the priest dips the host into the wine so we can get the best of both worlds without sharing the cup.
 
The chalice isn’t offered at my parish (we do have intinction occasionally), so this is not something I have ever really given much thought. Honestly, being a bit of a germaphobe, I’d likely not partake of the blood anyway.
 
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I’d never even heard the term “backwash” before, but the idea is enough to give me nightmares! I can’t say I’ve ever drunk wine or whiskey from the bottle. Beer, of course, and coke and lemonade and iced tea. I once drank vodka from the bottle and it was enough to put me off vodka for life, though I suspect drinking it from a glass would have had the same effect.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I wonder if any of these people getting all squicky about the chalice ever passed around a bottle of whiskey or cheap wine with a bunch of their drunken buddies in college or even high school. Talk about your backwash.
Click to expand...
Can’t say as I have, but then my parents were both GPs so I might have been a bit more aware of germs than most teens.
 
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